Sasuke Uchiha stared blankly at the completely unharmed Yoruha.
His breathing became unsteady.
“…How are you fine?”
Just moments ago, Sasuke’s Great Fireball Technique had swallowed Yoruha entirely.
Yet now—
Not even his clothes were damaged.
Yoruha looked at him calmly.
“What?”
“You actually thought that attack could kill me?”
Sasuke’s expression stiffened instantly.
He quickly stood back up despite his exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Yoruha continued casually:
“Is that all?”
“Besides the Great Fireball Technique…”
“…what other ninjutsu do you know?”
“If there’s nothing else…”
“…then I’ll honestly be a little disappointed.”
Those words struck Sasuke directly.
At this point, his chakra was already nearly depleted.
The Great Fireball Technique consumed enormous chakra for a newly graduated Genin.
Still—
Seeing Yoruha remain completely calm after taking the attack head-on only made Sasuke more unwilling to stop.
He refused to believe this was the limit between them.
Before Kakashi could say anything further, Sasuke immediately pulled out several kunai and shuriken.
“Kakashi-sensei.”
“It’s not over yet.”
Kakashi Hatake frowned immediately.
“Sasuke.”
“That’s enough.”
“Your chakra is already dangerously low.”
If Sasuke kept pushing recklessly, he could genuinely collapse from chakra exhaustion.
But Sasuke ignored the warning completely.
Instead—
He rapidly attached explosive tags to the weapons in his hands.
Then threw them toward Yoruha.
WHOOSH!
Kunai and shuriken shot through the air rapidly from multiple angles.
Attached behind each weapon—
Explosive tags fluttered sharply.
Yoruha glanced at the incoming attacks before sighing faintly.
“As expected of the Uchiha clan…”
“…you really are wealthy.”
Explosive tags were extremely expensive.
Even standard low-quality tags cost thousands of ryō each.
For ordinary Genin, casually throwing multiple explosive tags during a sparring match was practically unimaginable.
That money alone could buy enormous amounts of food from Ichiraku Ramen.
But Sasuke’s situation naturally differed.
Even after the destruction of the Uchiha Clan, Konoha never mistreated Sasuke materially.
Among Team 7—
Sasuke’s living conditions were by far the best.
Naruto lived alone in a tiny apartment with barely enough support money.
Sakura came from an ordinary civilian family.
Meanwhile, Sasuke inherited an entire Uchiha residential estate.
Nearby, Kakashi watched silently without intervening.
Originally, he intended to stop the fight earlier.
But after witnessing Yoruha’s flame transformation—
Kakashi no longer believed Sasuke possessed any chance whatsoever of harming him.
Instead—
Kakashi deliberately allowed Sasuke to continue.
Because he wanted Sasuke to understand the gap clearly.
“After this…”
“…Sasuke will finally realize how vast the difference truly is.”
And strangely enough—
That was exactly what Kakashi wanted.
Among Team 7, Naruto emotionally resembled Obito the most.
Yet in terms of talent and future potential—
Kakashi naturally placed greater expectations on Sasuke.
He hoped Sasuke could eventually grow into a powerful shinobi capable of supporting Yoruha someday.
The weapons rapidly approached Yoruha.
Then—
Right before impact—
His body suddenly transformed into blazing golden-orange flames.
WHOOSH!
The kunai and shuriken passed directly through him harmlessly.
At the same time, the surrounding flames instantly ignited the explosive tags.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!!
Violent explosions erupted across the training ground.
Dust and smoke exploded outward in every direction.
The entire battlefield vanished beneath thick smoke clouds.
But Sasuke felt no satisfaction whatsoever.
Because he saw it clearly.
Yoruha had not dodged.
He had literally transformed into fire itself.
Then—
A calm voice suddenly sounded behind him.
“Alright.”
“It’s over.”
Sasuke’s pupils contracted violently.
His entire body froze instantly.
Someone lightly tapped his shoulder from behind.
Yoruha.
At some point—
He had already appeared directly behind Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Kakashi’s expression changed dramatically.
Even with his fully activated three-tomoe Sharingan—
He failed to track Yoruha’s movement completely.
“…Impossible.”
“What kind of movement technique was that?”
Kakashi’s mind raced instantly.
“Was it space-time ninjutsu?”
“But that makes no sense…”
Yoruha only received the Flying Thunder God scroll yesterday.
Even Minato required extensive study before mastering it.
