Chapter 24 You Are Different From Them
"Kakashi-sensei, what is the punishment?"
Uzumaki Naruto hesitated for a moment before tentatively raising his hand and asking weakly.
"And what about the reward?"
Sakura also couldn't suppress her curiosity and quickly raised her hand.
"Punishment? I haven't decided yet. Maybe running ten laps around Konoha while doing a handstand? Or perhaps, after this mission is complete, he/she has to do all the missions alone for the next few days, or maybe they won't be allowed to eat their favorite food for a week after returning, something like that."
Kakashi thought for a moment and replied uncertainly.
Running ten laps around Konoha doing a handstand? Absolutely not! The thought of doing such a foolish thing while being watched by everyone made Sakura's face turn pale.
Not being able to eat instant noodles and ramen for a week after returning? Absolutely not! Naruto's expression also changed drastically.
"Hmph!" Uchiha Sasuke remained cold and aloof. Such childish punishments held no deterrent power.
Perhaps only running ten laps around Konoha doing a handstand would be a bit difficult.
However, he would never be in last place; Sasuke was very confident about that.
"As for the reward, you can ask for one small, reasonable request."
Then, Kakashi continued speaking at an unhurried pace.
A small, reasonable request?
"For example, can we ask Kakashi-sensei to take off his mask?"
Uzumaki Naruto looked at Kakashi, thinking of this question immediately. What did their teacher look like under his mask? Did he really have buck teeth?
"Well..." Kakashi looked at the three curious gazes and nodded, "That's possible."
That's great!
Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look, both seeing excitement in the other's eyes.
"Boring~" Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but scoff. Although he was somewhat curious about what was under Kakashi's mask, clearly, this matter wasn't worth wasting an opportunity to become stronger.
If there's a chance, he should learn a stronger Ninjutsu!
Once he became strong enough later, taking off Kakashi's mask would be a simple matter.
"Oh, right, the rubber ball must explode with a 'bang'; a soft deflation doesn't count."
At this moment, Kakashi added.
"Yep, watch me pop it right away!" Uzumaki Naruto nodded full of energy. He absolutely couldn't lose; not being able to eat instant noodles and ramen for a week was unthinkable. Plus, he had to see what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask!
...
For the next week, all three made no progress whatsoever.
Instead, their hands were incredibly painful, to the point where they could barely hold chopsticks steady while eating.
After trying continuously for this week, they finally understood that the difficulty of this second stage was much greater than the first stage.
Finally, in the second week, Uchiha Sasuke was the first to puncture the rubber ball, but he didn't meet the requirement.
Because the rubber ball didn't explode; it only got a small hole, and the air slowly leaked out.
"Damn it, just a little bit short."
Uchiha Sasuke clenched his trembling hands, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
Ignoring the pain and increasing the input of Chakra only managed to create a small hole?
Sakura and Naruto, watching from the side, were shocked. While they had made no progress all week, Sasuke had already managed to puncture the ball?
"I won't lose to you," Uzumaki Naruto's eyes flared with intense fighting spirit once he reacted.
He immediately ignored the pain in his hands and continued to increase the input of Chakra.
Before long, the rubber ball suddenly developed a hole just like Sasuke's earlier, and the gas inside slowly escaped.
"Hoo—"
Although he didn't succeed, Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but curve his lips slightly upon finally catching up to Sasuke. Immediately after, his body could no longer hold on, and he collapsed onto the grass.
"This guy..."
Uchiha Sasuke heard the noise, glanced back at Naruto, and felt a bit surprised in his heart. He hadn't expected the other party to catch up so quickly.
That sense of urgency once again filled his entire chest!
As for Sakura, seeing that both of them had made progress, while she was happy for them, she felt more confusion and powerlessness deep down.
She was the first to finish the first stage, but now in the second stage, she had become the slowest one!
This drop made it hard for her to accept.
"For this second stage, after these two weeks of training, I believe you can also tell that this stage tests destructive power, so the amount of Chakra infused is essential."
At this time, Kakashi suddenly jumped down from a tree, intending to give them some hints, as Tazuna and the others' bridge was already in its final phase.
Sasuke and the other two looked towards Kakashi upon hearing this.
"But having only Chakra volume isn't enough; you also need to gather the Chakra to a single point."
As Kakashi spoke, he took out a pen, walked over to Sakura, took her hand, and drew a small circle on her palm with a dot in the center.
"See, when there is a dot on the palm, a person's gaze will unconsciously concentrate on that dot. Chakra concentration is the same. Try to condense and compress it into one point, but at the same time, don't forget to let a large amount of Chakra spin rapidly and irregularly."
After listening, the three looked thoughtfully at their own palms.
"Next."
Kakashi then threw the pen in his hand to Sasuke.
Uchiha Sasuke thought for a moment and drew a tomoe of the Sharingan on his palm.
When it came to Naruto, he drew the symbol of Konoha Village.
"Alright, you guys rest for a bit, and then keep working hard."
After giving his reminder, Kakashi lingered no longer and turned to leave.
"Hmph, I don't have time to waste resting."
Uchiha Sasuke looked firmly at the tomoe in his palm. It didn't matter how much his hands hurt; he had to race against time.
"I won't lose to you," Uzumaki Naruto now couldn't spare any thought for the pain in his hands. He absolutely would not lose to Sasuke again!
Sakura looked at the two of them, full of fighting spirit, and couldn't help but lower her eyes. Her hands already hurt terribly, and her Chakra was almost depleted. Why could they still continue training?
Kakashi, who hadn't gone far, didn't forget to advise Sakura, "Sakura, pay attention to balancing work and rest. You are different from them. People like us with less Chakra need to do more things with less Chakra, so when your Chakra is almost gone, you need to rest well, not push yourself."
She hadn't learned Tsunade's Creation Rebirth Jutsu yet, so the amount of usable Chakra she had wasn't much before storing it.
If only she could learn the Creation Rebirth Jutsu too; then she wouldn't have to worry about running out of Chakra during a fight.
"Us?"
Sakura lowered her head in disappointment when she heard the first half of the sentence, but she suddenly froze when she heard the latter half.
Did Kakashi-sensei also have little Chakra?
But why was Kakashi-sensei so strong?
After thinking about it, Sakura decided to go back and rest well, and continue tomorrow after recovering her body.