Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 5 5 : You Are A Super Genius

Riku cooperated earnestly, his eyes shining with admiration.

Kakashi was quite satisfied.

He may act mature, but he's still a kid after all, Kakashi thought to himself.

In truth, Riku felt a bit embarrassed about acting that way, but for soone his age, this was a normal reaction.

Kakashi adopted a solemn tone and said, "No, learning ninjutsu cos with rules. I can only pass it on to my own students."

Riku froze for a second, then lowered his head, a little disheartened. "Really? That makes sense. Sothing as important as ninjutsu shouldn't be taught so casually."

"Well then, I'll be off, Kakashi-san."

The mont he finished speaking, Riku vanished from Kakashi's sight.

Kakashi stood there, stunned by Riku's sudden disappearance. It took him a mont to register it.

"That movent… the Body Flicker Technique?"

"And it's my Body Flicker Technique… When did he…? Could it have been that day?"

Kakashi recalled their first encounter—Riku had used the Body Flicker Technique when he left.

"He mastered it in just one day? And he already has the physical conditioning to pull it off… What a genius."

anwhile, Riku was already regretting his move.

Hundreds of ters away, he stood frowning.

"That was a mistake. I forgot that guy was standing right there."

"Next ti I see him, I need to be more careful. Seriously~"

"Running away from already?"

Before Riku could react, Kakashi appeared in front of him, arms folded, staring at him with a aningful gaze.

Riku looked a bit embarrassed. "It's nothing."

"Haha, Kakashi-san, you're really sothing! That was fast, haha… ha…"

He scratched his head awkwardly, chuckling.

Kakashi smiled and asked, "Then why'd you run?"

"I wasn't running! I just forgot to lock the door when I left today. Don't want burglars breaking in."

"Anyway, I'll be going now, Kakashi-san."

With that, he vanished again using the Body Flicker Technique.

Since Kakashi had already seen it, there was no longer any need to hide the technique.

Kakashi watched the spot Riku had just disappeared from and smiled aningfully.

"Interesting kid. Really interesting."

"That level of talent… it'd be a sha to waste it."

And with those words, Kakashi vanished as well.

A short while later, Kakashi arrived early at Riku's ho.

He had already looked into Riku's background and knew exactly where he lived.

Kakashi sat calmly in the courtyard, waiting.

A few minutes later, Riku opened the gate and looked at him, exasperated. "Kakashi-san, what are you doing here?"

The mont he got to the gate, he had sensed Kakashi's chakra and, after a mont's hesitation, decided to walk in.

Kakashi poured himself a cup of tea and greeted him with a relaxed smile.

"Yo, you're back? Earlier than I expected. But the mont you got to the door, you sensed inside. That's so impressive perception—on par with so sensory-type shinobi."

He took a sip of Riku's tea.

Kakashi paused, surprised. "This is good tea. And the preparation thod is unique. Never thought a kid could keep his house this clean on his own. Not bad. Not bad at all."

His impression of Riku was getting better by the second.

Originally, he had only planned to observe Riku. But now, he truly wanted to get to know him.

Riku, still carrying his schoolbag, walked over to the table and poured himself a cup of tea with a sigh.

"Kakashi-san, what exactly do you want?"

Kakashi looked at him with a calm smile. "What do I want? Nothing much. I just want to know—can you really use the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu? That technique demands more chakra than most Genin have."

Even a normal Fireball Jutsu consus a fair bit of chakra.

And many Genin don't have the reserves to use it properly.

Kakashi was genuinely curious whether Riku had managed it.

Riku sat across from him, holding his teacup, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why do you care so much whether I can use the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu?"

Faced with the question, Kakashi considered for a mont before answering with a small smile.

"Because I think you might be a genius."

He didn't hold back.

Riku frowned. "And what would you do if I am a genius?"

"Put on the operating table? Run experints?"

In Riku's mind, Kakashi had suddenly turned into soone like Orochimaru.

Kakashi's mouth twitched. "What kind of thoughts are running through that little head of yours? If you really are a genius, I'd just teach you a few jutsu. How does that sound?"

Riku didn't answer imdiately. Instead, he stared at Kakashi with sharp eyes. "What's the catch?"

Kakashi sighed. "You really don't trust , do you?"

But Riku remained silent, his gaze clearly saying: What's the condition?

Kakashi had no choice but to say, "The condition is: never betray Konoha."

Riku hadn't expected that.

"That's it?"

Kakashi nodded. "Can you do that?"

He looked at Riku with a rare seriousness.

Riku smiled. "Of course."

He agreed without hesitation. As long as Konoha didn't betray him, why would he betray the village?

Besides, a verbal promise was just that—whether it was kept or not would depend on the future.

Kakashi looked at him for a long ti before finally saying, "I hope you rember what you said today."

"But first—prove you can actually use Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."

Riku stood up.

He looked over at a large decorative stone in the courtyard. Beside it was a small fish pond.

"Kakashi-sani, please watch carefully."

He quickly ford hand seals. The speed of his movents surprised Kakashi.

"That speed… he's already as fast as ."

Riku's hands beca a blur of motion.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Whoosh!

A massive fireball—three to four ters wide—erupted from Riku's mouth, soaring toward the rock.

The ter-tall rock exploded on impact.

Boom!

Rocks scattered everywhere. Dust filled the air.

Steam hissed up from the pond as the water evaporated from the heat.

Riku turned to Kakashi with a grin. "Well? What do you think?"

Kakashi was utterly speechless.

"I really didn't expect you to pull it off… And your version is even stronger than the average Fireball Jutsu."

He paused, eyes narrowing.

"You didn't… steal it, did you? No, wait, self-taught?"

He almost blurted out that Riku must have stolen it—because honestly, it was true.