Konohagakure.
Not far from the Memorial Stone, atop the cliff beside the waterfall at Training Ground No. 5, Sasuke and Kakashi clashed on the river's surface. Fists and kicks flew as their figures crossed at blinding speed, neither giving ground.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Crystalline water sprayed in all directions.
After several more exchanges, Kakashi snapped into a grapple, catching Sasuke's wrist as it chopped toward his waist. Sasuke slid his left foot forward and slashed outward—
A curtain of water erupted between them.
Through the watery veil, Kakashi glimpsed a flash of steel—a kunai stabbing straight for his throat.
Clang! Clang!
Two sharp metallic impacts rang out. Kakashi skidded backward across the water for over ten meters. He had just steadied himself when Sasuke appeared before him again, as if glued to his shadow.
Sasuke dipped low, the kunai in his hand thrusting upward toward Kakashi's throat once more.
Kakashi's gaze tightened. He allowed the blade to pierce his neck—
Splash!
His body burst into water and vanished into the river.
Sasuke frowned slightly. His hands blurred through seals, and he slammed his palm onto the water's surface.
Crackle—!
Lightning exploded outward from his hand, branching wildly across the river like blooming flowers. Sasuke's pupils shrank. He leapt high into the air just as two hands wreathed in electric arcs burst from the water where he had stood.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Still airborne, Sasuke exhaled a massive fireball toward the emerging hands.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Kakashi surfaced without a visible seal. A ferocious water dragon surged up and collided head-on with the fireball. Thick mist instantly blanketed the narrow river.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Several shuriken sliced through the fog toward Kakashi.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
Kakashi flicked his fingers, sending kunai flying to knock them aside. But to his surprise, the deflected shuriken curved unnaturally through the air—looping back around him.
A sudden tightness seized his body.
"This is—"
Kakashi glanced down at the steel wires binding him. A familiar figure from his ANBU days flashed through his mind.
Poof!
Kakashi vanished. Only a wooden log bobbed on the river's surface.
Moments later, the mist dispersed. Sasuke walked calmly across the water and stepped onto the bank. Kakashi emerged from behind a boulder nearby.
"I'm going home," Sasuke said flatly, turning to leave.
"Why are you hiding your strength?"
Kakashi's voice stopped him.
"…Hm?"
Sasuke halted and turned back, eyes cold. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You do," Kakashi replied. "If you didn't, you wouldn't have stopped."
He walked closer. When he stood before Sasuke, he stared directly into his eyes.
"You were very restrained—but when you stopped just now, you didn't fully suppress your killing intent."
Sasuke's heart sank, though his expression remained calm.
"I still don't understand."
"Mm. This time I don't sense any killing intent at all."
Kakashi studied him, the same face resurfacing in his mind.
"But your shuriken just now… they showed me someone else's shadow."
"Oh?" Sasuke frowned slightly. "Who?"
"You almost had me convinced," Kakashi said with a nod of praise. "Except—"
Without warning, his right hand snapped toward Sasuke's throat while his left hand's fingers stabbed toward Sasuke's eye.
Bang! Bang!
Cold light flashed in Sasuke's eyes. His left fist smashed into Kakashi's palm, while his right hand caught Kakashi's attacking fingers. The entire counter was lightning-fast.
As Kakashi tried to exert force with his right hand, he realized his left hand had gone rogue—forming hand seals in perfect coordination with Sasuke's grip.
Kakashi's pupils shrank. He tore himself free and leapt backward, landing amid the shrill cry of chirping birds.
Opposite him, Sasuke's left hand blazed with piercing lightning.
"Now that makes sense," Kakashi said in astonishment. "A lot of things do."
"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked.
He sensed that Kakashi no longer intended to fight. The lightning around his hand quickly faded.
"You're too much like him," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "And that's precisely why it doesn't add up."
He gave a bitter chuckle. "To think I only noticed this today. Coming from ANBU, that's almost ironic."
Sasuke's thoughts raced, but his voice stayed level. "If you're done talking, I'm leaving."
"I've made myself clear—you're too much like him."
Kakashi suddenly smiled and stepped closer.
