Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

Although Haruno Sakura and Naruto Uzumaki's strength had already spread widely among the higher-ranking ninjas, if Kakashi were really to be defeated by two freshly graduated students during the survival exercise to the point where he couldn't look after himself, his reputation would be ruined.

Moreover, if he claimed that Sakura and Naruto were unqualified later on, people might think he was retaliating in secret because he was beaten and didn't want them to graduate.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're really shameless, you know. You are a higher-ranking ninja, and we are just lower-ranking recruits. It's outrageous that you want to limit our abilities!" Naruto grumbled.

"Although the ranking of a ninja does represent their strength to a certain extent, it's more about the position," Kakashi explained, "and even though your comprehensive strength may be stronger than mine, from this standpoint, you are not yet true lower-ranking ninjas but merely reserves who have just graduated from the Ninja Academy. Unless you pass the higher-ranking ninja's survival exercise, you don't qualify as true ninjas and must obediently return to the academy."

"So that's the case." Naruto understood, realizing that their strength had already met the mark, but wondered what qualities were needed to become a true ninja?

Three people, two bells?

Did someone have to go back to the academy?

Naruto wasn't stupid, just a bit slow in certain aspects, and now that he was spending more time with Sakura, he had gradually developed a more contemplative way of thinking, immediately realizing that snatching the bells might not be the key.

Seeing Naruto deep in thought, Sakura nodded slightly, feeling a comforting sense of "watching the child grow" within her.

Kakashi said, "I declare that the survival exercise begins now!"

As the words fell, Kakashi's figure instantly vanished, hiding in the nearby bushes to observe Sakura and Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke disappeared along with him.

He was a regular ninja, so he also took cover.

However, he was taken aback to see Naruto and Sakura still dumbfounded in their spot and muttered, "What are those two doing? The opponent is a higher-ranking ninja!"

Although he had observed the exaggerated "special effects" of Naruto and Sakura during their academy sparring sessions, he had never seen a higher-ranking ninja in action, so he believed at the heart that Kakashi, being a higher-ranking ninja, must be stronger than Haruno Sakura and Naruto Uzumaki. He took Kakashi's earlier humility as just modesty.

Now, however, those two fools seemed to actually believe it.

"Maybe I'll be the one to get the bells in the end," Sasuke fantasized about the moment when Naruto and Sakura would beg him to share one of the bells with them, feeling a surge of excitement.

"Sakura, do you want to go together for lunch?" Sakura glanced at the slowly rising sun in the east and suddenly asked.

"No problem."

With Sakura inviting, how could he possibly refuse?

He definitely had to go!

"So, what would you like to eat then?"

"Anything's fine, as long as you like it, Sakura. I'm good with whatever."

"What do Kakashi and Sasuke like to eat?"

"I don't know, but I've seen Sasuke's brother often go to a rice dumpling stall to buy sticky rice dumplings, so he probably likes sweets."

"Is that so? Then let's go to the new restaurant my family just opened for lunch. I've learned some excellent cooking skills from a certain master."

"As long as it's made by you, Sakura, I love it."

Listening to the two chatting casually about unrelated things, Sasuke frowned deeply: "Those two are really too relaxed, aren't they?"

Hiding in the shadows, Kakashi felt a bit nauseous: "Why do I feel like Sasuke and I are superfluous?"

Uchiha Itachi, who was also hiding in the forest, nodded approvingly at Sasuke's behavior: "Not bad, as a qualified ninja, one should conceal their presence. But why has Kakashi also hidden himself? Are Naruto Uzumaki and Haruno Sakura really that powerful?"

Uchiha Itachi usually focused on completing tasks assigned by the Third Hokage and investigating members of the Akatsuki organization in Konoha, paying little attention to the Ninja Academy. M|V|LEM*PYR is the home of this chapter

Although in recent years, there had been powerful Chakra fluctuations coming from the academy and once even the clouds in the sky had been dispersed,

he had been out of the village on a mission at the time and had not seen it firsthand. So even though Sasuke had described the scene and the village ninjas had been discussing it, he remained skeptical.

He was most concerned about the information regarding the Akatsuki within Konoha Village, but unfortunately, he had found nothing over these years, and Kakashi had been very normal, almost making him think the so-called "Akatsuki" was just a fabrication by that person back then and didn't really exist.

However, Itachi eventually convinced himself that Kakashi's normalcy was just because of his prior probing and alertness, hence such behavior.

The Akatsuki must be hidden deep within Konoha!

He firmly believed it!

"Kakashi-sensei must have hidden now, right?" Naruto, unable to sense Kakashi anymore, stopped his casual conversation with Sakura and looked towards the west of the forest.

"That was just a shadow clone."

Sakura lowered her head, her fist raised high, her whole body's momentum like a majestic mountain, pressing so hard that it seemed to condense the space around her.

"The real Kakashi-sensei is here!"

Boom!

With a punch, the ground beneath her cracked, and the earth within a kilometer radius trembled, even producing waves akin to those of an ocean.

The grass and trees collapsed, the brown soil upheaved and flowed, forcing Kakashi to jump out from underground.