Chapter | XXII |

After Naruto was left alone in the Hatake's house because Kakashi had some important tasks, He really thought about the previous turn of events.

'Why did Kakashi's personality switch overnight? It's weird, he appeared so lazy and uncaring at the bell test, could that be a facade?... But, it felt too real, his laziness genuinely felt too real to be fake, I could still be wrong, but the feeling won't go away'

'He seems to be dead serious now, the fact that he failed the two without batting an eye or giving a second chance proves it'

Naruto felt like it had something to do with his 'lost' memories, that piece of information could be the key to solving this mystery, something had happened... Something important had taken place at that moment.

But Naruto simply couldn't wrap his head around, what could have happened to him to completely change Kakashi's personality like that.

Naruto wanted to ask the question to Kakashi, but he felt it would be too stupid to do that and would decrease the image the Hatake had now of Naruto. He felt like he should earn the right by proving himself to the silver-haired man, Kakashi did not seem like the person to carelessly hand out information because of mentorship or any sort of relationship.

'I have to prove my worth'

Determined to find out the lost piece of memory, Naruto opened the door and exit the building.

'Getting stronger wouldn't just help me, I need to grow in ways I neglected before, I need to gain knowledge and increase my arsenal, and for that...'

"I need to break the restrictions holding me back"

He set his way toward the temple of knowledge, the public library.

Naruto dashed forward, everything else became irrelevant to him. The stares, the curses, he just ignored everything thrown at him. Naruto was being less burdened by the hate on him, he simply did not care about their opinion of them. He only need the attention of who he wanted.

Every time his anger flared, he gritted his teeth and persisted the urge. It was time for him to get control of himself, if he showed irrationality on the battlefield, he feared his end was just a matter of time.

So, he controlled his impulses to the best of his ability. Stepping inside the library, he collected a shit ton of books and exit the building before anyone had the time to complain.

Feeling his apartment was not the ideal place to practice, he headed toward ground zero. He had to absorb the books fast, and he had to make out the best of his remaining time. The crowd's noise and the weird noise his neighbors were making were distracting.

Stepping into the clearing, Naruto soon found an ideal spot. Sitting cross-legged, he opened a book he was now in desperate need of.

"Genjutsu and its Basics"

Violence wasn't the answer everytime. This was a problem for Naruto previously, he felt like he had no choice but to go physical to solve even the minute of problems, the ruckus in the classroom he showed previously was an example.

He wanted to break that barrier, simply shedding blood wasn't the answer. He had to find a more effective solution, and what was more effective than Genjutsu?

Sure, violence was a good option, but it can't be used in every solution. He had to make the most use of his Chakra and expand his abilities.

Naruto read the book and started to absorb the knowledge like a sponge. His ability to memorize had greatly increased.

'A Genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses; this is frequently used to create false images and/or trick the body into believing it has experienced physical sensations such as pain'

'Genjutsu can also be used to manipulate others - similar to brainwashing - by feeding the victim illusive suggestions. Methods include integration with nature transformation'

Naruto scratched his chin in delight.

"Interesting, so I can affect Genjustu's effects using different Chakra Natures... Very interesting"

Nodding his head to himself, he continued.

'Despite its usefulness, genjutsu is rarely employed, most shinobi preferring the real, tangible effects of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu over the imagined effects of Genjutsu which hold little influence over the physical world. The difficulty of performing genjutsu in the first place presents an additional barrier to its use: genjutsu requires precise chakra control to manipulate the target's senses and advanced intelligence to make the illusion convincing'

Naruto grinned in happiness.

"So Genjutsu users are rare, or the book says so... So that means there are only so few people who could resist the effects and break out of the caster's influence? Great, it could work in my favor greatly if this is true, because, with enough training, I could manipulate and control a large crowd of mundane humans with less effort, especially with my large Chakra pool... Shinobi is a different class though, because.."

He read further.

'With the help of an outside influence or the affected person's notice of the illusion, the victim can break out of the Genjutsu using "Genjustu Kai", that can break the illusion and regain consciousness again, that is if the victim or the influencer has enough power to resister the caster'

"Good... But I don't have the time to practice. Now, onto the next"

Like that, Naruto was invested in expanding his arsenal. The previous laziness he suffered before was nowhere to be seen. He had thought that it would be something he had to overcome, but fortunately, he seemed to like to learn anything related to Chakra.

KAKASHI HATAKE

"Kakashi... Are you sure about this decision"

"Yes"

The silver-haired Jōnin nodded with steeled determination. Hiruzen was surprised by the man, he was rather indifferent and aloof after the 'incident', but that all seemed to disappear as if it was never there.

'I would have asked him to consider his choice one more time, but this could be it... Maybe this is the trigger to bring back the 'old Kakashi'.

The Third Hokage nodded. He leaned on the desk and wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Kakashi.

"Give this to Anko, she will be in charge of the Uchiha and the Haruno girl... Dismissed"

Kakashi bowed and left the room in a blur. The Hokage leaned on his hand and whispered, his grim voice echoing through the silent room, the shadows seemed to shift and waver at his words.

"There is no further need to survey Naruto anymore... He is in good hands. I order you to withdraw from the scouting"