"You know exactly who I mean. Years ago, when I went to your house, you were screaming about killing him. Yet now you can listen calmly as I bring him up again and again."
"I don't know what secrets you're hiding. Before, I ignored the inconsistencies because you reminded me of my younger self—and because I didn't want to consider that possibility."
"But today, certain things happened. I finally had the time to look closely."
"And I realized that right under my nose… someone extraordinary has grown."
At last, Sasuke's expression darkened.
"I really am unfit to be a teacher," Kakashi said self-mockingly.
"Even with Uchiha blood, you shouldn't have been able to withstand Orochimaru's curse mark so easily. The last person in the village who bore that mark nearly died."
"And you had already mastered everything I taught you long ago. Your strength was clearly advancing rapidly—yet when sparring with me, you always appeared to be stagnating."
"But an Uchiha doesn't stagnate. Especially not one whose Sharingan has evolved to three tomoe."
"No… no, that's not right."
Kakashi stopped, then laughed softly.
"I was fooled by my own assumptions again. You're incredible—truly incredible. Far more so than that man ever was."
He looked at Sasuke carefully.
"From the moment you joined Team Seven, every increase in your strength was unexpectedly reasonable. So reasonable that we were all satisfied."
"You used Naruto and Sakura—comparatively weak teammates—as cover to hide yourself."
"And at the same time, you used me—Kakashi with the Sharingan—to display just enough of what an Uchiha should be capable of, right in the open."
"The most impressive part is that you even deceived Orochimaru."
"Though getting branded with that curse mark just to hide your strength… seems like a poor trade to me."
Sasuke said nothing. He stared at Kakashi coldly.
"Kakashi," he said flatly, "I don't know if something's wrong with your head today, but let me be very clear."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"If you don't understand what I said," Kakashi replied sternly, "then forget I said anything."
"I won't expose you. But I will give you one piece of advice."
Sasuke frowned. "What advice?"
"Give up on revenge."
A tall silhouette flashed through Kakashi's mind.
"I know what you've been through. That's why I'm telling you—free yourself from hatred while you still can."
"Think about the future of the Uchiha. That's your real responsibility."
"I've seen many people like you. Those who cling to revenge always end in tragedy."
"You still have a chance—to find redemption for yourself and the Uchiha."
"How easy you make it sound…"
Sasuke looked at him and broke into a feral grin. His eyes turned scarlet.
"Then take a good look at what I actually went through."
Kakashi's expression hardened.
The world shifted.
He saw a child with a gray-white satchel run past him, face lit with excitement.
"That year…"
He glanced at the Uchiha crests lining the walls and followed the child.
Moments later, the genjutsu ended.
Kakashi still stared into Sasuke's eyes—those crimson pupils now filled with a dead, empty numbness, forged in endless torment.
He knew that look well.
"…I won't come again," Sasuke said evenly.
He turned, stepped onto the water, and walked toward the opposite bank, disappearing into the forest.
"…Yeah. I know."
Only after Sasuke was gone did Kakashi murmur the words. Then he turned and walked into the forest in the opposite direction.
Land of Snow
"So… are you all certain this is a seal only the Sage of Six Paths could use?"
In the mental world, Naruto and the four tailed beasts stood inside a circle formed by red wooden torii gates. Kushina stood outside the circle, beneath one gate, examining it as if checking whether it was sturdy.
"Strange," Kurama muttered, staring at the gates. "This is the old man's sealing technique. And it's not exclusive to him—that kid could use it too. But he's already—"
He tilted his head and looked at Kushina.
"Kushina. Did anyone in the Uzumaki clan ever use a seal like this?"
"No," Kushina replied. She walked to Naruto's side, puzzled. "Minato's Eight Trigrams Seal is still here—but this additional layer appeared out of nowhere inside it. How was that even done?"
Naruto already had a guess. After a moment's thought, he looked up at Kurama.
"We might find the answer at Mount Myōboku."
"Then let's go," Kurama sneered.
"Perfect chance to see whether those three really want to cooperate with you."
Author's Note:
Couldn't finish more—ate a chicken cutlet, ran to the bathroom four times, completely wiped out.
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