As Long as You're Strong Enough, Nothing Is a Problem

"The technique you mentioned is in here."

They were at Kakashi's house.

They still hadn't finished repairing the road when Kazan talked Kakashi into going home. Kakashi was reluctant, but he brought Kazan back anyway.

Kakashi searched through his father's belongings and took out a Sealing Scroll.

It contained every technique Hatake Sakumo had studied, whether he had mastered it or not.

It was comprehensive, covering all kinds of Five Nature Transformations. The Shadow Clone Technique and Multiple Shadow Clone Technique were in there too.

Some of the techniques Hatake Sakumo had collected himself, some he had obtained from the village, and others he had created.

By the rules, Konoha should probably have reclaimed some of the more important techniques after Hatake Sakumo died.

Especially the Forbidden Technique known as the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

But perhaps out of guilt, Konoha had never searched Kakashi's home. They had left everything Hatake Sakumo owned to his son and future descendants.

Kazan's eyes went straight to the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

Compared with other A-rank Ninjutsu, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was much simpler.

It required only one hand sign. It was so simple that even Naruto could learn it after a single glance.

Kazan committed all the information to memory and mastered it in no time.

Poof!

Poof!

Poof!

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen shadow clones identical to Kazan filled the room.

Kazan might not have had much talent for ninjutsu, but he had an enormous amount of Chakra.

His body was nothing like an ordinary person's. He wasn't one of the glass cannons of the ninja world; he was built on the model of Garp the Hero. His cells were many times more active than those of the ninjas in this world.

"That many?" Kakashi stared in disbelief.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique did have its drawbacks.

For one thing, it divided the user's Chakra evenly among the clones. Using too much Chakra could kill the caster.

Even his father had been limited to seven shadow clones at once. Kazan had made more than ten with a flick of his hands, and he looked as though it had taken no effort at all.

"Not bad. Come on, Kakashi!"

Kazan turned and walked out with his shadow clones, like someone leaving without a second thought after getting what he wanted.

Kakashi still hadn't quite recovered. He followed in a daze, returning to the street to repair the road with Kazan.

Such a vast amount of Chakra, but none of the talent for ninjutsu to match. What a cruel trick of fate.

Still, even without talent for ninjutsu, Kazan's Taijutsu is astonishing.

Kakashi touched his neck. Thinking of Kazan's Undersea Drop, he could still feel the ache throughout his body.

And yet a talent like that still hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy.

"Hey, Kazan, why are you still at the Ninja Academy?"

He finally voiced the question on his mind.

Kazan didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked, "Have you been happy since you left the Ninja Academy, Kakashi?"

Happy?

Ever since his father's suicide, Kakashi had almost forgotten what happiness felt like.

Even after graduating, he had clashed repeatedly with the others on his team.

They couldn't stand how cold he was or how he put missions and efficiency above everything else. They all thought he was too ruthless.

"Judging by your face, I'd say things haven't been going too well," Kazan said. One look at Kakashi's expression told him enough.

In the original story, Kakashi hadn't returned to anything like normal until Team 7 came along.

After his father's suicide, his friend's sacrifice, and killing a teammate with his own hands, Kakashi had even developed self-destructive tendencies.

"Did you become a ninja just to have fun?"

"Why not?"

Kazan said it without a hint of hesitation.

"Life lasts a hundred years at most. For a ninja, it might only last a few decades. Why spend every day wearing yourself out?"

Then Kazan offered Kakashi some advice. After all, Kakashi had just given him something valuable.

"What's your dream, Kakashi?"

My dream...

He hadn't thought about it. At first, his dream had been to become an outstanding ninja like his father.

Now he didn't know anymore.

So Kazan was right. He really was lost.

"Can't answer?"

"Then do what I'm doing. Get stronger first, and become the freest person in the entire ninja world!"

"If you can reach that point, nothing you don't want to happen will ever happen again!"

Nothing will ever happen again...

Kakashi froze once more.

Freedom isn't the point. You just don't want tragedy to happen to you again, do you?

Only then did Kakashi remember that Kazan, like him, had no one left. Worse, Kazan might have learned what his parents looked like only from their memorial portraits.

Kazan had it even worse than Kakashi, yet he was far stronger where it mattered.

Compared with losing their fight, Kakashi felt he had been utterly defeated in that regard.

Of course, young Kakashi would never admit it aloud.

"And you called me a braggart? You're the one making the biggest claims, and you don't even have any talent for ninjutsu."

"Who says you need talent for ninjutsu to become the strongest? No one in history has done it, that's all. No one's walked that way before, so there's no path."

"Are you one of those people who think that means it can't be done, Kakashi?"

Kakashi didn't answer.

Reason told him it was impossible, but Kazan's eyes shone with conviction.

His father had once told him that if he didn't work hard, Kazan would leave him behind.

Kakashi had dismissed it. How could someone who only knew Taijutsu, someone who might never even become a ninja, possibly get ahead of him?

But after spending time with Kazan that night, he was beginning to believe it.

He still didn't think Kazan would surpass him, even though Kazan had just beaten him up. He'd only lost because he hadn't kept his cool and had underestimated Kazan.

If they fought again, he might well win.

But with Kazan's reckless personality, he really might do something that shook the world.

"Enough bragging. You're not even a Genin yet. Hurry up and fix the road. I'm tired."

"Fair enough. But why did you only make one clone?"

Kakashi found that question a little hard to answer.

Was he supposed to admit how pitifully little Chakra he had?

He was a prodigy who had graduated from the Ninja Academy at five, making Konoha history!

Admitting something like that would be humiliating...