Chapter 549: The Long-Awaited Wilderness Survival Training
Kakashi stared in astonishment at the scene before him.
As a legendary ninja who had earned promotion to jonin faster than anyone else during wartime, Kakashi had witnessed many bizarre and even extreme situations.
However, he had never imagined that his three new students would give him such a huge surprise at their very first meeting.
Inside the otherwise quiet classroom, a pot had been placed on the podium. Steam rolled from its bubbling surface, filling the room with a rich and spicy aroma.
Naruto, Kenichi, Sasuke, and Hinata were sitting around it with bowls in their hands, happily eating hot pot.
Kakashi turned his gaze toward Kenichi.
He had heard the man's name before.
The Third Hokage had also specifically warned him about Kenichi, stating that the man should be allowed to do whatever he pleased and that no one should interfere with him.
Kakashi did not quite understand the reason behind that order.
However, as a former Anbu ninja, he knew better than to ask unnecessary questions and had obediently followed his instructions.
"You four... My first impression of you is certainly unusual."
Kakashi walked closer.
He could see the bright red broth bubbling inside the pot, with slices of meat rolling across the surface.
The aroma alone made Kakashi suddenly want to try some.
"Hehe. We waited for you for so long, Teacher, that we got hungry. So we decided to eat hot pot first."
Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The hot pot made by his big brother tasted exceptionally good.
Its only drawback was that it was rather spicy, but the burning sensation somehow made him want to continue eating.
Naruto was suffering and enjoying himself at the same time.
"Hot pot? Is it similar to sukiyaki?"
Kakashi's interest was immediately aroused.
At the same time, Kenichi casually tossed a bowl and a pair of chopsticks toward him.
Kakashi's eye narrowed as he caught them.
He glanced at Kenichi, but Hinata had already brought him a stool.
Seeing this, Kakashi walked over and sat down.
"Kakashi, hot pot is different from sukiyaki. This is beef tallow hot pot," Kenichi explained.
Strictly speaking, it should have been called Chongqing hot pot.
However, no place called Chongqing existed in the Shinobi World, so Kenichi simply referred to it as beef tallow hot pot.
Otherwise, he would have to explain why it was called Chongqing hot pot.
Was he supposed to claim that someone named Chongqing had invented it?
That would be too absurd.
The inventor could not possibly have been called Uzumaki Chongqing.
If Kakashi heard such a name, he would undoubtedly become curious.
Kenichi doubted anyone named Chongqing existed in this world.
Even if such a person did exist, there was no possible reason Kenichi would know them.
It was better not to create unnecessary trouble for himself.
"Oh, I see."
Kakashi had watched the others eat for a while.
Imitating them, he picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks. Then, just as Sasuke had done, he rolled it through the sesame dipping sauce beside the pot before placing it in his mouth.
The spicy flavor was intense, but the taste was unexpectedly excellent.
Kakashi immediately liked it.
"Since we're already eating together, let's introduce ourselves and get to know one another."
Kakashi swallowed the meat, then looked at his three students.
As for Kenichi, Kakashi chose not to concern himself with him.
More accurately, he could not concern himself with Kenichi.
If even Hokage-sama refused to interfere with the man, what could Kakashi possibly do?
Kakashi had been assigned many students before.
The Third Hokage regularly appointed him as a jonin instructor, but very few of those students had ever passed his assessment.
These three were more important than most, so he intended to handle them cautiously.
"I'll go first. I'm Kakashi. I have many hobbies. What I like and dislike are secrets. As for my dream, it's nothing particularly special."
As he spoke, Kakashi placed a black object into the pot.
He had noticed that Kenichi seemed to enjoy eating it.
Sasuke glanced at Kakashi.
Was this man truly a jonin?
Although Kakashi had spoken for quite a while, anyone listening carefully would realize that he had not actually revealed anything.
Aside from his name, they had learned absolutely nothing about him.
"I'm Hyuga Hinata... I li... I like..."
Hinata was the first student to introduce herself.
Naruto and Sasuke courteously allowed her to speak first, but Hinata could not even finish a complete sentence.
Her face rapidly turned red from embarrassment.
Kakashi silently picked up the strange black piece from the pot and placed it in his mouth.
It tasted good and was pleasantly chewy.
