Phantom Flicker!

Three hours prior to the explosion:

Naruto still looked like he was personally offended by the concept of a Jonin hunting them down like prey, but Sasuke had already moved past his moment of existential dread and was back to being his usual brooding self.

Which was fine. Perfect, actually. Because that meant Sakura had all of their attention.

She cracked her knuckles in a way that made it sound cool, but in reality, it just really hurt her fingers. Whatever. Worth it.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+6 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Committing to the Bit.)

"We should trap the entire training field," she said smoothly, stretching her arms like this was just a casual suggestion and not a massive undertaking.

Naruto and Sasuke stared.

"…What?" Sasuke asked, sounding like he was almost regretting listening to her.

Sakura smiled. That was a good sign. That meant he was invested.

"We have time," she said. "A lot of time, actually."

Naruto's brain finally caught up. "Oh! Because Kakashi-sensei's late!"

Sakura nodded, crossing her arms. "Not just late. Extremely late."

Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And you know this how?"

Sakura very dramatically pulled out a tiny notebook, flipping it open with a completely unnecessary flick of the wrist.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+8 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Making Basic Movements Look Like a Secret Agent Move.)

"I asked around," she said. "Did a little research. You know, actual preparation." She shot Sasuke a look.

Sasuke scowled. "Tch."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+5 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Making Sasuke 'Tch' in Annoyance.)

Sakura turned back to her notes. "Kakashi Hatake is never on time. Ever."

Naruto blinked. "Like, never never?"

Sakura nodded. "Never. The earliest anyone has seen him show up for something on time was exactly one hour late. And that was for a meeting with the Hokage."

Naruto whistled. "That's dedication."

Sasuke exhaled sharply. "So what? We use that time to set up traps?"

Sakura's smirk widened. "Exactly."

Naruto's face lit up. "OH. OH! LIKE PRANKS?!"

Sakura tilted her head just slightly. "Pranks… with intent."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+10 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Making Sabotage Sound Elegant.)

Naruto gasped. "I LIKE THIS PLAN."

Sasuke, to his credit, was clearly thinking about it.

"We won't have time to set up anything complicated," he said. "And if he's really S-Class, he'll see them coming."

Sakura hummed, flipping another page in her notebook purely for dramatic effect.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+6 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Flipping Pages Like a Mastermind.)

"We don't need to catch him," she said smoothly. "Just slow him down."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, but not in a dismissive way. More like… he was actually considering it.

Good. Good.

"Besides," Sakura added, flipping the notebook shut with a perfect one-handed move, "it'll buy us time to figure out his weaknesses."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+7 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Closing a Notebook Like a Movie Villain.)

Naruto fist-pumped. "YEAH! TRAPS!"

Sasuke exhaled, rubbing his temple like he was already so done with this conversation. But… he didn't argue.

Which meant he was in.

Sakura smiled. Perfect.

***

3 seconds after the explosion

Sakura, crouched low in the bushes, watched the aftermath of the explosion with sharp, calculating eyes.

Smoke curled lazily in the air. The dirt where Kakashi had stepped was now a respectable crater.

Naruto was still pressed flat against the ground, fingers digging into the soil like he was trying to merge with it. 

Sasuke, slightly above them in the trees, was watching the scene with intense scrutiny.

Sakura, on the other hand, was doing mental calculations.

That was the first explosion.

Kakashi had tanked it like it was a light breeze. Not even a stumble. But his eye? Oh, his eye had twitched.

That was progress.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+10 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Pissing Off an S-Class Shinobi.)

Sakura smirked.

Then Kakashi moved.

No hesitation. No drawn-out sigh. No casual, lazy stroll.

One second, he was standing in the clearing. The next, he was gone.

Naruto made a high-pitched wheezing noise. "D-Did he just—?"

*BOOM*

Another explosion rocked the ground somewhere off to the right.

Naruto yelped and ducked. "HE'S HITTING ALL OF THEM!"

Sasuke's eyes flickered in the direction of the blast. "...Not all of them."

Sakura grinned. "He's trying to bait us out."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+8 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Maintaining Unshakable Composure While Facing Certain Doom.)

A fourth explosion. Closer this time.

The bushes rustled.

All three of them froze.

Sakura exhaled slowly. "We need to move."

Naruto gulped. "Where?"

Sasuke's eyes darted toward the deeper part of the training ground. "We retreat. Regroup. Set up countermeasures."

Sakura smirked. Good answer.

Then…

A shadow loomed over them.

And a calm, utterly smug voice drawled…

"Yo."

All three heads snapped upward.

Kakashi stood on the branch above them, arms crossed, staring down like a disappointed babysitter who had just caught three toddlers setting fire to the couch.

His vest was dustier than before. A few singed leaf fragments clung to his shoulder. His eye—oh, his eye was narrowed.

"…I see," he said. "So this is how you want to play it."

Sakura felt her heartbeat spike.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+12 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Getting Personally Targeted by an S-Class Shinobi.)

For a moment, there was silence. The kind that stretched on too long. The kind that made it very clear that Kakashi was about to make their lives hell.

And then the silence shattered.

"NOW!" Sakura barked.

The world exploded into chaos.

Naruto slammed his hands together. "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

*POOF*

The entire clearing flooded with Narutos. But not just any Narutos.

Sakura felt the rush of chakra as every single one of them transformed into either her or Sasuke. Dozens. Hundreds. An entire army.

It was a beautiful sight.

Kakashi's visible eye flicked across the battlefield. He didn't move. Didn't attack. He just watched.

Sakura held her breath. He was analyzing. Calculating. Looking for a flaw.

And then…

He looked straight at her.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+10 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Outshining Your Own Clones.)

Sakura didn't even have time to curse.

Kakashi moved.

Fast.

One moment he was perched on the branch, calm, calculating, untouchable.

The next—

He was right in front of her.

Sakura barely managed to leap backward as his hand lashed out—too fast, too precise—aiming to snag her before she could vanish into the chaos.

But she was ready.

With a flick of her wrist, three senbon shot directly at his blind spot.

Kakashi twisted… a hair too late. The senbon zipped past his mask, forcing him to shift his balance—

Click.

Another trap triggered.

A rope snapped.

From the trees above, a log wrapped in explosive tags came hurtling toward him.

Kakashi's eye narrowed. He sidestepped—

Sakura was already throwing again.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+9 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Senbon Spam.)

Kakashi's hands blurred. A kunai flashed in the air, deflecting every single needle.

But Sakura didn't stop.

Another handful.

Then another.

And another.

By the time Kakashi finished dealing with one volley, the next was already upon him.

For the first time since the fight began, Kakashi took a step back.

And that was all she needed.

Phantom Flicker.

The world warped.

For a split second, Kakashi's eye widened.

Because where Sakura should have been… there was only a flickering afterimage. 

Had that been pure speed? With a clone left behind for a half-second?

The familiar rush of smoke from a body flicker wasn't present… was her Chakra control already at such an advanced level?

Ding!

[Aura System]

+25 AP gained.

(Farming Method: Bamboozling an S-Class Shinobi.)

Kakashi's head snapped up, tracking her new position—

But Sakura was already gone.

For the first time, he actually looked impressed.

"…Huh."

Then, a pause.

Kakashi tilted his head, looking at the hundreds of transformed clones still surrounding him.

"...Well."

He sighed.

"This is going to be annoying."

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