Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 65 65 : You May Have Surpassed Fourth Hokage

Although Sasuke and Sakura weren't even close to being a match for the Chūnin from Kirigakure, they were still doing their best to protect Tazuna.

That, at least, made them far better than Naruto right now.

But it was understandable—Naruto hadn't matured yet.

Riku and Kakashi stood atop a large tree. Riku smiled as he spoke. "Sasuke's not bad. To have that kind of awareness at his age…"

Kakashi glanced at Naruto, a flicker of disappointnt in his eyes.

Riku chuckled. "Don't worry too much, Kakashi-sensei. Naruto hasn't been through sothing like this before. His reaction is completely normal."

Though Kakashi was a bit disheartened by Naruto's performance, he knew the boy still had ti to grow.

He was still young.

But then, turning to Riku, Kakashi gave a small smile. "Speaking of age… you're the sa age as them. It's incredible that you already possess strength beyond mine."

Riku was, without a doubt, the most talented shinobi Kakashi had ever encountered—and perhaps the strongest. Kakashi truly believed that Riku had already surpassed even the current Hokage in strength.

To him, Riku was the strongest ninja in the entire Hidden Leaf.

Perhaps even the legendary Sannin couldn't match him.

Of course, that was only Kakashi's guess. He didn't know the full extent of the Sannin's power.

Among them, the one he was most familiar with wasn't Jiraiya or Tsunade—but Orochimaru.

When Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Kakashi had been one of those sent to pursue him. But back then, he had been paralyzed by a single glance from Orochimaru's snake-like eyes.

And at the ti, he was already a Jonin.

Despite that, he had been completely overwheld, unable to even move under Orochimaru's oppressive presence.

It was precisely because of that experience that Kakashi felt Riku's current strength had already surpassed what Orochimaru had been capable of back then.

Riku smiled. "When it cos to power, there's no need to chase after it too desperately."

As he finished speaking, Kakashi's face twitched slightly with a line of exasperation.

If he hadn't known Riku personally, he would've thought the boy was just showing off.

But he knew better—Riku wasn't that kind of person.

And maybe, Riku had a point. After all, his strength truly was exceptional—even greater than the Third Hokage's. Few could argue otherwise.

If anyone else had said such a thing, they'd be thought insane.

Seeing Kakashi's expression, Riku grinned. "I'm kidding. Honestly, I've just been progressing step by step. I've already hit a bottleneck. I think my strength might be stuck here for a while."

Of course, that was a lie.

Riku's body had no limits. It could continue to grow endlessly.

There were no restrictions.

What Riku referred to was ninjutsu. He had already mastered nearly every technique available to him at the mont. To progress further—especially with higher-level techniques—he would need knowledge from the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

At his current level, Riku wasn't qualified for those powers just yet.

He may have already reached the Kage level, but compared to soone like Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju, and especially to beings at the level of the Sage of Six Paths, he still had a long way to go.

Kakashi believed him, though. From what he knew, no one could grow stronger indefinitely.

So in his mind, there was nothing suspicious about what Riku had said.

"It's fine. No need to rush. The higher your level, the harder it becos to progress. But at your age, already having strength beyond the Kage level is impressive."

"I even think… you might already be stronger than the Fourth Hokage."

In Kakashi's opinion, Riku had already surpassed Minato Namikaze.

Riku had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, and he always seed to be able to use any ninjutsu better than most—often even better than Kakashi himself.

Physically, Riku was more powerful. His destructive ninjutsu outclassed anything Minato had used.

And now, he had also mastered Wood Style and was capable of using several advanced techniques from that release.

Kakashi truly believed that the Fourth Hokage couldn't compare to Riku.

Laughing softly, Kakashi said, "Maybe you'll be the Fifth Hokage."

The suggestion made Riku pause before he gave a wry smile. "Kakashi-sensei, don't joke like that. I don't want to be Hokage. I'm not cut out for that. I just want to be a regular ninja."

He ant it.

Riku understood that in the current Konoha, he was already at the peak of combat ability.

Only a handful of people could truly pose a threat to him.

But that didn't make him arrogant or overconfident.

That just wasn't who he was.

At the sa ti, this didn't an he lacked ambition—he simply chose to take things lightly and enjoy life when he could.

So rules he would follow. Others, he wouldn't care about.

It all depended.

Riku felt like his place in the world was like a drifting breeze.

Moving with the wind—free, yet not completely.

Kakashi smiled. "Sotis life doesn't give you a choice. It's not about what you want."

He sighed. Though he admired Riku's attitude, he knew it wouldn't be easy to maintain it.

Riku replied with a smile, "That's true. If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth cherishing."

The two stood on the tree branch and chatted for a few more minutes.

Down below, Sasuke was about to be overwheld. One of the Chūnin charged directly at Tazuna. Sasuke was already held down by another Chūnin, Sakura was clearly outmatched, and Naruto was frozen in fear.

If no one stepped in, Tazuna would be killed.

Riku looked over at Kakashi. "Aren't you going to make a move, Kakashi-sensei? Sakura won't be able to hold him off."

Kakashi shook his head. "They still need experience."

Right after speaking, Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared in front of Sakura, striking the Chūnin in the neck with a single precise blow.

Almost instantly, the Chūnin who had been holding down Sasuke was also restrained—Kakashi had used lightning-fast chains to bind him to a nearby tree.

The entire process took less than three seconds.

The two Kirigakure Chūnin were left immobilized, chained to the trunk.

When Kakashi reappeared in front of them, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were stunned.

"Kakashi-sensei's not dead!" Naruto shouted, overjoyed.

Sakura grinned with relief. "I knew it! There's no way Kakashi-sensei would die so easily."

Sasuke, however, scanned the area for Riku's figure.

He had never believed Riku was dead in the first place.

Sure enough, Riku suddenly appeared beside Kakashi, smiling as he said, "Sakura and Sasuke put up a good fight just now."

Sasuke frowned. "Was that all just an act?"

Seeing his displeasure, Riku simply smiled. "No, I honestly didn't expect an ambush."

Sasuke didn't believe him but didn't press the issue.

He now knew for certain that Riku was strong—too strong to be taken by surprise like that.

They must have detected the ambush well in advance.

Naruto finally processed everything and felt a wave of disappointnt.

He had completely frozen back there—and he knew it.

Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, I think you owe us an explanation. Why were there enemy ninja on the road?"

"They were clearly targeting you."

Tazuna feigned ignorance. "Targeting ? I don't know anything about that…"

But Kakashi wasn't buying it. The price difference between a C-rank and B-rank mission was significant, and it was clear this wasn't what they'd signed up for.

He frowned. "If that's the case, we'll have to return to the village. This mission's paraters were inaccurate, and our superiors weren't given the full picture."

Hearing that they might turn back, Tazuna panicked. "No, please! Don't do that, Kakashi—I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Kakashi listened as Tazuna finally told the truth.

After hearing his explanation, Kakashi looked at Riku. "What do you think?"

Riku smiled. "You're the team leader, Kakashi-sensei. It's your call. Whatever you decide, I'll support it."

Once again, he kicked the decision back to Kakashi.

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