Was it some kind of organ?
"And... and I want to become stronger."
Hinata finally completed her introduction while nervously pressing her fingers together.
Kenichi smiled.
Little Hinata still liked Naruto.
It was rather interesting.
Kakashi showed no visible reaction after hearing her introduction, but he took another careful look at her.
Having the young lady of the Hyuga Clan on his team made matters somewhat complicated.
He wondered what the Third Hokage had been thinking.
Kakashi had originally expected Hinata to be placed with two students from other clans.
Just as the Ino-Shika-Cho formation was traditionally kept together, certain team arrangements had effectively become customs within Konoha.
Hinata would have been more appropriately assigned alongside members of two other clans, even though this young heiress appeared to have already been abandoned by her own family.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto spoke with a face full of determination.
"I like eating the delicious food my big brother cooks, and I hate washing socks! My hobby is reading manga, and my dream is to surpass the Hokage!"
Kakashi nodded.
No wonder the Third Hokage had said Naruto was a child who had inherited the Will of Fire.
However, what kind of strange dislike was washing socks?
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke's voice was gloomy.
"I hate many things. I like becoming stronger. My dream is to restore the Uchiha Clan and then kill that man."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Sasuke was still the same.
At least now he had mentioned something he liked.
Kakashi sighed inwardly.
He had initially believed Naruto and Hinata would be the troublesome students on his team.
He had never expected the Uchiha survivor to be the greatest problem.
That man?
Kakashi knew a little about whom Sasuke meant.
The Uchiha Clan Massacre had been enormous news throughout Konoha.
After all, it involved the Uchiha Clan, one of the village's two great dojutsu clans.
At the time, the incident had been one of the most widely discussed matters in the village.
"All right. We'll begin taking missions tomorrow."
Kakashi's expression became serious.
"Before that, you must pass a mission that only the four of us will participate in. It will be a wilderness survival exercise. If you fail the assessment, then I'm afraid I'll have to apologize."
Kakashi narrowed his eye.
Children, prepare yourselves.
"Kakashi, if you cook that tripe any longer, it won't taste good."
Kenichi's casual reminder instantly shattered the tense atmosphere Kakashi had deliberately created.
Kakashi glanced at the three calm children.
Were they always this fearless?
The next morning, Kenichi squatted beside the training ground.
"I feel like I'm taking part in an anime right now."
Kenichi yawned and rubbed his stomach.
He had already eaten breakfast.
He had even dragged Naruto along and made him eat as well.
Naruto had initially refused, explaining that Kakashi had warned them not to eat breakfast because they would definitely vomit later.
However, after Kenichi reminded him of Kakashi's complete disregard for punctuality, Naruto decisively chose to eat.
"What anime?"
Naruto asked curiously.
His big brother often read manga, and the two brothers occasionally discussed their thoughts and feelings about the stories they read.
"An anime called Does Any Idiot Believe the Phrase 'Don't Eat Breakfast'?"
Kenichi looked at Sasuke with a half smile.
Sasuke's expression turned cold, and he refused to speak.
He was the idiot who had not eaten breakfast.
Kenichi had warned him the previous night that he should eat something.
However, Sasuke had worried that having food in his stomach might affect his performance, so he still chose not to eat.
As a result, his stomach had already growled once.
Naruto immediately understood what his big brother meant and began laughing wildly.
Sasuke's expression became even darker.
Hinata shyly lowered her head.
It was at that moment that Kakashi finally arrived and casually greeted them with a good morning.
He brought out the same familiar two bells and explained the same strange rules.
Kenichi stretched.
This assessment had nothing to do with him.
However, Konoha still had not found the object containing his belongings, so Kenichi could only remain here and watch the familiar story unfold to pass the time.
At the same time, he continued refining and compressing the chakra within his body, hoping to break through his limits as quickly as possible.
That way, when he faced Otsutsuki Isshiki again, he would possess greater confidence.
Kenichi already understood what Kakashi's test was truly designed to assess.
The two bells and seemingly harsh conditions were only meant to determine whether his students valued their comrades.
To Kakashi, who had reached his conclusion through painful personal experience, that was the most important quality a ninja could possess.
However, passing the test too easily would be meaningless.
