Because Ethan's attack was so fast, Naruto was not injured by the Demon Brothers' poisoned claws, so there was no need for him to bleed to remove the poison. Even so, he still could not escape Sasuke's taunts.
It was precisely this taunting that pushed Naruto to work harder. If Sasuke had not spoken up, Ethan would have considered mocking him himself to bring the plot back onto the right track.
Fortunately, Sasuke did not disappoint him.
At the same time, after discussing things with Tazuna, Kakashi decided to continue with the mission.
From Kakashi's decision, it could be inferred that the Leaf Village likely already knew about the situation in the Land of Waves. Otherwise, there would have been no need to specifically send Kakashi.
Considering the difficulty, danger, and necessity of this mission, it also made sense that Naruto and Sasuke were brought along, allowing them to undergo real training and grow faster.
Otherwise, Kakashi's decision would have been hard to explain.
In any case, Team 7 plus Ethan continued their journey toward the Land of Waves. Since the Demon Brothers had been dealt with cleanly by Ethan, Kakashi did not need to interrogate them and could only assess the situation based on the equipment they carried.
They did not gain much information, but it did not really matter. All that was needed now was confirmation that this mission would not be peaceful.
Naruto was once again full of motivation, while Sasuke remained silent.
Sakura was a little worried at first, but then she thought that Kakashi seemed like a reliable teacher, and that Ethan and Sasuke were both very strong, so perhaps there was not much danger.
Moreover, the following days were indeed very peaceful. They simply traveled every day, and no enemies appeared.
Gradually, Sakura stopped worrying. In addition, Ethan often looked as if he were on a picnic, occasionally taking out snacks to eat. Even when camping, he would grill some wild game. He even carried a full set of seasonings in his bag. Was he really on a mission, or was he on a picnic? What kind of ninja brought so many condiments along?
Kakashi also complained about this internally. He felt that Aoba's student was somewhat strange, yet he could not quite put his finger on it. Combined with Ethan's spotless background, Kakashi could not think of anything suspicious, so he put the matter aside.
It was only after spending more time together that Kakashi asked Ethan during one camping trip why he chose to use a short sword.
"Because it saves energy."
It was not strange for young people to have less strength than adults, and enemies would not show mercy just because you were a child.
"Also, I do not have much chakra, so using a weapon saves chakra as well."
Kakashi nodded. This was indeed a good choice. With Ethan's Body Flicker Technique, ordinary genin would not even have time to react before being killed.
However, was it a bit unsettling that he had already thought of these things so soon after becoming a ninja?
Kakashi was not sure how to feel about that, but in the following days, he gradually understood why Ethan was so strong.
He noticed that Ethan was almost constantly training, integrating practice into every part of daily life. For example, hunting wild game was practice in stealth, concealment, detection, shuriken use, and pursuit.
Cleaning the prey was practice in precise chakra control. Even when cooking and resting, Ethan would appropriately use Earth Release ninjutsu to create a grill and a sheltered campsite.
Kakashi watched as the originally crude and uneven grill and campsite gradually became more refined.
Hard work and diligence, combined with considerable talent, naturally led to strength.
It was not only Kakashi who noticed this. Many of Ethan's actions deeply stimulated Sasuke and Naruto. They had never imagined that training could be done this way.
"So you are strong because you practice like this all the time?"
"Before Aoba sensei became my instructor, there were not this many things I could practice."
Naruto did not understand what he meant, but Sasuke did.
Ethan's background prevented him from accessing much ninja knowledge. Everything he could learn was limited to the basic teachings of the Ninja Academy.
That was why he had only used taijutsu during their earlier sparring sessions. It was not that he did not want to use ninjutsu, but that he did not know many. Over those years, Ethan could only repeatedly practice the basics and temper his body.
"Your taijutsu was developed this way?"
"More or less."
In reality, Ethan's taijutsu was the result of countless years of combat experience combined with overwhelming physical abilities, but he was revealing it little by little.
Sasuke did not know this. He thought he had finally grasped the truth. Even geniuses needed to work hard to become strong. The biggest reason he could not compare to Ethan before was that he was far less diligent.
As for talent, Uchiha ninja were naturally more gifted than ordinary people, and Sasuke firmly believed that.
