[It’s over! I said the wrong thing! I’m screwed now!]
Naruto’s expression became blank.
Listening to Naruto’s inner thoughts and looking at his expression, the smile on Kakashi’s face grew even wider.
“Don’t say I’m not giving you a chance. How about this? As long as you leave the surface of the water, today’s training will end here. How about it?”
Naruto stared intensely into Kakashi’s eyes.
He really wanted to find some information in Kakashi’s eyes, but Kakashi’s gaze seemed eternally unchanging.
They were always those same dead-fish eyes, making it impossible to read anything from them.
[Damn it, I’ll risk it!]
Naruto also knew that Kakashi was getting serious this time.
He immediately made up his mind, concentrating a large amount of chakra into his feet.
His body swayed as he quickly went around Kakashi and rushed toward the shore, but in the next moment, Kakashi instantly appeared in front of Naruto and blocked him, simultaneously swinging his sword at Naruto.
Naruto’s pupils shrank violently.
He twisted his body, trying to dodge, but he was still inferior in speed.
The sword landed directly on Naruto’s shoulder.
The scene of blood gushing out did not appear.
Instead, the strike was like an electrified steel whip coming down, causing pain, paralysis, and heat to spread across his shoulder.
The sensation of paralysis spread throughout his entire body, making Naruto stagger.
Only then did Naruto notice that what had struck him amid the lightning was actually the back of the blade.
“It seems you still don’t have the ability to reach the shore. Then obediently stay here and continue training with me.”
Naruto took two steps backward to create some distance, his expression extremely ugly.
If Kakashi simply wanted him to train diligently, he would have agreed without hesitation.
But now Kakashi wanted to train him on the basis of torturing him, which was something Naruto absolutely could not accept.
“Big Brother Kakashi, are you forcing me?”
“Hmm? What makes you say that? I’m only asking you for a favor, Naruto.”
“Damn it!”
[Kurama!]
Naruto suddenly erupted.
Crimson chakra surged out from his abdomen, forming a thin membrane that enveloped his entire body.
His fingernails became sharp and elongated, while the whisker marks on his face became more pronounced.
His mouth unconsciously split open, revealing sharp canine teeth.
Surprise finally appeared on Kakashi’s face, but he immediately became serious and revealed his Sharingan at the same time.
He actually mastered the Nine-Tails’ power in just one night!
Naruto, you really are a genius!
A trace of excitement flashed deep within Kakashi’s eyes.
Naruto suddenly exerted force with both legs.
The enormous power caused the surface of the water to explode, sending a large amount of water flying into the air.
Naruto shot toward Kakashi like an arrow released from a bow.
Lightning flashed around Kakashi’s body as he transformed into a streak of white light.
Boom!
Red light and white light crossed paths.
Naruto maintained his forward-leaning sprinting posture.
With only about half a meter remaining before the shore, Kakashi’s body flashed with lightning as he smashed his elbow into Naruto’s back.
“Gah!”
Naruto let out a painful grunt, his eyes widening and his pupils becoming unfocused.
His body gradually went limp and collapsed, while the crimson chakra membrane around him also dissipated.
At the moment Naruto was about to fall to the ground, Kakashi caught him with one arm.
With his other hand, he returned the sword to his back before lifting Naruto up with both arms.
Naruto had failed, but Kakashi looked extremely delighted, with an uncontrollable joy in his eyes.
“To have reached this level on your first time using the Nine-Tails’ chakra? You’re very impressive, Naruto.”
Kakashi’s voice was unusually gentle.
Naruto opened his mouth, but for a moment, he could not make a sound.
That elbow strike just now was not an ordinary elbow strike.
At the instant of impact, a large amount of lightning-nature chakra had been injected into Naruto’s body, causing his body to instantly lose sensation and making him collapse.
Although he had regained his senses now, his entire body had still not recovered from the paralysis.
Even his vocal cords were in a tense state, making it impossible for him to produce any sound.
Kakashi smiled and patted Naruto’s head before gently tossing him onto his back.
The sun was setting.
Kakashi carried Naruto along the village roads, the setting sun stretching their shadows and outlining a beautiful scene.
“Do you know what the most terrifying thing in this world is, Naruto?”
Kakashi suddenly asked out of nowhere.
Naruto had already regained his ability to speak, but many of the muscles in his body were still tense as if they were cramping, occasionally twitching as well.
Facing this kind of pain, Naruto was extremely angry at this moment.
Although he knew that Kakashi absolutely had no ill intentions toward him, the pain was genuinely painful.
“I don’t know.”
Naruto’s tone was extremely bad.
Right now, he did not want to talk to Kakashi at all, but Kakashi did not get angry.
Instead, he smiled after hearing this answer.
“Perhaps many people would say despair, but actually, it is hope. When you had just climbed out of the water and heard that I still wanted to continue training, you must have been in despair, right? If I hadn’t given you hope afterward, would you still have made that choice?”
Kakashi’s words struck Naruto like a thunderbolt.
He had always felt that, as someone who knew the plot, he understood Kakashi extremely well.
But now, for the first time, he felt that the person carrying him was so unfamiliar, so impossible for him to see through.
[That’s right. Kakashi definitely wouldn’t take my life. I still have to go to school tomorrow, and he definitely wouldn’t seriously injure me either. If there hadn’t been that sliver of hope…]
Naruto did not dare continue thinking about it.
At this moment, he was already terrified.
Then Kakashi’s voice rang out once again.
“There are many prisoners locked up in the ANBU prison. Some of them have been imprisoned for a very long time. Most of them will never see sunlight again in their entire lives, yet not a single one of them wants to commit suicide. Do you know why?”
Naruto remained silent and did not answer.
Kakashi glanced backward and continued, “Because they all still hold hope in their hearts. Some still have people they want to protect, some still have unfinished business, and some still have people they want to kill…”
“Actually, for many prisoners, after they are locked in prison, the people and matters they were attached to have already been settled. But we never tell them, because those things are the last hope supporting them to stay alive. Once that hope is extinguished, they will fall into complete despair and want to die. Especially those who still possess important intelligence. If we make them despair, I would still have to send people to keep watch over them. Don’t you think that would be particularly troublesome?”
There was a hint of teasing in Kakashi’s final tone, but it left Naruto’s hands and feet cold.
How cruel was this?
Just thinking about it was enough to send chills down his spine.
Yet Kakashi’s voice continued.
“So, Naruto, from now on, when you face an enemy, as long as they haven’t completely lost their ability to fight, you must never let them fall into despair. Otherwise, you might suffer an unexpected counterattack.”
Kakashi remained silent, but Deidara appeared in his mind.
[That’s right. Making an enemy who still has the ability to fight fall into despair is truly terrifying. If they can still live, who would be willing to die? Isn’t Sasuke beating Deidara with two-pillars the best proof?]