Kakashi stood tall beside Team 7 in the Valley of the Wolves, a rugged, windswept terrain nestled near the border of the Land of Iron. The trees were sparse, the rocks jagged, and the air sharp—perfect for serious training. His lone visible eye studied the three young Genin before him, while his other was hidden behind the familiar cloth. In his hand was a very familiar orange book—Icha Icha Paradise: S & M Edition—which he finally closed with a distinct snap.
Yuto, Naruko, and Hitomi stood attentively, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"This place will be your training ground for the next month," Kakashi began, tucking his book into his pouch. "You three are no longer the rookies who stepped into the academy. You've grown, adapted, and earned your place in the finals. But that doesn't mean you can stop here. Now is the time to sharpen your edges—I'll make sure you're more than ready for the finals."
"Let's start with Naruko," he said, turning to the whiskered blonde.
Naruko stood up straighter, her fists clenched in excitement. "Yes, Sensei!"
"You've got the stamina, strength, and instincts. But you're still too vulnerable to Genjutsu. That'll get you killed against certain opponents," Kakashi said bluntly. "So, I'll teach you how to break out of it efficiently. And... I'll also teach you this—"
He raised his right hand. A swirl of chakra began to rotate rapidly in his palm, forming a dense spinning sphere of energy. The very air around it warped with force as the sphere let out a faint whine.
"This is the Rasengan," Kakashi explained, his tone calm. "Created by the Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze. It's a powerful, high-speed spinning chakra sphere that doesn't rely on hand signs. The Fourth created it as a form of pure chakra manipulation."
He stepped toward a thick tree trunk and slammed the Rasengan into it. A thunderous boom echoed across the valley as the tree shattered, its upper half flying backward and crashing down with a rumble.
"Whoa!" Naruko gasped, stars sparkling in her eyes. "That looks so cool! I want it, I want it now!"
Hitomi, meanwhile, clicked her tongue, folding her arms. "Hmph, my Chidori is still better."
Naruko spun to her, eyes narrowing. "Take that back, teme!"
Yuto, watching the spectacle, thought to himself, 'So she's getting the Rasengan before Jiraiya even takes her under his wing....wait, is he even gonna show up here or is he somewhere in the land of iron peeping on women? Though regardless ...she'll be terrifying once she masters the rasengan and uses it alongside her exploding clones. Imagine 100 Naruko's using rasengan, and then exploding together. God have mercy on those poor people.'
Kakashi ignored the bickering girls and turned to Hitomi. "Now for Hitomi. You've already got the Chidori down—a powerful assassination jutsu. But what if your target dodges?"
Hitomi raised an eyebrow.
"In that case..." Kakashi formed a new sequence of hand signs. "Let me show you something that'll complement your Chidori."
A surge of lightning erupted from his palm—just like Chidori—but then it extended outward, crackling and reshaping itself. The lightning chakra morphed into a hound-shaped construct with glowing eyes, barking with static as it launched forward. A string of lightning chakra remained connected to Kakashi's palm, guiding the hound like a puppeteer.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang!" he called out.
The beast zigzagged with lightning speed before it slammed into two boulders, shattering them. A loud explosion of static followed.
Hitomi's eyes widened slightly as she smirked. "Not bad... I can already picture blasting some idiot trying to run from me."
Naruko growled. "You think you're so cool..."
Yuto, meanwhile, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'A lightning animal… maybe I can make smaller beasts from my Radiation Style too. Like that Radiation Dragon I used against Haku… but smaller, more chakra-efficient. And controllable.'
"Alongside this jutsu, I will also help you improve your skills in Genjutsu." Kakashi said to Hitomi who nodded her head.
Finally, Kakashi turned to Yuto. "As for Yuto… I'll leave the choice of ninjutsu to you. Rasengan or Chidori—you've got the potential for either. I'll also help you master some maneuvers using your chakra switch ability."
Yuto didn't hesitate. "Chidori, definitely."
Hitomi grinned victoriously. "See, even Yuto knows which one's better."
Naruko's eyebrow twitched violently. "TRAITOR! Teme!"
Yuto ignored their antics, a small smirk tugging at his lips. 'They don't need to know I already learned the Rasengan during the previous training session…'
But one thing puzzled him. 'What does Kakashi-sensei mean by maneuvers for chakra switch?'
What Yuto didn't know… was that Kakashi had started to learn and master the Flying Thunder God technique due to the butterfly effects caused by Yuto's presence. He had studied Minato's movements, learned the intricacies of teleportation combat—and now, he saw Yuto's chakra switch as a bootleg version of his Sensei's legendary jutsu.
'If I teach him right,' Kakashi thought, his eye glinting, 'he could become someone as terrifying as Sensei someday.'
While Team 7 trained under Kakashi and his shadow clones, the sound of clashing chakra and powerful jutsu echoed throughout the Valley of the Wolves. High above them, hidden within the canopy of trees, a lone crow perched silently behind the thick trunk of a pine.
Its eyes glowed an ominous red—spinning with the unmistakable pattern of the Sharingan.
The crow tilted its head, observing the intense training. Its gaze lingered on Hitomi, who was currently forming hand signs at rapid speed, her own Sharingan active and focused.
Then, without a sound, the crow spread its wings and soared into the sky, vanishing into the clouds like a shadow in the wind.
Some time later, it landed gracefully on an outstretched arm—belonging to none other than Itachi Uchiha. His Akatsuki cloak fluttered slightly in the breeze as he stared down at the bird with unreadable eyes.
'So… Hitomi has awakened the three tomoe Sharingan,' he thought, a faint smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
But the expression quickly faded into his usual stoic mask.
'The time… may come sooner than I expected.'