[This... what's going on?!]
[Kakashi snapped his eyes open.]
[He felt the Chakra in his body, which had been nearly depleted, suddenly surge forth.]
[Even...]
[Kakashi felt that he had never been as powerful as he was at this moment.]
[That unfamiliar yet gentle Chakra constantly flowing through his body was like a heavy rain, nourishing his frame which had been like barren land.]
[Sasuke's brow furrowed.]
[He felt something was strange.]
[But since Naruto was right beside him, he didn't lash out.]
[Kakashi was like a dead man, heavy as lead, and on top of that, he wasn't being honest at all.]
[Could someone like this... really be the Jōnin Instructor of Team 7?]
[Of course, Sasuke didn't know yet.]
[Naruto's seemingly incomprehensible fist bump...]
[...had immediately restored the lifeless Kakashi.]
[Kakashi was utterly stunned, nearly jumping up like a startled rabbit.]
[Fortunately, he held himself back in the end.]
[Then, he lay back down with a clear conscience.]
[Free labor... no, it was helping Sasuke train his endurance and temper his character.]
[Sakura glanced at the "salted fish" Kakashi.]
[She felt something was off.]
[Naruto usually didn't do things for no reason.]
[Looking closer...]
[Sakura immediately noticed the anomaly.]
[Kakashi's current expression didn't look as weak as before.]
[On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying himself.]
[After a suspicious glance at Naruto, Sakura ultimately chose to remain silent.]
[However, she still gave Kakashi a helpless eye-roll and then glanced at Sasuke with quite a bit of sympathy.]
['Better not say anything, or Sasuke will definitely go crazy... and might even get a beating then.']
['If Kakashi-sensei brings up Chidori again in the end... Sasuke will probably have to grit his teeth and bear it... if that happens, he\'ll likely endure it until he coughs up blood.']
[Kakashi wasn't thinking about all that.]
[He didn't even ask Naruto how he did it.]
[After all, he had lived through the Night of the Nine-Tails.]
[He'd be truly useless if he couldn't sense that this was the Nine-Tailed Chakra.]
[Of course.]
[With this, Kakashi's sleepiness vanished.]
[Instead, he was incredibly energetic, even somewhat excited.]
[If this Chakra supply was unlimited...]
[Heh!]
[Mere Zabuza—next time they met, he'd copy Ninjutsu until the man questioned his very existence!]
[Copy every single Ninjutsu Zabuza knows.]
[Once Zabuza's Chakra is depleted, he'll cast them all again.]
Zabuza Momochi: "..."
Kakashi Hatake: "..."
Childish!
Orochimaru: "This way, the future Black-framed Naruto-kun will be able to easily cultivate a large number of Ninja."
Orochimaru: "I really hope Zabuza and Haku can find clues about me."
Orochimaru: "Let me think... Perhaps, after meeting Black-framed Naruto-kun, I'll quickly lose interest in Sasuke..."
What a wonderful expectation.
[Finally, after walking for quite a while...]
[Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.]
[This guy Kakashi really dares to sleep?!]
[He even let drool drip onto my shoulder.]
[Sasuke's mental state was about to collapse.]
[Also, I don't even know if this Kakashi guy is a normal Ninja; he actually put his Ninja tools in that spot, and it's poking me!]
["Sakura, let's swap. I have little strength and have consumed too much; if there's an emergency..."]
[Naturally, Sasuke wouldn't ask Naruto.]
[At this moment, the disgust on his face had practically materialized.]
["No."]
[Sakura shook her head and refused without hesitation.]
["I've consumed too much energy just now, and I still have to carry the executioners blade."]
["I'll carry it for you!" Sasuke replied immediately.]
["No way, I don't want to carry Kakashi-sensei."]
[The look of disgust on Sakura's face was just as thick.]
[Kakashi: "..."]
[Fine, he admitted it—after the Chakra nourished his body, it felt too comfortable. That feeling from many years ago had returned, and after the excitement came a deep sense of exhaustion.]
[Clearly, the Sharingan was a burden most of the time.]
[Coupled with his laziness in recent years and the regression of his strength, the burden on his body had become even heavier.]
[Having gained a moment's respite, his body immediately wanted to rest; the sleepiness came on so suddenly that even Kakashi couldn't stop it.]
["I'll do it."]
["Even though I'm not a Ninja... and I haven't been able to help much along the way, I can still manage to carry someone."]
[Tazuna spoke up voluntarily.]
[As for his status as the employer, Tazuna didn't dare to presume.]
["No need, I've recovered."]
[Just as Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, Kakashi landed directly on the ground.]
[Sasuke quickly turned his head to look.]
[He saw Kakashi yawning and stretching... this state didn't look at all like someone who had exhausted their Chakra.]
[Sasuke's eye twitched; he suddenly felt like something was wrong.]
["Let's go. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can rest."]
[As if he hadn't seen Sasuke, Kakashi urged the team to speed up.]
[Seemingly sensing that Sasuke was about to speak...]
[Kakashi spoke first:]
["In this battle... you all performed very well."]
["So, after reaching our destination, get some good rest."]
["Starting tomorrow, you can begin training Ninjutsu."]
[Sasuke swallowed the words that were at the tip of his tongue.]
[Now, even Tazuna could see that something was amiss.]
[However, he could only rub his nose and pretend he hadn't seen or heard anything.]
[Back in the Hokage Office, he had personally said that Kakashi looked very reliable.]
[Naruto silently observed Kakashi's condition.]
[Reasonably speaking, over-exhaustion of Chakra would indeed result in someone looking like Kakashi.]
[But as long as the Chakra is restored, everything should return to normal.]
[But right now, even though Kakashi had clearly recovered his Chakra—and the Great Fox's Chakra was even continuously nourishing and repairing his body...]
[Kakashi still felt fatigued after his excitement subsided.]
['The Mangekyo Sharingan?']
['It seems that not only is Chakra consumed, but spiritual energy is also heavily depleted.']
['Besides, Kakashi-sensei isn't from the Uchiha Clan... it's normal for the consumption to be doubled.']
[After thinking for a moment, Naruto stopped dwelling on the matter.]
[He sent a large portion of his consciousness into the Sealing Space.]
[As expected.]
[The Great Fox, who just a moment ago had an air of being invincible and "This Fox is number one in the world," was now scratching its head in agitation.]
[It kept muttering about matters of the School.]
[Naruto didn't bother this tsundere fox; otherwise, it would probably get exasperated again in a moment.]
[Sitting to the side, Naruto continued to study the Four Symbols Seal.]
["Double Four Symbols Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal..."]
["No, the sealing Formula on my lower abdomen... seems slightly different."]
["The Inner Four Symbols Seal seems to be missing a piece, as if it were left out on purpose."]
["In that case, Minato Namikaze had already considered back then letting some of the Great Fox's Chakra leak out for me to use..."]
[Murmuring, Naruto looked up at the tightly closed seal gate.]
[He had a faint feeling.]
[As long as he fully mastered the Four Symbols Seal and deduced the 'key' to unlock the Inner Four Symbols Seal himself, something unexpected would happen.]
[The Double Four Symbols Seal... it was as if it had been prepared long ago to have one of the Four Symbols Seals unlocked.]
"PS: Regarding Auntie Snake, I saw it when I was stocking up yesterday. The Flame Mantra has been handed over more than once, but unfortunately, it was all swallowed. Am I the kind of selfish person? Don't look down on me!"
"The risk is really not small!"
"One PS per chapter is an extra price, Jie Jie Jie~"