A month flew by in the blink of an eye.
Under Jiraiya's guidance, Naruto had successfully mastered the Tailed Beast Bomb – Kamehameha Wave.
Compared to the beginner-level beam that fired from his hands, Naruto could now maintain the technique for a full five seconds.
Any longer, and he didn't dare try—Master Kurama warned him that exceeding five seconds could very well result in his own death.
That said, using this technique still required him to enter the Tailed Beast Cloak Mode.
As for its power...
Naruto wasn't sure how to measure it.
Over the past month, he had leveled nearly every mountain in the Land of Waves with his training. By now, he didn't even dare show his face in the region anymore.
When he'd asked Kurama about it, the great fox nonchalantly claimed that using the Tailed Beast Bomb – Kamehameha Wave would easily flatten Shukaku.
As for that one certain pervy white-haired old man...
Ever since teaching Naruto the Rasengan, Jiraiya had vanished.
Naruto figured the guy was probably camped out by some hot springs, chuckling to himself like a creep.
On the other hand, the middle-aged white-haired Kakashi had been visiting him more frequently.
Naruto had lost count of how many steaks Kakashi had taken from him by now.
Toward the last two weeks, one steak per visit wasn't enough for Kakashi anymore—he needed two steaks before he could return to the afterlife.
Naruto found the whole situation increasingly bizarre.
Even Naruto himself could only eat three of those steaks per day at most.
Yet somehow, Kakashi had developed a resistance to dying from overeating...
---
"Yo, Naruto. Good morning!"
Kakashi, carrying a short blade on his back, greeted Naruto from a tree branch before flipping down gracefully.
Naruto glanced at the short blade and raised an eyebrow.
What had Kakashi been doing in the afterlife?
Could it be that even Sakumo Hatake could teach blade techniques in the netherworld?
Honestly, Naruto was pretty curious about Kakashi's activities in the afterlife.
But every time he asked, Kakashi would just wave him off and change the subject.
With a sigh, Naruto pulled out another steak and a carved idol from his stash.
Only this time, Naruto retrieved an entire week's supply at once.
Kakashi's eyes lit up as he glanced at the neatly arranged steaks and carvings.
"Wait!"
"Kakashi-sensei, where's your Sharingan?!"
Naruto suddenly noticed something off.
Not only was Kakashi carrying a short blade, but the signature eyepatch covering his Sharingan was also pulled up.
That scarlet Sharingan had reverted to an ordinary black pupil.
"You... you took out your Sharingan?!"
Naruto was completely dumbfounded.
And he couldn't help but notice that Kakashi's usual lazy, sardonic aura was gone too—replaced by a sharper, more focused energy.
---
"Oh, this?"
Kakashi touched his eye socket with a complicated expression.
A few days ago, while training in swordsmanship with his father in a dream, he woke up to find that his Sharingan could now deactivate.
Not only that—he could activate it freely, just like the Uchiha clan members could.
And that wasn't all.
Kakashi discovered that his Sharingan had evolved.
After poring through countless texts, he realized he had unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan.
This newfound power had reignited his determination to find Obito in the afterlife.
Kakashi wanted to share the good news and see the world anew through the eyes he'd inherited.
"It's not gone—I can just turn it off now," Kakashi explained, his voice calm.
Naruto: ???
Huh?
What kind of nonsense was White-Haired Sensei spouting?
You're Kakashi Hatake, not Kakashi Uchiha!
Still, seeing Naruto's baffled expression, Kakashi decided to activate his Mangekyo Sharingan to prove his point.
"Look—like this."
---
"Whoa!"
"That's... that's a Mangekyo!"
Naruto's face twisted into something between disbelief and amazement.
No way...
Was dying repeatedly some kind of secret method to unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Should he... maybe have Sasuke try it someday?
---
"Does this mean your chakra reserves are finally enough?" Naruto asked, suddenly realizing the implications.
"Probably," Kakashi replied.
"My chakra's increased a lot recently. Thanks to your food."
Naruto froze for a moment, glancing away awkwardly.
He didn't even know how to tell Kakashi the truth.
And besides...
Wasn't it possible that Kakashi's transformations had less to do with the food and more to do with his repeated deaths?
---
"Hey, Kurama, can you check how much chakra Kakashi has now?"
The Nine-Tails, lazily flipping through a book, barely looked up.
"What's there to check? He probably has... wait, what?!"
"How did that guy go from 30 to 300 chakra units?!"
Kurama was genuinely startled.
The last time he'd checked, Kakashi was a measly 30-unit weakling. How had his chakra reserves multiplied so suddenly?
Naruto wasn't surprised, though.
After all, Kakashi had unlocked the Mangekyo and could now deactivate his energy-guzzling Sharingan at will.
It made sense that his chakra reserves had shot up.
Hmm...
At this rate, White-Haired Sensei might even catch up to his own 900 units someday.
Terrifying.
Could it be that Kakashi's infamous nickname, "Fifty-Fifty," was about to disappear forever?
---
Kakashi ignored Naruto, who stood frozen in place, and sealed the supplies into a scroll.
"By the way, Naruto..."
"Don't forget to attend the final Chunin Exam tomorrow."
"Who's up first?"
Naruto snapped out of his daze and looked at Kakashi.
Not that he wanted to participate in that ridiculous exam.
And fighting Hinata...
How was he supposed to fight her?
Hit her? Not hit her? Both sounded bad.
He was genuinely worried about accidentally hurting her, only for her to exact her revenge after they were married.
"Sasuke is fighting Gaara from the Sand Village."
"What?!"
"That's great!"
Naruto grinned widely.
Didn't that mean all the subsequent matches would be canceled?
---
"I'm heading out," Kakashi said as he packed up his scroll.
"Oh, and Sakura asked you to visit her at the hospital."
Naruto scratched his head at the mention of Sakura.
Opening a portal with a flick of his hand, he made his way to the hospital.
---
Due to an earlier special training session with Sakura and Konohamaru, she had been holding a grudge against him.
In an attempt to win her over—and pave the way for their kids to marry one day—Naruto had gifted Sakura a complete set of math, science, and physics textbooks.
With her genius-level aptitude, she should be able to master them quickly.
But...
Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he might be creating another Orochimaru.
---
"Sakura, what's up?"
At the hospital, Naruto found Sakura sitting on a chair, tinkering with a strange mechanical arm using a screwdriver.
When she saw him, her face lit up with excitement.
"Look, Naruto!"
"I used the books you gave me to combine science and ninjutsu into this tool!"
"I'm calling it... Scientific Ninja Tool!"
Naruto: Huh???