Kakashi stood there with chalk dust covering his hair, his trademark dead-fish eye sweeping across the group. His voice remained completely flat.
"How should I put this… my first impression of you all is terrible."
Except for Akira, the smiles instantly froze on the faces of the other three.
"Including you—the one watching the show over there." Kakashi pointed at Akira. "Everyone, meet on the rooftop."
Akira sighed.
As expected—the gears of fate had locked into place.
----
The wind on the rooftop was a bit strong.
The four of them sat in a row while Kakashi leaned lazily against the railing opposite them.
"Alright. Let's start with introductions," Kakashi said casually.
Sakura raised her hand.
"Sensei, what exactly should we say?"
"Name, what you like, what you hate, dreams, hobbies—stuff like that."
Naruto shot back immediately.
"Then you should go first, Sensei! We don't know anything about you!"
Kakashi thought for a moment.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and dislike—I'd rather not tell you. As for dreams… haven't thought about it yet. I do have quite a few hobbies."
Naruto's mouth twitched.
"So basically all we learned was your name!"
At that moment, Akira—who had been silent—suddenly spoke. His voice was calm but clear.
"Kakashi Hatake. One of Konoha's strongest active jōnin. Known as the Copy Ninja."
The moment those words came out, everyone's gaze snapped toward Akira.
Kakashi helplessly adjusted his forehead protector.
"Hey, hey… don't go putting titles like that on me."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were completely stunned—especially Naruto, who looked utterly unconvinced.
"The strongest jōnin? Him?"
"The guy who couldn't even dodge a chalkboard eraser just now?"
Naruto pointed at Kakashi, feeling like his intelligence had been insulted.
Akira glanced sideways at Naruto and let out a faint chuckle.
"Heh."
The damage wasn't huge—but the humiliation certainly was.
Naruto instantly exploded.
"What are you laughing at?! Are you mocking me, you jerk?!"
Just as Naruto was about to charge forward, Sasuke spoke.
He stared at Kakashi with burning eyes.
"He may not look reliable… but if Akira says so, it probably isn't baseless."
Among the four of them, Sasuke clearly trusted Akira's judgment the most. After all, that calm, composed aura Akira carried couldn't be faked.
Sakura quickly grabbed the rampaging Naruto.
"Idiot Naruto! Can you calm down for once?!"
Kakashi clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back.
"Alright, enough. Let's start the introductions."
"You first."
Naruto's introduction was the same as always—ramen, ramen, and more ramen—before loudly declaring his dream of becoming Hokage.
Sakura, meanwhile, spent the entire time blushing while staring at Sasuke, her dreams practically overflowing with the smell of romance.
When it was Sasuke's turn, however, the atmosphere changed instantly.
The previously relaxed mood suddenly turned cold.
Sasuke rested his clasped hands beneath his chin, his gaze dark.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I hate. Very few things I like."
"I don't have a dream. Only ambition."
"I will restore the Uchiha clan… and I will personally kill that man."
The moment those words were spoken, the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
Naruto shrank back slightly, heart pounding.
"That man… he's not talking about me, right?"
Sakura looked at Sasuke with worry, completely at a loss for what to say.
Leaning against the railing, Akira watched Sasuke—who was wrapped tightly in hatred—and sighed inwardly.
"So this is Sasuke."
"The wound in his heart runs deeper than I thought."
"Team life from here on out is going to be… interesting."
Finally, it was Akira's turn.
He showed no trace of nervousness, the familiar lazy smile resting at the corner of his lips.
"My name is Hane Akira."
"As for things I like… nothing I'm particularly passionate about at the moment."
He paused slightly, as if seriously thinking, his gaze drifting for a moment.
"Things I hate… I can't really think of anything worth hating."
"As for hobbies… I suppose I'm mildly interested in training."
The introduction was unbelievably plain.
Like a cup of cooled boiled water.
Kakashi's lips curved slightly beneath his mask, forming a meaningful smile.
"Very good. Now that everyone knows each other…"
"I'll announce your first mission. You can also consider it your first test."
Naruto's bright blue eyes lit up instantly.
"What mission? Hurry up and tell us!"
His mind was already filled with dreams of proving himself—he wished he could immediately take on an S-rank mission so everyone would acknowledge him.
Beside him, Sasuke stared intensely at Kakashi, his eyes filled with a fierce desire for strength.
Now that he knew Kakashi was a famous elite jōnin of Konoha, Sasuke had already regarded him as a stepping stone on his path to revenge.
The fastest way for him to gain power.
As for Akira—
he still looked completely detached, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.
Kakashi scanned their expressions and calmly uttered two words.
"Training."
The moment those words landed, Sakura's excited expression collapsed instantly.
