Chapter 35: Never Again

"There are those who fear the Nine-Tails' chaos will return, and no one believes Naruto will stand with the village. Once his power becomes uncontrollable, the only option left is... destruction."

The Third Hokage silently added in his mind, just like the Uchiha clan. But this was something he would not, and could not, say aloud.

The Third's words finally made Kakashi understand the crux of the problem: "You're joking, right? You're the Hokage."

"Hokage? Even the Hokage's actions cannot exceed the boundaries set by the people; otherwise, peace will vanish, and authority will crumble." The Third looked out at the entire village through the window, nostalgia and sorrow evident in his gaze. "So at that time, I chose Minato. He became Hokage, and I would support him from behind, allowing the village a better chance for peaceful development!"

Kakashi stared at the Third Hokage, a realization dawning on him. He remembered hearing that his teacher, Minato Namikaze, was able to become the Fourth Hokage thanks to this old man's relentless support, overriding the dissent of others, including even his own disciple, Orochimaru. The expectations the Third had for Minato were likely beyond anyone's imagination.

"Minato was the most suitable person I've ever seen for the role of Hokage. His sacrifice at that time filled me with a sense of unfairness; he shouldn't have died so young... If only I could have switched places with him back then. So, Kakashi, when I learned that Naruto might carry Minato's legacy, my thoughts changed. I believe Minato has other plans for Naruto's life. Though I don't know what they are, I trust that he won't do anything dangerous to Konoha!"

"As I said, I don't know where Naruto's power comes from, but I intended to enroll him in the ninja academy. As long as he can learn to protect himself, I can give him enough freedom." The Third patted Kakashi's shoulder, then spoke slowly and deliberately, "And as for proving that Naruto possesses this power, Kakashi, I will provide you with a stage that will not be disturbed by anyone. At that time, it will be up to you to give me that answer!"

"You, Hatake Kakashi, must prove that even a powerful ninja like you cannot kill the six-year-old Uzumaki Naruto. Only with this evidence, only after confirming that it is impossible, can everyone give up their attempts to harm Naruto. At that time..." The Third's eyes burned with a fierce fire. "If it's Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, it will definitely succeed!"

Remembering this, Kakashi activated his Sharingan, while Naruto felt a piercing bird cry in his ears. The massive chakra, visibly radiant, condensed in the hands of the man before him.

Kakashi's gaze was resolute; the brilliance emanating from his palm obscured Naruto's view of his face. He gently dropped a phrase: "Dodge it, and only then will you be free, Naruto, or else...

"You will die!"

The sound of a thousand birds crying echoed as even the Fourth Hokage Minato would have marveled at the technique's power. Kakashi, Konoha's genius ninja, had created a technique that, when enhanced by his Sharingan, could cleave through thunder—

An S-rank ninjutsu: Raikiri!

Chakra surged, stimulating his body for speed. Kakashi transformed into a flash of lightning, instantly disappearing from his position.

"Boom!"

The tremendous thunderclap from the lightning release could split mountains, and the ground cracked under the weight of Kakashi's chakra, countless fragments of rock swirling into the air.

Naruto stared in shock at the lightning approaching from afar. In this moment, his eyes, brain, and body screamed warnings!

Can't stop it, can't stop it, can't stop it!

I have to dodge!

As Raikiri drew closer, mere inches from Naruto, he finally activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Whoosh!"

The activation of the Flying Thunder God came without warning; the beauty of space-time ninjutsu lay in its unpredictability. Even in the face of the lightning, Naruto easily dodged.

However, he made a mistake—a mistake born from a lack of real combat experience. If he had fought someone before, he wouldn't have made this error.

But how could Kakashi, a battle-hardened ninja, not notice?

Just as Kakashi had tracked him earlier, Naruto hadn't left any Flying Thunder God marks along the way. He had only placed one at the start of the battle. For a six-year-old who had never been on the battlefield, his reaction was already impressive.

Yet, as Minato's disciple, Kakashi was one of the few who truly understood the Flying Thunder God Technique. The true essence of the technique lies in appearing without a trace; once the enemy can predict where you will appear, the Flying Thunder God Technique becomes no different from a mere Body Flicker Technique—

But Naruto, he had only left a mark at the very beginning!

Almost the moment Naruto vanished, Kakashi turned to look where he had been, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning.

When Naruto landed, he instinctively looked up to confirm Kakashi's position, and their gazes met—that was the second mistake Naruto made.

Another power of the Sharingan is its ability to cast genjutsu!

"Is this where it ends? Though he performed well enough, his lack of experience is still fatal. It seems I can't let Naruto reveal his abilities as the Hokage wished." As the genjutsu took effect, Kakashi sighed inwardly at the sight of Naruto's lowered head.

If Naruto had used the Flying Thunder God to escape, he would have passed the test. But his inexperience, perhaps not fully grasping the danger, led him to choose to leap behind himself, a decision that ultimately led him to... fail?

Kakashi suddenly froze; he noticed the scenery around him had changed drastically. The cracks in the ground caused by Raikiri's residual power vanished without a trace; not just the marks, the entire ground had disappeared.

All around him was darkness and chaos, impenetrable even to the Sharingan.

"I... fell into a genjutsu?" Kakashi's first reaction was to disturb his chakra, trying to dispel the illusion, but before he could begin, an immense pressure surged from the front!

A terror and shock he had never felt before surged within him, and under this pressure, he felt as though he had returned to that cave at the Kamizumi Bridge...

"Y-You are..." Kakashi's pupils dilated, almost unable to stand as he looked at the massive fox apparition before him.

The beast of the nine tails, the Nine-Tails!

The Nine-Tails' aura engulfed him, delivering another violent mental assault!

"Cough—" Kakashi spat blood, collapsing to the ground. His left eye throbbed painfully, and he could feel something warm trickling from his hand as he covered his eye, blood dripping from the corner.

The Nine-Tails... it has awakened!

No, it shouldn't be unsealed...

"Just a little reminder; that's all." At this moment, the Nine-Tails retracted its presence, casting a dismissive glance at the fallen Kakashi. Its nine tails swayed behind it, vanishing as suddenly as it appeared. "Never again, Kakashi."

Still unsure what the Nine-Tails meant, Kakashi felt dizzy and was overwhelmed by pain.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly jolting awake, Kakashi was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, quickly reaching for his left eye, which was unharmed and had no injury.

What was that just now...?

Kakashi finally came to his senses and looked around; Naruto's figure was already gone.

But this didn't disappoint Kakashi; instead, it gave him a sense of relief, as if he had survived a catastrophe.

"Lord Third, this matter may be... even more than you imagined..." Kakashi forced a bitter smile, but just recalling the towering and terrifying figure he had just seen made him unable to think of anything else. And he couldn't shake the feeling that, whether it was an illusion or not, he sensed another shadow beside the fox apparition.

Meanwhile, the fleeing Naruto stood face to face with Sasuke, who was secretly training in the woods, both wide-eyed and speechless.

In Sasuke's hand was the kunai inscribed with the Flying Thunder God mark.