It's better to be a rebel ninja than to be a Hokage

The timing when Naruto hugged Sakura could be described as critical.

Naruto held Sakura in his arms and jumped back, dodging an attack from one of the Oni brothers who suddenly emerged from a puddle and attacked.

The Mist Headguard on his head was equipped with an iron horn. As the eldest brother among the ghost brothers, he did not expect that the attack of the sharp claws on his right hand would miss.

But as defecting ninjas with rich combat experience, the two ghost brothers immediately launched another attack to remedy their previous failure.

Unlike his elder brother Yetou, his younger brother Mingtou, who had two iron horns on his forehead, immediately jumped out from the black cloak covering the two brothers!

The Hades opened the huge iron claw of his left hand, and sharp thorn chains shot out from it.

But the target is no longer Naruto and Sakura——

——It’s the leader of Team 7, the most threatening Kakashi Hatake!

As soon as the chains of Meitou touched Kakashi's body, the chains in Yetou's hands immediately cooperated and wrapped around Kakashi.

The chains of the two demon brothers tied Kakashi tightly, and before anyone could react, the chains shrank in an instant!

Just dismember Kakashi like that!

"Kak...Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura looked at the scene in front of her in disbelief. She probably hadn't yet reacted to what happened in such a split second.

Naruto didn't have time to care about Sakura's feelings.

Although Naruto already knew that the Demon Brothers would attack along the way, even with the intelligence and preparation, the actual life-and-death battle was still different!

Even though it was understandable that this was the Demon Brothers' first real battle with Team 7, Kakashi's sudden "death" made Sakura panic.

But a battle is a battle. If you don’t tense up and fight back immediately, you will die at the hands of the enemy!

Naruto pushed Sakura, who had become a burden, in front of Sasuke.

Needless to say, with Naruto's deliberate adjustment, Team 7 is not as full of contradictions and incompetent to cooperate as in the original work!

Sasuke also noticed Sakura's condition. He immediately took out his kunai and stood in front of Sakura and Dazna to protect them.

In a ninja's protection mission, the client's personal safety is the absolute top priority.

Of the four people in Class 7, two are unable to continue the mission, so the remaining two must make a tacit allocation of tasks.

The mission of protection and...the mission of attack!

"The second one!"

As soon as they pushed Sakura away from them, the two ghost brothers used the instant body technique at the same time and appeared behind Naruto.

The Oni brothers' description of Naruto as "livestock" also shows their contempt for Genin.

The sound of the chains colliding was so harsh that Naruto had no time to react and was tied up like this.

Then--

——Was Naruto also dismembered like Kakashi——?

"what!"

The two ghost brothers exclaimed at the same time.

The gathered chains did not cut through the body, but rather a log half a man's height.

"Substitution Technique! When?"

The two ghost brothers were stunned.

Seizing the moment when they were stunned, Sasuke, who was protecting them on the side, made a prompt decision and immediately threw the kunai in his hand!

The kunai shot by Sasuke accurately hit the chains of the two demon brothers!

The chains were nailed to the tree trunk by kunai.

The two ghost brothers tried to pull back the chain, but found that the kunai had nailed the chain down and they couldn't pull it back.

It was precisely because the two ghost brothers did not decisively abandon the chains after the chains were nailed by the kunai that made their defeat inevitable.

Earth Escape: The art of beheading in the heart!

Two pairs of hands, a total of four hands suddenly stretched out from the mud under the feet of the two ghost brothers, grabbed the feet of the two ghost brothers, and then pulled hard!

The next moment, only the two heads of the ghost brothers were left outside, and their bodies were "imprisoned" by the land.

Standing on the ground in place of the two ghost brothers were two Narutos.

"Well done, Sasuke."

The third Naruto appeared beside Sasuke and handed back the kunai that Sasuke had just shot.

“Is this your real body?”

Sasuke took the kunai and glanced at the two Narutos still standing next to the ghost brothers' heads, both of them were shadow clones.

"Well, you threw the kunai at just the right time, allowing me to successfully perform the mental decapitation technique on these two guys."

Naruto did not hide his gratitude to Sasuke in his words.

Sasuke snorted and returned to his usual cool self.

Seeing that Sasuke unilaterally ended the conversation, Naruto shrugged indifferently. He put his hands together and released the shadow clone.

The two Narutos next to the ghost brothers disappeared in a thick white mist.

"You guys did a great job."

The Shadow Clone Technique was then released, and Kakashi, who was supposed to be dead, appeared in front of everyone.

The three members of Team 7 had different expressions when they saw Kakashi's appearance.

Naruto looked matter-of-fact, while Sasuke had a blank expression with no emotion at all.

Only Sakura seemed happy.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Seeing that Kacasian was safe and sound, Sakura shouted excitedly.

"Sakura still cares about me more."

