"It's over."
"The food we eat from now on is going to taste terrible…"
After dinner, Akimichi Chōza leaned back in his chair, one hand resting on his round stomach. His face carried the helpless look of a man who had just experienced happiness and regret at the same time.
The other jōnin commanders silently nodded in agreement.
They had never eaten anything that delicious before.
No—calling it "delicious" almost felt disrespectful.
That meal was art.
Even Kushina, who had already tasted Yagami's cooking once before, was still savoring the aftertaste.
But unlike the others, she did not look troubled.
After all, she was Yagami's woman.
As long as she wanted to eat it, Yagami definitely would not refuse her.
"I didn't expect the captain to be this good at cooking…"
"Kakashi, how many times have you eaten food like this?"
Tekuno, who was sitting beside Kakashi, muttered with resentment while licking the plate in his hand.
He regretted it now.
He really regretted going back to the village to report the mission.
Compared to this kind of food, what did a mission even matter?
"I… this was my first time too."
Kakashi looked at Tekuno licking the plate, then quietly swallowed.
Honestly, he wanted to do the same.
But with so many people around, he still had some shame left.
So he could only watch helplessly as Tekuno shamelessly took every plate from their table and cleaned them one by one.
"Alright, the gathering ends here."
"Everyone, go back and get some rest."
After satisfying his own appetite, Yagami stood up and spoke lazily.
Then he left with Kushina, Kakashi, and Tekuno.
The others wanted to ask if there would be another dinner like this in the future.
But none of them could bring themselves to say it.
Yagami was the commander of the army.
He was not a cook from the logistics unit.
So the jōnin commanders could only watch the four of them leave with longing eyes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out continuously beneath the shade of a tree.
Kakashi held a black blade in both hands, launching one attack after another at Yagami.
Yagami, meanwhile, only held a small branch.
Yet with that single branch, he easily received every one of Kakashi's strikes.
"Your speed still isn't enough, Kakashi."
"And don't get too caught up in the angle of your attacks or the exact form of each movement."
"If a swing feels natural to you, then use it. Don't force yourself to copy my movements."
Yagami blocked Kakashi's attacks while calmly correcting him.
Imitating another person's sword style was not easy.
Everyone had different habits. If someone forced themselves to perform movements that did not suit them, their body would gradually become stiff and restricted.
Yagami did not want Kakashi to take the wrong path.
Otherwise, once those habits settled in, changing them later would be difficult.
"Understood, Yagami-sensei!"
Sweat dripped down Kakashi's forehead.
But he did not look tired.
If anything, his eyes were brighter than before.
Ever since the war began, Yagami rarely had time to personally train him.
That was why Kakashi treasured every chance he got.
And only when facing Yagami could he attack without holding back.
The difference in strength between them was simply too large.
Kakashi knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would never hurt Yagami.
Because of that, every sparring session with Yagami brought him clear improvement.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Under Yagami's guidance, Kakashi's sword swings became faster and faster.
At the same time, his unnecessary movements gradually disappeared.
Even so, his rhythm did not fall apart.
That made Yagami quite satisfied.
Although he had started teaching Kakashi from the basics, Kakashi already had a foundation because of his father.
So teaching him was smooth and comfortable.
There was no sense of difficulty at all.
"Alright. Let's stop here for now."
After defending against Kakashi's full-force assault for three minutes, Yagami finally called a stop.
At this point, Kakashi's close-combat ability was already approaching jōnin level.
However, because of his age and physical limits, this was about as far as he could push himself for now.
Continuing the sparring would not help him break through that wall immediately.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Once Yagami called for a stop, Kakashi slowly lowered his blade and caught his breath.
Then his eyes fell on the branch in Yagami's hand.
It was completely intact.
Kakashi felt a strange sense of unreality.
That branch had taken every one of his attacks, yet there was not even a nick on it.
At the same time, it made him once again realize just how enormous the gap between him and his teacher still was.
"Kakashi."
"Because of your age and physique, your strength has reached a temporary limit."
"If you want to improve faster from here, I suggest you either strengthen your body first or start working more seriously on ninjutsu."
Yagami looked at the panting Kakashi and gave his advice.
Swordsmanship was something that required time and persistence.
If possible, Yagami did not want Kakashi to cling to only one path too early.
If he developed other skills and combined them with swordsmanship, they would support each other instead.
Just like the future Kakashi he had met in Loulan.
Although that Kakashi could already release sword slashes several meters high at will, he still used Lightning Style chakra to enhance his blade and increase its power.
If someone had no other choice, focusing everything on one path was not wrong.
But since Kakashi had the talent and conditions to grow in several directions, Yagami felt it was better for him to develop multiple skills and then fuse them together.
"Yes, Yagami-sensei!"
Kakashi immediately answered after hearing his words.
The three minutes of attacking Yagami with everything he had also made Kakashi feel the gap between willpower and actual stamina.
"Good. Then I'll teach you a Lightning Style ninjutsu."
Seeing Kakashi accept the suggestion, Yagami suddenly smiled.
The Lightning Style technique he planned to teach Kakashi was, of course, the original Raikiri that Kakashi himself would develop in the future.
Although Yagami did not know Lightning Style himself, he still remembered the hand seals for the technique.
Besides, this technique was originally developed by Kakashi after drawing inspiration from the Rasengan.
So teaching it to him should not be too difficult.
And even if that did not work, Yagami could use the Thunder Fruit to demonstrate something close to Raikiri for him.
"Yes! Yagami-sensei!"
When Kakashi heard that Yagami was going to teach him ninjutsu, his eyes immediately lit up.
After all, every technique Yagami used on the battlefield was terrifyingly powerful.
So even if Yagami only taught him something casually, Kakashi believed its level and power definitely would not be low.
"Kakashi really is lucky, being able to take Captain Yagami as his teacher."
Several dozen meters away, Tekuno rested beneath the shade of a tree and looked at Kakashi with envy.
"Kakashi sure got lucky," Tekuno said quietly. "If Captain Yagami keeps training him like that… he's going to become something terrifying."
"Weren't you on the same team before?"
"Then why did Kakashi become Yagami's student, but you never asked him?"
Hearing the envy in Tekuno's voice, Kushina, who was also resting in the shade, could not help smiling as she asked.
"Uh… I'll pass."
"What I'm best at is using ninja tools and traps."
Tekuno gave a helpless smile after hearing Kushina's question.
There was another reason he did not say aloud.
In his eyes, someone as powerful as the captain should only teach a genius like Kakashi.
Someone like him probably did not have that qualification.
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