Naruto: Can't Use Ninjutsu? I'll Create the Strongest Fighting Style-Chapter 23: They Didn’t Eat, But They Did Cook This Plan

"Sensei, why aren't they setting more traps?"

Nami asked, brow furrowed, clearly confused as she watched the forest with intent.

Might Guy turned to Neji, voice steady. "What do you think, Neji?"

His tone was more serious now.

Today's test wasn't just for Garou's team. It was, in many ways, a lesson crafted for Neji.

"They can't fool him," Neji said calmly. "As a Jonin, Kakashi's perception is leagues above ours. Basic traps would be a waste of effort."

Lee nodded beside him, fists clenched, as if to say I understand too.

Guy chuckled, pleased. "Correct. Analyzing both sides and choosing the most fitting approach is a core ninja skill. But Neji, you've only pointed out one reason. There's another."

"Another?"

Neji frowned slightly. He had already considered Kakashi's perception, but what else could there be?

Surely, a few more traps wouldn't hurt their chances, or drain too much energy.

"They haven't eaten breakfast," Guy explained. "Their stamina's been cut in half before they even started. They're likely operating at maybe fifty percent capacity. Every bit of chakra and energy they spend matters. Their traps are designed for escape and control, not to catch him outright."

Guy pointed to the treeline with a knowing look. "Look closer. The traps aren't scattered. They're aligned and directed. These aren't random tools tossed about. They're placed along tactical fallback paths."

Neji's eyes widened. He activated his Byakugan.

In the white-tinged field of vision, he saw it.

Fine tripwires, tension lines drawn between roots. Spikes buried beneath leaves. Each one not placed to surprise Kakashi, but to channel his movement. Funnels to drive him where they wanted.

Compared to that, their earlier mock battle with Guy had been far more simplistic.

'That guy...'

His pale eyes narrowed as he focused on the still form hidden beneath the trees.

Garou Zenin.

---

Kakashi strolled casually through the dense forest, posture relaxed, his nose buried in Make-Out Paradise.

"Well, you've got patience," he said aloud, voice light. "But time is ticking. If you don't get the bells before time's up, you lose. So really, I'm not the one who should be worried."

He flipped a page with a thumb, unbothered.

Tenten's pulse was racing, hidden in the leaves. But seeing Garou remain calm, crouched low with eyes on their target, steadied her nerves.

Garou hadn't moved an inch.

Kakashi looked nonchalant, but every experienced instinct screamed; his guard was high.

If they moved prematurely, he'd counter, fast and hard.

So they waited.

'Make-Out Paradise, huh?'

Garou smirked faintly, just enough to lift one corner of his lips.

'You love your books too much, Sensei.'

He was betting on something risky.

That as the plot thickened, Kakashi's attention, while still formidable, would dip, even slightly.

And that fraction of a second might be all they needed.

Kakashi squinted subtly, his Sharingan scanning the forest.

He'd already marked one signature, Tenten. The obvious one. But the others... they were ghosts.

'Kasumi... you're good at hiding.'

'Garou... well, he's on another level entirely.'

His stealth, chakra control, and combat instinct were already beyond standard Genin level.

Tenten was bait. Kasumi was the knife in the dark.

But Garou was the storm waiting to break.

Kakashi closed his book.

The scene had just reached its juicy peak, but he had priorities.

These Genin weren't average.

Then it happened.

Kunai flew from the shadows, a hailstorm of steel. Dozens, laced together with thin, nearly invisible wires.

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly.

'Tenten... you've got some surprises after all.'

He leapt back to dodge, but the kunai didn't stop. Chakra threads shimmered in the light as the weapons twisted mid-air, redirecting.

A double-layered trap.

Each kunai slammed into another mid-flight, bouncing off to new vectors. The pattern formed a closing net, cutting off his escape paths.

His eye narrowed.

This was no simple Genin prank.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

FWOOSH!

The air howled as a fierce gust exploded outward. Trees bent, leaves scattered. The steel kunai, wires, and dust all lifted in a blinding spiral.

Vision vanished in the flurry.

"Switch!" Garou barked, his chakra already flaring.

He surged into motion.

From the earth, Kakashi burst forth, real body, not a clone, his movements fluid and predatory.

He was in front of Garou before he could finish forming his jutsu.

'So fast!'

Steel flashed. Kakashi's kunai arced toward Garou's side.

"Dancing Shadow Leaf!"

Another figure emerged, a clone, attacking from behind.

But, poof! It vanished before impact.

Garou's counterstrike had been faster than expected, a burst of chakra forming into a compact orb that detonated the clone on contact.

Watching from afar, Neji's breath caught.

Even with his Rotation, he wasn't sure he could block that kind of chakra blast in time.

'That move...'

"That's as fast as the Fourth Hokage," Guy muttered, eyes following the trail.

"Is it his jutsu?" Nami asked, awed.

"No," Lee replied, voice firm. "It just looks similar. Garou made that technique himself."

Neji's jaw clenched.

'Self-made?!'

Guy leapt to a higher vantage, anticipation crackling around him. "Come on, things are about to get intense!"

---

Kakashi's real body moved again, this time after Tenten, who was mid-leap between trees.

She had no time to dodge.

But thin strings whipped forward, chakra threads winding tight around her limbs. She was yanked sideways mid-air, just out of harm's way.

She landed hard and froze, paralyzed.

Kakashi calmly began cutting the threads.

He didn't shout. He didn't need to.

"What now? I know you're close by," he said aloud, addressing the air around him. "Maybe you've got a kekkei genkai, maybe not. But are you just going to sit there and let your teammate die?"

His tone never rose, but the edge beneath it cut deep.

"Waiting for the perfect opportunity?" he continued, stepping closer. "Even if she dies, it won't move you?"

His kunai rose.

That was when it happened.

A whisper in the wind.

A blade streaked silently toward his neck from the shadow of a vine-cloaked trunk. It was Kasumi, sword in hand, body cloaked in perfect stillness.

'Transparency Jutsu?'

'No... not quite.'

Her chakra presence was simply invisible. She'd layered the Transformation Jutsu to blend in perfectly with the foliage.

Kakashi's eyes widened.

He spun mid-air, striking her sword arm with a precise kick, redirecting the blade. The impact forced her backward, blade scraping harmlessly across bark.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Steel rang out.

Garou arrived like a thunderclap, a flurry of strikes forcing Kakashi to disengage.

'No good! He broke the genjutsu!'

The sound of jingling bells followed, and Kakashi's instincts screamed. He struck Tenten's wrist aside, snatched the bells, and vanished, replaced by a stump in a puff of smoke.

From the high branches, Kakashi crouched, breath low, sweat on his brow.

'These three... are not to be underestimated.'

Holding back? That wasn't going to work anymore.

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