As Sasuke reached the rogue ninja, his speed suddenly surged. He dodged a Fireball Jutsu with ease, lightning sparking in his right hand as the sharp chirping of a thousand birds echoed through the air.
"Chidori!"
Shhhk! In a flash, Sasuke passed straight through the enemy's body and stopped behind her.
With a faint smirk on his lips, the rogue ninja's eyes widened in disbelief. A fist-sized hole gaped in her chest as she collapsed to the ground.
While Sasuke was in motion, Naruto wasn't idle either.
Just as Sasuke charged forward, Naruto had already finished weaving his hand signs. A powerful Great Fire Annihilation surged forth without hesitation.
The surrounding enemy genin had no time to react and were forced to take the brunt of the jutsu.
Eight of them died instantly. A few managed to barely survive.
But before they could catch their breath, Naruto formed seals again and unleashed another Great Fire Annihilation.
Flames erupted around him, burning wildly. The remaining enemies struggled and screamed, but within seconds, they were reduced to scorched corpses.
Down the mountain, Sakura watched with her own eyes as Naruto and Sasuke swiftly and cleanly wrapped up the battle. Her jaw dropped so wide it looked like she could swallow an egg.
This was a chunin and over a dozen rogue genin. And yet Naruto and Sasuke had taken them out so easily?
How long had the battle lasted?
Ten seconds? Twenty? It definitely didn't exceed thirty.
Were those enemies weak? Sakura knew that wasn't the case—Naruto and Sasuke were simply too strong now.
In the bandit camp, Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance. They knocked out the remaining civilians and strolled back down the mountain casually.
At that moment, Kakashi suddenly appeared beside Sakura. Watching the two boys from afar, he muttered with admiration, "As expected of Sora. His guidance is always so perfectly on point."
"Sensei... is Lord Sora really that amazing? Just three days and he made Naruto and Sasuke this powerful?" Sakura asked, her voice laced with disbelief and inner conflict.
After all, she had chosen not to receive training from Sora.
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. Sora's teaching ability is that good. Even I was trained by him."
As he spoke, Kakashi recalled a memory from the ship returning from the Land of Snow—when an eight-year-old Sora had said something that changed his perspective.
He subconsciously reached behind and touched the hilt of his broken White Fang blade, grateful he had listened to that boy's words. Without that guidance, he wouldn't be who he was today.
Sakura's eyes dimmed for a second, then returned to normal. She clearly wasn't taking it to heart.
Kakashi noticed her reaction and frowned slightly. Out of respect for her being his teammate, he spoke sincerely: "Sakura, when the strength gap between teammates grows too wide... they drift apart. Eventually, they become strangers."
He silently hoped Sakura would take his words seriously and work harder to grow stronger. But Sakura remained indifferent.
Kakashi immediately felt deflated. He no longer felt like saying anything more.
She's just a squadmate, he thought. Not my student. If she's unwilling to grow, there's nothing I can do.
"We've completed the mission, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sasuke ran over joyfully, beaming with pride.
The mission had proven it—their strength had more than doubled in just three days.
Before Sora's training, they never could've handled such enemies.
But now? It had been almost effortless.
After the mission, the group returned to Konoha, and news of Naruto and Sasuke's performance quickly spread.
In the Hyuga household, Hiashi watched Hinata train and frowned. He wondered whether he should send her to Sora as well.
But how? Even if he wanted to, Sora had to accept her too.
Although he'd interacted with Sora before, their relationship wasn't exactly close.
"Ah!" Slapping his forehead, Hiashi remembered how Sora had once stood up for the Hyuga clan, even leading an assault on the Hidden Cloud in their name.
Sora owed them nothing—they owed him. Sending Hinata to help with house chores would be a fitting way to repay that debt.
Meanwhile, Hinata—mid training—caught a glimpse of her usually stern father grinning like a fool. It was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen.
And it wasn't just the Hyuga clan. Other clans began having similar thoughts.
But unlike Hiashi, most of them had no connection to Sora. They didn't dare ask him directly and could only give up on the tempting idea.
There was one exception, though—a certain bun-haired girl named Tenten.
Her family owned the largest ninja tool shop in Konoha and had plenty of money. But they had no way to connect with Sora.
That was, until the next day, when Might Guy unexpectedly stepped forward.
He declared that he could get Sora to help train Tenten.
Guy knew his own limits. His training methods only suited Rock Lee. At most, Neji could barely benefit. But Tenten? He had no idea how to help her grow.
Given what Naruto and Sasuke had gained, sending Tenten to Sora was clearly the best option.
And with his relationship with Sora, it would be easy.
The next morning, Hiashi asked Kurenai about sending Hinata. Kurenai readily agreed—and even promised she'd regularly visit Sora's place.
Hiashi could tell her reasons were not entirely about Hinata, but he tactfully kept quiet.
Just as he was about to take Hinata to Sora's home, his brother Hizashi showed up, asking if Neji could come too.
Hiashi thought it over and agreed without hesitation.
The three of them went to find Guy—and to their surprise, found that Guy also intended to send Tenten to Sora.
After a quick discussion, they all decided to send Hinata, Neji, and Tenten to train under Sora. When they had missions, they'd go on missions. Otherwise, they'd stay with Sora to train.
Sora, still focused on teaching Naruto and Sasuke, had no idea any of this was happening—until Ami came running back home to tell him some people were looking for him.
Since she hadn't been in the village long, she didn't recognize any of them and couldn't say who they were.
When Sora came back and saw the group of adults with three kids in tow, he was genuinely confused.
Hiashi and Hizashi wanted to be polite, but Guy pushed Tenten forward with his signature grin and shiny teeth. "Sora! This kid's on my team, but our styles don't match. I'm leaving her in your capable hands!"
Sora smacked his forehead, speechless. Guy didn't even try to act embarrassed.
I say I don't teach, and you insist I must!
He had no idea what was going on. Why were all these people suddenly lining up to dump their best students on him?
Naruto and Sasuke hadn't told him what had happened, so he was completely baffled. When did I become some kind of elite instructor?
Seeing his confusion, Hiashi quickly stepped forward with the excuse he'd planned—then gently pushed Hinata and Neji forward too.
Sora looked at Tenten's outgoing energy, Hinata's shy, blushing face, and Neji's bright, optimistic demeanor—so unlike the original timeline—and gave a small nod.
Even setting aside Guy's involvement, just based on these kids' talents, Sora felt he should train them. Better to guide them than let them go astray.
And of course—his agreement had absolutely nothing to do with Hiashi's shameless excuse. Absolutely nothing.
After expressing endless gratitude, Hiashi and Hizashi finally left—only Guy remained.
Not long after, Kurenai arranged for her other team members and came by "to check on Hinata," though her motives were clearly not just that.
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