Naruto: AFK System

The massive water curtain lingered in front of Yoruha for over ten seconds before he withdrew his chakra.

"Whoosh..."

Without Yoruha's chakra maintaining it, the giant water curtain instantly collapsed, flooding the surrounding area and turning it into a small lake.

The sheer volume of water required an enormous amount of chakra to sustain.

To maintain such a large-scale water formation, one would need at least the chakra reserves of a jōnin.

"Impressive. Far stronger than I expected. And earlier, you added Wind Release into your Water Formation Wall, didn't you?" Kakashi asked as he walked over.

Yoruha looked at the water flowing beneath his feet and nodded. "It feels like a technique like this wouldn't have much use in combat."

Kakashi chuckled. "It's a defensive jutsu. It's particularly useful for countering Fire Release."

"There are many shinobi in the ninja world with exceptionally powerful Fire Release techniques, like the Third Hokage."

"Although the Third Hokage was proficient in all five nature transformations, his specialties were Fire Release and Earth Release."

"His Fire Release techniques burn at temperatures far higher than those of the Uchiha clan."

"They're far more destructive, and ordinary Water Release jutsu can't even stand up to them."

"But I think your Water Formation Wall from earlier could probably hold its ground."

Thinking about the Third Hokage's Fire Release, Kakashi couldn't help but admit its overwhelming strength.

The Third Hokage's Fire Release could even overcome elemental disadvantages, completely overpowering Water Release.

This spoke volumes about how powerful his Fire Release techniques were.

Yoruha recalled the strength of the Third Hokage's Fire Release.

During the battle against the reincarnated First and Second Hokage, the Third's Fire Release could even counter the Second Hokage's Water Release.

And the Second Hokage was known for his mastery of Water Release techniques.

Yet, the Third Hokage's Fire Release was able to evenly match the Second Hokage's Water Release, even with the elemental disadvantage.

"Kakashi-sensei, is the Uchiha clan really good at Fire Release?"

Yoruha asked, though he already knew the answer.

Kakashi, unaware of Yoruha's knowledge of the Uchiha, explained, "The Uchiha clan is Konoha's strongest ninja clan when it comes to Fire Release."

"They've created many original Fire Release techniques that are far more powerful than those of other shinobi."

"Original Fire Release techniques?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. For example, the Great Fireball Technique. The Uchiha clan improved upon it and created the Grand Fireball Technique."

"They're essentially the same jutsu, but the Grand Fireball Technique's power far surpasses the standard Great Fireball Technique."

"I once saw Uchiha Itachi use it."

Yoruha froze for a moment. "Uchiha Itachi?"

When mentioning Itachi, Kakashi's expression grew heavy as he fell into his memories.

"Yes, Uchiha Itachi. He was once my colleague in the Anbu."

"A ninja with extraordinary talent, though unfortunately, he eventually betrayed the village and his clan."

Kakashi didn't know why Itachi had slaughtered his own clan.

Although he was certain the truth wasn't as simple as what the village leadership had claimed, he wasn't part of the Uchiha clan and thus didn't delve deeper into the matter.

He simply thought it was a shame. After all, the Uchiha clan was Obito's clan, and Itachi was a ninja he had greatly admired.

If Kakashi knew that it was Obito and Itachi together who had orchestrated the Uchiha clan massacre,

He might regret ever saying it was a pity.

Yoruha fell into thought.

Yoruha thought for a moment and asked, "Why did Uchiha Itachi spare Sasuke?"

"At that time, Sasuke shouldn't have been capable of resisting, right?"

Kakashi glanced at Yoruha. "Because Sasuke is Itachi's younger brother. And precisely because of that, Sasuke harbors immense hatred for him."

"When I once asked Sasuke about his dreams, he said his dream was to personally kill Uchiha Itachi."

Yoruha fell silent, unsure of what to say.

Sasuke's situation truly was tragic.

If the Uchiha clan hadn't been annihilated, Sasuke wouldn't have turned out the way he did.

Before the massacre, Sasuke had a bright and sunny personality. Though he was aloof in school, it was entirely different from now.

His earlier aloofness was feigned—it came from being the top, most outstanding student in the class, a proud kind of aloofness.

But after the Uchiha clan's massacre, his cold demeanor became genuine. He distanced himself from the world, focusing solely on becoming stronger to kill Itachi and avenge his clan. He hid his emotions deep within, and had no choice but to do so.

In truth, Sasuke was a kind-hearted person at his core.

In a way, Naruto's situation was far better than his.

Naruto at least had the Third Hokage watching over him. He had friends like Shikamaru, Chōji, and Kiba, who would even skip class with him.

Having never experienced familial love, Naruto didn't even know what it felt like. So even when he was sad, it didn't break his spirit.

But Sasuke once had an extremely happy family: a strict but loving father, a gentle mother, and a genius older brother whom he deeply admired.

Yet in the end, it was the brother he worshipped who slaughtered their clan, sparing no one, not even their parents.

Before leaving, Itachi even replayed the massacre in front of Sasuke.

The anguish of that experience forced Sasuke to seek strength.

Yoruha could see that Sasuke had feelings for Sakura.

During a prior attack, Sasuke had instinctively shielded Sakura.

And that was Sasuke's first actual combat experience.

Combat is a completely different realm compared to regular training.

Yet he didn't hesitate—he stepped in front of Sakura without a second thought.

That alone proved that, despite his usual lack of overt displays of emotion toward her, Sasuke undoubtedly cared for Sakura.

Yoruha could understand Sasuke's pain.

He couldn't even imagine how he'd cope if he went through what Sasuke did.

He'd probably turn out even more extreme than Sasuke.

When Yoruha first arrived in this world, he thought it would be exciting to grow alongside Naruto.

After all, in his previous life, Yoruha had been moved by Naruto's fiery passion.

But after living in this world for six years alongside Naruto, Yoruha found himself far less impressed.

Initially, Yoruha admired Naruto for not succumbing to darkness despite the harsh environment he faced early on.

But after spending years here and witnessing Naruto's life firsthand, Yoruha couldn't relate to him at all.

In his past life, Yoruha had seen many people in situations similar to Naruto's.

Some had even harsher circumstances than Naruto's, considering he always had the Third Hokage looking after him.

Naruto, as a jinchūriki, had surprising freedom within the village. He could pull off huge pranks, like defacing the Hokage Rock with graffiti.

At first, Yoruha admired Naruto for not giving in to the darkness.

But after being his classmate for six years, Yoruha realized: Why wouldn't Naruto remain unaffected?

He had friends, wasn't short on money, often skipped class, and still hadn't been expelled despite consistently scoring zero on exams. That kind of treatment was practically like being Konoha's prince. Why would he have any reason to fall into despair?

There were plenty of children in Konoha without parents or families.

Konoha was full of war orphans, many of whom were in far worse situations than Naruto.

Some had even lost their families to the Nine-Tails during the attack.

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