[On the screen, Naruto, impatient from waiting for his tardy instructor, wedged a blackboard eraser between the sliding door and the frame. A classic prank.]
[However, Sakura and Sasuke didn't approve. After all, their teacher was a Jonin—an elite ninja. How could such a childish trap possibly work?]
[Although Sakura scolded him on the surface, deep down, her 'Inner Sakura' was chanting: Do it! Do it! Do it!]
[Clatter!]
[A hand pushed the door open. Gravity did the rest. The chalk-dusted eraser fell, landing with a soft poof right on top of a head of gravity-defying silver hair.]
[Instantly, the three Genin froze.]
[...This is a Jonin? The elite of the village?]
[The man who entered was naturally Kakashi Hatake. He picked up the eraser, sighed, and looked at his new students with a dead fish-eye stare.]
[The scene shifted. Kakashi took the three to the rooftop for self-introductions. After a vague and evasive introduction from himself, he listened to the students.]
[Finally, he announced the first real test: The Survival Exercise. They were to gather at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning. And he dropped a specific, ominous warning: "Do not eat breakfast, or you'll throw up."]
[Kakashi is late again! Classic.]
[This kind of small trap is actually very useful against arrogant elites.]
[Kakashi has lived long enough to become just like Obito. Being late is a tribute.]
[Kakashi is my male god! So handsome!]
[I love Kakashi the most. Back off!]
[Obito Uchiha: Your husband? KAMUI!]
[Kakashi has appeared! Let Gojo Satoru come and fight him!]
[Are you talking about '2.5' Gojo Satoru? The divided one?]
[Kakashi really looks like Gojo Satoru! The blindfold and the white hair!]
[That's backwards! Can you look at the release dates? Kakashi was around decades before Gojo was even a sketch!]
[Not decades. Maybe ten years? But yeah, saying Kakashi looks like Gojo is insulting the OG.]
[Kakashi's self-introduction is basically the same as saying nothing, isn't it? "I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes..."]
[We learned his name. That's it.]
[And he's wearing a mask. We haven't even seen what he looks like under there!]
[Naruto's speech was classic though. "I'm going to become Hokage!"]
[Sakura is still such a fangirl right now. Her entire personality revolves around Sasuke.]
[Not just now, she'll be a fangirl in the future too. Simping is eternal.]
[The 'man' Sasuke mentioned he wants to kill... Could it be Itachi?]
[No need to doubt. It's Itachi.]
[Uchiha Itachi... a tragic and controversial character.]
[Survival Exercise? Is it the Bell Test?]
[Pay attention to the detail: 'Don't eat breakfast!' It's a psychological trap!]
"Ah! It almost worked!"
In the Hokage's office, Naruto looked at the screen with disappointment. "I really wanted to see the real Kakashi-sensei get hit by the eraser!"
[Mei Terumi: Ooh, finally a handsome guy appears. Konoha has good stock.]
[Rasa (Fourth Kazekage): The Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake? Even a heavy hitter like him has to babysit Genin? Konoha must be short on staff.]
[Onoki: One of his students is the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan. It makes sense. In Konoha, only a Sharingan user like Kakashi is qualified to teach him.]
[A (Fourth Raikage): The Uchiha's Sharingan... truly terrifying eyes. Though without the clan, the threat is diminished.]
[Onoki: Fortunately, the Uchiha Clan was wiped out. It was done by that Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Itachi, correct? No wonder the boy wants revenge.]
[Mei Terumi: I heard the Uchiha Clan produces many handsome men. I wonder if Uchiha Itachi is handsome? Why don't you come out and chat, Itachi-kun?]
[Uchiha Sasuke: Uchiha Itachi! I will find you, and I will kill you!]
"Itachi's younger brother? His hatred runs deep."
Inside a dimension of overlapping cubes, Obito Uchiha watched the screen, a slight smile hidden behind his orange mask. For an Uchiha, hatred was the soil in which power grew.
Itachi wanted his brother to become strong. Obito understood that path well.
"Hey, hey, Obito! Do you have any expired milk?"
A White Zetsu—specifically Tobi (Guruguru)—emerged from the ground, his voice swirling with curiosity.
"What do you want milk for?"
Obito paused, staring at the plant-creature. "You don't even have a digestive system."
"The screen said drinking expired milk causes diarrhea! I want to know what it feels like to poop!"
Tobi waved his arms excitedly. "It's a mystery of the human condition! Is it spongy? Is it liquid? I must know!"
Obito stared at him in silence for a long moment.
"I don't have any," Obito said flatly. "And even if I did, expired food only gives humans diarrhea. It would have absolutely no effect on a Zetsu body."
"Ah, what a pity!" Tobi drooped dramatically. "But I still want to try! Maybe if I find some really old milk..."
"Itachi-san... that's your younger brother, isn't it?"
Elsewhere, Kisame Hoshigaki glanced at his partner. The text from Sasuke on the screen was practically dripping with bloodlust.
"He is just unripened fruit. Not worth worrying about," Itachi said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
However, beneath the Akatsuki cloak, his hand relaxed slightly. Seeing Kakashi as the team leader was a relief. Sasuke was in good hands.
"Kakashi, was this your original plan?"
In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to the silver-haired Jonin. The events on the screen were already diverging from their current reality. Kakashi hadn't fallen for the trap in real life, nor had they gone to the roof yet.
"That's right. What's playing up there is my intention," Kakashi admitted, pulling his attention away from the comment about Obito. "If the Sky Screen hadn't appeared today, that is exactly how tomorrow would have played out."
"From now on, what's playing on the screen is a lost timeline—a future where this broadcast never happened."
Shikaku Nara spoke up, his eyes sharp. "The moment this screen appeared, our timeline diverged. We are watching 'what would have been.'"
"We can't jump to conclusions just yet. But the probability is high," Hiruzen exhaled a puff of pipe smoke. "As Ninjas, we cannot blindly trust information, but we cannot ignore intelligence either."
He signaled to the shadows in the corner of the room.
"Record everything. Every scene, every comment, every secret revealed. We will verify the accuracy later."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The Anbu hidden in the shadows immediately began documenting the broadcast.
The civilians of the Ninja World treated this as entertainment, a global movie. But for the leaders of the Hidden Villages, this was the greatest intelligence leak in history.
[The next day.
Naruto and Sakura arrived at the training ground at the crack of dawn. They looked like zombies—dark circles under their eyes, stomachs growling. Sasuke stood apart, looking alert. Clearly, he was the only one smart enough not to arrive exactly at 5:00 AM.
Time passed.
The sun rose.
Birds chirped.
The sun climbed higher.
Naruto and Sakura slumped against the wooden posts, starving and exhausted.
Finally, near noon, a cloud of smoke poofed into existence.
"Yo. Good morning, everyone!"
Kakashi waved a lazy greeting, looking completely refreshed.
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Naruto and Sakura jumped up in perfect synchronization, pointing accusing fingers at him with veins popping on their foreheads.
It was almost lunch time! How did he have the nerve to say 'Good Morning'?!]