In Sakura's mind, Naruto wasn't exactly someone with good social skills.
Kimoto Tōichi simply gave Kakashi a brief glance and a slight nod — a silent greeting — before leading his three students away.
Kakashi's gaze left Kimoto Tōichi feeling a bit speechless.
He thought to himself, "Is Kakashi keeping an eye on Yoruha?"
He assumed Kakashi's interest came from Yoruha hiding his true strength.
If he knew Kakashi was actually jealous of him instead, Kimoto Tōichi might have been a lot more cautious — after all, everyone wanted a promising student.
After Yoruha's team departed, Sakura turned to Kakashi, puzzled.
"Kakashi-sensei, who was that guy?"
She had noticed that Kakashi's eyes had been fixed on Yoruha the entire time and assumed the two must know each other well.
Kakashi turned his head and replied calmly,
"Just a very interesting kid. Alright, let's head inside."
He clearly didn't want to explain any further.
From the moment they met, Sasuke had already begun to feel a faint pressure from Yoruha — a sensation he had never experienced before.
Back at the Academy, Sasuke had always been the top of his class, never paying attention to anyone else.
There had never been a classmate capable of making him feel pressured.
Yet after just one brief encounter, he couldn't help but sense that Yoruha might one day become his rival.
Kakashi stayed silent, but Naruto, ever cheerful, laughed and said to Sakura,
"That was Team Eleven! The guy who's almost as good-looking as me — his name's Yoruha. He's my friend!"
Even though they had only just met not long ago, Naruto already considered Yoruha his friend.
He didn't seem to notice Yoruha's distant attitude toward him at all.
Hearing this, Sakura shot him a sharp glare.
"Idiot Naruto, don't you think you're being a bit full of yourself?"
In Sakura's eyes, Yoruha's looks were on par with Sasuke's — maybe even slightly better.
If it weren't for Sasuke's special place in her heart, she might have actually thought Yoruha was the more handsome of the two.
---
Meanwhile, Yoruha and his teammates had arrived at the back mountains of Konoha.
Before them was a massive waterfall.
Yamada Jumoku and Motonoya Toko both looked miserable.
"Sensei, why did we have to take this kind of mission? And the trash is all down there, under the waterfall! How are we supposed to clean that up?"
Their mission was to clean up the trash in the lake behind Konoha.
Since they were only genin, there was no way they'd be given any combat missions yet.
Still, the task looked daunting — the waterfall before them was about forty to fifty meters high, and the flow of water was fast and fierce.
Just thinking about trying to clean up the garbage at the bottom made their heads ache.
Kimoto Tōichi said impassively,
"Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to use chakra to walk on water without sinking."
The moment they heard that, the two who'd been pouting instantly perked up again.
"Really, Sensei? You're going to teach us a jutsu?"
Yoruha glanced at Kimoto Tōichi — and saw that the man was already looking back at him.
"Water walking, huh? It's basic, but a very useful skill."
Though it was simple, Yoruha had never learned it before.
His previous talent had been rather ordinary, so he hadn't trained in that area.
Now, however, he was genuinely interested.
Seeing Yoruha's expression of curiosity, Kimoto Tōichi smiled slightly.
"Come with me to the lakeside. I'll give you a demonstration."
They followed him to the water's edge, where the current was calm and far from the waterfall — an ideal spot for practice.
Kimoto Tōichi extended one foot and slowly placed it on the water's surface.
"Watch carefully," he said.
"When your foot touches the surface, focus your chakra and let it flow beneath your soles."
"Control the amount precisely — use just enough chakra to support your body weight. Too much or too little, and it won't work."
"That level of control is something you'll have to master through practice."
As he spoke, Kimoto Tōichi was already standing firmly on the water, perfectly balanced — as if he were simply standing on solid ground.
The sight left both Yamada Jumoku and Motonoya Toko stunned.
"Whoa! Sensei, you're standing on the water without falling in!"
"That's incredible!"
Neither of them came from ninja families, so they had never seen such a technique before.
Even Yoruha, watching his teacher stand so steadily on the water, felt a sense of amazement.
It was one thing to imagine it, but witnessing it in person was another matter entirely.
Unable to resist, Yamada Jumoku was the first to try.
He walked carefully to the edge, concentrating his chakra beneath his feet.
Though Kimoto Tōichi had explained the principle clearly, Jumoku was still nervous.
He took a cautious step forward — and the moment he put weight on his foot, he lost balance and plunged straight into the water with a loud splash.
"Ugh, this is harder than I thought! Sensei, how did you make it look so easy?"
Dripping wet, he climbed out of the lake, rubbing his hair in embarrassment.
Motonoya Toko, who had been about to try herself, froze when she saw his sorry state.
"Is it really that hard? It looked simple when Sensei did it — and the idea doesn't seem that complicated," she said, staring at the water.
From the shore, the drenched Yamada Jumoku sighed bitterly.
"It's impossible! The explanation sounds simple, but controlling the exact amount of chakra is extremely difficult."
Kimoto Tōichi nodded approvingly.
"Correct. You may have failed, but you've grasped the core of the technique."
"The key is maintaining the right chakra output — precise control is everything. That's not something I can teach you directly; you'll have to train and discover it on your own."
Yamada Jumoku nodded glumly.
"It's too hard… I think it'll take me a long time to get it."
He sighed again.
"I couldn't even feel a single moment where I was actually standing on the water. It felt no different from not using chakra at all."
"Sensei, how long did it take you to learn this technique?"
He was genuinely curious — after all, Kimoto Tōichi was a jōnin, and jōnin were usually geniuses from a young age.
To become a jōnin meant reaching the top combat tier of the village — even among the Five Great Ninja Villages, there weren't many of them. Each was an elite in their own right.
Kimoto Tōichi answered calmly,
"Two days."
"Two days?! Even you needed two days? Then it'll probably take us more than ten!"
Though his talent wasn't exceptional, Yamada Jumoku understood ninja theory well enough — and he knew his ability couldn't compare to that of a jōnin.
Motonoya Toko, who had been preparing to try, immediately pulled her foot back when she heard that.
Her talent was about the same as Jumoku's, after all.
"Sensei, then… what about the trash?" she asked, pointing toward the pile of debris beneath the raging waterfall.
Just looking at the roaring cascade and feeling its sheer force made her hesitate.
A drop that high — forty or fifty meters — could easily crush a person under its impact.
Kimoto Tōichi shook his head.
"That's for you to figure out. That's the purpose of this mission — to make you think.
If you can't handle something this simple, how do you expect to survive when facing a real enemy?"
---
Currently at chapter 200 for advance chapters
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