Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 70 70 : Don't Compare With Riku, He Is Not A Normal

After staying at Tazuna's house for a few days, one afternoon during dinner, Kakashi looked at Sasuke and the others and said, "We're going to work on chakra control."

His words left Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura montarily stunned.

Riku, who was sitting off to the side, smiled faintly. "Don't you want to learn?"

Kakashi looked at the three of them. All three quickly shook their heads. "No, Kakashi-sensei—are you really going to teach us ninjutsu?" Naruto asked, eyes lighting up with excitent, hoping this was his chance to learn sothing powerful.

He vividly rembered how impressive Riku's Water Wall Jutsu had been. He had been filled with envy.

Compared to that, his Shadow Clone Jutsu felt completely unimpressive.

But Kakashi just chuckled. "What are you thinking? I'm teaching you chakra control techniques to help with your training. It's still too early to learn actual ninjutsu."

Naruto pouted in dissatisfaction. "But why is Riku allowed? Didn't you teach him ninjutsu?"

Riku continued eating quietly without responding.

Sakura and Sasuke also glanced at Riku. It was clear to them that Riku and Kakashi had known each other for so ti. Naturally, it made sense that Kakashi had taught him.

Kakashi sighed. "That's because Riku is different from the rest of you. He's exceptionally talented—just like Sasuke. He's already learned several Fire Style jutsu. That's the difference talent makes."

Among them, Sakura was clearly the weakest—even Naruto had her beat.

Naruto scowled at being told he lacked talent.

Kakashi smiled. "So, do you want to learn or not?"

Naruto and Sakura both nodded eagerly.

No one had really trained them before. Up to now, they only knew basic techniques like the Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, and Transformation Jutsu.

At least Naruto had the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, which gave him a bit of an edge.

Sakura, on the other hand, truly only knew the basic three.

Sasuke and Riku remained quiet. But Sasuke's gaze had shifted—his target had beco Riku.

When Uchiha Itachi had left the village, Sasuke believed his brother had been as strong as Riku was now.

Of course, years had passed since then, and Itachi had undoubtedly grown even stronger.

But if Sasuke couldn't even defeat Riku, how could he ever hope to surpass Itachi?

What Sasuke didn't realize was that beating Riku would require far more than determination.

It might even take the power of the Sage of Six Paths to stand a chance.

Riku's strength was above Kage level—not on the sa tier as Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, but certainly beyond ordinary Kage.

Even if Sasuke obtained Itachi's eyes and awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he would still be no match for Riku.

Riku's Sharingan wasn't an Eternal Mangekyō, but the sheer power of his eyes rivaled that level.

In fact, he could already summon a full-body Susanoo—he just had no reason to do so.

It was simply unnecessary.

After the three of them expressed interest in training, Kakashi had a few others take them into the forest once dinner was finished.

Originally, they asked Riku to co along, but he declined. If they all left and Tazuna was attacked, the mission would fail.

While Kakashi led the three Genin into the woods, Riku sat on the porch outside Tazuna's house, the river flowing quietly below.

In the forest, Kakashi demonstrated the exercise to them and then let them practice on their own.

He sat perched in a tree, reading his little orange book.

Tazuna, knowing Riku was there, had no worries at all.

As the three of them struggled with the tree-climbing exercise, Sakura asked Kakashi curiously, "Kakashi-sensei, when did you start teaching Riku? It feels like you've known each other for a long ti."

Kakashi didn't even look up from his book. "Probably around the ti you all just entered the Academy."

Hearing that, Naruto lost his balance and fell from the tree. Ignoring the pain in his back, he pointed at Kakashi in disbelief. "You've been teaching Riku for that long? No wonder his ninjutsu's so powerful!"

Sasuke clenched his fist. "So he really is talented... If even soone like Kakashi-sensei would start training him so early, that says a lot."

"Everything he did at the Academy must have been a front. Damn it."

Looking back now, Sasuke felt like a fool.

Sakura tilted her head. "Kakashi-sensei, are you related to Riku?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Of course not. I just saw his potential early on, so I took him under my wing."

Sakura then asked, "How strong is Riku, really? He didn't even kill that enemy ninja—he just scared him off."

Sasuke and Naruto both perked up, eager to hear more.

Kakashi smiled. "You'll find out in ti. For now, just know that he's stronger than all three of you combined. But don't compare yourselves to him—Riku's different."

"We're ordinary. He's not."

Naruto frowned at that, while Sakura's curiosity deepened.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was struck by how familiar those words sounded. That's exactly what his father had once said about Itachi: Don't compare yourself to him. He's a genius.

The more he thought about it, the more Riku reminded him of Itachi.

Both were low-key at school.

Both were geniuses.

Both had been recognized by others at a young age.

And now, Sasuke was once again in soone else's shadow—first Itachi, now Riku.

That only made him more determined to prove himself.

He had lived his whole life in Itachi's shadow. He wasn't about to let Riku overshadow him too.

Sakura asked again, "So the Water Style jutsu Riku used earlier—did you teach him that too?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. That's a B-rank technique. To be honest, it wasn't even that powerful when I used it. But when Riku uses it... it's way more effective than when most ninja do."

Naruto grinned. "Kakashi-sensei! Once I master tree climbing, can you teach that one too?"

Kakashi glanced over and smiled under his mask. "Depends on your chakra nature. And even then, that jutsu's tough. You might not be able to learn it."

In truth, Kakashi wasn't keen on teaching Naruto that particular jutsu. Naruto's real strength lay in the Nine Tails sealed within him—spending too much ti on ninjutsu felt unnecessary.

But Naruto didn't hear that subtext. He just bead with confidence. "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei! As long as you teach , I'll master it!"

Kakashi's smile twitched faintly behind his mask.

In fact, Sasuke had already mastered a few basic Fire Style techniques from the Uchiha clan.

Compared to Naruto, his current strength was on another level.

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