Sasuke Becomes a Disciple

After the whole night doing household chores, Naruto fell asleep before dawn.

In a daze, he had a dream.

In his dream, he had a father, a mother, and Senior Kashiwa. Then, they all turned into a big bowl of Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto reached out to grab it.

"Ouch."

Naruto fell off the bed.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Naruto got ready to wash up.

Through his blurry vision, he saw a figure standing in his house.

Wow!

Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

He then saw that it was the Third Hokage.

"Grandpa Third Hokage, why are you here?"

"Naruto, I came to see you. I heard you made a new friend yesterday?" The Third Hokage said kindly.

"Hehe, you could say that. Grandpa Third Hokage, you mean Senior Kashiwa, right? He's a member of Sasuke's clan. He asked me to hang out with Sasuke more."

"He's just as good as you, Grandpa Third Hokage. He took me to eat at Ichiraku Ramen and even had Sasuke buy me a lot of clothes."

Naruto eagerly shared his joy with his close grandpa while the Third Hokage listened patiently with a kind smile.

"What did your Senior Kashiwa tell you?" asked the Third Hokage.

"Oh! Senior Kashiwa told me to get along well with Sasuke and not to cause trouble."

Naruto slapped his forehead. "Grandpa Third Hokage, look at this."

He showed the clothes Sasuke had picked out for him yesterday.

"Do they look good?"

"Yes, they look very good."

After confirming that Kashiwa hadn't influenced Naruto with anything harmful, the Third Hokage relaxed and chatted with Naruto for a while.

Then he took out 5000 ryo and gave it to Naruto.

"Naruto, you're growing up. You'll start school tomorrow, so you'll need money for various ninja tools. Use this for your expenses."

Naruto took the money, puzzled. "Grandpa Third Hokage, why are you giving me so much money?"

The Third Hokage smiled warmly. "You'll need to buy various ninja tools for school. Don't spend it recklessly."

Naruto was deeply moved. "Thank you, Grandpa Third Hokage. I'll repay you when I grow up!"

"Hahaha, remember your words. Report early tomorrow. I have to go now."

"Okay! Hehe!" Naruto suddenly felt much happier, and he couldn't help but giggle.

...

At the Uchiha clan's grounds.

"Serve tea to your teacher."

Sasuke didn't have a specific concept of taking a master's degree, but he didn't dislike Kashiwa.

So, under Fugaku's urging, he formally became Kashiwa's disciple today.

Originally, Fugaku planned to invite some friends over, but Kashiwa, who disliked formalities, refused.

He said a cup of tea was enough to mark the apprenticeship.

How much Sasuke could learn depended entirely on Sasuke.

After drinking tea, Kashiwa left quickly.

Although he no longer had to manage the police force, with the clan grounds destroyed and the Uchiha clan in disarray, most of Fugaku's time was spent arranging the rebuilding of the clan grounds.

Of course, these were just surface-level tasks.

Fugaku's main work was secretly recruiting commercial talents for future development.

After Fugaku left, Sasuke and Kashiwa were left staring at each other.

"Teacher, what will you teach me today?"

Kashiwa scratched his head. He hadn't planned on how to teach Sasuke and had no specific curriculum.

But since Sasuke would be going to school soon, it was best to leave the basics to the school.

He could give Sasuke some additional lessons to help him grow faster.

Also, he needs to correct his habit of showing off.

Kashiwa coughed. "Sasuke, since you've called me teacher, I'll formally start teaching you from now on."

"Yes, teacher!" Sasuke sat up straight.

Kashiwa waved his hand. "I don't like formal interactions. Just treat me as a friend."

"Okay, teacher." Sasuke relaxed and changed to a less formal sitting position.

Kashiwa said, "Now, let's test you."

Sasuke coolly replied, "Go ahead, teacher. I'm quite good."

Kashiwa led Sasuke to an empty courtyard.

"Alright, Sasuke. Now attack me with everything you've got—shuriken, kunai, Fire Style—attack as if you mean to kill me."

Sasuke had prepared his ninja tools pack early in anticipation of this test.

"Teacher, here I come!" Sasuke lowered his body and drew his shuriken, adopting a combat stance.

Kashiwa motioned for Sasuke to attack.

Sasuke threw two shurikens with impressive accuracy.

Kashiwa didn't move. As the shuriken flew towards him, he tilted his head, letting them fly past.

Seeing the shuriken were ineffective, Sasuke rushed in with a series of moves resembling a gymnastic routine, the Uchiha-style Taijutsu.

Kashiwa quickly blocked Sasuke's attacks with one hand.

The Uchiha-style Taijutsu, designed to show off, was paired with the Sharingan. The Uchiha clan's physical coordination was excellent, and the Sharingan allowed their fighting to appear as elegant as dancing on a knife's edge.

But Sasuke was too young, had poor physical strength, and hadn't awakened his Sharingan yet.

To Kashiwa, it was like a gymnastic routine, with many flashy kicks and flips full of openings.

A casual punch to Sasuke's stomach left him stunned and retreating, kneeling on the ground and spitting out a mouthful of saliva before recovering.

"You're still far off, Sasuke," Kashiwa remarked casually.

His words sparked Sasuke's competitive spirit. Sasuke made a hand seal:

"Tiger-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger, Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke took a deep breath and expelled a stream of fire. The view before him turned red with flames, but he hadn't finished yet.

This was a technique even his father praised. Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as Kashiwa bypassed the firewall and struck Sasuke's neck with a knife-hand.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Sasuke choked on his Fireball Jutsu, nearly losing his breath, and coughed for a while before recovering.

Kashiwa watched him with arms crossed.

"Teacher." Sasuke was apprehensive, unsure of what his teacher thought of him.

Kashiwa thought for a moment and decided to be strict.

Under Sasuke's anxious gaze, Kashiwa's expression turned stern.

"It's a complete mess. Sasuke, is this all you've learned? Was Itachi playing ninja games with you?"

"Who told you to use Fire Style like that? What were you doing? Setting off fireworks?"

"Sorry, teacher." Sasuke lowered his head in sadness. Although he didn't expect to defeat his teacher, he hoped for recognition, but his teacher belittled his efforts.

"Do you know where you went wrong?" Kashiwa asked.

Sasuke opened his mouth but then lowered his head again.