Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

After listening to Naruto's explanation, Kakashi fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he finally spoke, "So, you already know everything?"

"Which aspect are you talking about? Do you mean knowing that I'm the Yondaime Hokage's son, or that you're my father's disciple?"

Naruto feigned confusion, but his words conveyed a lot.

Kakashi shook his head helplessly, "No wonder you're so particular with me. Turns out, you're aware of everything. So, you don't want to be my student because you're concerned about the difference in seniority?"

"Exactly. You were my father's disciple, and as they say, 'Once a teacher, always like a father'. You should be seen as my peer, not someone I should look up to. Besides, you can't even beat me, so why should I consider you my teacher?"

After a moment of thought, Naruto added, "With my dad's memory guiding me, I've essentially learned everything I need to, so in a way, I'm like your junior."

Upon hearing this, Kakashi relaxed a bit and responded, "Alright, I accept your two conditions."

After all, given that Naruto's abilities were taught by Minato, Kakashi had no reason to doubt him.

Besides, Naruto is Minato's son. As the Yondaime Hokage, Minato has no reason to do anything to harm the village, let alone betray his own son.

"Since you're my teacher's son, I have no reason not to trust you. But with you wanting to lead Team 7, what exactly do you intend to do?" Kakashi asked.

Without hesitation, Naruto replied: "Make a ton of money, of course."

"Make a lot of money?" Kakashi was puzzled.

Naruto explained, "I heard that becoming a Shinobi allows you to take on missions. However, as beginners, the village probably won't assign us any high-level missions. But if I'm the leader, I can have you pick up higher-level missions for us. That way, we can make more money."

"High-level missions are extremely dangerous. You may be strong enough, but haven't you thought about Sakura and Sasuke?" Kakashi frowned.

He didn't want Naruto focusing solely on himself while neglecting his teammates.

Naruto waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about that. I've already been training Sasuke. The current Sasuke has a two-tomoe Sharingan, so he should have no problem protecting himself. Between the two of us, you think we can't protect Sakura?"

"But even so..."

Kakashi wanted to say something, but Naruto interrupted him, "Constantly staying in a sheltered environment won't lead to real growth. Besides, my father always said, 'A young eagle must spread its wings and fly high into the sky!'"

Hearing these words, Kakashi fell silent again.

After a long pause, he finally responded: "Sensei is right, a young eagle must spread its wings and fly high. Since it is sensei's wish, I won't stand in the way. However, I still need to test Sasuke and Sakura's abilities to gauge their combat readiness."

"That's no problem!"

Naruto called out toward the edge of the training ground, "Sasuke, Sakura, come over here!"

As his words echoed, two figures emerged from behind a tree at the edge of the training ground.

As they got closer, Sakura couldn't hold back and exclaimed, "Naruto, I never knew you were this strong!"

"Hey, who said you could just call me by name? Call me 'nii-san'!" Naruto tapped Sakura's forehead, then gave Sasuke a disapproving look, "I told you two to leave, but you decided to sneak around and watch in secret. Isn't that just undermining me?"

Sasuke was suddenly speechless and had no response.

Indeed, Sasuke hadn't left because he was worried about Naruto's strength, so his doubts about Naruto's abilities were essentially a slap in his own face.

However, since he and Sakura were observing from afar, they hadn't clearly heard Naruto and Kakashi's earlier conversation.

"Oh well, I won't hold it against you two. But don't try pulling stunts like this again. It is very important to obey orders, otherwise, you will suffer a great loss in the future." Naruto shook his head in exasperation.

Kakashi added, "Since you're already here, we can proceed with your evaluation immediately. Get ready, I'm going to assess both of your skills right now."

"No!"

Naruto raised his hand to interrupt, "Testing is fine, Kakashi, but I already have a good grasp of their abilities. What's really needed is teamwork practice. How about this: I'll take on the three of you. You all have half an hour to prepare."

Sakura immediately said indignantly, "Naruto, don't get cocky just because you have some skills. Kakashi-sensei is a Jonin, you know."

Without waiting for Naruto to refute, Kakashi and Sasuke both acquiesced to this decision and started strategizing.

They have all experienced Naruto's terrifying strength and didn't dare to be careless at all.

Seeing this, Naruto saved his breath and moved aside, quietly waiting.

Half an hour passed quietly, and Naruto stood up and said, "Alright, time's up. Let's begin the exercise!"

With that, he flickered forward, appearing right in front of the three.

"Proceed according to plan!" Kakashi said in a deep voice.

Sasuke and Sakura nodded, preparing to disperse.

But Naruto didn't give them time. He started weaving hand seals at lightning speed. When he stopped at the Tiger seal, he shouted, "Hell Viewing Technique!"

Sakura's eyes suddenly went blank, and at the next second, she screamed 'Sasuke' hysterically, before collapsing on the ground, unconscious.

At the next moment, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique and grabbed Sakura by the back of her neck.

The entire maneuver was executed smoothly, and it took no more than five seconds for Naruto to capture one of them.

"Well, I didn't expect it to be so easy. Seems like your half-hour prep didn't accomplish much." Naruto chuckled.

Before Sasuke could argue, Naruto suddenly gasped and said in surprise, "Oh, right! I just remembered where that man is."

"Where?" Sasuke's expression instantly changed.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Naruto used Flying Thunder God Technique again, appearing behind Sasuke and knocking him out with a swift chop to the neck.

"Oops, looks like I caught another one. Kakashi, looks like you're the only one left..."

Before Naruto could finish his words, Kakashi charged at him with a Raikiri in hand.

But this time, Naruto did not use Flying Thunder God Technique, but lifted Sasuke as a shield in front of him.

Seeing this, Kakashi veered off at the last moment.

Boom!

The Raikiri crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

When the dust settled, a deep circular crater marked the impact site, a clear display of its power.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Kakashi paused his attack.

Naruto showed a sly smile, "Just conducting a test. You should see the problem now, right?"

Kakashi nodded slightly, "Sakura's weakness is her strong attachment to Sasuke, which is normal for a girl her age. Sasuke's emotions are tied to his hatred for Itachi, so his impulsiveness is understandable. But using Sasuke as a shield… what was the point of that?"

"Because of you, obviously."

Naruto said helplessly: "My father mentioned you in the memory he left behind, so I wanted to see your resolve. It's good that you still value your companions, but there's one fatal flaw."

"What flaw?" Kakashi asked in doubts.

Naruto sighed and said, "You're too focused on protecting your comrades. Knowing you can't beat me, you should've retreated to get reinforcements. After all, it would be useless for you to stay here. Because of Sasuke, you even wasted chakra just now, giving me an opening to attack."

Kakashi nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing.

Naruto continued, "Besides that, as their teacher, you could have spent the half-hour learning about their issues instead of just planning an attack. That lack of insight let me take them both down quickly. This is on you."

It's really not that Naruto is deliberately looking for trouble. If Naruto was a real enemy, he could've exploited their pasts and weaknesses to create the same situation here.

Moreover, in the original work, Sasuke's departure from the village partly stemmed from Kakashi's lack of guidance. If Kakashi had understood Sasuke's struggles earlier and tried to help, Sasuke might not have become so extreme, leaving room for a different outcome.

Naruto said all this to help Kakashi address potential issues before they grew out of hand.

Without realizing it, he had entered his 'Talk-no-Jutsu' mode.

After a long silence, Kakashi let out a deep sigh, then looked up at the sky, "It's indeed hard to see your own flaws. Naruto, you are indeed more suitable to lead Team 7 than me!"