That night, Kimoto Dōichi suddenly opened his eyes at home and looked toward the balcony.
In a cold voice, he said, "Captain… it seems you've already heard about that child."
The moment he finished speaking, a figure appeared on the balcony.
"I didn't expect you to leave ANBU and become a jonin instructor, Dōichi."
The man's voice was calm.
Under the moonlight, his figure became clear.
If Naruto and the others were here, they would immediately shout, "Kakashi-sensei!"
The man standing on the balcony was none other than Hatake Kakashi, the instructor of Team Seven.
Hearing him, Dōichi walked over and leaned against the railing, gazing at the moonlit sky.
"And didn't you leave as well?" he said lightly. "After staying in the darkness too long, it's not bad to step into the sunlight once in a while."
Kakashi watched him quietly.
"It seems you're quite satisfied with that child."
"I am," Dōichi admitted. "A very outstanding little guy."
Thinking back to Yoru's performance that day, he rarely allowed himself a smile.
But Kakashi's expression was grave.
"You should know he may not be as simple as he appears."
Dōichi turned to look at him and spoke after a moment of silence.
"In my view, he's just a kid who doesn't like drawing attention. Nothing more."
"If he truly had ulterior motives, I wouldn't have been able to probe him so easily."
"You of all people should understand that, Kakashi."
Kakashi paused.
It was true.
If Yoru harbored ill intent, he wouldn't have revealed himself so plainly during the test.
"Even so," Kakashi said, "it's better to remain cautious."
Dōichi chuckled. "Don't you trust my judgment? I used to be in the interrogation division."
"I could tell at first glance—he simply dislikes being conspicuous."
"He's different from you. At his age, you probably enjoyed being praised."
Kakashi coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed.
Before Rin's death, he had been nothing like his current quiet self.
After a long pause, Kakashi said, "Regardless, I'll keep an eye on him. If anything unusual happens, I'll intervene."
He hadn't wanted to say that.
After all, Yoru was Dōichi's student. Saying so was practically declaring he would interfere.
Most people would take offense.
But Dōichi remained calm.
"Do as you like. If that child ever becomes a threat to the village, I'll personally eliminate him."
"But until then, he's my student."
"And I intend to train him into someone who protects the village."
Though stern during the day, Dōichi was genuinely pleased with Yoru.
Originally, he hadn't planned to invest much effort in teaching.
But Yoru had changed that.
In Dōichi's eyes, Yoru was a genius—and a remarkably stable one.
After hearing that, Kakashi said no more.
He understood Dōichi's character well.
Though not among the strongest in ANBU, Dōichi's meticulous and cautious nature made him one of the least likely to overlook a threat.
Still—
Kakashi was curious.
After leaving Dōichi's home, Kakashi made his way to Yoru's residence.
For someone of Kakashi's position, obtaining Yoru's records had been effortless.
He appeared silently on the balcony.
Inside, Yoru was already asleep.
There was no way he could detect Kakashi's presence.
Even though Yoru's chakra reserves were now approaching Kakashi's in quantity—
That was quantity alone.
In experience and ninjutsu mastery, he had no chance against Kakashi.
At best, Yoru's combat strength currently hovered around upper genin—perhaps able to contend briefly with an average chunin.
He was nowhere near sensing an elite jonin like Kakashi.
Standing on the balcony, Kakashi watched the sleeping boy for a moment.
Then he lifted his forehead protector.
His Sharingan was revealed.
The three tomoe spun slowly within the crimson eye.
In an instant, he saw it—
The chakra flowing through Yoru's body.
And then—
Kakashi froze.
"W-What is this…?"
He nearly lost his footing.
The sheer volume of chakra surging within Yoru was staggering.
"This level of chakra… how can a twelve-year-old possess something like this?"
Naruto's chakra reserves were still far greater—hundreds of times larger than Yoru's.
But Naruto was a special case.
He carried the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan.
He was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
Even the small portion of Kurama's chakra leaking from the Eight Trigrams Seal pushed Naruto's reserves to absurd levels.
But Yoru—
His parents weren't from a ninja clan.
There was no Uzumaki blood.
No tailed beast.
Yet his chakra volume was already—
"At least sixty percent of mine," Kakashi muttered.
"And around twenty times Sasuke's."
Sasuke's chakra was already extraordinary.
An Uchiha.
The reincarnation of Indra.
Even among his peers, Sasuke's reserves far surpassed ordinary students.
He could already perform Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique—something most genin couldn't sustain.
Yet compared to Yoru—
It wasn't even close.
Not slightly more.
Not double.
Twenty times.
Before seeing this with his own eyes, Kakashi had thought Yoru might simply be a quiet genius.
Now—
Even calling him a genius felt insufficient.
His chakra reserves made no sense.
There was no logical explanation.
But as Kakashi observed more closely—
His eyes widened again.
"No… it's not just the quantity."
"The quality of his chakra… it's different."
"This isn't ordinary chakra."
What Kakashi didn't know—
The chakra circulating through Yoru's body was formed from condensed natural energy.
It wasn't ordinary chakra at all.
If Jiraiya were here, he would have recognized it instantly.
Senjutsu chakra.
Yoru's system-enhanced body was naturally condensing natural energy into chakra.
And unlike imperfect Sage Mode—
His body showed no distortion.
Instead, it was being nourished.
Gradually—
It was evolving closer and closer toward a Sage Body.
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