At least there was still a little girl who cared about her teacher's safety, and Kakashi felt very relieved about this.

It was Dazna who was confused by the fact that Kakashi was still alive.

He stared at Kakashi for a long time, but couldn't tell whether Kakashi was a human or a ghost: "Aren't you dead?"

"That's a substitution technique that uses transformation techniques."

Kakashi explained.

Dazna looked towards the place where Kakashi had died previously. The bloody "corpses" that were originally scattered all over the ground had now turned into pieces of wood of varying sizes.

After answering Dazna's confused question, Kakashi turned his attention to the three members of Team 7.

"First of all, I want to apologize for not fighting you just now. I'm really sorry, but I also wanted to use this opportunity to test how you would respond in real combat."

Naruto and Sasuke didn't react much after hearing Kakashi's words, but Sakura quietly lowered her eyelids.

Seeing the reactions of the three, Kakashi continued, "Naruto and Sasuke did a great job! To be honest, your two responses to actual combat completely exceeded my expectations!"

Kakashi thought back to the survival drill when Naruto also tried to save Sakura but ended up falling into an illusion.

And Naruto, who faced the demon brothers and used strategies in the ever-changing battle.

"Naruto, your actions this time were completely different from the drills. You have really grown. This time, after you noticed the enemy, you not only saved Sakura, but you also used your shadow clones to wait for the opportunity to win after I died."

Summarized Naruto's previous battle.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke again:

"Sasuke, the same goes for you. You originally considered Naruto and Sakura to be a burden, but this time you not only protected Sakura, but after you discovered that Naruto was hiding with a substitution technique, you and Naruto cooperated so well without any discussion, which really impressed me."

"This kind of cooperation is very difficult - many ninjas who have been together for a long time cannot achieve the cooperation between you and Naruto. This is something to be proud of!"

Kakashi's tone was full of praise for Naruto and Sasuke.

This made Sakura, who was listening nearby, lower her head even more.

"Kakashi-sensei, I...!"

Sakura gritted her teeth and hesitated for a moment. Realizing that she not only did not contribute anything in the previous battle, but was even a burden, she raised her head again as if she had realized her mistake. She was about to say something.

Kakashi interrupted her.

Kakashi smiled and looked at Sakura: "Sakura, although you didn't do as well as Naruto and Sasuke this time, you are still very good."

Sakura, who was ready to accept harsh criticism, was stunned when she heard Kakashi praising her.

"Rather, Sakura, your reaction is how you should react in your first actual combat. When faced with an unexpected battle, you would panic because of the 'death' of the strongest jonin sensei, but when you find yourself having to fight desperately, you would also stand up and fight, and do your best to help in the battle."

Kakashi looked at the kunai that Sakura still held in her hand.

Although Sakura did not immediately adjust her emotions and devote herself to the battle like Naruto and Sasuke after Kakashi's "death".

But after realizing it, Sakura immediately began to prepare for battle. Knowing that her strength was not as good as Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura assigned herself the task of protecting Dazna.

It is also because Sakura is fulfilling her duties again.

Sasuke was able to be distracted from his protection work and shoot out the kunai without any care, allowing Naruto to successfully perform the ninjutsu that decided the victory.

This shows that the three students in Class 7 understand the true meaning of "teamwork".

Kakashi reached out his hand as an elder, gently touched Sakura's head and said: "Naruto and Sasuke don't think you are a drag, so you don't have to belittle yourself. People can only grow by learning from experience. I believe that your next battle will not be the same as this one, and you will definitely become stronger."

Listening to Kakashi's comforting words, Sakura looked up at Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets, he still had that cold expression, but facing the probing look from Sakura, he nodded slightly to her.

Naruto smiled at Sakura.

...Come to think of it, Sakura still remembers that Naruto used to be like Sasuke and didn't like to show his emotions.

But after becoming a member of the same Team 7 as Naruto and having actual contact with Naruto, Sakura discovered that Naruto would occasionally smile.

Whenever he smiled, Sakura felt at ease for some unknown reason.

On the rooftop of the Ninja School, Sakura wanted to give up before the exam because of Kakashi's threats, but she decided to participate in the survival drill because of Naruto's smile.

During the survival exercise, Kakashi announced that they had failed the test, but it was Naruto's smile and "non-compliance" with the rules that allowed Team 7 to successfully become ninjas.

And now, always.

"Naruto, thank you for saving me just now."

Sakura said that this was her heartfelt gratitude.

Then she looked at Kakashi again and spoke out her interrupted consciousness again: "Teacher Kakashi, I won't do this again next time!"

"I believe you."

Kakashi's smile grew wider.

Pulling Sakura out of her self-blame, she glanced at the three members of Team 7 who were getting along well with each other.

Kakashi retracted his smile, looked at Dazna seriously and said, "Mr. Dazna, I have something I want to ask you."