Kyōichi, Konoha’s Life Mentor

"Sensei... how could this happen? I'm not weak either!" Obito cried with a dejected face.

True, he was defeated instantly, but that's because Kurenai was hiding among the clones for a sneak attack, coordinating with Asuma's shadow clones to take him down. In a direct confrontation, he wasn't weak.

"Think carefully about what I said..." Kyōichi walked over to Asuma.

After forming hand seals, chakra gathered and transformed into a green light.

Rin exclaimed in surprise: "Sensei, so you really do know medical ninjutsu, and it's even the Mystical Palm Technique!"

"Did you think I was lying?" Kyōichi glanced at her.

Making such a fuss!

Thanks to the system's help, while other abilities might be lacking, his ninjutsu knowledge spanned across various fields.

Minato grew increasingly impressed, while Kakashi bit his lip until it bled.

This guy...

How could he master techniques from so many fields, yet still train his taijutsu and ninjutsu to such a level?

Am I really that weak?

Kakashi felt unsatisfied.

He had always been praised as a genius, growing up surrounded by others' amazement, never doubting his talent.

However.

After meeting Kyōichi, Kakashi increasingly felt worthless.

Decent at taijutsu, sword techniques, and ninjutsu?

But.

He wasn't exceptional at any of them, couldn't even break through Shisui's three-man defense network without relying on his unfamiliar sword techniques.

At this moment, he couldn't help but think of his father, Sakumo Hatake.

The Hatake clan were once samurai, their sword techniques passed down until Sakumo combined them with chakra and taijutsu to create his own style, becoming famous throughout the ninja world.

Perhaps father's sword technique was right!

The thought flashed through Kakashi's mind.

Previously, he had fallen into extreme thinking, completely rejecting everything about his father, but now he began to accept a reality - his father's sword techniques were indeed formidable, far stronger than what he had imagined.

"Kakashi, I had high hopes for all of you, but you've disappointed me greatly. Watching your battle just now, I felt you're not even worthy of being a ninja - you should return to the academy to study properly, just like them," Minato Namikaze said seriously.

Kakashi disagreed but couldn't argue back.

Because he had lost!

When a mission fails, everything else is just excuses.

Asuma scratched his healed wound and looked up at his sensei, wanting to speak but hesitating.

He understood clearly.

Kakashi had held back.

If this hadn't been just practice, Kakashi definitely had the ability to kill him earlier.

Of course.

He would have died too.

But Kakashi was a chunin, while he was only a genin. Achieving this much didn't seem worth bragging about. Asuma thought about it repeatedly but felt he couldn't justify it.

"Don't be angry, Minato. Sending a chunin back to school is too harsh. Why not demote him instead? It will give them another chance at the exam," Kyōichi played good cop from the side.

"Is he worthy of being a ninja? Coordinating teammate strengths, planning tactics - these are what a chunin should do. Which of these has he accomplished? What use is a high mission completion rate if no one wants to be his teammate now!" Minato scolded harshly.

Actually.

These weren't his true feelings, but earlier when the two teams were fighting, Kyōichi had discussed this with him, hoping to use it to provoke Kakashi's inner thoughts and help him break through his mental barriers.

Minato naturally couldn't refuse - Kyōichi was being incredibly kind to help selflessly, after all, he had no connection to either Kakashi or Sakumo.

His willingness to help was all for the sake of Konoha!

Kakashi was still a genius.

If he could understand their intentions and Sakumo's past hardships, Konoha might gain another highly talented jonin sooner.

Of course.

This was all Minato's own interpretation.

Kyōichi's thoughts were much simpler. Kakashi was stubborn and wouldn't change easily. This was just heating up the steel a bit, preparing for the future.

After all...

If Kakashi were to develop in the direction of swordsmanship, neither Minato nor Jiraiya were sword masters - he would eventually have to come to Kyōichi.

Getting free benefits wasn't easy; the sheep needed to be cultivated from young.

As for Kakashi.

He wasn't thinking that deeply. At this moment, his mind was filled only with his failure and Minato's scolding.

"Ah, Kakashi was once on my team. During battlefield missions, he was always at the frontline. For my sake, give him another chance," Kyōichi sighed, again "pleading" for Kakashi.

"Really?" Minato was very surprised.

This wasn't an act - Kanda Kyōichi had actually been on a team with Kakashi?

Then why did Kakashi also look confused?

"It was a temporary chunin team formed for missions. Please give him another chance."

"Very well. Since Kyōichi has spoken up like this - Kakashi, give up your chunin position, and I'll give all three of you one chance. Otherwise, keep your chunin position and leave; my team won't need you anymore," Minato said seriously.

Shisui looked at both senseis, his expression rather strange. This approach...

Too familiar!

It was exactly the same as how their sensei had tricked them before. Having just heard Kyōichi and Minato's loud "secret" planning, how could he not know what was going on?

All that talk about guarantees and promises to keep him.

It was all bait - only a fool would believe it.

Was the Hatake clan's genius a fool?

He curiously watched Kakashi.

At this moment, Kakashi was conflicted. He was very unwilling to give up his chunin rank.

Why should he!

He had earned it through battlefield missions!

But.

He wasn't ready to leave either.

He wasn't afraid of losing.

But losing to a team like Shisui's - he couldn't accept that.

After just a moment, he made his decision.

"I'll take the test!"

"Good. I'll give you this one chance. Kyōichi, this is my bottom line. Thank you for today. Tomorrow I will conduct another test..."

"Don't worry, I'll be there," Kyōichi readily agreed.

However.

He wasn't worried, nor did he plan to actually go. He would just send a shadow clone.

Kakashi wasn't stupid.

Losing to Minato today was normal. Losing to Shisui and the others was because he had underestimated Shisui, Asuma, and Kurenai, while overestimating his own abilities.

Tomorrow's battle wouldn't be so crude.

"Thank you!" Kakashi bowed solemnly.

His memory wasn't very clear, but he had a vague impression of being on a team with Kyōichi, seemingly a year or two ago when Kyōichi had just become a chunin.

In just one or two years, the other had already become a jonin!

"No need. You were once a genius I admired. I don't want to see you waste away... Minato, we won't disturb your class training anymore."

"Kyōichi, thank you very much!" Minato said earnestly. Without Kyōichi, he really wouldn't have known how to handle this situation.

The results weren't clear yet.

But.

Kakashi was clearly less stubborn than before.

Keep in mind, even the Third Hokage couldn't handle him before, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to send him to Minato's class as a "genin."

Kyōichi was really capable!

He felt both grateful and admiring.

Kyōichi left with his three disciples, who wore strange expressions.

Rin vaguely felt something was off about Kurenai and the others' expressions, but didn't think too deeply about it. As Minato continued his scolding and teaching, she stopped pondering about Kurenai's expression.