Although weapon-throwing techniques were taught at the Ninja Academy as part of the basics, freshly graduated shinobi generally lacked real combat proficiency with them.
Only geniuses like Kakashi or Itachi Uchiha possessed true practical skill with ninja tools at the age of six or seven.
But earlier, Dōichi Kimoto had thrown those kunai and shuriken with full force.
Ordinary shinobi—especially anyone below chūnin level—would have found it extremely difficult to block them.
Yet Kai had not only defended against the attack.
He had reacted in time.
He had even clearly tracked the flight paths of every kunai and shuriken.
That proved more than just physical strength and coordination.
His perception and eyesight were also far beyond ordinary.
At the very least, Dōichi knew he himself could never have reached that level at Kai’s age.
Naturally, Kai had no idea what Dōichi was thinking.
He was simply dissatisfied with him.
Though it was only dissatisfaction.
At his current strength, there was not much he could actually do.
Walking up to the three students, Dōichi said, “Today, I’m taking you to accept missions.” The moment they heard that, Motoyo Tano and Yamada Itsuki instantly became excited.
They completely forgot the terror they had just experienced moments ago.
“Really, sensei?!
We can start taking missions already?” Dōichi nodded expressionlessly.
“Of course.
But for now, you’ll only be taking missions below C-rank.” “And during those missions, I’ll continue training all of you.” “You’d better prepare yourselves mentally.” “My training methods are quite harsh.” His tone suddenly turned icy.
Then he looked toward Kai with a faint smile.
“But I imagine you’re looking forward to that, aren’t you?” Kai frowned slightly.
“Dōichi-sensei, you’re training three students who just graduated from the Ninja Academy.
A test like that earlier was completely unnecessary.” Dōichi patted Kai on the shoulder.
“You’re still bothered by that?” “Maybe life is going to get rough for those two in the future…” “But for you, isn’t this a good thing?” Kai understood exactly what he meant.
And honestly, he was curious about what kind of ninjutsu Dōichi might teach him.
Still, Dōichi’s methods were not exactly friendly toward Itsuki and Tano.
After all, their talent was fairly average.
If Dōichi trained them too harshly, they would definitely struggle.
Seeing Kai remain silent, Dōichi smiled.
“Come on.
Let’s head to the Hokage Tower and pick up a mission.” Neither Itsuki nor Tano had paid attention to the earlier exchange between Dōichi and Kai.
The two were still excited about officially becoming shinobi capable of taking missions.
And after the four of them left, on a nearby tree branch within the training grounds, Kakashi stood there silently.
In his hand was a small novel.
But his attention was no longer on the book.
He had observed Dōichi’s test of Kai from beginning to end.
And Kai’s performance had genuinely surprised him.
Even after the group had already departed, Kakashi still muttered to himself, “It’s not just his chakra reserves…” “His reaction speed far surpasses ordinary shinobi, and his eyesight is already comparable to mine when using the Sharingan.” Kakashi felt that even average chūnin would not have reacted to Dōichi’s attack in time.
Even if they sensed the danger, they still would not have been able to perceive the trajectories of those weapons clearly enough to block them.
That level of reaction speed and visual perception simply did not belong to an ordinary shinobi.
In fact, Kakashi suspected that Kai’s eyesight might already rival his own Sharingan-enhanced vision.
“I wonder if this kid could learn my Chidori…” Thinking of Kai’s visual prowess and agile movements, Kakashi realized he was perfectly suited for the technique.
But Chidori was an A-rank forbidden technique.
Not only was Kai unrelated to him— He was not even Kakashi’s student.
And even if Kakashi wanted to teach him, the risks involved would still need careful consideration.
Forbidden techniques were not just powerful.
Their true danger lay in the burden and risk placed on the user.
The reason Kakashi had taught Sasuke Chidori was not only because Sasuke was his student.
The more important reason was Sasuke’s Sharingan.
Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke had required a full month of special training before mastering it.
Watching Kai’s departing figure, Kakashi murmured softly, “If you truly don’t harbor any ill intentions toward the village…” “Then you’re someone worth cultivating.” “If raised properly, you might even become the next Fourth Hokage.” At this point, Kakashi’s vigilance toward Kai had lessened considerably.
The reason was simple.
Earlier, he had seen Kai become genuinely angry because Dōichi had endangered his teammates.
That emotion had been real.
Kakashi understood that Kai was someone who valued his comrades.
And people like that were people he was willing to trust.
Kai reminded him of his younger self.
No— In some ways, Kai was even better.
After all, Kakashi himself had once spent a long period lost in darkness.
“Heh… I’m actually a little jealous of Dōichi.” “That bastard got incredibly lucky finding such a promising student.” In Kakashi’s eyes, as long as Kai did not die prematurely, his future achievements would never fall below Kakashi’s own.
Then Kakashi thought about the three problem children on his own team and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Although Sasuke and Naruto both possessed tremendous potential— One was an Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan, while the other was the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki with Uzumaki blood— Neither of them was easy to teach.
In fact, one of the Third Hokage’s reasons for assigning them both to Team 7 was to use Sasuke’s Sharingan to help keep Naruto in check.
Unfortunately, both Naruto and Sasuke had personalities that were difficult to deal with.
Compared to them, Kakashi felt Kai would probably be much easier to guide.
At the very least, Kai appeared far more mature mentally.
Shaking his head, Kakashi vanished from the training grounds.
Soon afterward, Kai’s group arrived at the Hokage Tower.
The Third Hokage himself failed to notice anything unusual about Kai.
And neither Asuma, Kakashi, nor Dōichi Kimoto had reported anything regarding him.
After leaving the Hokage Tower, they happened to run into Team 7, who were also there to accept missions.
The moment Naruto spotted Kai, he waved enthusiastically.
“Hey, Kai!
What kind of mission did you guys get?” Naruto casually ran over and asked with a grin.
“Just a D-rank mission.” After all, it was their first mission.
There was no way they would be assigned anything difficult.
Naruto, however, clearly did not understand that.
“A D-rank mission?” “Hah!
We’re definitely getting a C-rank mission this time!” Kai merely smiled faintly.
“Then good luck with that.” Meanwhile, Kakashi’s gaze remained fixed on Kai.
The more he observed him, the more satisfied he became.
In his opinion, Kai was exactly the type of student he would have wanted most.
Mainly because their personalities were so similar.
Standing beside Kakashi, Sasuke looked at Kai with confusion.
He had little impression of him.
In fact, he barely even remembered being in the same class.
Sakura felt much the same.
But the moment she saw Kai, she could not help feeling stunned.
Outwardly, she remained calm.
But inwardly, she thought: “He’s actually just as handsome as Sasuke…” “Who is this guy?” “And why does someone like him seem so close with Naruto?”
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