"What? Just training?"
She pouted, clearly disappointed.
"We already did these kindergarten exercises all the time at the Academy. Kakashi-sensei, does that even count as a mission?"
To Sakura, it felt like a waste of time.
But Kakashi's exposed eye remained utterly serious.
"This isn't an ordinary exercise."
"It's a survival test."
"If you fail to gain my approval, you'll be sent straight back to the Academy to repeat the year."
"And let me give you a harsh statistic."
"Every year, only about 30% of graduates actually become genin."
Those words were like a bucket of ice water.
Any sense of carelessness instantly vanished.
"So prepare yourselves properly."
"Tomorrow morning at five. Bring your ninja gear and meet at the training field."
As soon as he finished speaking—
Poof!
A small puff of smoke appeared, and Kakashi vanished.
Almost at the exact same second Kakashi disappeared—
Akira vanished as well.
Not by running away.
He simply evaporated like a ghost.
Naruto and Sakura were still in shock and didn't notice.
Only Sasuke's pupils suddenly shrank.
His heart felt like it had been struck by a heavy hammer.
"That guy…"
"That speed just now…"
He subconsciously clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms.
His eyes filled with disbelief—and deep caution.
"That wasn't just a normal Body Flicker Jutsu."
For a brief instant when Akira disappeared, Sasuke felt like he had seen that man again—
his brother, Itachi Uchiha.
That speed.
That unreachable realm.
And now this seemingly ordinary classmate had used it so effortlessly.
Which meant one thing:
Akira's mediocrity at the Academy had been nothing but an act.
In other words—
the title Sasuke had always been proud of, "number one in the grade,"
might have been meaningless in front of him.
---
After leaving, Akira returned straight home rather than wandering outside.
But he had barely been sitting on the sofa for ten minutes—his tea hadn't even finished brewing—
when Ino and Hinata showed up at his door.
Akira could only set down his teacup and brace himself to deal with the two girls.
---
The next morning.
The mist hadn't completely cleared, and the air still carried a damp chill.
Only after the clock passed seven did Akira finally stroll leisurely toward the training ground.
The atmosphere there was already tense.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura had arrived long ago.
Dark circles hung under their eyes—they had clearly followed the instructions and arrived at five in the morning.
The moment Naruto saw Akira's relaxed appearance, he exploded.
He rushed forward and shouted,
"Hey! Why are you only showing up now?!"
"Kakashi-sensei said to meet at five!"
Akira scratched his head and gave his usual harmless smile.
"Ah, sorry. I overslept."
That completely half-hearted answer nearly made Naruto explode with rage.
He had dragged himself out of bed early despite exhaustion—
yet not only was Kakashi nowhere to be seen,
Akira had the nerve to show up late too.
Sasuke stared at Akira's completely unapologetic face, the seriousness in his eyes deepening.
He knew very clearly that this guy was far from simple. That calmness wasn't an act—it came from absolute confidence.
Sakura also sighed helplessly, complaining weakly.
"Honestly… what on earth is Kakashi-sensei doing? Why hasn't he shown up yet?"
But this time, Akira had only been there for a few minutes when a familiar lazy voice drifted through the air.
"Yo. Good morning, everyone."
Kakashi suddenly appeared atop a wooden post and casually raised a hand in greeting.
Naruto and Sakura instantly exploded, pointing at him and shouting in unison:
"YOU'RE TOO LATE!!!"
Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets, his eyes cold. Though he didn't speak, his entire posture radiated irritation.
Only Akira remained calm, as if he had expected this all along.
"Kakashi-sensei, your habit of being late really never changes."
The moment Akira said that, Naruto and Sakura turned and glared at him viciously.
"You have no right to talk! You just got here too!"
Akira shrugged with an indifferent smile, completely ignoring their angry stares.
Kakashi glanced at him and immediately understood the situation. That kid definitely hadn't arrived much earlier either.
But he also knew Akira well enough. The boy had long since figured out Kakashi's habits, so acting this way was hardly surprising.
Without wasting more words, Kakashi pulled a small alarm clock out of his ninja pouch and placed it on the wooden post.
The ticking sound echoed clearly in the quiet morning air.
"I'm setting the alarm for noon."
Kakashi pointed at the bells hanging from his waist. As he moved, they rang with a crisp chime.
"Before the alarm rings, your task is to take these three bells from me."
Naruto scratched his blond hair and asked in confusion,
"Kakashi-sensei, why are there only three bells? There are four of us."
Kakashi's visible eye curved into a crescent, though his tone carried a chilling edge.
"Because that means one of you four is destined to fail."
The words struck Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke like a bolt of lightning.
