Sakura, standing nearby, was utterly speechless. She could not figure out why that was.
Kakashi, on the other hand, vaguely had a guess. He thought it might be because of the Nine-Tails. After all, it was a Tailed Beast, and ordinary creatures would certainly fear it. At least, that was his own conclusion.
"All right, stop thinking about it. Let's go." Kakashi waved a hand.
"Yes, Sensei."
The three of them set off, heading in the direction Naruto had gone. However, Sasuke remained silent the entire way, thinking about what had just happened.
"Kakashi Sensei, has Naruto gotten stronger again? I feel like he has a powerful deterrent effect on that big dog," Sasuke said with a frown.
"No way. Naruto has been so lazy lately. He's nothing like you, Sasuke. Not only have you learned many ninjutsu, but you even developed Chidori Stream." Sakura looked at Sasuke admiringly.
"Naruto really has been lazy lately. He has barely trained at all. But that big dog was so obedient just now—I think it was because of intimidation," Sasuke said seriously.
"This..."
Sakura did not know how to answer and could only look toward Kakashi.
"Ahem, there is actually a reason for that," Kakashi said after coughing twice.
"What reason?"
"Well..."
Kakashi fell silent for a while, then led Sasuke and Sakura to an uninhabited area. "It's because of the Nine-Tails."
"The Nine-Tails?" Sasuke and Sakura froze, both turning to look at Kakashi.
"Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you." Kakashi took a deep breath and began explaining.
Not long after.
Having heard the explanation, Sasuke and Sakura finally understood. "So that's how it is. That explains it."
"Yes, so Sasuke, there is no need to overthink it. You are already very strong. Especially since you developed Chidori Stream, which