Seeing Yoruha's reaction, Kakashi was a little surprised.
"You really are different from the others," he said with a faint smile. "Most kids would get full of themselves after hearing something like that. They'd think they're amazing and that I favor them."
"But you—there's not even a trace of pride on your face."
Kakashi hadn't expected Yoruha to be so mature.
Yoruha frowned slightly. "Feeling proud would be wrong, wouldn't it? I'm very aware of my own abilities."
"Gaining the strength of a jōnin in just half a year isn't possible, and going on missions with you is even more impossible. I'd still like to stay alive, you know."
Kakashi chuckled. "But both I and Tōichi believe you have that potential."
"Then you're both overestimating me," Yoruha said, shaking his head. "I don't have that kind of ability."
"Alright," Kakashi replied lightly, "whether you have it or not—you'll only know if you try."
He didn't dwell on the matter further. Kakashi truly believed that Yoruha could reach jōnin level within half a year.
After speaking, Kakashi took out a small white slip of paper from his ninja pouch and handed it to him.
"This is chakra paper. It can determine your chakra's nature. Try it."
Yoruha hesitated for a moment before accepting it. Kakashi didn't notice the brief flicker in his eyes—because Yoruha didn't actually want him to know that he possessed multiple chakra natures.
In the shinobi world, having more than one chakra nature was extremely rare—almost unheard of. As far as Yoruha knew, in Konoha(as of now), only Kakashi and the Third Hokage possessed multiple elements.
"Just channel your chakra into it," Kakashi said. "You'll see the result right away."
Yoruha's eyes narrowed slightly. A surge of chakra flowed into the paper in his hand.
Kakashi's gaze locked on the slip of chakra paper. He was curious—how many chakra natures did this boy have?
Most people only had one. Two was already rare. Even many jōnin had only one chakra nature; the second, if any, was usually developed later through training—and those trained ones were never as pure or strong as natural affinities.
Kakashi secretly hoped Yoruha would have lightning nature chakra—then he could teach him Chidori.
The moment Yoruha's chakra entered the paper, it reacted violently—splitting cleanly in half. Then one half became soaked with moisture, while the other crumpled into a ball. A small flame burst from part of it, burning a hole through, and the remaining fragments shattered like crushed stone into powder.
Kakashi stared, dumbstruck, words caught in his throat.
Even Yoruha was a little startled. Though he'd long known he possessed multiple chakra natures, this was the first time he had actually confirmed it for himself.
When he finally came to his senses, Kakashi looked at him in shock.
"You—you have multiple chakra natures! This… this is unbelievable!"
"It's been so many years—so many years since anyone in Konoha had more than two chakra natures!"
"Yoruha, you're destined to become a great ninja—just like the Fourth Hokage!"
Yoruha looked at Kakashi's excited face, at a loss for words.
Yes, having multiple chakra natures was rare and impressive—but Kakashi himself had them, so why was he so excited?
And comparing him to the Fourth Hokage? That was going a bit far.
Although Yoruha privately believed he would one day surpass the Fourth Hokage, right now that man was still far beyond his reach.
"Kakashi-sensei, aren't you exaggerating a bit?" he asked calmly. "Is it really that rare to have several chakra natures?"
He deliberately feigned ignorance—after all, knowledge about chakra nature combinations wasn't something a mere genin was supposed to know.
They'd studied basic chakra theory at the academy, but not the chakra test paper—let alone how to use it.
Kakashi snapped back to reality and smiled.
"You don't know—having all five chakra natures means you possess every elemental chakra there is. Tell me, isn't that something to get excited about?"
At that time, Kakashi didn't yet know much about Yin and Yang chakra, so he assumed Yoruha had all five elemental types.
He also thought Yoruha would be just as thrilled as he was.
But the boy remained perfectly calm.
"That's not bad," Yoruha said lightly. "So that means I can learn all elemental ninjutsu, right?"
Kakashi was speechless. "You don't seem even a little surprised."
Yoruha's expression didn't change; there wasn't a flicker of excitement in his eyes.
"What's there to be surprised about? I just wanted to know if I could learn all kinds of jutsu."
Kakashi shook his head with a sigh. "You really are different from other kids your age."
"But you're right—since you possess all five chakra natures, you can learn any ninjutsu based on them."
"Do you know how many people in the world can do that?"
"Judging by how excited you looked just now," Yoruha replied, "I'd guess… not many."
Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. Very few. That's why I was so shocked."
"In Konoha, as far as I know, only the Third Hokage—besides you and me—has all five chakra natures."
Yoruha chuckled. "So you have all five too, sensei? That makes sense. You are the 'Copy Ninja,' after all. Without the right chakra natures, copying others' techniques would be impossible."
Kakashi nodded. "That's right. The Sharingan lets me copy many jutsu, but not all. If I don't have the matching chakra nature, I can't reproduce them perfectly."
"And there are also forbidden techniques and kekkei genkai that can't be copied. Taijutsu, too, is difficult to mimic."
At that moment, Kakashi's tone softened. He clearly regarded Yoruha highly—he even explained the properties of the Sharingan in detail.
It wasn't exactly a secret, but it wasn't something ordinary shinobi—or certainly not a genin—would normally hear.
That alone showed how much Kakashi trusted him.
Yoruha already knew all this, of course, so he wasn't surprised.
Kakashi gave a satisfied nod and patted his shoulder.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll be putting you through the strictest training possible. You'll need to master every jutsu you should know in the shortest time."
"Be ready for it."
Yoruha nodded calmly. "That's fine by me. I'll do my best—that's all I can promise."
Kakashi smiled warmly. He was genuinely happy.
Yoruha's potential was extraordinary—like an unpolished gem, rare and precious, just waiting to be refined into a flawless jewel.