Afterward, Kakashi explained the principles of the Eight Trigrams Seal to Yoruha. Compared to his explanation of the Four Symbols Seal, this session was much shorter.
Having already mastered the Four Symbols Seal, Yoruha found the Eight Trigrams Seal to be relatively easy.
By evening, Yoruha had fully learned the Eight Trigrams Seal.
Learning just two sealing techniques in one day left Yoruha feeling a little dissatisfied.
But Kakashi was already astonished.
For years, Kakashi had been training to master the Four Symbols Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal, yet he had never succeeded.
Yoruha, on the other hand, had learned them both in a single day.
His learning ability had far surpassed Kakashi's imagination.
Or rather, Yoruha's ability to learn might already be beyond what any ninja in this world could achieve.
Yoruha himself didn't seem to realize this.
He only remembered how Uchiha Itachi had once learned Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu after seeing his father demonstrate it just once.
But the difficulty of the Four Symbols Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal couldn't be compared to the Great Fireball Jutsu.
The Four Symbols Seal and the Eight Trigrams Seal were both classified as S-rank jutsu, making them absolute forbidden techniques.
Meanwhile, the Great Fireball Jutsu was merely a C-rank jutsu.
The gap in learning difficulty between the two was like night and day, and the difficulty of sealing techniques far exceeded that of regular ninjutsu.
Even though Kakashi could skillfully use the S-rank Lightning Blade, he hadn't even been able to learn the Four Symbols Seal or the Eight Trigrams Seal.
That night, on the way back from the mountains...
Sasuke and Naruto blocked the path of the three-person group.
Kakashi, Yoruha, and Sakura—who had accompanied them to the mountain—looked at Sasuke and Naruto standing in their way.
"Done for the day so early?"
Seeing their expressionless faces, Yoruha asked curiously.
Sasuke stepped forward toward Yoruha and said, "Yoruha, teach me how to become stronger."
Yoruha paused, startled.
Naruto stepped up as well. "Yoruha, I want you to help me get stronger too."
Kakashi furrowed his brows. "What's gotten into you two?"
Although Kakashi had anticipated this might happen, since the two hadn't mentioned anything over the past few days, he thought they'd given up on the idea.
It turned out they had been waiting until now to bring it up.
Yoruha felt a bit helpless.
He had thought the two of them would no longer ask for his help with this.
Sasuke and Naruto ignored Kakashi, their determined gazes fixed on Yoruha.
Previously, with Yoruha's encouragement, the two had believed Kakashi could make them stronger.
But after that battle, they both realized Yoruha's strength might not be inferior to, or could even surpass, Kakashi's.
Kakashi massaged his forehead, exasperated.
"So it's come to this after all."
Sakura, standing to the side, looked a little awkward.
It was, after all, Sakura who had told Sasuke and Naruto about Yoruha's performance that day.
Under their persistent questioning, Sakura had revealed everything about Yoruha's feats in that battle.
No matter how much Yoruha denied it, the two believed Sakura wouldn't lie to them.
No amount of protest from Yoruha could change the undeniable facts: he had single-handedly defeated Kurosuki Raiga, an elite jonin, and subdued Naruto's rampage with a single jutsu.
The truth was impossible to ignore.
Even now, Kurosuki Raiga's grave remained in the forest, at the battlefield where he and Yoruha had fought. The area had been reduced to a wasteland—within several hundred meters, all the trees and rocks had been obliterated to dust.
The scorched earth was a testament to how intense the battle had been.
What left Sasuke and Naruto even more stunned was that such a violent battle...
Yoruha was actually able to defeat Kurosuki Raiga, an elite jonin who, in their eyes, was on par with Zabuza.
What was most astonishing was that Yoruha's ninjutsu completely suppressed Kurosuki Raiga.
According to Sakura's description, when Yoruha unleashed his jutsu, he seemed as powerful as a god descended to earth.
Looking at Sasuke and Naruto's serious expressions, Yoruha felt a headache coming on.
