!Dud...
The one to fall was Naruto, boasting a staggering twenty-minute gap between himself and the last person to fall from Sukuna's hand.
Since he wasn't exactly teaching them anything new, it was all-out fighting and hand-to-hand training for all four of them.
Karin and Sasuke were the first to fall under Sukuna's relentless blows. He wasn't even holding back his punches. As long as it wasn't something that would seriously hurt them, it was fair game.
Sakura, with her half–heavenly restricted body, surprisingly gave a better fight — well, not in terms of fighting back, but rather enduring the outrage.
Only Naruto, stubborn as ever, lingered until the very end. The idiot refused to go down no matter what.
"Well, that was a productive hour, wouldn't you say?" Sukuna grinned, earning the ire of the fallen members of his party.
Especially Sakura, who was giving him a bloody murderous look. Who hit so hard — especially his own little sister?
She might actually cough up blood if she knew that just because she was his sister, he went even harder on them. Can't go and let his dear little sister die just because there's a gap in their training, now can we?
Kakashi was sitting atop a tree, one eye still on his pervy book. He glanced once with a smile that showed solely through his single eye, and then he was back to his reading.
'Perhaps I can let Hokage-sama join him in the team. It'd certainly save me a lot of time,' he mused.
"You all did surprisingly well," Sukuna said, genuinely impressed with them. Who knew getting their pride trampled on by someone besides him would work wonders like that?
"Honestly, at this point, you guys are just lacking stronger techniques to fill that gap of higher firepower you four lack," Sukuna shrugged.
"Then teach us that already! Do you get some sick satisfaction beating up your sister or something, you sicko?" Sakura shouted, her displeasure clear even in her clone.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… sister, why do you always misunderstand me? All I do is for your good. All of you." Sukuna's words were so half-hearted that even the rock beside him wouldn't agree with him.
"Cut it out. You said we're lacking stronger techniques, yes? Then teach us those!" Sasuke interrupted. His pride was wounded since he fell even before Naruto and Sakura, and now he was even more desperate for power.
The only reason he actually fell was because this was, in fact, an endurance test. It wasn't about who was stronger, but rather who could take more punishment before going down. Naruto, with his Uzumaki physique and Kurama as a cheat code, and Sakura with her half-ass heavenly restriction and healing techniques, were far beyond Sasuke's endurance level.
"True… wasting time on anything besides that right now would be pointless. However, I doubt you guys can learn a really strong technique in time. Zabuza can show up anytime, you know. Are you sure you wanna try learning something like that right now?" Sukuna warned.
"What are you talking about? How could there be any time better than right now to learn a super awesome jutsu, dattebayo!" Naruto, brainless in his operations as ever, didn't get what Sukuna was hinting at.
Good thing the others weren't as brain-dead. Learning a difficult technique not only required time but also full focus, leaving them tired and weak. Doing so inside the village was one thing — but here, where an enemy could show up any second?
It was indeed a risk.
"I wanna learn. If an enemy shows up, then I'll take care of it," Sasuke replied, his face determined.
"Hmmm…" Sukuna didn't immediately respond. First, he looked at the others, wondering what they had to say.
To no surprise, they had the same determined look on their faces. Everyone wished to get stronger.
"Sigh… Oi, Kakashi-sensei! Put down that useless book of yours for a second and come here," he shouted, his voice almost rattling the surroundings.
It was commanding enough that, for a second, even Kakashi questioned who the subordinate was here.
"What is it?" He reluctantly put his book down — it was just getting to a good part, damn it. Rookie genins had no respect for their elders.
"Ducklings here wish to learn flying. Teach them." He pointed at the four kids lying on the ground, panting, nursing their wounds, and even bleeding. Kakashi might have thought they were attacked if he hadn't seen the training himself.
The only reason he wasn't panicking was because this was the third time this had happened, and the previous two times were the same. Sukuna just healed them with his own jutsu.
Even Kakashi was gobsmacked by the effectiveness of Sukuna's healing technique. It would be a boon for any team to have him — or so he thought, until he saw the training.
Perhaps "curse" was the right word.
"Mah, mah… what do you want them to learn now?" Kakashi looked at the kids with a sigh. He knew his slacking-off time was over. The disappointed look in his genins' eyes made it clear.
"A powerful technique. See? Even Sukuna says we're lacking a strong technique, Kakashi-sensei! Now teach us something cool!" Naruto almost came back to life upon hearing "powerful cool ninjutsu," shedding his beaten-dog self.
Kakashi furrowed his brows. Not that he was unwilling to teach them — but what could he teach them?
He had thousands of jutsu in his arsenal — though he only used a handful in real fights — but still, choosing the right one was annoying.
'Sigh… being a Jonin sensei is hard. I'd rather take another S-rank mission over this,' he sighed.
"Teach Naruto Rasengan and Sasuke Chidori. I'll take over the girls," Sukuna said plainly, not seeing any need to think too much about it. Those techniques were best for them.
Kakashi's one eye almost popped out upon hearing those names.
'Does this kid think those techniques are child's play?!' Kakashi's brow twitched, ready to object. There was no way they'd be able to learn them in time — let alone master them at all.
"Rasengan…"
"Chidori."
Both Sasuke and Naruto muttered the names, memorising them by heart. They were going to do it — learn it in time.
"Listen up. Those two techniques are both A-rank. It's gonna be hard to learn. Sasuke, use your Sharingan for this one. Before the technique itself, you have to get used to Lightning Release. So get to grinding with Kakashi," Sukuna instructed before Kakashi could protest.
"And Naruto — use your shadow clones when learning the technique." That was all he said. It wasn't just a method to speed up training but also a hint for Naruto if he ran into any hurdles.
"Wait, wait, I haven't agreed yet!" Kakashi was speechless. He was the teacher here — at least listen to him!
Sukuna ignored him. He already had countless answers for every argument Kakashi could make. The Jonin wasn't winning this verbal fight.
As for why he suggested those techniques in the first place — well, what else?
Not to mention, he genuinely believed they could learn them early this time around. Sasuke already had three tomoe in his Sharingan, and during the one-month break before the Chunin Exams, most of Kakashi's focus went into improving Sasuke's speed — not the technique itself.
Sukuna definitely believed they could do it.
Same for Naruto. With shadow clones, he was basically self-teaching while training.
While the techniques were hard, Sukuna believed they could pull it off.
"As for you two," he turned toward Sakura and Karin with a grin that spelled doom, "I'll be handling your training myself. Rejoice — we've got good days ahead of us."
Sukuna grinned wider, only bringing more despair to the girls.
xxx
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