More importantly—
Flying Thunder God required marked formulas.
Yoruha placed none.
Kakashi genuinely could not understand what he had just witnessed.
What Kakashi did not know—
Was that this movement originated from elementalization itself.
By transforming partially into flame and dispersing briefly, Yoruha could reposition at extremely short distances almost instantaneously.
At close range—
The effect resembled teleportation completely.
Sasuke remained frozen stiffly.
The difference felt overwhelming.
No—
Hopeless.
His attacks failed completely.
His speed could not even track Yoruha.
And Yoruha still looked utterly relaxed.
Nearby, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki looked completely stunned.
Sakura at least vaguely understood that Yoruha used some kind of incredibly advanced movement technique.
But Naruto only felt fear deepening further.
“His strength is terrifying…”
“And his ninjutsu is even stranger…”
Naruto subconsciously swallowed hard.
“I absolutely can’t provoke him again…”
“Otherwise…”
“…I’ll end up exactly like Mizuki-sensei.”
That horrifying crater still haunted Naruto deeply.
Meanwhile, Yoruha turned toward Kakashi calmly.
“Kakashi-sensei.”
“I’ve already finished observing the assessment.”
“I’ll return first.”
Then—
WHOOSH.
His body transformed into flames once more before disappearing instantly.
This time—
Even Kakashi failed to perceive where he went afterward.
The training ground became quiet.
Kakashi stared at the empty space silently for several moments.
Then he sighed deeply.
“…That night…”
“…he definitely wasn’t using his full strength.”
At first, Kakashi believed Yoruha specialized mainly in overwhelming taijutsu.
Now—
That assumption completely collapsed.
His fire-related abilities alone already felt terrifyingly abnormal.
Transformation into flame.
Near-teleportation movement.
Complete immunity to ordinary fire attacks.
And all of this likely belonged to techniques Yoruha developed personally.
Kakashi unconsciously compared him to the Third Hokage again.
“All five elemental affinities…”
“Exceptional Fire Release…”
“No wonder Hokage-sama insisted on guiding him personally.”
Even among Konoha’s many elite ninja, the Third Hokage remained famous for his mastery of all five elemental transformations.
Still—
Fire Release remained Hiruzen’s strongest specialty.
Meanwhile, Yoruha’s fire-based abilities already looked bizarre enough to qualify as secret forbidden arts.
Combined with his terrifying physical strength and overwhelming aura—
Kakashi slowly reached a shocking conclusion internally.
“Yoruha already possesses everything required to become Hokage.”
“The only things he lacks…”
“…are age and experience.”
Then Kakashi suddenly smiled faintly.
Looking toward the sky, he murmured softly:
“Fourth Hokage…”
“Perhaps Konoha will soon produce someone capable of surpassing even you.”
From Kakashi’s perspective—
Minato Namikaze would probably feel genuinely happy witnessing the emergence of someone like Yoruha.
Someone capable of protecting Konoha for decades into the future.
Eventually, Kakashi walked toward Sasuke slowly.
The boy still stood motionless with lowered head.
Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Now you understand the difference between you and him.”
“The Third Hokage doesn’t make mistakes judging talent.”
“Yoruha’s strength already far exceeds ordinary Chunin.”
“It’s only because he graduated recently that his rank remains this low.”
“Sooner or later…”
“…he’ll become a Jonin.”
Sasuke remained silent for a very long time.
Then slowly clenched his fists.
Without raising his head, he spoke quietly:
“…I’ll defeat him someday.”
Kakashi nodded calmly.
“That’s the right attitude.”
“You’re an Uchiha.”
“You possess a bloodline limit far beyond ordinary ninja.”
“Once your Sharingan matures fully…”
“…you’ll have a chance.”
Those words were encouragement.
Nothing more.
Because deep down—
Kakashi honestly did not believe current Sasuke could ever surpass Yoruha normally.
Not unless something extraordinary happened in the distant future.
Even Itachi Uchiha himself…
Kakashi silently wondered whether he could truly defeat Yoruha now.
After all, Kakashi personally understood Itachi’s terrifying genius better than most people alive.
Yet even then—
Comparing him to Yoruha still felt uncertain.
Aside from Mangekyō Sharingan abilities like Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu—
Kakashi genuinely struggled imagining Itachi defeating him directly.
And even those techniques might not guarantee victory.
Still—
Kakashi could never say such things aloud.
If he did—
Not only Sasuke…
Even Naruto might lose confidence completely.