Uchiha Sasuke followed Hatake Kakashi to a secluded training ground.
This was Training Ground 3, surrounded by dense woods with a wide-open space in the center, scattered with a few training posts.
"Alright, this place will do."
Kakashi stopped, his hands in his pockets. "Starting today, I'll be your jonin instructor. It's a pleasure to work with you, Sasuke."
Sasuke looked around without a word.
He had followed Kakashi here only to see what this man could possibly teach him.
"Now then, before we begin official training, as your teacher, I need to get a handle on my student's specific situation first," Kakashi took out a small notebook and pen from his ninja pouch, striking a pose as if he were about to take serious notes.
"First off, you can mold chakra, right?"
Sasuke nodded.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, this was something he had to learn from a young age.
"Then, regarding ninjutsu, what do you know?"
Sasuke frowned.
Ninjutsu.
The word sounded both familiar and foreign to him.
Familiar, because it was the power he had once pursued.
Foreign, because in his three years in the Soul Society, he had come into contact with a completely different power system—Spiritual Pressure, Zanpakutō, Kidō...
Compared to the concise and efficient power system of the Soul Reapers, ninjutsu, which required complicated hand signs and the mobilization of chakra within the body, now seemed somewhat backward to him.
Fragmented memories flashed through his mind—scenes of his father, Uchiha Fugaku, teaching him before the night of the massacre.
"...Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu," Sasuke recalled the basic Three Academy Techniques, forcing the words out stiffly.
"Mm-hmm, the Three Academy Techniques. A very solid foundation."
Kakashi nodded, jotting it down in his notebook. "Anything else? For example, the Fire Style your Uchiha clan excels at."
Sasuke fell silent.
Fire Style?
He thought he knew it.
But the problem was, he hadn't used it for a full three years.
After all, at the Shino Academy, Kidō training was a required course.
Whether it was the offensive Hadō cast through incantations or the binding and defensive Bakudō, he was quite proficient in them all.
He was especially adept at Hadō similar in nature to Fire Style, like "Hadō #33: Sōkatsui," which he could use with ease, and its power was far greater than ordinary Fire Style jutsu.
But Kakashi was asking about "ninjutsu."
That required hand signs.
He hadn't formed a hand sign in a full three years.
In the Soul Society, victory was determined by the strength of one's Spiritual Pressure, by Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and the use of Kidō.
Those complicated hand sign movements had long been cast to the back of his mind.
"...A little," Sasuke finally gave an ambiguous answer.
Admitting he wasn't skilled in the Uchiha's signature ability was somewhat shameful for him.
"How little is a little?"
Kakashi pressed. "For example, the Uchiha clan's trademark jutsu, the Great Fireball Technique. Can you use it?"
"Yes."
"Very good," Kakashi closed his notebook. "Then, to get a more direct understanding, could you demonstrate it here? Just aim for that post."
He pointed to a training post in the distance that looked relatively intact.
Sasuke glanced at him and didn't refuse.
He walked to the center of the open space, faced the post several dozen meters away, and took a deep breath.
Then, he began to try and recall the hand signs that had been forgotten in a corner of his mind.
Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar...
Sasuke's fingers were a bit stiff, and his movements were exceptionally clumsy.
It felt like a calligrapher being suddenly asked to write with their feet—completely awkward.
Fwoosh—!
A ball of fire shot from his mouth, but it was less of a great fireball and more of a small flame.
The orange-red flame wobbled through the air and fizzled out powerlessly before it had even covered half the distance to the post.
The air instantly fell into an awkward silence.
For a moment, Kakashi even saw Sasuke's figure overlap with that of an old acquaintance. His eyes flickered, his thoughts unknown.
Sasuke himself was stunned.
He looked at his own masterpiece, a flicker of disbelief in his eyes, followed by a rush of shame and anger.
He, Uchiha Sasuke, a seated officer of Squad 11, couldn't even use the most basic Fire Style jutsu without looking this pathetic?
"Ahem."
Kakashi broke the silence at the right moment. He walked over to Sasuke, patted his shoulder, and said in a comforting tone, "Don't worry about it. It's like that the first time. You were probably just too nervous."
His words sounded comforting, but Sasuke could feel that this guy was definitely holding back laughter.
"I wasn't nervous," Sasuke said coldly, shrugging off his hand.
"Alright, alright. It seems you're just a little rusty from not practicing for a while."
Kakashi held up his hands in surrender. "But it's not a big deal. This just means you have a lot of room for improvement in your chakra control."
As he spoke, he pulled out a thin piece of paper from his ninja pouch.
"Here, before we officially start training, let's do a little test."
He handed the paper to Sasuke. "This is chakra paper. Infuse your chakra into it, and we'll know your chakra nature."
Sasuke took the paper. He did have an impression of this thing.
Chakra nature.
It was key to what kind of ninjutsu a ninja could use.
The difference was, in the Soul Society, Spiritual Pressure was just Spiritual Pressure. There was only a distinction of strength, no elemental affinities.
"How do I use it?" he asked, a rare instance of him taking the initiative.
"It's simple. Just like before, concentrate and channel your chakra into the paper," Kakashi explained.
Sasuke did as he was told, infusing a wisp of chakra into the paper.
The next second, a magical scene occurred.
The thin piece of paper was first instantly sliced in two. One half crumpled into a ball, while the other half burst into flames.
"..."
"Lightning, fire, wind, and a few other less obvious natures?" He looked at the changes in the paper, his expression a little complicated.
"Sasuke, in your opinion, what is power?" Kakashi suddenly asked a strange question.
"A tool for revenge," Sasuke answered without hesitation.
"Just a tool?"
Kakashi shook his head. "You rely too much on that sword of yours and those strange techniques. You seem to have forgotten that the Uchiha clan's greatest power comes from here."
He pointed to his own eye. "The Sharingan is a mirror that reflects the heart..."
However, before he could finish, he saw three black tomoe slowly spinning in Sasuke's eyes.
"A three-tomoe Sharingan?! How is that possible!" Kakashi was struck by lightning, completely frozen on the spot.
"Sasuke, your eyes..."
Sasuke remained silent, simply looking back at Kakashi calmly with his spinning three-tomoe Sharingan.
Then he suddenly asked back, "Didn't you say it? The Sharingan is a mirror that reflects the heart."
"Then, having witnessed the horrific sight of my entire clan being slaughtered, what do you think my heart would be reflected as?"