In addition, something Ethan said casually made Sasuke and Naruto realize an embarrassing fact. The large number of low level missions Kakashi had assigned before were actually meant to secretly hone their basic skills. Unfortunately, no one in Team 7 had realized this.
"But what is the use of practicing those basic skills?"
Naruto felt that knowing them was enough, and that repeated practice was completely useless.
Sasuke thought similarly, but his background and talent meant his basic skills were slightly better than Naruto's.
As for Sakura, her basics were solid, but limited by her talent and by not yet finding the right development path, she could not yet show the advantages of a strong foundation.
"Benefits…"
Ethan thought for a moment, feeling that the groundwork he had laid along the way was sufficient. It was time to demonstrate a little.
He placed one hand behind his back and quickly formed hand signs with only his right hand.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
Without touching the ground, a thick earth wall over two meters high rose directly in front of Ethan.
Single handed hand signs.
This time, it was not only Sasuke and Naruto who were shocked. Even Kakashi was stunned.
Single handed hand signs were not just a matter of basic skills. They also required talent.
Over the years, countless genius ninja had appeared in the ninja world, yet those who could perform single handed hand signs without affecting the quality of their ninjutsu were extremely rare.
Many geniuses throughout history could not do it. Single handed hand signs required not only solid fundamentals, extremely strong chakra control, and deep understanding of ninjutsu, but also outstanding ninjutsu talent.
The previous genius in the Leaf Village with this ability was Sasuke's older brother.
"Wow, that is amazing. You can use ninjutsu with just one hand?"
Naruto did not understand the deeper meaning. He simply thought it looked cool. After trying it himself, he realized he could not do it at all, not even with the most basic jutsu.
"Idiot. If single handed hand signs were that easy, why would those jonin still use both hands?"
Sasuke understood the difficulty, so he was not fixated on single handed hand signs. Instead, he focused on what Ethan was about to explain.
"Sufficiently strong basic skills allow you to cast ninjutsu faster and more accurately, make it harder to interrupt, and also save chakra. Most importantly, they allow you to learn new ninjutsu more quickly."
He also explained that excellent chakra control was the foundation for moving freely across all terrain. His explanation prompted Kakashi to begin teaching tree climbing to the students earlier than planned.
This time, they were not rushing at the last moment. The distance from the Leaf Village to the Land of Waves was not short, and the journey would not be skipped like in the anime.
By the time they reached the coast, aside from Sakura who already had solid basics, even Naruto, who had very poor chakra control, could hang upside down from a tree trunk.
This did not have a decisive impact on the upcoming battle, but the purpose of this mission was for Naruto and Sasuke to grow. Unexpectedly, Ethan's participation had achieved this effect.
From this perspective, the mission was already profitable.
Entering the Land of Waves by boat under the cover of thick fog meant they had entered enemy territory. A battle could break out at any moment.
The young ones put away their relaxed attitudes and carefully observed their surroundings.
Naruto was still easily startled and randomly threw shuriken, successfully killing a rabbit.
When Kakashi noticed that it was a snow rabbit, he immediately realized the enemy was nearby. Ethan had already detected Zabuza hiding in the shadows much earlier. After hesitating briefly, he directly drew a kunai and threw it.
He almost forgot that his persona was set to have extremely sharp senses.
Even Naruto could sense the enemy, though he was fooled by the snow rabbit substitution. There was no reason for Ethan to be worse, even if Naruto's detection was more like blind luck.
Because of Ethan's sudden attack, Zabuza could not arrogantly throw his large sword like a projectile and then step on it after it embedded itself in a tree, overlooking everyone from above.
Compared to his cool entrance in the original story, he could only stand on the ground and face them.
"Tch, I was actually discovered by a brat."
Zabuza glared at Ethan a few times, unhappy. He noticed that the brat was not even looking at him properly, instead standing with arms crossed and constantly glancing around.
When Kakashi confirmed the opponent's identity, he decisively lifted the forehead protector covering his eye, revealing his left eye that had been hidden all along.
This action also drew Zabuza's attention.
"I did not expect the Copy Ninja Kakashi to be here. Sorry, but could you hand over that old man?"
(To be continued.)