Kakashi saw that Naruto didn't believe him at all and decided not to explain further.
After all, Yoruha's situation truly was special.
Turning his head, Kakashi asked Tazuna, "Mr. Tazuna, how many jōnin has Gatō hired? Other than Zabuza, that is."
Tazuna thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not entirely sure. I only heard that Gatō hired a jōnin, but I never learned which one."
Kakashi fell silent for a while, weighing whether to continue the mission.
One Zabuza was already troublesome enough — if another jōnin showed up, things could get very difficult.
He looked over at Yoruha, intending to ask his opinion.
Yoruha nodded slightly. "We've already come this far. We can only keep going."
"For now, I'll focus on improving my skills. At the very least, I can stall one jōnin. With Kakashi-sensei's strength, if I can keep one busy, you should be able to defeat Zabuza."
"If Zabuza's the only one, then the two of us together will make sure he doesn't stand a chance."
Kakashi thought for a moment, then said, "All right. In that case, we'll proceed with the mission."
"While we're protecting Mr. Tazuna, I'll make sure to teach you some new jutsu."
"You already possess the strength of a jōnin and solid combat experience. Once you learn a few more offensive techniques, you'll be a full-fledged jōnin in both name and power."
Kakashi wasn't exaggerating about Yoruha's ability.
"I understand," Yoruha replied, agreeing with Kakashi's plan.
Naruto immediately leaned in. "Kakashi-sensei, don't forget about us! We're your students too!"
Kakashi looked at Naruto and said, "Of course I haven't forgotten. But right now, you two aren't ready to learn advanced jutsu yet — you need to build a solid foundation first."
Naruto frowned in confusion. "Foundation? Kakashi-sensei, are you just making excuses because you don't want to teach us?"
Kakashi sighed helplessly.
"You really do need a foundation first. You haven't even mastered chakra control yet, let alone jutsu training."
"Yoruha has already learned to control his chakra very well, so he doesn't need to keep practicing that part."
Naruto still felt Kakashi was playing favorites.
Sasuke, however, seemed thoughtful — he actually agreed with Kakashi.
Sakura, meanwhile, looked at Yoruha with open admiration.
He was so strong, yet remained calm and composed.
Naruto turned away with his arms crossed and cheeks puffed out in irritation.
Kakashi could only smile wryly.
He really wasn't playing favorites.
Sure, he valued Yoruha more, but Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son — someone the Third Hokage himself had personally entrusted to Kakashi for special training.
From any angle, Kakashi wasn't being unfair.
But given Naruto's lack of fundamentals, what could he even teach him right now?
Even if he tried, Naruto probably wouldn't be able to learn it properly.
After all, Naruto's clone technique had always been terrible.
If it weren't for how well the Shadow Clone Jutsu suited his body's condition, he probably wouldn't have learned that either.
The Third Hokage had gone through great trouble to help Naruto master that technique — even allowing him to steal the Scroll of Seals.
The fact that such an important scroll had been so easily taken, and that a large number of ninja had been dispatched to retrieve it but failed to find him, showed just how much effort the Third had secretly invested.
Those ninja probably feared that if they caught Naruto too roughly, they'd be punished for it.
Kakashi sighed inwardly — even if he explained all that, Naruto wouldn't believe him anyway.
So he just dropped the subject.
---
The group continued their journey.
Eventually, they arrived at Tazuna home.
The household consisted of three people: Tazuna himself, his daughter Tsunami, and his grandson Inari.
Inari eyed Kakashi, Yoruha, and the others with deep suspicion.
During dinner, Tazuna and Tsunami recounted what had happened on the road.
Hearing their story, Inari's wary expression changed — his eyes shone as he looked at Kakashi and Yoruha.
"Can you really beat Gatō's ninja?" he asked, unable to contain himself.
Kakashi scratched his head. "We should be able to."
Seeing Kakashi's uncertain tone, Inari's brief spark of hope vanished instantly.
"So it's impossible after all? Those ninja are too strong. There's no way you can beat them."
Naruto bristled. "Don't be so negative! I'm a ninja who'll become Hokage someday! No matter how strong Zabuza is, I'll definitely defeat him!"
But Inari didn't seem impressed — in fact, he mocked him.
"Even your teacher doesn't sound confident. What makes you think you can do it?"
Naruto clenched his fists. "Zabuza or not, I can beat him too!"
Sakura and Sasuke, sitting nearby, could only exchange exasperated looks.
Naruto definitely hadn't acted so heroic during the earlier battle.
Inari snorted in disbelief. "You have no idea how powerful Gatō really is."
"Anyone who goes against him dies."
His voice rose sharply — like he was remembering something painful.
Naruto froze for a moment, startled by the outburst.
He couldn't understand why Inari would talk like that when they'd come here to help.
After shouting, Inari ran off.
Tazuna sighed heavily.
Kakashi asked, "That boy… did something happen to him? Something to do with Gatō?"
Tazuna nodded. "His father — he was killed by Gatō for standing up to him."
"Ever since Inari saw it happen with his own eyes, he hasn't believed anyone could defeat Gatō. He thinks anyone who tries to be a hero is a fool."
"In truth, Inari was once very proud of his father. But that incident shattered him."
After hearing Tazuna explanation, Naruto, who had been ready to chase after Inari, fell silent.
Tsunami sighed softly beside Tazuna. "That child still hopes someone will rise up and defeat Gatō. But after all these years, no one has."
"It's not just Inari. Everyone in the Land of Waves wishes for someone strong enough to bring Gatō down."
Naruto looked at Tazuna with determination. "Then I'll be the one to defeat Gatō and change Inari's mind!"
But Tazuna didn't respond to him — instead, he looked at Kakashi and Yoruha.
"Kakashi, Yoruha… do you two really have the confidence to defeat Zabuza?"
Naruto nearly exploded with frustration.
Still, he couldn't deny that in the earlier battle, Kakashi and Yoruha had shown overwhelming power — while he himself had barely contributed.
Yoruha said nothing; he didn't think it was his place to speak.
Kakashi considered it for a moment, then replied, "If it's only Zabuza, I can handle him on my own."
"And with Yoruha helping me, if Zabuza truly is the only jōnin they have, he won't stand a chance against the two of us."
"But if Gatō has hired another jōnin, then the outcome might not be so certain."
Hearing that, Tazuna looked uneasy.
Hiring both Kakashi and Yoruha for just the pay of a C-rank mission was already more than he could ask for — he knew he couldn't expect anything more.
---
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