Bang!
Kakashi casually grabbed a Missing-nin with half-white, half-red hair and smashed his head into the ground.
The Missing-nin, who had tried to ambush him, was completely knocked out before he could even utter a cry of pain.
But after dealing with this guy, Kakashi didn't take any further action.
He just stood there quietly as before, watching how his student effortlessly wiped out this group of Missing-nin.
Sasuke held a kunai inverted in his hand, quickly deflecting several shuriken shot at him, then slit the opponent's throat under their terrified gaze.
Blood splattered everywhere, and a life was extinguished by his hand.
Sasuke's eyelids only twitched slightly, his movements without the slightest pause.
This was a group of Missing-nin mixed in with bandits.
Although the strongest leader was only a Chunin, they had rich practical experience and would stop at nothing.
As practice targets for Sasuke, they were barely sufficient.
Earth Release: Headhunter Technique.
Taking advantage of the moment Sasuke took down another Genin, two Ninjas secretly burrowed into the ground.
They felt this brat was frighteningly strong and had quick reflexes.
Just now, before their Ninjutsu could even hit, the kid would dodge as if he could foresee it.
But they believed it didn't matter. As long as the two of them could restrain him, with so many of their people, they could overwhelm this brat through sheer numbers.
Under the effect of Earth Attribute Chakra, the two advanced rapidly underground like giant moles.
Then they abruptly broke through the surface, reaching out to firmly grab one of Sasuke's legs each.
"Now!"
"Haha! Die, you damned brat!"
Kakashi watched the entire process from not far away, but he had no intention of warning Sasuke.
"Hmph."
As if he had anticipated these two emerging from the ground, Sasuke's face showed no trace of panic.
Bang! Bang!
He knocked down two more charging enemies with punches, then, with his hands free, Sasuke suddenly exerted force with his legs and 'pulled' the two adult-sized men out.
As he spun his body, the two were flung away by a tremendous force and smashed into a tree trunk.
'An opening!'
A man hidden in the crowd quietly took out a flintlock pistol, and then, using the cover of others and Sasuke's blind spot, he aimed at his vitals.
'Hmph, this is good stuff we got from the black market. Even if you're a Ninja, if you let your guard down, you'll die here!'
This thought wasn't entirely wrong. Without using Chakra for defense, ordinary Ninjas, especially Genin, don't have physical defense that differs greatly from ordinary people.
Being stabbed by a knife will cause bleeding, and being shot by a gun will cause serious injuries.
Watching this, Kakashi finally couldn't hold back any longer. Several shuriken were already in his hand, ready to be thrown at any moment.
But as his Sharingan spun, he clearly saw Sasuke suddenly tense his body, his muscles straining forcefully.
Under his clothes, the surface of his skin was instantly covered with a faint gray aura.
Kakashi could sense that it wasn't Chakra.
Clang!
The bullet struck Sasuke's back but made a sound of metal collision.
'Did this kid wear armor?'
The gunman's mouth gaped slightly, but it was too late to reload.
In the next moment, Sasuke rushed before them, easily knocking the bandits to the ground.
Anyone grazed or touched by his fist faced broken bones.
After everything was resolved, Kakashi and Sasuke unhurriedly set off on the road back to the village.
One of them took out a book and 'studied diligently' while walking, while the other remained silent and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Sasuke, why didn't you use Ninjutsu earlier?"
Kakashi was the first to break the silence.
"It wasn't necessary to use Ninjutsu against that bunch."
Not only did he not use the Lightning Release Ninjutsu Kakashi specifically taught him, Sasuke didn't even use basic techniques like the Three Basic Techniques.
He essentially relied on Taijutsu and close combat the entire time.
Yet, he still easily dealt with those bandits without a single injury.
The spot on his clothes where the bullet hit was torn, but there was no sign of any 'armor' underneath.
Clearly, Sasuke had tanked it with his body just now.
"Was what you used earlier… taught to you by Naruto?"
Hearing this, Sasuke was slightly taken aback. Considering the familiar relationship between Kakashi and Naruto, and Naruto's instructions before leaving, he still nodded.
"It's called [Haki], a power system different from Chakra."
In the little notebook Naruto left him, advanced training methods for [Armament Haki] and [Observation Haki] were recorded.
As of now, over a month had passed since Naruto left the village, and Sasuke had vaguely touched the threshold of Haki.
Perhaps due to the Uchiha Clan's innate powerful spiritual energy, he was already able to skillfully use Observation Haki in combat.
Even if attacks came from blind spots outside his vision, he could still perfectly dodge them.
With this ability, at least he didn't have to fear ambushes anymore.
In contrast, using Armament Haki was more difficult for him, and it was always hit or miss.
The state of resisting the bullet earlier was actually a manifestation of failed usage. Even though he wasn't injured, the bullet's impact still solidly hit his back.
Fortunately, after this period of high-intensity physical training, this level of pain couldn't even make Sasuke blink.
Upon hearing this, Kakashi just nodded. From the stories Naruto had told him, he had also heard of this peculiar power.
'A power that doesn't consume Chakra?'
This Konoha's Elite Jonin, who had always been somewhat troubled by his own 'blue bar', also began to wonder if he should learn it himself.
'It might come in handy someday.'
"But speaking of which, it's really fast. In such a short time, you've already learned it."
Kakashi always felt that after Naruto left, Sasuke had become increasingly reticent, so he started trying to find topics in different ways.
Who would have thought that this compliment would make Sasuke stop right in his tracks, his lips pressed tightly together, as if he strongly disagreed with the statement.
"-I'm still far from it."
Not just compared to Naruto, who casually repelled Itachi Uchiha and the others that day…
Within Konoha, there was another guy whose progress in mastering [Haki] seemed to have subtly surpassed his.
Yes, just as you're thinking.
In a forest at the edge of Konoha Village.
Everything seemed exactly the same as before Naruto left.
The difference was, Konohamaru no longer needed Naruto's supervision nearby.
He wore a specially made training vest and carried a stone block taller than himself on his shoulder, training his physical strength there.
If the driving force behind Sasuke's intense training to become stronger was hatred, then what supported Konohamaru in persevering through that superhuman training was his admiration for his idol.
Not far from Konohamaru, Ebisu, who had bought a new pair of sunglasses, couldn't conceal the concern and worry in his eyes…
Konohamaru now trained for long periods every day.
This was undoubtedly a good thing.
In such a short time, Konohamaru's height had begun to shoot up.
Of course, it couldn't compare to Naruto's 'changing day by day'.
But after just a few dozen days, Konohamaru already looked every bit like a young man.
It seemed the daily grueling training had also tempered his originally restless and lively nature considerably.
Judging by Konohamaru's current appearance alone, one could easily believe he had already graduated from the Ninja Academy.
"Konohamaru-sama, you should take a break!"
Ebisu shouted to Konohamaru from afar, only to be met with a casual wave of Konohamaru's hand.
Under the training vest, the already beginning-to-take-shape lines of back muscles were interlaced with a shade of black deeper than Sasuke's.
'Ah! Damn you, Naruto! No matter how you think about it, Konohamaru-sama turning out like this is all your fault!'
Like a resentful woman, Ebisu could only squat in the distance, drawing circles over and over again while cursing a certain guy.