Hayato-Style Talk no Jutsu 1/2

The battle was over, and the intelligence had been gathered. Genma Shiranui's group of three and the remaining ANBU did not leave immediately. They scouted the area around the Land of Waves to ensure the immortal duo would not come back for revenge. Sarara, Sasuke, and Kakashi had only suffered minor injuries, and after treatment from the medical ninja, they recovered within a few days.

The support troops left on the third day after arriving.

Gatō's body was found—or rather, parts of it were found. Most of it had gone into the bellies of fish. The bridge's construction proceeded steadily and fervently. Team Kakashi and Hayato's group continued with their respective missions, though Hayato's group no longer needed to remain hidden in the shadows.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's tree-climbing training was nearing its end.

Naruto occasionally sought Hayato out for sparring.

That day, Hayato easily knocked Naruto to the ground. Sasuke, who had been watching with barely concealed eagerness, finally could not hold himself back.

"Hayato... Boss, please spar with me."

Sasuke copied the way Naruto addressed Hayato, though he apparently found it awkward. After all, Hayato's age was right there for all to see; that kind of address was incredibly embarrassing. Only Naruto could say it so naturally.

"Just call me Hayato. I'm only one year older than you."

"Yes, Senior Hayato." In the end, Sasuke still could not bring himself to call him by name directly.

"Why do you want to spar with me?" Hayato asked.

Sasuke replied, "I want to grow stronger. I want to know the limits of my own ability. Please fight me seriously."

"Heh." Hayato smiled. "You think I'm fooling around when I spar with Naruto, don't you?"

Sasuke fell silent. That was exactly how it looked to him.

Hayato said, "You acknowledge Naruto's hard work, but you don't seem to acknowledge his talent or strength. In my eyes, Naruto's talent is no less than yours. If you keep clinging to that arrogant mindset, Naruto will surpass you someday. No—right now, you already can't defeat Naruto."

"That's impossible!"

Sasuke did not believe it at all. Especially after awakening his Sharingan, his confidence had swelled enormously.

"How is it impossible? Don't forget, Naruto was the one who defeated Haku. Heh. You think Naruto merely got lucky, right? Or perhaps you think that if Naruto had not held you back, you would have been the one to defeat Haku." Hayato continued, "Kakashi said it himself—Haku was even stronger than him. That may be debatable, but Haku's strength is beyond doubt. So how did you and Naruto last so long against Haku? Haku had been holding back from the very beginning.

"You don't just look down on Naruto. You look down on Senior Kakashi too, don't you? The Copy Ninja only relies on the Sharingan—that's what you think, isn't it?

"Let me tell you two facts.

"First, Senior Kakashi became a genin at five. By the age of twelve, the same age as you, he had already been promoted to jonin. No one could ignore that level of talent. Kakashi's father was the late Senior Sakumo—the White Fang of Konoha. Your father, the legendary Sannin, had to show him respect. With his talent and inherited techniques, do you think the Sharingan made Kakashi what he is? The truth is exactly the opposite: the Sharingan held him back. You've already awakened yours. You know better than anyone how much chakra it consumes and how great a burden it is.

"Second, Naruto normally has ten times your chakra reserves. When he bursts out, he can have a hundred times as much. That is one of his talents. What makes you think you can defeat Naruto so easily?"

After hearing Hayato's words, Sasuke fell into confusion.

Hayato continued, "In some religions, humanity has seven deadly sins—pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust, in descending order of severity. Pride comes first."

Hayato removed his mask. "You should recognize these eyes. The Byakugan, Sharingan, and the legendary Rinnegan are known as the three great dōjutsu. A big reason you came to spar with me instead of Senior Kakashi is because of these eyes, right? Your pride makes you think only the Byakugan is qualified to fight the Sharingan?

"Sasuke, pride makes you like a frog at the bottom of a well looking up—wow, so the sky is only as big as the mouth of the well.

"Tell me, why do you want to become stronger?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "There's a man I have to kill with my own hands."

"Itachi Uchiha?"

"You know that man?"

"I'm from the Hyuga Clan, after all. I know about that much of the secret history. Besides, Itachi Uchiha was a legendary figure in the ANBU."

Hearing that Hayato knew Itachi, Sasuke grew excited. "Senior Hayato, please tell me. How strong is that man? How can I defeat him?"

How strong was Itachi?

Itachi was very strong.

That was Hayato's answer, but Itachi's strength was not limited to the Mangekyō Sharingan. It also included his combat reactions and strategy. Those were abstract things, difficult to describe in concrete terms.

After thinking for a moment, Hayato said, "You know those two monsters I fought a few days ago, right?"

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded.

Hayato said, "It was hard to imagine that monsters like that could exist, wasn't it?"

Sasuke nodded again.

"So, there are countless things in the ninja world that transcend common sense. Don't turn yourself into a frog at the bottom of a well. But..." Hayato shifted his tone. "What I mean is, even if those two were tied together, they still would not be enough for Itachi Uchiha alone."

Hayato was not flattering Itachi Uchiha or overestimating his strength.

Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu completely countered Hidan's immortality.

Couldn't be cut to death? Burn him to ashes and see whether he died or not!

Kakuzu might be a little more troublesome. Hayato did not know whether Sharingan genjutsu would work on him, but the existence of Susanoo would greatly weaken Kakuzu's five-element ninjutsu.

Kakuzu's chances of winning against Itachi approached zero infinitely.

Hayato's words plunged Sasuke into deep pain. He had imagined Itachi's strength, but when that strength exceeded his imagination, he became lost—Could I surpass someone like that? If I can't, how can I avenge myself?

Hayato understood that confusion deeply, because he had once felt it too—Madara is so powerful, and Kaguya is such a monster. Can I surpass them? Can I defeat them?

Hayato used the words he had once used to console himself to console Sasuke. "If a tree is five meters tall, or ten meters tall, we can climb it. But when it is ten thousand meters tall, we become lost. Yet the tree is still there. For every meter you climb, you get one meter closer to the top. Those who stand beneath the tree and look up will remain beneath it forever."

There was something Hayato did not say: By the time you climb ten thousand meters, the tree may have grown to twenty thousand meters. That would be a real pain in the ass.

Life was not a manga. It was impossible for Sasuke to suddenly attain enlightenment just because Hayato had talked at him for a few sentences.

For the next two days, Sasuke seemed to vanish into thin air.

Sakura looked at Hayato with deep resentment in her eyes.

On the third day, Sasuke came before Hayato again.

His face was somewhat haggard, but his eyes were bright. Hayato knew Sasuke was mostly fine now, though he had no idea how much of his words Sasuke had truly taken to heart.

"Senior Hayato, please guide me."

Sasuke used the word "guide" rather than "spar," as he had before.

"Please guide me as well."

Hayato said the same. Before teaching others not to be arrogant, one had to be humble oneself. Hayato also wanted to spar with Sasuke and see the abilities of the Sharingan, even if it was only Sasuke's weak-chicken version.

Perhaps Hayato and the grown Sasuke would someday fight a battle to the death, not to mention Obito Uchiha and Madara Uchiha. Any experience he could accumulate was worth accumulating.

[PS] Thanks to Evil Dragon Feather, My Name Is Summer Hail, and bvbf for 1 recommendation vote each; Dragon Shatters Frost for a recommendation vote; Super Salty-Fish Roe for 5 recommendation votes; Lemon Dango Sauce for 6 recommendation votes; and Nightheart Cloud and shihenyu110 for 10 recommendation votes.

[PS] There will be another chapter tonight.