Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"Well, hitting girls at school is not something to be proud of."

Just then, a hand reached out from behind him and gently pressed down on his raised wrist.

A lazy voice rang out.

"Using such harsh words to hurt a girl who cares about you will make you disliked," Kakashi said with a reassuring smile to the two frightened girls.

Sasuke turned around abruptly, and there stood Kakashi Hatake behind him with a smile.

"Let go. And you're late." He uttered these words coldly, then withdrew the demonic energy he was about to unleash.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

Kakashi released his grip and scratched his head listlessly. "I got so engrossed in thinking about how to teach my lovely students in the future that I didn't realize I was getting so absorbed in it."

Sasuke let out a cold snort that had no meaning, and turned to walk out of the school.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, who were left standing there, were still somewhat shaken.

"Oh dear, what a dishonest child."

Kakashi watched Sasuke's departing figure, shrugged helplessly, and then turned to look at the two girls who were still standing there in a daze.

"Sorry, did I scare you? Sasuke... well, he's been through some bad things and isn't used to being around people yet. Please bear with him."

Sakura Haruno's eyes were a little red. "Is Sasuke-kun really alright?"

"It's alright," Kakashi reassured with a smile. "I'm here. Okay, it's almost time for class, you guys should go back now."

Sakura Haruno wanted to say something more, but Ino stopped her, and she quickly bowed to Kakashi before leaving.

After sending the two girls away, Kakashi's smile slowly faded.

He gazed in the direction Sasuke had left, his expression becoming somewhat complicated.

He asked Sasuke to wait for him at the ninja academy so that he could observe how Sasuke interacted with his comrades.

But based on what we've seen today, things don't seem very optimistic.

The only consolation was that the strange energy fluctuation he emitted when he raised his hand was not aggressive.

"Seriously, you've given me a tough challenge, Lord Sandai."

Kakashi muttered to himself, sighed, and vanished from the spot in a flash.

Chapter 9 Reflecting the Soul

Sasuke Uchiha followed Kakashi Hatake to a secluded training ground.

This is the third training ground, surrounded by dense forests, with a wide open space in the center, where several training stakes are scattered on the ground.

"Okay, this is fine."

Kakashi stopped and put his hands in his pockets. "From today onwards, I will be your Jonin instructor. Nice to meet you, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked around but didn't say anything.

He came here with Kakashi simply to see what this man could teach him.

“Well then, before we begin formal training, as your teacher, I need to understand your specific situation first.” Kakashi took out a small notebook and pen from his ninja tool bag, assuming a serious posture as if he was about to take notes.

"First of all, you should know how to refine chakra, right?"

Sasuke nodded.

As a member of the Uchiha clan, these were things he had to learn from a young age.

"So, what aspects of ninjutsu have you mastered?"

Sasuke frowned.

Ninjutsu.

The word sounded both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

It felt familiar because it was the power he had once pursued.

The unfamiliarity stemmed from the fact that during his three years in Soul Society, he encountered a completely different power system—spiritual pressure, Zanpakuto, Kido techniques...

Compared to the Grim Reaper's concise and efficient power system, ninjutsu, which requires complicated hand seals and the manipulation of chakra, seems somewhat outdated to him now.

Fragments of memories flashed through his mind—scenes of his father, Fugaku Uchiha, teaching him before the night of the massacre.

"...Shadow Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique." Sasuke recalled the three basic body techniques taught at the Ninja Academy, uttering these words somewhat awkwardly.

"Hmm, the Three Bodies Technique, a very solid foundation."

Kakashi nodded and made notes in his notebook. "Anything else? For example, the Fire Release techniques that your Uchiha clan excels at."

Sasuke remained silent.

Fire Release?

He seems to know how to use that.

The problem is that he hasn't used it for three whole years.

After all, in the True Spiritual Arts Academy, the training of the Demonic Path is a compulsory course.

He was quite proficient in both the Hado technique, which involves chanting incantations to launch attacks, and the Binding Technique, which is used for binding and defense.

He could easily wield techniques similar to Fire Release, such as "Hado No. 33: Azure Fire Fall," and their power far surpassed that of ordinary Fire Release techniques.

But Kakashi asked about "ninjutsu".

That requires hand seals.

He hadn't performed a hand seal for three whole years.

In Soul Society, the strength of spiritual pressure determines victory or defeat, as well as the application of swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, Shunpo, and Kido.

He had long since forgotten about those tedious hand seals.

"...I know a little," Sasuke finally gave an ambiguous answer.

Admitting that he wasn't proficient in the Uchiha clan's signature techniques was somewhat humiliating for him.

How many points are in one point?

Kakashi pressed further, "For example, do you know how to use the Uchiha clan's signature ninjutsu, the Great Fireball Technique?"

"meeting."

“Very good.” Kakashi closed his notebook. “Now, to make it more intuitive, could you demonstrate it here? Just stand in front of that wooden stake.”

He pointed to a wooden stake in the distance that looked fairly intact.

Sasuke glanced at him but did not refuse.

He walked to the center of the open space, faced the wooden stake dozens of meters away, and took a deep breath.

Then, he began to try to recall the hand seals that had been forgotten in the corner.

Si, Wei, Shen, Hai...

Sasuke's fingers were somewhat stiff, and his movements appeared unusually awkward.

This feeling is like a calligrapher suddenly being asked to write with their feet—it's incredibly awkward.

"call--!"

A ball of flame spewed from his mouth, but it was more like a small flame than a powerful fireball.

The orange-red flame wobbled as it flew out, but before it reached halfway down the wooden stake, it went out weakly in mid-air.

An awkward silence fell over the air.

In that instant, Kakashi even saw Sasuke's figure overlap with that of an old friend. His eyes flickered, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Sasuke himself was stunned.

He looked at his masterpiece, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes, followed by a surge of shame and annoyance.

He, Uchiha Sasuke, the captain of the 11th Division, actually used even the most basic Fire Release ninjutsu so awkwardly.

"Cough cough."

Kakashi broke the silence at the right moment. He walked over to Sasuke, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a comforting tone, "Don't worry about it. It's normal for the first time. You're probably just too nervous."

His words sounded like words of comfort, but Sasuke could tell that the guy was definitely holding back a laugh.

“I’m not nervous.” Sasuke coldly shook off his hand.

"Okay, okay, it seems I've been out of practice for too long and I'm a bit rusty."

Kakashi raised his hands in surrender. "But it's not a big problem. It just means there's still a lot of room for improvement in your chakra control."

As he spoke, he pulled a thin piece of paper out of his ninja tool bag.

"Come on, before we officially begin training, let's do a little test."

He handed the piece of paper to Sasuke, saying, "This is a chakra test strip. Inject your chakra into it, and we'll know your chakra nature."

Sasuke took the paper; he did recognize it.

Chakra attribute.

It is crucial to what ninjutsu a ninja can use.

The difference is that in Soul Society, spiritual pressure is just spiritual pressure; there are only differences in strength, but no attribute categories.

"How do I use it?" he asked, unusually.

"It's very simple. Just concentrate and transfer your chakra onto the paper, just like you did before," Kakashi explained.

Sasuke did as he was told, and he poured a wisp of chakra into the paper.

The next second, a miraculous scene unfolded.

The thin piece of paper was instantly cut in two, one half crumpled into a ball, while the other half burst into flames.

"..."

"Are there any other attributes besides thunder, fire, and wind that aren't very obvious?" He looked at the changes on the piece of paper, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Sasuke, what is power in your opinion?" Kakashi suddenly asked a strange question.