Question: What do you do when your disciple is too much of a genius?
Kakashi woodenly watched Naruto continuously practicing the Rasengan. The originally unadorned blue Rasengan was gradually being infused with different elemental chakra nature transformations, producing various chemical reactions.
Kakashi quietly put away the notes he had made last night.
Although he felt a bit helpless, his heart was also filled with gratification.
Naruto truly is Sensei's son; his talent is indeed astonishing.
This way, I can also rest assured.
It was just that, as a supervising instructor, his sense of accomplishment was somewhat low.
But compared to Naruto's growth, that wasn't important.
Just then, Naruto, at the side, noticed Kakashi's somewhat defeated gaze. He dispelled the Rasengan and offered Kakashi a gentle smile:
"Kakashi-sensei, thank you very much for your meticulous teaching. Without your clear and easy-to-understand guidance, I think I might have needed several days to master this ninjutsu."
Naruto's thanks made Kakashi feel a little better.
He looked at Naruto.
A gentle breeze stirred, lifting Naruto's long, golden bangs from his forehead, revealing those azure, pure eyes.
His eyes were filled with sincere gratitude.
At that moment, Kakashi's heart suddenly felt warm.
He remembered Iruka's assessment of Naruto: "Naruto, ah, he is an existence capable of warming everyone and taking care of everyone. He is the sun for all of us."
A stable and gentle personality, with refined and tender manners.
Naruto is a ninja who has perfectly inherited the Will of Fire.
A smile appeared in Kakashi's eyes. He feigned defeat, placing a hand on his forehead, and said in a lazy, slightly exaggerated tone, "Looks like I've had a stroke of great luck, picking up such a genius disciple."
"Then I'll be in your care from now on, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto replied with a smile.
Teacher and disciple exchanged a smile; everything was understood without words.
Compared to the smooth progress on Naruto's side, Sasuke and Sakura's training seemed fraught with difficulties.
First was Sasuke.
After a simple demonstration of his ninjutsu, Kakashi identified several major problems with Sasuke.
One was that his chakra control wasn't outstanding enough.
This was understandable; children of this age were mostly impetuous. For them, fundamental skills like chakra control were uninteresting training they would avoid if they could.
Although, under Naruto's influence, Sasuke had also practiced chakra control, the results weren't very impressive.
"Let's start with tree climbing and water walking," Kakashi said calmly, pulling up his mask.
Next was Sakura.
Sakura's excellent chakra control astounded Kakashi.
But Sakura, coming from a civilian family, hadn't mastered many ninjutsu. Compared to Naruto and Sasuke, she could only be considered good in theory, but her practical combat skills were extremely lacking.
Kakashi earnestly asked for Sakura's own opinion.
The young girl's expression was somewhat lost, but soon, as if she had thought of something, her expression became firm, and she replied resolutely, "I want to learn medical ninjutsu."
"Medical ninjutsu, is it? I happen to have mastered basic medical ninjutsu." Kakashi decisively taught Sakura the application of basic medical ninjutsu.
Sakura's choice aligned with the content of the growth plan he had formulated for her last night.
All three of them began their training.
Kakashi quietly watched the harmonious scene, nodding inwardly.
Although Sasuke and Sakura had somewhat difficult personalities, their desire to become stronger was the same as Naruto's.
A team like this...
It was relatively easy to lead.
One month later.
"Kakashi-sensei, please! We're about to puke from doing D-rank missions! Can you bear to let us waste our youth on these missions?" Sakura wailed, grabbing Kakashi's arm and shaking it frantically. Unfortunately, her strength was limited; she couldn't shake Kakashi's arm off.
"Hmph, uninteresting missions. Kakashi, I want to go on missions outside the village," Sasuke said, still with his usual smug expression, not even bothering to add 'Sensei,' clearly showing his displeasure.
"Thwack." Sasuke's head was predictably knocked aside. The one who did it was Naruto.
He looked at Sasuke with a smile and said gently, "You must respect your teacher, Sasuke."
"Hmph." Knowing he was in the wrong, Sasuke's face flushed slightly, and he snorted coldly.
This team... is a bit hard to lead, Kakashi thought, a look of helplessness in his dead-fish eye as he gently freed his arm from Sakura's grasp.
He refused their request in a lazy tone, "No, you're all too impetuous right now. It's not yet time to leave the village."
"Damn it! These boring missions can't improve my strength at all! If this continues, when will I ever have the strength to find the truth, and then, knock out that man!" Sasuke punched a tree in frustration. He had thought about it very deeply during this period.
No matter what Itachi's original intentions were, he wouldn't forgive him easily.
He would knock Itachi out and make him help revive the Uchiha clan.
The glory of the Uchiha would one day shine brilliantly again.
But.
His current self was actually doing trash missions like finding pets and farming.
He had to remember, Itachi's hands were already stained with blood at this age!
Compared to him, he was like a fledgling kid who hadn't even fully grown his feathers!
"Kakashi-sensei, actually, Sasuke and Sakura's strength has more or less reached a bottleneck. It's about time they witnessed the cruelty of being a ninja," Naruto stepped forward at this moment and said softly.
"The cruelty of being a ninja? Naruto, you mean..." Kakashi narrowed his eyes, falling into deep thought.
Prior to this, Kakashi had received similar hints from the Third Hokage.
A ninja who hasn't undergone the baptism of death is ultimately a rookie.
Naruto's strength was progressing faster than expected, so there was no reason for them to deliberately hold him back.
It was time for Naruto to witness bloodshed.
However, Kakashi had ignored this hint.
In his view, a ninja squad couldn't cater to an individual.
Each member of a ninja squad was unique and irreplaceable.
Missions involving bloodshed always carried a certain degree of danger. Only when he confirmed that all members' temperament and strength had been honed to a certain level would it be the optimal time to accept such missions.
Kakashi looked at the three of them; his cute students' faces were all filled with anticipation.
Just like Obito back then.
He chuckled softly, "Since you've all said so, let's take on a mission outside the village."
"Hooray!!!" Sakura was the first to cheer.
Even the usually smug Sasuke had a look of joy in his eyes.
"However," Kakashi's voice grew heavy, "you must listen to my commands. No acting on your own!"
Soon, Kakashi accepted a D-rank mission of slightly higher difficulty.
Subjugating the bandits near YoruNegai Town.
After the Ninja World War ended, many displaced people and ninja formed small gangs, committing crimes wherever they roamed.
Their initial intention might have simply been to survive.
But as time went on, they became the very people they once feared most.
YoruNegai Town was half a day's journey from Konoha. This group of bandits was very clever; they had controlled YoruNegai Town on the same day, not allowing anyone a chance to leave.
However, despite all their calculations, they hadn't counted on a man who had left the town discovering, by chance through a special secret signal mark within the town, that his hometown had been occupied. He then rushed to Konoha to seek reinforcements.
The mission was designated D-rank, completable even by Genin.