Kakashi's lessons continued into the next day.
After mastering the Four Symbols Seal, Arata spent the morning studying its evolved form — the Eight Trigrams Seal.
Compared to the last lesson, the explanation was shorter.
Once Arata understood the foundation, the rest came naturally.
By sunset, he had successfully replicated the sealing pattern.
Two forbidden techniques — in a single day.
Even Kakashi was stunned.
For years, he had tried to learn these very seals himself.
He'd memorized their theory, drawn their formulas countless times, but never achieved activation.
Yet Arata had grasped both in less than twenty-four hours.
It wasn't just talent.
It was something beyond what any shinobi Kakashi had ever met could comprehend.
Arata, however, didn't seem pleased.
"Only two techniques in a day…" he muttered.
"Not enough."
Kakashi almost tripped.
Not enough?
He wanted to tell him even the Hokage would've needed weeks to master just one.
As dusk settled, the group made their way down the forest trail.
The faint orange light of the setting sun bled through the trees when two figures appeared ahead, blocking their path.
Naruto and Sasuke stood in silence, side by side.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm? You two are done training already?"
But neither of them answered.
Their expressions were unusually serious.
Arata blinked.
"What's with the faces? Did something happen?"
Sasuke stepped forward. His voice was steady but tight.
"Arata… teach me how to get stronger."
Arata froze.
A moment later, Naruto stepped up beside him.
"Me too! I wanna get stronger too! Please teach me!"
Kakashi sighed, rubbing his temple.
He'd known this would happen eventually — he just didn't expect it today.
"Ah… here we go," he muttered.
Beside him, Sakura shifted awkwardly, lowering her head.
Because, well… this was kind of her fault.
After returning from the mission, Sasuke and Naruto had bombarded her with questions about Arata's battle against Kurotsuchi Raiga — and about how he'd stopped Naruto's rampage.
Sakura had tried to downplay it, but her awe had given everything away.
And once she described what she saw — the golden lightning dragon, the way Arata had stood against the berserk Nine-Tails — there was no going back.
Even if Arata denied it, the proof was there:
Raiga's charred corpse still lay buried in the forest,
and the crater their battle had created spanned hundreds of meters.
Naruto and Sasuke weren't stupid.
They could tell from that destruction alone what kind of power Arata had used.
No excuse could hide the truth.
Now, both boys stared at him with burning eyes — one full of pride, the other of determination.
Arata exhaled quietly.
"You two… really shouldn't be asking me that."
"Why not?" Naruto shot back immediately.
"You learned everything from Kakashi-sensei, right? Then why can't you teach us too?"
Kakashi nearly choked on air.
Even though Naruto wasn't wrong, hearing it said out loud still hurt.
"You—" he began, then stopped, rubbing his forehead again.
"Kids these days have no filter."
Sasuke took a step closer, his eyes unwavering.
"If it's a price you want, I'll pay it. Whatever it takes."
Arata sighed.
"Then I'll name my price."
Sasuke's eyes sharpened.
"Anything."
"Don't bother me again."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Even Naruto blinked.
"Huh?"
Arata gave a small shrug.
"Seriously. Everything I know, I learned from Kakashi-sensei.
If you want to get stronger, go to him. Not me."
That should've been the end of it.
But Sasuke didn't move.
"No," he said quietly.
"You're stronger than him."
Kakashi twitched.
"…Ouch."
Sasuke clenched his fists.
"You're the only one who can teach me what I need."
Then, before anyone could stop him—
He bowed.
Deeply.
"Please, Arata. Let me become your disciple."
The forest went still.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Arata blinked.
Then slowly turned toward Kakashi, whose visible eye was wide open.
You've got to be kidding me.
Sasuke's words hit like a thunderclap — not just because of what he said, but who he said it to.
Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja of Konoha, was standing right there.
And Sasuke — his own student — had just publicly asked to be taught by someone else.
Arata's expression twisted.
He didn't care about pride, but this…
This was way too awkward.
Great. Now both of us look bad.
Before Sasuke could kneel, Arata's chakra flared.
The air vibrated.
Leaves trembled.
A suffocating pressure washed over the clearing, and Sasuke froze mid-motion.
His knees refused to bend.
He tried to push forward — but his body wouldn't move.
When he looked up, Arata's eyes were calm but firm.
"Don't," Arata said quietly.
"If you do that, we stop being equals. We stop being teammates."
"You'd make it impossible for us to be friends again."
The weight in his voice hit harder than the chakra pressure itself.
Sasuke stood still, fists trembling.
"I just… want to become stronger."
"To kill him. To end it. I'll do anything."
"Even die, if that's what it takes."
His words echoed in the silence.
Arata's tone hardened.
"So you're saying you've already given up on surpassing him through your own strength?"
Sasuke's eyes widened — but he said nothing.
"You mean you've already decided that no matter how hard you try, you'll never catch up to him?"
Still, Sasuke stayed silent.
Arata took a slow breath, then said coldly:
"Then I was wrong about you."
That hit harder than any jutsu.
"I thought you were someone with pride," Arata continued.
"Someone who'd stand up again no matter how many times he fell."
"Someone who'd one day be my greatest rival."
He turned away.
"But I guess I overestimated you."
Sasuke's chest tightened.
Those words — simple, honest, cutting — hurt more than anything he'd heard since that night.
For years, he had carried that image of his brother — a god standing in blood and fire.
Now, staring at Arata, he saw that same unreachable height again.
And it terrified him.
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