Chapter 20 Me? Become a Jonin Within Half a Year?
Kakashi smiled faintly and nodded. "Good. You also have a clear understanding of yourself."
As he spoke, Kakashi looked at Yoruha, his expression turning serious.
"Your teacher and I used to be colleagues. Did you know that?"
Yoruha said nothing. Naturally, he could guess as much.
Kakashi didn't continue asking him, and instead told Yoruha about the decision he and Kihon Toichi had made.
"So, what do you think?"
Even though the two of them could decide Yoruha's life on their own, Kakashi still wanted to ask what Yoruha thought.
Yoruha thought for a moment. "I don't think I really have the option to refuse."
"No. I want to know what you think. Your opinion is very important."
Kakashi said.
"I don't really have any special thoughts. Having one more teacher isn't bad."
Yoruha said blandly.
Kakashi was a little puzzled. "Shouldn't you be happy? After all, you know your teacher's background, so you should also know how rare it is to have an Anbu Jonin as your teacher."
"I know. It's just that having one more teacher doesn't make me all that happy."
Yoruha's words left Kakashi confused.
He had thought Yoruha simply didn't like him.
"I think my strength should let me teach you quite a lot."
Yoruha nodded. "I believe that. After all, you're Kakashi-sensei. From all the rumors alone, anyone can tell how capable you are."
This really wasn't something Yoruha was relying on memories from his previous life for.
Kakashi really was very famous in Konohagakure—aside from someone as dull as Naruto.
As long as they were a normal ninja, they had heard of Kakashi's reputation.
Kakashi grew even more puzzled. Since Yoruha knew how formidable he was, why was he acting so flat about it?
"Kakashi-sensei, to me, the most important thing is being able to live steadily as a ninja. I've never had some overwhelming pursuit of becoming strong."
This was Yoruha's true feeling—and also not.
Yoruha really did think that way. He had never been especially competitive. All he worked for was being able to live safely in this world.
The false part was that he had the Idle System. He knew that even if no one taught him, he could still become strong on his own.
It would just take more time and be more troublesome.
Kakashi was a little speechless. Yoruha's mindset really was lacking in ambition.
But then, thinking of himself, what right did he have to criticize Yoruha?
"Don't you have any dreams?"
Kakashi couldn't help asking.
Yoruha smiled. "My dream is to get through my ninja career in peace. You know better than anyone how short a ninja's professional lifespan is."
That made Kakashi even more speechless.
It was the truth, but Yoruha was different—or at least, in Kakashi's eyes, he was.
He was a genius Kakashi thought highly of, someone to be cultivated into one of the most important forces protecting Konohagakure.
How could he be so unambitious?
"Isn't there anything you want to protect?"
Kakashi still refused to give up. He wanted Yoruha to have at least some goal worth striving for.
A ninja without personal ideals could never achieve much.
At least, that was what Kakashi believed from his own experience.
Yoruha thought for a moment, then said, "Of course there is. If I have enough strength, then naturally I want to protect the things precious to me."
At last, Kakashi smiled.
"Then why did you say something so dispiriting just now?"
Yoruha shook his head. "Kakashi-sensei, I don't think what I said just now was dispiriting. I said I want to spend my ninja career in peace, but I never said I don't want to work hard."
"If I want a stable life, then I need to become stronger. But as long as I can protect what matters most, that's enough. There's no need to endlessly insist on becoming stronger without end."
"As for whether I can actually do it, I don't care that much. As long as I do my best, that's enough."
Kakashi smiled helplessly. "At your age, how can you say things that sound so old?"
"Fine. I don't feel like introducing myself either. I think you should already know some things about me."
"After all, you're not Naruto and the others."
Sasuke and Naruto really didn't know Kakashi very well.
Naruto was one thing, but Kakashi had once been Itachi's colleague, and even Sasuke was still very unfamiliar with him.
Kakashi found that rather helpless too.
Sometimes he even wondered whether Itachi had never talked to Sasuke about him.
And Kakashi really hadn't guessed wrong—Itachi truly had never told Sasuke about him.
After all, Itachi rarely talked to Sasuke about Anbu matters.
There was even less chance he would reveal anything about Kakashi.
Kakashi walked up to Yoruha. Under the moonlight, despite being 180 centimeters tall, Kakashi was only about a head taller than Yoruha.
At only twelve years old, Yoruha was already over 160 centimeters.
Among a bunch of little brats who weren't even 150 yet, he counted as fairly tall.
Compared to the cold aloofness he showed before outsiders, Kakashi wasn't acting very cold standing in front of Yoruha.
He patted Yoruha on the shoulder and said seriously, "Starting today, I'm your teacher too. And I hope that within a year—or even half a year—you can have Jonin-level strength."
"Once you have Jonin-level strength, there are certain missions I'll personally take you on."
Yoruha, who had been expressionless, froze for a moment.
"Take me on missions?"
"Have Jonin-level strength within half a year?!"
The corner of Yoruha's mouth twitched. "How highly do you think of me? Jonin-level strength within half a year—who could possibly do that?"
"And you should also know what kind of ninja you are. The missions you carry out aren't something ordinary ninja can even come into contact with."
Even though Yoruha felt that with the system, his strength would rise quickly, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could reach Jonin level within half a year.
After all, although Chunin and Jonin were only one rank apart—
Special Jonin didn't even count as Jonin in Yoruha's eyes.
So Chunin and Jonin really were only separated by one level.
But the gap in combat power between them was like heaven and earth.
Under normal circumstances, one Jonin could crush a whole group of Chunin.
And as long as there were no cheats involved, a Chunin facing a Jonin was destined to be slaughtered.
And it wasn't enough for one's ninjutsu alone to reach Jonin level in order to possess Jonin-level strength.
You also needed the corresponding combat experience.
That was also the area Yoruha cared most about. Ninjutsu could be trained, but battle experience had to be accumulated through real fights.
Yoruha knew very clearly how Kaguya had ultimately been sealed by Naruto and Sasuke.
At its core, it was because Kaguya's combat experience was too poor.
In terms of pure power, she was absolutely much stronger than the two of them, but after being sealed for a thousand years she had gone stupid, and getting sealed again in the end was just embarrassing for the final boss.
Actually, the entire Ōtsutsuki clan had this problem.
They basically all relied on overwhelming enemies through sheer power.
When facing opponents several levels below them, that was one thing. Crushing them directly really was satisfying.
But if they met an opponent only one level below them—or even on the same level—who had rich combat experience, then there was a high probability they would be defeated.
Yoruha knew very well that his own actual combat experience was still zero.
If he wanted to truly have Jonin-level strength, it would still take a long time.
In fact, Yoruha was setting the bar too high for himself by thinking this way.
The way he had responded to Kakashi's attack earlier had already shown strength far beyond ordinary Chunin.
The reason he felt there was such a huge gap between him and Kakashi did not come from combat experience, but from the fact that, in terms of raw power, he was still far too far behind Kakashi.
It was just that Yoruha had mistaken that difference for a gap in real combat experience.
After obtaining "Outstanding Talent for Learning Ninjutsu," Yoruha's practical combat ability was actually far stronger than that of normal people.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to possess strength surpassing ordinary Chunin relying on only a few basic jutsu he had just learned.