Chapter 11: The Fateful Seventh Class

"That just now!"

Kakashi's mind kept replaying the scene of lightning erupting from Sasuke's body.

Immediately afterward, it was as if Sasuke had suddenly transformed into pure lightning, swiftly leaving his original position.

That speed!

Even elite jonin known for their quick reflexes might struggle to react to such speed.

What a terrifying level of speed!

Sasuke was still just a genin, and his chakra reserves were notably limited.

If a ninja with a greater chakra capacity were to unleash this jutsu, its power would likely become even more terrifying.

At that moment, Hiruzen set down his pipe and shifted his gaze from the crystal ball to Kakashi.

"It seems the Uchiha boy has hidden his abilities very well!"

"To think he has mastered such a terrifying technique!"

Kakashi nodded.

Judging by the astonishing speed alone, although the exact nature of the jutsu was unclear, its power was undoubtedly on the level of an S-rank technique.

"It resembles the Lightning Release Chakra Mode... from the Hidden Cloud Village," Kakashi remarked.

He had heard of the Raikage's signature technique from the Hidden Cloud, though he couldn't be certain if this was the same.

Hiruzen frowned; he had been pondering this exact question.

If Sasuke's jutsu did indeed originate from the Hidden Cloud, it could imply that Sasuke had secretly been in contact with ninjas from there.

Who knows what kind of secret agreement they might have reached?

The Hidden Cloud Village had long harbored ambitions toward Konoha, especially in the years following the departure of the Sannin.

As the second-strongest ninja village in the world, the Hidden Cloud had never abandoned its thoughts of waging war against Konoha.

If they were scheming through Uchiha Sasuke to gain something from Konoha, Hiruzen wouldn't be entirely surprised.

The more Hiruzen thought about it, the more worried he became.

Such an unsettling factor had appeared again.

It gave him an uneasy feeling, as if things were slipping out of his control.

"Kakashi!"

"You will serve as the jonin instructor for Team 7. This task can only be entrusted to you!"

A mission? Kakashi hesitated.

Hiruzen didn't need to explain further; Kakashi could already guess that he was to probe Sasuke and this strange jutsu.

Even without Hiruzen's orders, he would have done so.

"Please keep a close watch on Sasuke! If you find anything unusual, report it to me immediately!"

"And if… you discover that Sasuke has betrayed Konoha or taken any action that endangers the village, you are authorized to eliminate him on the spot!"

Eliminate him... on the spot?

Kakashi was taken aback. He hadn't expected such a severe command from Hiruzen.

"Also, you can test Sasuke today," Hiruzen added, raising his head.

A glimmer of killing intent flashed in his eyes. "Sometimes, without applying pressure, certain things won't reveal themselves."

Hearing this, Kakashi closed his eyes briefly. "Understood. Third Hokage, leave it to me."

Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes, waving his hand gently...

Kakashi vanished from the Hokage's office.

Meanwhile, in the classroom...

Sasuke, watching Naruto land awkwardly on his head, felt deeply frustrated. If not for his Lightning Release: Shinsoku, he might have been humiliated yet again because of Naruto.

"Can this idiot not be so clumsy?"

Sasuke was still wary of the inertia of the plot. If something like this happened again, he might not always be able to avoid an extremely embarrassing outcome.

Naruto climbed back up, angrily grumbling, "You idiot! What did you do to me just now?"

After performing a full somersault in front of everyone, Naruto felt utterly humiliated, assuming Sasuke had done something to him.

But Sasuke responded calmly, "Did I even touch you?"

Huh?

Naruto paused to think. It seemed Sasuke really hadn't touched him.

It was someone behind him who had bumped into him, causing his fall.

Sakura scolded, "Naruto! Can't you leave Sasuke-kun alone and just stay in your seat for once?"

Ino added, "Exactly! If Sasuke-kun hadn't dodged just now, he might have been knocked over by you…"

At that point, Ino seemed to realize something. Judging by the angle, if Sasuke hadn't dodged, the result would have been…

Sasuke-kun's first kiss might have been stolen by Naruto, that idiot.

The thought left Ino horrified. If Sasuke-kun's first kiss was taken before she had a chance, it would crush her.

At this moment, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, Akamaru, Hinata, and the others were all reflecting on the flash of lightning they had just witnessed.

"What kind of jutsu was that…? The speed was astonishing!"

Even Shikamaru, who was usually unmotivated, was now fully alert.

Who would have thought that Sasuke had been hiding such power?

Judging by the speed he displayed in just that brief instant, it was undoubtedly faster than a jonin!

But what kind of jutsu had he used?

At this moment, Iruka entered the classroom, noticing the chaotic commotion.

He quickly instructed all the genin to return to their seats.

It was time for the jonin instructors to come and collect their students.

As expected, the last to arrive was Kakashi.

He had actually been there for some time, choosing to remain outside and observe Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Naruto kept pestering Sakura with conversation, while Sakura gazed dreamily at Sasuke.

Sasuke sat in a corner, maintaining absolute distance from the other two.

From this, Kakashi already felt a headache coming on.

Sasuke was clearly very distant.

It wasn't out of arrogance, as before, but because Sasuke feared the inertia of the plot, wary of Naruto causing another unexpected incident.

For this reason, Sasuke had to maintain absolute physical distance.

However, to Kakashi, it seemed as though Sasuke was being aloof, unwilling to associate with Naruto and Sakura.

"Problem children… all of them!"

Kakashi felt his luck was not on his side.

Finally, he entered the classroom and took the three to the rooftop.

Next came the self-introductions.

Sasuke's response: "No comment."

Naruto and Sakura answered honestly, sharing their interests, hobbies, and dreams.

But Sasuke dismissed the process with just four words.

Naruto was just about to stand up and accuse Sasuke of not taking it seriously when Kakashi interjected with an exasperated tone, "Self-introductions are a necessary step for our team to get to know each other. If you don't share, how are we supposed to understand you?"

Sasuke replied, "As ninjas, shouldn't we keep personal information as secret as possible to prevent enemies from exploiting our weaknesses? If understanding is needed, it will happen over time. Anything I say now might as well be a lie."

Even Kakashi hadn't anticipated this reasoning.

Sasuke wasn't entirely wrong. But the problem was… this left Kakashi with no way to gauge Sasuke.

"Sigh… It seems these three are as difficult as I expected."

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