Chapter 17 Kakashi Wants to Teach Yoruha Personally
In Kihon Toichi's house.
Kakashi appeared on his balcony again.
Looking at the figure on the balcony, Kihon Toichi shook his head. "Kakashi, it's not like my house doesn't have a door."
Kakashi paid no attention to Kihon Toichi's jab.
Looking out at the moonlit night, he asked blandly, "Seems you're pretty satisfied with that kid. I've never seen you attend a dinner gathering before."
Kihon Toichi stepped onto the balcony. "Looks like you're paying quite a bit of attention to him too."
"But you should know, he's my student."
Kihon Toichi looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi smiled. "Why so tense? Are you worried I'll steal him away?"
"I am worried. That kid is far more outstanding than I expected."
"I suppose the person in the woods during the day was you."
Kihon Toichi had noticed Kakashi's presence earlier that day.
After all, Kihon Toichi had once been an Anbu Jonin. Even if he had been in the interrogation division, sensory ability was his specialty.
"Using a Shadow Clone Technique to teach your students—if they found out, they'd probably be heartbroken."
"Besides, not one of your students is simple."
Kakashi didn't mind Kihon Toichi's teasing.
"Heh, that kid's changed you a lot. The old you would never have talked like this."
Kakashi sounded a little emotional.
"Yeah. That kid made me realize that if I don't teach him well, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
Kihon Toichi didn't deny it.
Kakashi was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Kihon Toichi to admit it so directly, nor had he expected Yoruha to hold such weight in his heart.
But when he thought of Yoruha earlier that day, walking toward the waterfall without the slightest fear—even though he could have been smashed into the water at any moment—
Kakashi had to admit he envied Kihon Toichi.
"That kid's talent is even greater than mine."
Kakashi gave a bitter smile.
Kakashi had once been Konohagakure's super genius too.
He graduated from the Ninja Academy at just five, became a Chunin at six, and was already a Jonin at twelve. After that, he made a tremendous name for himself throughout the ninja world as "Sharingan Kakashi."
He was, without question, a peerless genius of the ninja world.
Even Itachi fell slightly short.
"Still not as good as you. Back when you were twelve, you were already a Jonin. Right now, he's just a rookie."
Kihon Toichi said.
"Oh, come on. If he'd had the same resources I did, he'd probably be a Jonin by now too. Those six years in the Ninja Academy held him back."
Kakashi said.
Kakashi had always felt that Yoruha hiding his talent in the Ninja Academy was unwise.
But then again, to be able at such a young age to resist vanity and hide his talent so thoroughly—
Even Kakashi couldn't have done that.
Back then, he hadn't had any reason to.
"What are you planning to teach him? Are you going to start teaching him ninjutsu already?"
Kakashi looked at Kihon Toichi.
Kihon Toichi was silent for a while.
"I still haven't decided. Honestly, I don't think my ninjutsu suits him very well."
"Most of my ninjutsu is related to interrogation. I don't want him joining Anbu in the future."
Kihon Toichi sighed. He wanted very much to teach Yoruha many powerful combat ninjutsu.
But the truth was, he didn't know any.
Other than a few basic nature-transformation techniques, he didn't know any especially powerful combat-type ninjutsu.
"I really don't know what else I'll be able to teach him after the basics."
Seeing Kihon Toichi's troubled expression, Kakashi was quiet for a moment before saying, "If you're willing, I can help."
Kihon Toichi was startled. His eyes were full of surprise as he looked at Kakashi.
"You'll help me? Aren't you afraid the Hokage will object?"
After all, the Third Hokage had entrusted Sasuke and Naruto to Kakashi so he could teach them properly.
If Kakashi diverted his attention to Yoruha, the Third Hokage would definitely have something to say about it.
"Then don't let him know. For the time being, we'll mostly be carrying out missions inside the village anyway."
"With that kid's talent, before he's even allowed to go outside the village on missions, I'm confident I can bring his ninjutsu strength up to Jonin level."
Kihon Toichi looked at Kakashi, hardly able to believe it.
He knew Kakashi probably thought highly of Yoruha.
But he hadn't expected him to go this far for him.
After all, Kakashi also had the nickname "Copy Ninja."
With the Sharingan, Kakashi had mastered thousands of ninjutsu.
Still, Kihon Toichi had hoped to be the one to teach Yoruha ninjutsu himself.
But when he thought about how, aside from a few B-rank ninjutsu, all of his A-rank techniques were related to interrogation—
There was no real use in Yoruha learning them.
"What do you want in return?"
Kihon Toichi understood very well that there was no such thing as a free feast.
"My request is simple. In the future, when we go out on missions, I may need to borrow him from time to time."
Kihon Toichi froze.
"You don't mean to take him out on dangerous missions, do you?"
Kakashi nodded. "You should know very well that no strong person is raised in a greenhouse."
"When I was twelve, I was already going on missions with the Fourth Hokage."
"He's him, and you're you. You were trained back then. No matter how gifted he is, right now he's still just a rookie fresh out of the Ninja Academy."
"How many of the missions you take are below B-rank? I don't want my student risking his life with you."
Kihon Toichi was agitated.
Kakashi was simply too unreliable.
The missions Kakashi was talking about were obviously not the kind he did with Naruto and the others.
He meant the missions he took on himself.
Kakashi was an Elite Jonin of Konohagakure—one of the strongest.
Even ordinary Jonin would be in danger following him on those missions.
Yoruha's talent might be great, but right now he didn't know any ninjutsu at all and hadn't even taken part in a real battle yet.
How could Kihon Toichi possibly agree to let him risk his life with Kakashi?
But Kakashi had his own reasoning.
"Toichi, you should understand this too. Letting him see real danger earlier will help his future growth. Honestly, he should've gone out earlier."
"Now it's even a little late."
Kihon Toichi still refused. "I won't agree to it."
"I want to take things step by step. Only when he has enough strength will I feel at ease letting him go."
Kakashi shook his head. "That's the wrong way to think. He's different from ordinary people. Taking things step by step will only make him mediocre."
"Do you want him to become an ordinary ninja?"
"But I want even less for him to die before me."
Kihon Toichi glared at him as he spoke.
He truly had taken Yoruha as his own student. Even if his way of doing things might make Yoruha mediocre in the future, he still didn't want Yoruha going on life-threatening missions with Kakashi.