Originally, Kakashi had planned to wait until Jiraiya returned to the village.
Once he did, he would ask the Toad Sage himself to take Arata to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Mode.
But after their earlier conversation, he quietly gave up that idea.
"Maybe when we're out on missions again," Kakashi thought, "I can try finding out where the three Great Sage Lands actually are."
He didn't want to give up on helping Arata.
If Arata's chakra kept growing like this, his body might not hold out forever.
Arata stood by the lake, calm as ever.
"You worry too much, Sensei," he said, glancing at Kakashi. "I feel fine. My body can handle this much chakra easily."
And he wasn't lying.
If his body couldn't contain that much chakra, it simply wouldn't have manifested inside him in the first place.
When his body reached its limit, his chakra growth would stop on its own.
For now, though, his reserves were still doubling every day.
Arata could feel that the growth rate would slow soon — but even if it did, he'd still be a monster by any shinobi standard.
Kakashi sighed and stepped closer.
"Don't take it lightly," he warned. "Chakra isn't something to play around with. Plenty of ninja have crippled themselves when their bodies couldn't keep up."
Then, his tone softened.
"Speaking of Sage Lands… at your level, you should be thinking about a summoning contract by now."
Arata blinked.
"I don't think I really need one yet."
Kakashi crossed his arms.
"Too bad my own summons are more for reconnaissance than combat. They wouldn't suit you."
At the mention of Kakashi's summoning beasts, Arata's expression twitched.
He couldn't help but imagine a pack of barking ninja hounds following him into battle — and immediately felt uncomfortable.
Kakashi noticed.
"You could always sign a contract with mine for now."
Arata forced a smile.
"I think I'll pass. They… might not fit my fighting style."
Kakashi chuckled.
"Fair enough. Once you locate one of the Sage Lands, you can form your own contract there. The Fourth Hokage's summons were toads from Mount Myōboku — same as Jiraiya-sama's."
Arata frowned slightly.
"That reminds me, Sensei… since you were the Fourth's student, shouldn't your summoning beasts be the same as his?"
Kakashi smiled behind his mask.
"Because my hounds suit me just fine. I don't need another summoning."
He tilted his head, smirking.
"You already know what my summons are, don't you?"
Arata hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah. I read about them once while checking your profile at the library."
In Konoha's public archives, information about famous shinobi was easy to find — at least the parts the village allowed civilians to know.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"So you don't like my ninja hounds, huh?"
His voice was casual, but there was a teasing edge behind it.
Arata froze.
"Uh… no, no! They're great. Very… loyal."
Kakashi's visible eye curved upward.
"You think they're not cool enough, don't you?"
Arata quickly shook his head.
"Of course not! I just—well, they're not exactly… combat-oriented."
Truth be told, Arata had nothing against dogs.
He simply didn't want to summon something he'd end up protecting instead of fighting alongside.
Kakashi chuckled.
"You'll understand someday. Anyway, what kind of Water Release techniques do you want to learn next?"
Arata thought for a moment.
"I'd like to learn something defensive."
"Defensive, huh?" Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Then let's go with the Water Formation Wall. It's a solid B-rank technique. Easy for someone like you."
He spent a few minutes explaining the principles — how to draw water toward the user using chakra flow, shaping it into a barrier.
After a quick demonstration, Kakashi gestured toward the lake.
"Think you can figure it out without me showing you first?"
He wanted to test Arata's intuition — the same one that had let him copy Zabuza's Water Dragon Jutsu mid-battle.
Arata nodded confidently and stepped forward.
Standing at the edge of the lake, he inhaled deeply and focused.
His hands blurred through a sequence of seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Splash!"
The lake's surface exploded upward.
Water surged toward him like a living creature, spiraling into motion.
"Rumble... RUMBLE!"
Within moments, a massive whirlpool formed around him — waves twisting violently into a ten-meter-wide vortex that howled like a storm.
Wind pressure lashed the shore, flattening the grass.
The ground cracked beneath the swirling current.
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
"...That's not a Water Formation Wall."
He squinted, analyzing the flow.
"That's Wind Release mixed in. A combined technique…"
Even so, he couldn't deny the sight was impressive.
The vortex around Arata looked like a small typhoon — the sheer power was nothing like a normal B-rank jutsu.
But when Kakashi compared it to Arata's previous lightning techniques, this was actually tame.
Inside the swirling wall of water, Arata brought his hands together again.
The vortex stopped instantly — the water settling in front of him, shaping into a shimmering barrier several meters tall and wide.
Kakashi smiled.
"Now that's the Water Formation Wall I know. The first one you made was practically an offensive wind-water hybrid."
Arata looked at his creation, calm as always.
Kakashi, meanwhile, was shaking his head in disbelief.
Most shinobi who tried altering elemental composition mid-jutsu ended up hurting themselves — even dying from the backlash.
But for Arata, it came naturally.
His chakra control was so precise that merging elements mid-cast wasn't a risk — it was instinct.
"You really are something else…" Kakashi murmured. "To you, even a combination technique is just… practice."
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