Kenichi also wanted to see how much Naruto had grown and whether he could cause Kakashi any trouble.
Naruto soon made his move.
After following the specialized training plan Kenichi had created for him, Naruto's physical abilities had improved tremendously.
However, his main offensive methods were still wild punches supported by the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, along with the occasional use of ninja tools.
Such methods were clearly useless against Kakashi.
Hinata bit her lip and became more serious.
However, she could not look directly at Naruto or meet his eyes.
Every time she did, her face turned red.
Sasuke continued observing from the side.
While watching Kakashi and Naruto, he also kept glancing toward Kenichi.
He did not understand why Kenichi was still squatting there.
"I want to see how much Naruto has improved."
Kenichi carefully observed Naruto's battle while recording information.
He intended to use the data to improve Naruto's future training plan more effectively.
At the same time, he could gather information about Kakashi's combat abilities in preparation for any future battle against him.
Sasuke nodded after hearing that.
He waited patiently.
When Naruto lost track of his target and was about to be struck by Kakashi's Thousand Years of Death, Sasuke suddenly attacked.
The shuriken he threw interrupted Kakashi's movement.
Kakashi turned his head.
Not only had Sasuke entered the fight, but Hinata was also rushing toward him.
Kenichi remained in the same place, holding a notebook and apparently recording something.
This left Kakashi somewhat confused.
He found Kenichi extremely difficult to understand.
The man seemed strange, mysterious, and impossible to read.
However, Kakashi quickly returned his attention to Naruto and Sasuke.
Although the two boys had barely communicated, their coordination possessed a certain natural rhythm.
Kakashi was caught off guard when Naruto's numerous Shadow Clones surrounded him and locked their arms around his body.
Without hesitation, Sasuke unleashed Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu.
If Kakashi had not used the Substitution Jutsu in advance, they might actually have taken the bells from him.
"It isn't good to fall behind your teammates."
Kakashi appeared behind Hinata.
She had been left behind on her own because she lacked coordination with Naruto and Sasuke.
Therefore, Kakashi planned to subdue Hinata first and create a weakness in their formation.
However, his supposedly certain Thousand Years of Death completely missed.
Naruto and Sasuke rushed back to support her.
Although Hinata's performance was not especially impressive, she still displayed part of her true strength.
Kakashi wanted to hide, but when he saw the Byakugan activated in Hinata's eyes, he felt somewhat troubled.
"Got you!"
Naruto charged forward excitedly and threw a shuriken.
At the same moment, Sasuke also threw one.
Kakashi turned his head.
The shuriken embedded themselves in the ground behind him.
However, Kakashi immediately noticed something strange.
The shuriken Sasuke had thrown was connected to a wire.
This technique was...
In the next moment, Sasuke opened his mouth.
A stream of fire raced along the wire attached to the kunai.
Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu!
As expected of the Uchiha Clan.
Wait!
Kakashi sharply sensed something unusual behind him.
Naruto was standing there.
Then the shuriken thrown earlier had been Naruto transformed with the Transformation Jutsu?
These two children had given him an enormous surprise.
However, such a situation was far from a dead end for a jonin.
Kakashi instantly thought of several methods to escape.
But before he could perform a ninjutsu to counterattack, he saw a foot rapidly entering his field of vision.
Kakashi immediately raised his arms to defend.
However, after he assumed his defensive stance, the foot suddenly changed direction and struck his neck from an extremely fast and unusual angle.
A heavy thud echoed across the training ground.
Kakashi's head tilted at a disturbing angle.
Then his entire body collapsed limply to the ground.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto cried out in horror.
Had Sasuke just kicked Kakashi to death?
Sasuke also froze in shock.
The wire slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
In the next second, a crack appeared beneath the place where Kakashi had fallen.
This was...
Sasuke was suddenly dragged beneath the earth, leaving only his head exposed above the ground.
Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!
"My, my. Where did you gain such extensive combat experience?"
Kakashi emerged from the ground and looked at Sasuke in surprise.
That kick had genuinely caught him somewhat off guard.
Fortunately, he had avoided making a serious mistake.
But before Kakashi could say anything else, Hinata lunged toward him.
Her Byakugan was fully activated, and her fingers rapidly struck toward the chakra points throughout Kakashi's body.
....
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