After Iruka spoke, Kaito immediately began to extract his chakra in front of him. This time, he extracted all of his chakra at once and released it without reservation, causing his entire body to be enveloped in a layer of blue chakra.
Iruka's eyes widened as he looked at Kaito, disbelief written on his face. Extracting that much chakra in one go... How immense must Kaito's chakra reserves be?
In the next moment, Kaito locked eyes with Iruka.
Kaito: Stare...
Iruka: Uh...
"Kaito, why aren't you continuing to extract chakra? To determine the amount, you need to extract all of it," Iruka reminded him.
"I've already extracted all of it." Kaito frowned, noting Iruka's reaction. "Iruka-sensei, does this mean my chakra reserve is very small?"
If his chakra reserve was really too small, that would be a problem—many jutsu were limited by chakra quantity.
"Small? No, no, not at all! It's just surprising that you managed to extract all of your chakra in one attempt," Iruka quickly reassured Kaito, seeing his frown and realizing there might be a misunderstanding.
"So, Iruka-sensei, how would you rate my chakra reserves compared to a Genin?" Kaito stared at Iruka, knowing that this answer was crucial for understanding the results of his efforts over the past few years.
"Hmm, let me think." Iruka studied Kaito for a moment before answering. "Right now, your chakra level is about half that of the lowest-tier freshly graduated Genin, and it's about a third compared to the average level."
"That much of a difference?" Kaito frowned again.
"No, no, Kaito, you've already got a lot of chakra. After all, you're still in a growing phase. As your body continues to grow, your chakra reserve will increase. During this period, the chakra gained naturally from growth is often more significant than the chakra gained from training."
Iruka once again sensed the chakra around Kaito's body, and after a moment of appreciation, he continued, "So, if you continue to grow normally until graduation, your chakra reserve should be well above average."
"I see." Kaito finally let out a sigh of relief. So his efforts hadn't been in vain; he could expect to be above average.
Suddenly, Kaito realized something. In his class, there was Uzumaki Naruto, whose chakra reserves were monstrous even without considering the Nine-Tails. As a reincarnation of Ashura and a member of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto's chakra was naturally at an incredible level.
If he included Naruto, Kaito figured he probably wouldn't even reach the average level. However, it was pointless to compare himself to someone that extraordinary. Thinking this, Kaito smiled.
Seeing Kaito's smile, Iruka also let out a breath of relief. He had almost ended up discouraging Kaito just now. The last thing he wanted was to dampen the spirits of a talented student, especially his own.
That's right, Kaito was already considered a genius in Iruka's eyes. He had managed to learn chakra extraction in such a short time, and judging from his current performance, his proficiency in extracting chakra was decent. Moreover, his chakra reserve, barely into the school year, was already comparable to the average level of a third-year student! How could that not be genius-level?
"There's one more thing, Kaito," Iruka said, smiling. He was proud to have such a talented student.
"Hmm?" Kaito looked at Iruka, puzzled.
"The amount of chakra you extracted at once exceeds what most Genin are capable of, and is even comparable to some Chunin. That's quite impressive." Iruka admitted that he had been startled when he saw Kaito extract so much in one go; he had assumed Kaito's chakra reserves were far greater.
"Oh." Kaito wasn't particularly fazed by this. He knew that the amount of chakra one could extract at once was related to one's spiritual strength, and in that area, he was confident.
"Iruka-sensei, may I start learning the Three Basic Techniques ahead of time?" Kaito finally brought up his second reason for seeking out Iruka. His first request was a setup for this one—by proving himself, he hoped to gain access to the basic jutsu early.
"Hmm, normally, the Three Basic Techniques are taught in the second year, but your current level surpasses that, so I see no reason why you can't start learning them now." Iruka thought about it for a moment and then agreed.
In any case, they were going to be taught eventually, and there was no rule against teaching them early. Technically, moving the Three Techniques to the first-year curriculum wasn't impossible, but not everyone was like Kaito. Most students needed to start from the very basics, so for them, it made sense to wait.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Kaito thanked Iruka sincerely. He had come to Iruka specifically because he knew Iruka's character from the original story. If it had been Mizuki instead, Kaito definitely wouldn't have bothered. Even though he had been fairly sure that Iruka would agree, he still felt genuine gratitude. After all, Iruka didn't owe him anything.
"Oh, it's no problem at all. In fact, I think it's your own efforts that have earned you the right to learn these techniques." Iruka laughed, scratching his head, clearly happy to have helped a hardworking student.
Iruka then handed Kaito three scrolls. "These are the scrolls for the Three Basic Techniques. They include some of my personal notes. Read them through, and if you have any questions, feel free to come to me. Just remember to return the scrolls once you're done."
"Understood." Kaito took the scrolls and examined them. There were indeed many annotations—these were likely the scrolls Iruka used for his lessons, with even some notes on how to explain the concepts. If Kaito still couldn't learn from them, he might as well find a wall to knock his head against.
"Is there anything else, Kaito?" Iruka asked.
"You've helped me so much, Iruka-sensei. I'd like to treat you to a meal," Kaito said.
"Haha, it's a teacher's job to help their students, and besides, I have other things to do later..." Iruka began to decline.
"Ichiraku Ramen," Kaito added.
Iruka hesitated. He did like Ichiraku Ramen, but there was no need for a student to treat him—after all, it wasn't expensive, and as a Chunin, he could easily afford it.
However, seeing Kaito's earnest expression, and realizing that Ichiraku Ramen wasn't much of a burden on his family, Iruka decided he could accept the offer.
"Well then, Iruka-sensei, I'll head home now. I'll meet you in front of Ichiraku Ramen at six this evening," Kaito said, seeing Iruka's hesitation. Without giving Iruka another chance to refuse, Kaito turned and left.
Watching Kaito's retreating figure, Iruka paused for a moment, feeling as though this child didn't quite belong to his age group. Thinking about Kaito's home situation, Iruka sighed.
Indeed, children from struggling families matured early. But still, Kaito even knew he liked Ichiraku Ramen! Though he had mentioned it before, most students wouldn't remember that detail. It made Iruka happy!