Chapter 36: He Actually Dared to Confront the Third Hokage!
When he heard Kakashi's request, the Third Hokage's expression tightened slightly, and he said nothing for a long time.
The atmosphere in the entire office turned incomparably cold.
But aside from Kakashi and the Third Hokage, no one knew what exactly was happening.
And none of them dared speak.
Even Naruto could feel the oppressive atmosphere at this moment.
Sasuke looked at Kakashi thoughtfully.
After a long while, the Third Hokage finally took a puff of his pipe and slowly said, "If that's the case, your team will have four people."
"It's just one extra person."
Kakashi did not yield in the slightest.
"Kakashi, if anything happens to him, you'll be the one responsible."
The Third Hokage's tone was stern.
Kakashi still did not back down. "I'll take responsibility."
Unexpectedly, the Third Hokage, who had looked so serious just now, smiled. "It seems that child Yoruha is quite lucky."
In truth, just now the Third Hokage had been testing how close Kakashi and Yoruha really were.
To his surprise, Kakashi, who had always been so withdrawn, was actually protective of Yoruha to this extent.
He had nearly come into direct conflict with him.
The Third Hokage did not feel threatened. On the contrary, he was pleased.
He knew Kakashi's character very well. Since Kakashi valued someone this much, there absolutely wouldn't be any problem with that person.
Kakashi looked at the Third Hokage, and the Third Hokage nodded. "Looks like one more person will have to share your mission pay."
Kakashi let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."
The Third Hokage nodded. "Go bring him along."
Kakashi nodded to the Third Hokage, then left with Naruto and the other two.
After Kakashi and the others left, Iruka finally dared to ask, "Lord Hokage, that Yoruha Jonin Kakashi mentioned just now... could it be the Yoruha who graduated this year?"
The Third Hokage nodded.
Iruka was very puzzled. Yoruha shouldn't have been important enough to create that kind of tense atmosphere between those two, should he?
That kind of atmosphere was something Iruka had never experienced before.
One of them was currently the strongest among the village's Jonin, and the other was the Hokage, the person with the highest status and authority in Konohagakure.
Kakashi had always given him the impression of being mature and rational.
How could he confront the Third Hokage to that extent?
And what had Yoruha done to cause that kind of opposition between Kakashi and the Third Hokage?
"Lord Hokage, what exactly did Yoruha do? You don't seem very satisfied with him."
The Third Hokage glanced at Iruka. "I'm not dissatisfied with him."
Iruka said nothing, but his eyes clearly showed he didn't believe that.
The Third Hokage did not explain any further either.
Seeing that the Third Hokage wasn't explaining, Iruka cautiously asked, "Isn't Yoruha under Jonin Kihon Toichi's guidance? Why would Jonin Kakashi ask to take him along?"
The Third Hokage replied flatly, "Iruka, there's no need for you to dig into that matter."
Seeing the Third Hokage's expression, no matter how much Iruka wanted to ask, he no longer dared.
After they came out of the Hokage building, Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Kakashi-sensei, why did it look like you and the old man Hokage were almost about to fight just now?"
Naruto's words were something Sakura and Sasuke agreed with completely. They both wanted to know too.
They hadn't dared ask under that kind of atmosphere just now.
And Sasuke felt that maybe Yoruha wasn't so simple after all.
Kakashi looked at Naruto and had no intention of telling him.
He only said, "You saw it wrong."
Naruto curled his lip. "Kakashi-sensei, do you think I'm stupid?"
"With that kind of atmosphere just now, you were practically about to start fighting, and you're still saying I saw it wrong."
"And why do you want to take Yoruha along?"
"You're our teacher."
Naruto was a little unhappy.
After all, Yoruha wasn't in their class.
Kakashi had deliberately pulled Yoruha over, making it seem like he didn't trust their abilities at all.
But Sasuke didn't think that way. He felt that Yoruha probably wasn't as mediocre as he appeared, and Kakashi knew the truth about him.
Most importantly, Kakashi might have an unusual relationship with Yoruha.
Otherwise, how could Kakashi have confronted the Third Hokage for Yoruha's sake?
The thought made him feel a little sour.
Kakashi was, after all, their supervising Jonin.
And yet just now, for the sake of a ninja from another class, he had confronted the Third Hokage to that extent.
Sasuke felt that in Kakashi's heart, the three of them were probably not even as important as Yoruha.
When Sasuke wasn't spending every waking moment thinking about revenge, he was actually just a somewhat prideful teenage boy.
After hearing Naruto's words, Kakashi thought for a moment, then said, "Yoruha has also taken me as his teacher. He counts as my student too."
Hearing that, all three of them were stunned. "What?! Yoruha took you as his teacher?"
None of the three could quite believe it.
Though they all complained about Kakashi from time to time, that was only with their mouths.
In truth, when he had tested them at the training ground, they had already acknowledged Kakashi's strength.
And over the past few days, after hearing Shikamaru and the others talk about him, the three of them also understood clearly that Kakashi was one of the strongest Jonin in Konohagakure.
For that reason, even though they didn't say it out loud, they were actually rather proud of it.
But now Kakashi had actually said that Yoruha had also taken him as a teacher.
And judging by how much Kakashi valued Yoruha, maybe Kakashi had even taught him quite a lot of ninjutsu.
The moment they thought of that, all three of them felt a little unbalanced.
Naruto even shouted directly, "Ah, that guy Yoruha is way too sly! Kakashi-sensei, you must've taught him a bunch of ninjutsu, right?"
"You haven't even taught us any yet. Damn it."
Sakura and Sasuke said nothing, but both looked displeased.
Kakashi, however, remained calm and said blandly, "I haven't taught him any ninjutsu."
"I got to know him much later than I met you three."
But none of them believed him.
Naruto snorted. "Hmph, Kakashi-sensei, you're lying to us again."
Kakashi didn't want to explain either. He only said, "If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."
As they talked, they arrived at Yoruha's house.
It was Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's first time coming to Yoruha's home.
At that moment, Yoruha was inside researching his own Chakra.
The sudden appearance of Kakashi and the others left him confused.
Kakashi patted Yoruha on the shoulder. "We got a C-rank mission. We're leaving the village, so I applied to the Hokage to bring you along and let you gain some experience outside."
Yoruha frowned. "Leaving the village?"
Kakashi nodded.
Naruto walked over and said with a grin, "This time we got an escort mission."
It was also Sakura's first time seriously looking Yoruha over.
She was inwardly surprised. This guy really isn't any worse-looking than Sasuke. How come I never paid attention to him before?
Of course, thoughts like Sakura's only came from appreciation for a handsome boy.
It wasn't that she had suddenly fallen for Yoruha or anything like that.
After all, very few people could shake her feelings for Sasuke.
If Shikamaru and the others hadn't egged her on later, Sakura would never have confessed to Naruto.
Sakura had always made it very clear that the one she liked was Sasuke.
So it was basically impossible for her to fall for someone else.
Sasuke was also constantly sizing up Yoruha.
He wanted to see what was different about him.
But after observing him for quite a while, he couldn't tell at all.
Other than being just as handsome as he was, there didn't seem to be anything special about him.