"And if none of you manage to take a bell," Kakashi added mercilessly, "then all of you will be sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat the year."
That final statement shattered their remaining confidence, and an enormous pressure settled over the group.
Sasuke frowned deeply, his mind racing.
"He's one of Konoha's strongest jōnin. Trying to take bells from someone like that… the difficulty is unimaginable."
Thinking this, he instinctively glanced at Akira.
Only to find the guy completely relaxed—squatting down and absentmindedly counting ants on the ground.
"This guy… what is he thinking?"
"Does he really believe he can take bells from a jōnin?"
Even Sasuke himself had zero confidence about such a thing.
So why was Akira so calm?
The curiosity in Sasuke's heart grew stronger.
Kakashi naturally noticed Akira's unusual composure, but he said nothing.
The real purpose of this exercise was to test Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—the three rookies.
Using it to test Akira would be pointless.
Because Kakashi knew very well that Akira's strength had already approached his own level.
In some areas, they might even be equal.
For Akira, taking a bell from him would be almost effortless.
Shaking off his thoughts, Kakashi spoke seriously.
"Alright. The rules have been explained. The exercise begins now."
"Use kunai, shuriken—whatever methods you want."
"If you don't attack with the intent to kill me, you'll never take the bells."
The moment Kakashi finished speaking, Sakura cried out nervously.
"But sensei, that's dangerous! Those are real weapons!"
Naruto nodded frantically beside her.
"Yeah! What if we actually kill you? That would be really dangerous!"
Perhaps to deliberately provoke him, Kakashi narrowed his eye and sneered slightly.
"As expected… the dead-last likes to talk big. No skill, but a loud mouth."
The words "dead last" made Naruto freeze for a moment.
Then his face turned bright red.
"Dead last? You called me dead last?!"
"Damn you!"
With a furious roar, Naruto completely lost his composure.
He drew a kunai and charged toward Kakashi like an enraged bull.
In that moment, his killing intent was real. His eyes burned with fury.
Because in his life, nothing angered him more than being mocked with those words.
Sakura and Sasuke were stunned by Naruto's sudden outburst.
Neither had expected him to actually attack their teacher with lethal intent.
But they quickly snapped back to their senses.
They couldn't let Naruto stab him—that would be disastrous.
"Naruto! You idiot, stop being stupid!"
Sakura screamed.
She and Sasuke moved at the same time, rushing forward to stop him.
But they were too slow.
Just as Naruto's kunai was about to stab Kakashi—
something bizarre happened.
Kakashi vanished like a gust of wind and instantly appeared behind Naruto.
Before anyone could even see the movement, Naruto's arm was already twisted behind his back.
The sharp kunai now pointed coldly at Naruto's own head.
Sasuke and Sakura halted abruptly, staring in shock.
"I didn't even see how he moved behind Naruto…"
Cold sweat formed on Sasuke's forehead as waves of shock surged through his mind.
"Just as I thought… this guy's strength is monstrous."
Sakura covered her mouth in disbelief.
Earlier she had wondered if Kakashi might be incompetent.
Now she understood.
That oppressive presence was unmistakably the real deal—a genuine jōnin.
Meanwhile, Akira, who hadn't moved from his spot the entire time, simply watched the spectacle quietly.
After a while, he finally spoke.
His tone was calm as ever.
"Stop playing around."
"Let's start already, Kakashi-sensei."
Akira knew very well that Naruto had zero chance of touching Kakashi in his current state.
Even if Naruto unleashed the Nine-Tails' chakra, Kakashi possessed sealing techniques capable of suppressing him at this stage.
Kakashi released Naruto's arm and gave him a light shove.
"Very well."
"As you wish—the exercise officially begins."
Naruto stumbled forward a few steps, still dazed.
Even he was shaken by the killing intent that had burst out of him earlier. Cold sweat soaked the back of his shirt.
But Kakashi didn't give him much time to recover.
The moment the signal was given, Sasuke and Sakura reacted quickly, darting into the dense forest.
Naruto snapped out of his daze and hurriedly chased after them.
In the blink of an eye, the once lively clearing was empty.
Only Kakashi remained.
Akira had already vanished as well.
Using the Body Flicker Jutsu, he was now leaning comfortably against the trunk of a towering tree, his presence completely concealed.
Standing in the middle of the grass, Kakashi slipped one hand into his pocket and activated his sensing ability to locate the others.
Sasuke hid behind a bush, his breathing slightly hurried.
Sakura crouched within the tree canopy, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
To Kakashi's senses, their positions were as obvious as light bulbs in the darkness.
But when he tried to locate Akira—
his brows slowly furrowed.
Within his sensing range…
there was nothing.
Kakashi chuckled helplessly and muttered to himself,
"…That brat."