What surprised Kai the most was still the growth of his chakra.
His chakra reserves were now already approaching Kakashi’s level.
And Kakashi’s chakra reserves were considered exceptionally high even among Jōnin.
The reason he often appeared short on chakra during battle was because he lacked Uchiha blood.
His body was incompatible with the Sharingan, preventing him from turning it off, which constantly drained enormous amounts of chakra.
Without the Sharingan’s burden, Kakashi’s chakra reserves would absolutely rival those of ordinary Kage-level ninja.
At the age of twelve, Kakashi had already been able to casually use Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall—a B-rank ninjutsu—on a massive scale spanning dozens of meters.
That alone showed how immense his chakra reserves would have been without the Sharingan’s constant consumption.
And now, Kai actually possessed chakra reserves close to Kakashi’s level.
The increase in chakra naturally brought corresponding growth in both his spiritual energy and physical strength.
After all, ordinary ninja extracted chakra from within their own bodies.
But Kai ‘s chakra originated from natural energy drawn from the environment.
Which meant the more chakra he possessed, the more his body was nourished and strengthened instead.
Because his chakra was converted from natural energy itself.
To withstand such enormous chakra reserves, his physical constitution also needed to grow stronger.
“I wonder if it’s only increasing this quickly because I’m still at the beginning stage,” Kai thought.
“Once my chakra reserves become much larger, the growth rate probably won’t stay this fast.” He believed his chakra was increasing so rapidly because his foundation had initially been too weak, leaving him with a very small chakra base.
But Kai failed to realize something— His chakra reserves were already comparable to Kakashi’s in his twenties.
And Kai himself was only twelve years old.
Even Naruto, without counting the Nine-Tails’ chakra, only possessed chakra reserves roughly equal to Kakashi’s.
And that was because the Fourth Hokage’s Eight Trigrams Seal continuously converted the Nine-Tails’ leaking chakra into Naruto’s own chakra over the years.
That alone showed just how terrifying Kai ‘s chakra reserves had become.
The next day, after Kai and Dōichi Kimoto completed another D-rank mission, Kakashi was already waiting at the Training Grounds early.
Seeing Kakashi standing atop a tree reading one of his novels, Dōichi looked utterly speechless.
“You’re way too impatient, aren’t you?” he complained.
“What, did you think I wouldn’t let Kai go?” Although he had already agreed to let Kakashi teach Kai in the future, he hadn’t expected Kakashi to act this quickly.
They had literally just finished their mission, and Kakashi was already waiting here.
At this point, Itsuki Yamada and Tano Motoyo had already gone home.
Dōichi had originally intended to keep Kai behind and teach him some techniques.
Although he wasn’t a combat specialist, many interrogation-oriented techniques were still highly useful.
Unfortunately, Kakashi hadn’t given him the chance.
Standing beside Dōichi, Kai also felt somewhat awkward as he looked at Kakashi in the tree.
Even though he already knew Dōichi had agreed to this arrangement— Seeing both teachers appear at the same time still gave him the strange feeling that he had somehow betrayed Dōichi.
Kakashi closed his novel and jumped down from the tree.
“I simply didn’t take any missions today.
I happened to have time.” “Let’s go, Kai .” He walked directly over to him.
Kai instinctively glanced toward Dōichi Kimoto .
Kakashi spoke calmly.
“Your teacher already agreed, so don’t worry.” Dōichi looked somewhat helpless.
He had still wanted to teach Kai a ninjutsu or two.
But now that Kakashi had personally arrived, he could only let Kai go.
Patting him on the shoulder, Dōichi said seriously, “Study well.
He may look lazy, but his strength is absolutely real.” “In Konoha, aside from the Third Hokage, he’s already the strongest ninja remaining.” Since Tsunade and Jiraiya weren’t currently in Konoha, Dōichi’s statement wasn’t exaggerated.
After saying that, he turned and disappeared instantly.
If he stayed any longer, he felt he might actually try to keep Kai for himself.
Watching the direction Dōichi vanished, Kai sighed softly.
“Dōichi-sensei really respects Kakashi-sensei.” Kakashi smiled faintly.
“He also hopes you’ll gain strength as quickly as possible and eventually become one of the village’s pillars.” Naturally, Kakashi seized the opportunity to give a little lecture.
Kai didn’t dislike it and simply nodded.
“I probably won’t disappoint him.” “Kakashi-sensei, didn’t your team have any missions today?” Kakashi nodded.
“We just finished one recently, so I’m giving them some time to rest.” “Anyway, before training begins, I’m taking you to eat first.” “You can’t train properly on an empty stomach.” Kai looked at him suspiciously.
“Kakashi-sensei… you’re not secretly planning to make me pay, are you?” Kai knew very well how stingy Kakashi could be.
Kakashi froze for a moment.
Seeing Kai ‘s genuinely suspicious expression, he suddenly felt awkward.
Apparently, his reputation for being cheap had already spread even to Kai .
Still, he genuinely hadn’t planned on making him pay.
“Why would you think that?” “Come on.
Obviously I’m treating you.” Kai ‘s mouth twitched.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Paying wasn’t really a huge issue.
But Kai lived entirely off the inheritance left behind by his parents.
And since he had only recently started completing D-rank missions, he didn’t exactly have much money.
Still, if Kakashi was going to personally teach him ninjutsu, then treating him to a meal honestly wouldn’t have been unreasonable either.
Kakashi looked helpless.
“Is that seriously the kind of person you think I am?” Kai gave him a fake smile and simply kept walking.
Soon, the two arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.
The moment Teuchi and Ayame saw Kakashi enter, they greeted him cheerfully.
“Oh?
Kakashi!” Kakashi was quite famous throughout Konoha.
But when Teuchi noticed Kai beside him, he looked somewhat surprised.
After all, Kai and Kakashi had never really interacted before.
“Kai , what would you like today?” Ayame asked with a smile while leaning over the counter.
Kai smiled politely.
“One tonkotsu ramen, please.” Kakashi sat beside him.
“Just one bowl?” Kai nodded.
Since he didn’t rely on extracting physical energy to produce chakra, he didn’t need excessive food intake to replenish stamina.
Kakashi looked doubtful.
“We’re about to start some pretty intense training.
One bowl won’t be enough.” “It’s fine.
One is enough.” Kai understood his own body perfectly well.
But Kakashi still turned toward Teuchi anyway.
“Make that three bowls of tonkotsu ramen for him.” “And three beef ramen for me.” Kakashi understood very well how exhausting the upcoming training would be.
He simply assumed Kai didn’t realize it yet.
Though helpless, Kai could only silently accept it.
There was no way he could openly explain that his chakra didn’t rely on converting physical energy.
Meanwhile, the interaction between the two left Teuchi completely stunned.
He could clearly tell that Kakashi treated Kai differently from everyone else.
It almost resembled the way a father treated his own child.
Yet before this, the two had barely interacted at all.
Teuchi simply couldn’t understand it.
Still, he also understood something else very clearly: Never pry into ninja affairs.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have managed to run Ichiraku Ramen for decades without problems.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS sagamaster789 Liked It?