Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 48 48 : Incorporating Wood Style

In truth, Riku had been putting on an act this entire ti.

At least for now, Hiruzen hadn't seen through it.

The Third Hokage nodded thoughtfully. "He seems to admire you a great deal. It looks like he beca your teacher a few years ago, didn't he?"

Riku smiled. "Yes, Kakashi taught so ninjutsu—he's my teacher."

He kept the conversation going smoothly, answering questions without revealing anything.

Hiruzen thought nothing of it. To him, Riku was just a twelve-year-old child. He didn't believe Riku was capable of hiding anything from him, confident in his own ability to see through people.

"I want to know—how many jutsu have you mastered?"

"He told he taught you five B-rank ninjutsu."

"I've mastered those five B-rank techniques, but I'm no longer at the level of a Genin. If I keep doing missions, I should be able to reach Jōnin easily," Riku replied calmly.

Hiruzen wasn't just being polite—he was stating a fact.

Once one passes the Chūnin Exams, reaching Jōnin just requires more completed missions and proven ability.

But Riku didn't care much about rank. He smiled and said, "I think I'm still young, and I need to learn more from Kakashi-sensei. It's better to take things step by step."

Riku had declined the Hokage's offer.

Hiruzen had been trying to recruit him.

Advancing to Jōnin or being moved into special positions required the Hokage's arrangent and approval. His words were a test—a way of pulling Riku into his orbit.

But Riku had politely declined, choosing to remain under Kakashi's guidance. Since Kakashi answered to the Third Hokage, it still left Riku within Hiruzen's control—at least on the surface.

To the Hokage, Riku's choice seed born of genuine admiration for Kakashi.

So despite being turned down, the Third didn't seem displeased. He simply smiled. "It's a good decision to follow Kakashi. He's the best among our Jōnin. Learning from him will help you grow significantly."

"The Fire Style jutsu you used today was impressive. Though it's only a C-rank technique, its power was equivalent to a B-rank."

"Being able to unleash that kind of ninjutsu proves your strength is at least Chūnin-level. If there's anything you need, let know. I'll try to help where I can."

Riku paused for a mont, then smiled. "Thank you, Lord Hokage, but I don't need anything at the mont."

Hiruzen nodded, and the two continued chatting for another ten minutes. The Hokage asked the questions, and Riku answered with precision and politeness.

Throughout the conversation, Riku didn't reveal a single flaw.

At the very least, the impression he gave the Hokage was a positive one.

That night, Riku lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Images of the Sharingan floated through his mind.

"With my current physique, using the Mangekyō Sharingan hasn't affected my eyesight yet. But the pupil power... it still hasn't reached the level of the Eternal Mangekyō."

"I wonder if I'll naturally evolve to that stage as my physical strength continues to grow."

"I've already begun integrating Wood Style, but so far, I've only managed techniques like Deep Forest Ergence and the Wood Clone."

"I still haven't mastered any of the true Super S-rank Wood Style techniques."

Riku had successfully awakened Wood Style last year.

By combining Water and Earth nature transformations, and infusing them with his Ultimate Yang Release chakra, he managed to create genuine Wood Release.

Unfortunately, he knew that his current level wasn't even comparable to Yamato's.

Most of what he'd learned about Wood Style ca from watching Yamato's battles.

But Yamato himself couldn't use many high-level Wood Style techniques, such as the Wooden Golem Jutsu or the truly terrifying Flower Tree World technique.

While Riku's Wood Style was fundantally stronger than Yamato's—bolstered by true Yang Release and abundant life force—he was still in the early stages of mastering it. He had to develop new techniques himself or try to learn more from Konoha's archives.

But right now, that wasn't realistic. The village wasn't openly sharing their knowledge of Wood Style, and he didn't want to attract unnecessary attention.

Staring at the ceiling, Riku muttered, "My chakra reserves aren't anywhere near the First Hokage's... honestly, they're not even close to Naruto's."

"And once you count Kurama's chakra, it's even more hopeless."

He sighed. "Looks like there's still a long way to go. My body is improving steadily, but it's too slow."

His physical abilities were indeed developing without any real bottlenecks. In the early stages, they weren't so different from a typical shinobi's. But once he advanced further, the difference would beco staggering.

Even though he had awakened Wood Style, he still hadn't truly mastered its jutsu.

And even if he possessed techniques like the Wooden Golem Jutsu, he didn't have enough chakra to actually use them.

The biggest gap between Yamato and the First Hokage wasn't rely having or lacking Yang Release—it was the sheer scale of their chakra.

Yamato's total chakra was less than a single Wood Clone created by Hashirama Senju. At that level, it was simply impossible to use top-tier Wood Release jutsu.

Now, Riku possessed multiple bloodline limits: Sharingan, Wood Style, and a special physique.

He hadn't attempted to integrate other bloodlines.

Because his power ca from chakra itself, the bloodline limits most compatible with it were Sharingan and Wood Style.

The next day, Riku didn't head out until noon.

Kakashi showed up several minutes after Riku arrived at the eting spot.

Naruto grumbled when he saw him. "You jerk, Riku! You knew Kakashi-sensei was going to be late and didn't say anything!"

Riku just smiled faintly and didn't respond.

Kakashi scratched his head lazily. "Ah... I got a little delayed on the way here~"

He didn't even get the chance to explain further.

Naruto and Sakura both said in unison, "We don't believe you!"

Sasuke stood off to the side, looking a bit annoyed as well.

He clearly didn't appreciate the constant tardiness either.

Seeing that no one was buying it, Kakashi chuckled. "Alright, alright. Today's our first mission. Let's head to the Hokage's office to pick it up."

At the ntion of a mission, Naruto perked up imdiately.

In his head, he was already imagining himself stealing the spotlight with flashy moves and heroic monts.

As the three Genin walked ahead, Riku fell back slightly and walked alongside Kakashi.

"The Hokage ca to see yesterday," he said casually.

Kakashi froze for a split second, then asked, "What did he say?"

He was clearly concerned that Hiruzen might have figured sothing out.

Having the Third Hokage dig into Riku now wouldn't benefit anyone.

Riku smiled. "He tried to recruit , but I refused. Honestly, I wasn't even sure what departnt he wanted in. Probably ANBU."

"I already told you—I don't want to join ANBU."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. You really shouldn't. It doesn't suit you."

In truth, Riku's personality and skills were well-suited for ANBU.

But he didn't like it, and Kakashi respected that.

He didn't think Hiruzen's offer was anything serious—just a light attempt at recruitnt.

And that was fine with him.