"I already told you, I don't know how to help you get stronger. I learned everything I know from Kakashi-sensei."
"That's impossible. Kakashi-sensei can't be that strong," Naruto retorted.
Kakashi's face darkened.
Even though Naruto was stating a fact, saying it so bluntly still hurt his pride a little.
Sasuke frowned at Yoruha and said, "What do you want? As long as I have it, I'll give it to you."
Yoruha rolled his eyes at him. "I want you two to stop bothering me. Is that too much to ask?"
Although Yoruha didn't mind teaching them his ninjutsu, the problem was that most of his techniques were ones he had learned from Kakashi.
If they wanted to learn, they could just ask Kakashi directly.
Furthermore, the ninjutsu Yoruha had refined for himself was something only he could use. It wasn't because the techniques themselves were exceptionally powerful, but because their strength came from Yoruha's chakra.
This was something Yoruha couldn't teach.
Sasuke still believed that Yoruha simply didn't want to teach them.
"Yoruha, I… I'm willing to become your apprentice," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.
Everyone was stunned by his words.
Especially Yoruha, whose lips twitched as he looked at Sasuke.
Are you trying to get me killed? Yoruha thought. Your teacher is standing right here. Did you even think about his feelings? Or my situation for that matter?
Sasuke's statement left both Yoruha and Kakashi in an awkward position.
Sakura and Naruto, on the other hand, were shocked that Sasuke could humble himself to such an extent.
After all, they were classmates of the same age, and Yoruha wasn't older than them.
Yet Sasuke was willing to acknowledge Yoruha as his master.
In the ninja world, becoming someone's apprentice was not the same as the usual teacher-student relationship between a jonin and their genin team.
Becoming an apprentice meant Sasuke was voluntarily lowering his status, and the phrase "once a master, always a father" applied. Sasuke's decision to do this made Yoruha's expression turn extremely awkward.
He had no interest in playing the role of an elder to his peers.
Moreover, Kakashi was Sasuke's teacher. If Sasuke did this, wouldn't that make Kakashi and Yoruha equals?
Just the thought of it was uncomfortable.
Sasuke's actions would only embarrass Yoruha and put him in an awkward position.
As Sasuke was about to kneel, Yoruha instantly released his chakra.
The overwhelming chakra pressure prevented Sasuke from lowering his knees.
Sasuke froze in place.
He looked up at Yoruha, stunned.
"If you do this, we can't even be classmates anymore," Yoruha said coldly.
"Don't put me in a difficult spot."
Sasuke was taken aback.
After a moment, he understood what Yoruha meant.
Clenching his fists, he said, "But I want to get stronger. I know you can make me stronger. I'm willing to do anything to become stronger."
"Even if it costs me my life, as long as it helps me gain the strength to kill that man, I'm willing," Sasuke shouted at Yoruha.
But Yoruha showed no intention of backing down. "So you're saying you have no confidence in surpassing that man through your own efforts?"
Yoruha's tone was serious.
Sasuke remained silent.
"Is that right?" Yoruha pressed.
Sasuke still didn't respond.
Yoruha deliberately mocked him, "Sasuke, I must've overestimated you. I thought you were someone with pride and backbone, someone who would become my strongest rival. But it seems you don't even deserve that title."
Yoruha, who was always calm and composed, suddenly saying something so harsh, left Sasuke feeling deeply unsettled.
Didn't Yoruha know how humiliating and disgraceful his words were?
Of course, Sasuke knew. But he also knew how terrifying Uchiha Itachi was. A man capable of massacring his entire clan. Just thinking about that night filled Sasuke with despair.
The stronger the people around him became, the more Itachi's overwhelming power shattered his confidence.
Yoruha's strength reminded Sasuke of Uchiha Itachi.
The gap between him and Yoruha had grown so vast that he couldn't even see Yoruha's shadow anymore. And if the gap between him and Yoruha was this great, then how much greater was the gap between him and Itachi?
At this point, Sasuke could no longer stay calm.
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