Plop!
Naruto fell into the lake, creating a huge splash.
He sank for a while before his head finally emerged from the water.
Although he had never swum with this body before, he knew how to swim in his previous life, and he was even quite good at it, so there was no real problem.
“Oh? You know how to swim? Very good.”
Kakashi looked down at Naruto.
There was not the slightest trace of emotion in those dead-fish eyes, as if whether Naruto knew how to swim or not was completely unimportant.
Naruto did not understand how Kakashi could have changed so much from before.
This was completely different from the tolerant and gentle Kakashi he remembered.
His heart trembled a little.
He did not know whether it was because he was in the water or because fear had begun to grow in his heart.
He only felt that his limbs were extremely cold.
“Ka… Big Brother Kakashi, wha… what’s wrong with you?”
Naruto had never seen such a stance before, and even his speech became stammering.
However, immediately afterward, Kakashi once again revealed the same warm smile as before.
“Nothing. I just feel that I haven’t been responsible enough for you all this time, so I’ve decided that from now on, I’ll train together with you.”
“Together? Haven’t we always been training together?”
“Hehe~~ That kind of state before can’t really be considered training together. From now on, we must truly be together. Isn’t the essence of training together helping each other? If we can’t help each other during training, then what’s the meaning of training together?”
Naruto did not quite understand what Kakashi meant by this, but instinctively, his heart trembled.
A bad premonition surged into his heart.
To suppress this premonition, Naruto forced himself to squeeze out an extremely ugly smile.
“Big Brother Kakashi, you’ve always been helping me. I’ve always been grateful for that!”
Naruto swore that the look in his eyes at this moment was absolutely the most sincere it had ever been.
If it were anyone else, they would definitely believe him.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Kakashi, who could hear his inner thoughts.
Whatever he usually cursed Kakashi with in his heart, Kakashi heard it all clearly.
How could Kakashi possibly believe such a look now?
“Is that so? You’re grateful? That’s great. Then I’ll have to ask you to help me as well.”
As Kakashi spoke, he pulled his long sword from his back.
Naruto hurriedly slid backward, attempting to put some distance between himself and Kakashi.
Naruto was genuinely panicking now.
He had witnessed Kakashi’s slashing attacks on the very first day of training.
That kind of power was simply not something he could withstand at his current level.
What’s more, two months had passed since then.
Even if he thought about it with his toenail, he could tell that Kakashi had definitely become even stronger.
“Big Brother Kakashi, wha… what are you going to do? You’re not planning to cut me, are you?”
“Don’t worry. How could I possibly cut you? That’s something that will absolutely never happen.”
As he spoke, Kakashi slowly lowered the tip of his long sword into the water.
The two of them were separated by a distance of two or three meters.
Naruto did not understand what Kakashi intended to do at first, but in the next moment, an electric current surged toward him from all directions.
His body suddenly stiffened, and he quickly sank.
It was only after sinking two or three meters that he finally recovered.
By then, he had already choked down a large mouthful of water because of his paralyzed body.
As soon as his body recovered, he hurriedly swam upward.
“Cough cough! Ugh, cough cough cough cough!”
Just as Naruto surfaced and coughed out the water he had choked on, another electric current struck him.
Thus, he sank again, choked on water again, then surfaced again and coughed violently again.
“Cough cough cough cough! Ugh~~ Ugh waa!”
After several times, Naruto finally could not hold back and began vomiting.
However, since he had not eaten much at noon, there was basically nothing in his stomach, so he could only vomit up a little sour water.
“Are you still not planning to climb out?”
Facing Naruto’s miserable state, Kakashi showed not the slightest bit of sympathy.
His dead-fish eyes remained the same, and his tone sounded as if he were talking about something completely insignificant.
Because of repeatedly choking on water, Naruto’s head was buzzing.
As someone who had lived two lives, when had he ever encountered such a situation?
Upon hearing the question, he immediately covered his hands and feet with chakra and climbed out of the water, standing unsteadily on the surface of the lake.
He had originally thought that Kakashi was doing this like the doggy surrounding him earlier, forcing him to tread water.
He thought that since he could tread water now, everything should be fine.
But before he could catch his breath, an electric current surged up from the soles of his feet.
This time, because his entire body was not immersed in the water, he did not immediately sink.
However, both of his legs still stiffened because of the sudden electric current, affecting the flow of chakra and causing the parts of his legs below the knees to instantly fall into the water.
“Damn it! I already climbed out! What are you still doing?!”
Naruto hurriedly steadied himself and finally could not help but curse out loud.
However, Kakashi still wore that calm expression, merely tilting his head slightly.
“Your words are strange. Didn’t I tell you? This is today’s training. Your training today is tree climbing and water walking. Congratulations, you’ve already completed them, and you completed them with my help. So next, it’s your turn to help me!”
Crackle!
As his words fell, the sword in Kakashi’s hand suddenly crackled with lightning.
A layer of visible electric light covered it, glowing brightly like a fluorescent tube.
Gulp!
Naruto swallowed with difficulty and instinctively took a step backward.
“What do you mean? Wh, why do I have to help you? I won’t help!”
“Because I helped you. We’re helping each other, aren’t we? As the person teaching you, I must not only teach you ninjutsu, but also teach you how to conduct yourself. Only by helping each other with your companions can you go farther. This good virtue must be cultivated from a young age.”
Kakashi spoke with a smile on his face and a gentle tone.
Just listening to him, he sounded completely like a gentle big brother.
But if he was holding a sword crackling with lightning that looked terrifying just by looking at it, then it was an entirely different matter.
“I… You didn’t! You didn’t help me! I could already climb trees and walk on water! I didn’t need your help at all!”
In order to avoid being tortured any further, Naruto finally told the truth.
Although this was equivalent to admitting that he had been hiding his abilities, he now felt that exposing this was far better than continuing to be tortured.
His mind was already dizzy from repeatedly choking on water and oxygen deprivation, so he could not analyze the pros and cons of this decision at all.
At this moment, he was completely controlled by his rejection of suffocation and was unable to remain rational.
Kakashi’s eyes suddenly curved into crescent moons, and his face was filled with happiness.
This was the answer he wanted.
As long as he had this answer, he would take the initiative in teaching Naruto from now on.
The days of slacking off and fooling around would be gone forever.
“Is that so? I see. So you’ve been lying to me this whole time?”
Kakashi’s calm words sounded like thunder in Naruto’s ears, instantly clearing his dazed mind.
At the same time, he felt a chill surge from the soles of his feet and instantly spread throughout his entire body.