The Hatake Residence
A tall, white-haired man dressed in black casual home clothes was alone in his courtyard, sharpening a blade.
With the war having come to an end, the entire shinobi world was busy licking its wounds. Even the surrounding smaller nations had settled down, leading to a significant decrease in the volume of missions. Since Hatake Kakashi hadn't received any suitable assignments, he could only remain at home by himself.
What could a twenty-eight-year-old man do at home?
In the absence of Might Guy from Konohagakure, Kakashi seemed to have become utterly idle.
Training, sharpening his blade; training, sharpening his blade.
This appeared to be the extent of Kakashi's daily routine.
Staring at the translucent edge of the blade in his hand, an emotion known as "loneliness" surfaced within his mismatched eyes—one black, one red. He instinctively covered that crimson Sharingan.
His vision was blurring...
Due to prolonged combat, participating in several battlefields in succession, and clashing with various top-tier experts, his frequency of using Kamui had been extremely high. In his encounters with the Eight-Tails and Kakuzu alone, he had used Kamui no fewer than six times.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was a power that stepped into the darkness.
At this moment, in order to maintain his combat effectiveness—and before discovering a way to resolve the Sharingan's gradual descent into darkness—picking up his former swordsmanship again seemed to be Kakashi's only choice.
He lifted the polished short blade; his own reflection was etched into the steel. Suddenly, sensing someone's arrival, Kakashi instinctively pulled his mask back up and looked toward the visitor.
"Kakashi?"
Seeing Kakashi sharpening a blade, Uchiha Sasuke was somewhat surprised.
In his memory, Kakashi had never really used a blade. Even when he taught him the White Fang's swordsmanship, he had merely given him the training scrolls and told him to ask if there was anything he didn't understand.
"Sasuke, huh? What brings you here to see me?"
Kakashi looked at his student, a rare hint of warmth appearing in his eyes.
This child was different from Obito. He was different from any other Uchiha.
"What?" Sasuke replied, hands in his pockets as he looked at Kakashi, who remained seated. "Am I not allowed to look for my teacher?"
"Well, then, my cute student, have you run into some trouble that requires your teacher to solve?" Kakashi said with a smile, seeing the boy's "act-like-I-don't-care" attitude.
Tch, this guy...
Kakashi's teasing manner annoyed Sasuke slightly, but he spoke anyway, recounting everything that had happened the previous night.
After hearing the whole story, Kakashi couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Danzō..."
Kakashi had no good feelings toward that man. The man had once used Yamato's Wood Release in an attempt to assassinate the Hokage, though fortunately, he had failed.
Furthermore...
"Sasuke, do not trust that man. He has already been corrupted by darkness."
Kakashi sheathed the short blade, which drew an extra glance from Sasuke.
"Do I look that easy to fool?" Sasuke countered.
"Of course not. After all, Sasuke is my student," Kakashi said, though his heart wasn't entirely in the words.
"How about it? Interested in a match with me?" Sasuke asked, feeling a bit eager for a challenge upon reuniting with his master. "Right now, I'm afraid even you might not be a match for me, Kakashi."
Even though he hadn't yet learned from Hikari how to incorporate technique into a rapid-fire offensive, Sasuke, having learned Lightning Style Nin-Taijutsu, was confident he could beat Kakashi.
After all, in Sasuke's impression, Kakashi had always been that "ordinary Jonin" who could only go all-out for three minutes and ended up in a stalemate with Zabuza Momochi.
At this moment, Sasuke possessed not only Lightning Style Nin-Taijutsu but also the Mangekyo Sharingan and the White Fang's swordsmanship. Even without using the Mangekyo, Sasuke was confident he would win.
Kakashi looked at the confident Sasuke, then back at the whetstone in front of him.
"It seems I've really been underestimated by my student."
"But fine. A student's youthful arrogance is exactly what a teacher like me needs to grind down."
Kakashi stood up slowly and, for the first time in front of Sasuke, drew his blade.
"That blade is decent, but it's just an ordinary ninja tool. Do you want me to go to the Ninja Cat Clan and order a custom one for you later?" Sasuke asked, drawing his own long blade from his waist.
"Instead of forging a new one, I have a broken blade at home. If you can, help me get it repaired." Kakashi thought of the White Fang left to him by his father, which had snapped during the Third Shinobi World War. Taking this opportunity to reforging the White Fang was a good choice.
"Small matter."
Sasuke lowered his stance slightly, his lips curling with a fighting spirit, his eyes burning as he looked at the man before him.
Then, Sasuke charged.
Then, a blade was pressed against Sasuke's neck.
"Well, looks like I win, eh?"
Kakashi's eyes curved into crescents as he smiled at the indignant boy.
"Hmph. A win is a win, what's there to be proud of?" Sasuke spat, sheathing his sword.
"While it's a great sense of accomplishment for a teacher to be surpassed by his student, if I were surpassed that easily, wouldn't it make me look too incompetent?"
Kakashi ruffled Sasuke's hair, feeling a bit sentimental.
Of his three students, only Sasuke had truly inherited his mantle in the end. It wasn't that Kakashi was unwilling to teach the others; it was simply that Haruno Sakura and Naruto's styles didn't suit him at all.
Besides, with those two, he never really had the chance to teach them...
Naruto, being the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, had an amount of chakra that Kakashi couldn't even dream of matching. This predestined that Kakashi's combat style was completely unsuitable for Naruto.
As for Sakura...
Forget it.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my patreon:
pat reon .com/yuuwand