Kakashi's scolding made both Sasuke and Naruto lower their heads in shame.
Just moments ago, the two had been eager to show off in front of Kakashi and Yoruha.
But things had gone completely wrong instead—
and now Yoruha had seen them at their most embarrassing.
Naruto was the first to recover. He stood up, pointed at Yoruha, and said,
"Kakashi-sensei, did you just teach Yoruha some amazing jutsu? The one he used to save me—I've never seen it before!"
Sasuke also got up, brushing the dust off his clothes, though his attention was entirely fixed on Yoruha.
He wanted to know what had happened—
and more than that, whether Kakashi really had such a powerful technique he could learn too.
Naruto's thoughts were simpler. He just thought Kakashi was being unfair.
He was the real student—so why was Kakashi teaching only Yoruha and not him?
Seeing Naruto's indignant expression, Kakashi said evenly,
"You two haven't even mastered chakra control yet. How can I teach you advanced jutsu?"
"When your basics are solid, I'll teach you in due time."
Hearing this, Sasuke nodded slightly to himself.
"So Yoruha's jutsu really was something Kakashi taught him."
Naruto didn't think that deeply. He crossed his arms proudly.
"My chakra control's already perfect, Kakashi-sensei! You can start teaching me tomorrow!"
Kakashi shook his head.
"You've still got a long way to go. You've barely started."
"Then why can Yoruha learn it? We're your students too!"
Naruto protested loudly.
Kakashi frowned slightly.
"I said your fundamentals are still weak. You have much to learn."
"And besides—Yoruha is my student as well."
In truth, Kakashi wanted to add: Yoruha is my most important student.
If it weren't for the fact that Sasuke and Naruto's identities carried special significance for Konoha,
he wouldn't have taken them along at all.
Sensing Kakashi's serious tone, even Naruto fell silent.
He just looked at Yoruha with a mixture of jealousy and frustration.
Naruto didn't resent Yoruha personally,
but he was definitely jealous.
After all, Yoruha hadn't even been part of their team originally—
it was Kakashi who insisted on bringing him along for missions.
To Naruto, that was clear favoritism.
He was always sensitive when it came to emotions,
and this kind of thing hit especially hard.
Deep down, he even thought Kakashi treated him differently because he was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
He forgot, however, that Sasuke and Sakura were treated the same way.
Neither of them felt Kakashi was playing favorites—
because they both understood just how strong Yoruha really was.
They had seen it firsthand during the battle with Zabuza.
Yoruha's power was far beyond theirs.
Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that for someone their age to be that strong,
either Yoruha worked much harder than they did, or he had an exceptional talent.
Sasuke refused to admit that Yoruha might be more gifted than him, so he told himself Yoruha simply trained harder.
Sakura, on the other hand, believed Yoruha had both talent and diligence.
Naruto, however, only saw Kakashi's favoritism.
To him, Kakashi was one of the few high-ranking shinobi who didn't reject him—
and his teacher, no less.
So Naruto's expectations and hopes for Kakashi were very high.
He cared more about Kakashi's affection than about power itself.
Meanwhile, when Yoruha heard Kakashi speak so sternly on his behalf, he felt a headache coming on.
He knew Kakashi meant well, trying to defend him—
but words like that would only make Naruto feel even more slighted.
Naruto might even start resenting him because of it.
Still, Yoruha decided to stay silent.
Anything he said now would only make it worse.
After a long pause, Kakashi finally said,
"All right, that's enough for today. You've all trained hard—go get some rest."
Then he disappeared on the spot.
Yoruha stared at the empty space where Kakashi had stood, his mouth twitching slightly.
"Seriously? He just leaves me here to deal with this?"
Yoruha sighed inwardly.
Kakashi clearly knew the team's mood was off.
He'd probably left Yoruha behind on purpose—
to let him spend time alone with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, to build camaraderie between them.
But in this situation, Yoruha wanted nothing more than to leave.
"How irresponsible…" he muttered to himself.
After grumbling about Kakashi in his heart, he finally said to the others,
"Let's head back too."
He wanted to use the Body Flicker Technique and vanish like Kakashi,
but he knew that would only make Sasuke and Naruto feel worse.
Sakura, noticing the tense atmosphere, quickly chimed in,
"Yeah, let's go. I'm exhausted anyway."
Among the team, Sakura was the only one who had no real conflict with Yoruha.
Sasuke and Naruto, however, now saw him as the rival they had to surpass.
Naruto especially.
In his heart, he was determined to grow stronger— to defeat Yoruha someday, and make Kakashi acknowledge him as the best student.
At his age, his reasoning was simple:
Kakashi favored Yoruha because Yoruha was stronger.
If he worked hard and surpassed him,
Kakashi would recognize him too.
It was a very honest, childish thought—
one that most boys his age would have.
As they walked through the forest, none of them spoke.
Only the occasional chirping of birds and rustling of beasts broke the silence.
After a while, Sakura, unable to stand the tension, spoke up first.
"This afternoon, Sasuke and Naruto worked really hard—they both got the hang of chakra control!"
"Yoruha, what kind of jutsu were you learning with Kakashi-sensei?"
"It must've been something amazing, right?"
Sasuke and Naruto both pricked up their ears at that, pretending not to care but listening closely.
Yoruha answered casually,
"Just a few Water Release techniques."
"Were they powerful ones?" Sakura asked curiously.
Yoruha glanced at the two who were obviously listening and said lightly,
"How powerful can a Water Release technique really be?"
Sakura's mouth twitched.
"Not powerful? That Water Release jutsu you used against Zabuza was super strong!"
"If he hadn't dodged in time, he'd be dead!"
Yoruha shook his head.
"It didn't even hit him. Zabuza's a jonin-level elite, just like Kakashi-sensei. You don't defeat someone like that easily."
"You only think I almost won—but in reality, I was still miles away."
"If elite jonin were that easy to defeat, there wouldn't only be a handful of them in each village."
"Some villages don't even have ten."
Yoruha was speaking the truth.
Elite jonin were strategic assets to a hidden village, and they were the ones eligible to compete for the title of Kage.
Of course, Sakura and the others didn't quite grasp what that meant.
"But still," Sakura said, "you really were about to win! Zabuza only ran because he was scared of you!"