The Third Hokage was starting to get a headache.
"Anyone can become his mentor, but why doesn't he want to serve as a ninja under me?"
The Third Hokage had planned to keep Yeyu by his side and train him.
At just twelve years old, Yeyu already had the potential to surpass Kage Level. The Third Hokage had certainly planned to keep him by his side and train him.
After fighting the Third Hokage, Yeyu had a rough idea of his current strength.
He could defeat the Third Hokage with ease.
The Third Hokage wouldn't even have a chance to take him down with himself.
He wouldn't even be able to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
When he sealed Orochimaru's arms, he had first needed to restrict Orochimaru's movements.
But the Third Hokage had no chance to do the same to Yeyu.
Yeyu was at least Kage Level now, even without revealing the power of his Magma-Magma Fruit.
If he used the Magma-Magma Fruit's power, he could surpass Kage Level.
He'd found that, with the boost from chakra, Akainu's power was several times more destructive than it had been in the Pirate World.
Akainu simply wasn't fast. If he were, Yeyu would be several times stronger than he was now.
Even Akainu, despite not being fast, had moved too quickly for the Third Hokage to react. He'd made the Third Hokage feel that Yeyu's speed was no slower than the Fourth Raikage's.
After returning home, Yeyu went straight to bed and slept well.
With no longer any need to worry about being too weak,
Yeyu felt much more at ease.
At the place where Yeyu and the Third Hokage had just fought,
several Anbu Ninja appeared.
They stared at the enormous fan-shaped crater, stunned.
"Who did this?"
"Could the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki have gone berserk? Who else could cause such massive destruction?"
"Did someone fire a Tailed Beast Bomb here?"
A silver-haired Anbu Ninja stared at the crater and said gravely, "A Tailed Beast Bomb would've done far more damage than this."
"But anyone capable of causing this much destruction must be terrifyingly powerful."
Tailed Beast Bombs were highly destructive, but the Tailed Beasts themselves weren't that strong.
Even the Nine-Tails could be sealed by a Kage Level shinobi.
It was no surprise that a Tailed Beast Bomb could cause massive destruction. But if a shinobi had made this crater, that would be terrifying.
The silver-haired Anbu Ninja was Kakashi.
This was his final day in Anbu.
Tomorrow, he'd become a mentor.
He hadn't expected to come across something like this on his last day.
As the Anbu stood around, gravely trying to figure out who was responsible,
the Third Hokage appeared beside them.
"No need to investigate. This was caused by an old man sparring with someone."
The Anbu stared at the Third Hokage in shock. "This was caused by Lord Hokage sparring with someone?"
"What kind of expert could cause this much destruction and still fight Lord Hokage?"
The Third Hokage smiled. "You'll find out in the future."
The Anbu knew better than to ask more.
It was clear this involved a secret.
As Anbu Ninja, they knew what to do.
"Kakashi, stay. The rest of you, return."
The other Anbu weren't surprised. The Third Hokage had always thought highly of Kakashi.
After they left, Kakashi removed his mask.
With his hands behind his back, the Third Hokage gazed at the crater before him, his expression calm. "Kakashi, tomorrow you'll become a mentor."
"This time, I hope you won't be like before. Your students are all important to Konoha."
"You've read their files. Naruto and Sasuke are both very sensitive."
"I'm entrusting them to you. I hope you can train them to become pillars of Konoha,"
"and successors to the Will of Fire."
Kakashi nodded without a word.
After a long silence, Kakashi glanced at the Third Hokage and hesitated before asking, "I'm a little curious. Who could fight you and cause this much destruction?"
The Third Hokage smiled. "You'll find out tomorrow."
"He's a very interesting person."
"Perhaps one day his face will be carved up there, too."
Following the Third Hokage's gaze, Kakashi looked toward Kage Rock.
Kakashi's eyes widened in shock. "Have you already decided?"
The Third Hokage looked uncertain. "I don't even know if it's possible."
"Possible? Has he not passed your test yet?" Kakashi asked.
The Third Hokage's mouth twitched. He gave a wry smile. "I meant whether I can talk him into it. Haha..."
Kakashi was even more shocked.
"Talk him into it?!"
"Does he not want to become Hokage?"
"I can't imagine anyone turning down a position like that."
Kakashi couldn't believe anyone would reject the Third Hokage's offer.
Kakashi himself wasn't particularly fixated on becoming Hokage.
But if he had the chance, he'd be more than willing.
It was also Obito's dream.
"Are there really people in Konoha who don't want to become Hokage?"
Kakashi couldn't believe someone like that existed in Konoha.
Children, middle-aged people, even the elderly—there wasn't anyone in Konoha who didn't want to become Hokage.
Even the Nara Clan, who disliked troublesome things, only lacked ambition for the position because they knew they could never become Hokage.
Even the once-proud Uchiha Clan had desperately wanted someone to become Hokage.
Hearing Kakashi say this, the Third Hokage looked even more helpless. "I wish he thought that way, too."
The Third Hokage had just said he wanted to assign Yeyu to serve as a ninja under him. He didn't believe Yeyu was too stupid to understand what he'd really meant.
And yet Yeyu had still refused.
His reason was that he wasn't interested.
It was a blunt answer, and it left the Third Hokage at a loss.
How was he supposed to persuade Yeyu when he said he wasn't interested?
Kakashi grew more and more curious about who could make the Third Hokage so helpless.
"Lord Hokage, that crater must have been made by that person, right?"
The Third Hokage nodded, his expression grave. "Just one punch. Can you believe it?"
Kakashi froze. "One punch?"
The Third Hokage nodded. "That's right. Just one punch."
"If he'd hit me with that punch, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you unharmed."
Kakashi stared at the crater, stunned. For a long time, he couldn't recover.
"Just one punch? H-how is that possible?"
The Third Hokage smiled. "Do you know why that guy caused this much destruction with one punch?"
Kakashi shook his head, his expression grave.
He even wondered if the Third Hokage was exaggerating. Could a human really cause this much destruction with a single punch?
The Third Hokage's smile faded. He said bitterly, "Because that guy doesn't even know ninjutsu yet. Can you believe it?"
"He caused all this with a punch powered purely by his physical strength."
Kakashi didn't know what to say.
Was he even human?
How could a human's physical strength cause this much destruction with one punch?
If the person saying this weren't the Third Hokage, he wouldn't have believed it.
"Lord Hokage, is he bad at ninjutsu?"
"Is he a Taijutsu expert? Even stronger than Guy?"
Guy couldn't cause this kind of destruction in his normal state.
As for the Eight Inner Gates, based on what Kakashi currently knew about Guy, he hadn't yet opened any of the gates capable of causing this kind of destruction.
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