At the same age, if Sasuke knew about Yoruha's accomplishments that night, he would probably pester him endlessly to train together.
By now, it was obvious that in Sakura's eyes, Yoruha's strength had already surpassed Kakashi's.
And truthfully, even though they hadn't fought, Yoruha's current power was indeed enough to make Kakashi feel a twinge of inferiority.
Still, Yoruha didn't believe he could actually defeat Kakashi.
Kakashi, after all, was known for being evenly matched no matter who he fought.
Many powerful shinobi with destructive jutsu far beyond Kakashi's level had suffered defeat when facing him.
Yoruha understood well — sheer destructive power didn't equate to true strength.
A ninja's real power lay in battle experience and tactical intelligence.
And in terms of combat intellect, Kakashi was among the very best in the shinobi world.
Yoruha, on the other hand, had little real battle experience, and he didn't believe his strategic mind could outmatch Kakashi's either.
Of course, that was simply Yoruha being overly modest.
In truth, with his current strength, Kakashi wouldn't stand much of a chance against him anymore.
Sakura, naturally, saw it that way as well.
Yoruha's jutsu were too overwhelming, and as a young girl, Sakura was easily awed by what she saw. She judged by the scale and force of his abilities.
After all, she had never seen Kakashi use anything with such vast range and power.
The only time she'd seen Kakashi display overwhelming force was when he used Chidori against Zabuza — and while its destructive power was immense, it was limited to a single target. It couldn't compare to the devastation of Yoruha's jutsu.
So, in Sakura's mind, Yoruha had already surpassed Kakashi.
And once Sasuke heard that, he would no doubt set his sights on Yoruha as his next training goal.
For the sake of power, Sasuke had even sought out Orochimaru — learning from Yoruha, who was practically his teammate, would be nothing.
Kakashi chuckled softly when he heard Yoruha speak.
Seeing that Yoruha showed not the slightest hint of arrogance made him very pleased.
He had been worried that with such sudden power at such a young age, Yoruha might grow reckless or conceited.
But clearly, that hadn't happened — something very rare indeed.
Even Kakashi himself had once been carried away by his own achievements back when Obito and Rin were still alive.
Back then, he'd just been a proud, sharp-tongued youth.
When the two of them brought Sasuke back to where Naruto lay, Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke covered head to toe in bandages.
"Yoruha! Why are Sasuke's injuries so bad?" she asked, worried.
Setting Sasuke down gently, Yoruha reassured her, "Don't worry. He's just been hurt by a few ninja tools and lost a lot of blood, but there's no serious damage. His life's not in danger — he just needs some time to recover."
"Still," Yoruha continued thoughtfully, "Sasuke's condition reminds me of something, Sakura. You should really learn medical ninjutsu. Naruto and Sasuke both suit the path of combat-oriented shinobi, but your chakra control is far superior to theirs. You're clearly not suited to being a front-line fighter — learning medical ninjutsu would make you far more valuable to the team."
He turned to Kakashi. "Don't you agree, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi considered it.
Previously, he'd thought about guiding Sakura toward genjutsu, since he had some skill in that area himself.
But Yoruha's suggestion made sense — their team could really use a medic.
After all, in his own youth, Rin Nohara had been their medical ninja. She'd even performed a Sharingan transplant on the battlefield — proof of her exceptional skill.
Sakura truly was well-suited to medical ninjutsu, and their team definitely needed one.
Sakura thought about it for a moment.
Looking at the injured Sasuke and the unconscious Naruto, she nodded. "Mm. That's actually a good idea."
Kakashi smiled slightly. "Then once we're back in the village, I'll introduce you to a few medical ninja who can teach you the basics."
If Kakashi could recruit Ebisu — Konohamaru's personal tutor, appointed by the Third Hokage himself — then finding instructors for Sakura would be no problem at all.
Although Sakura wanted to become a combat-type ninja, she understood her limits.
Her chakra control was far more refined than Naruto's or Sasuke's, but her overall chakra reserves were much smaller.
And after witnessing how quickly Naruto and Sasuke had grown, she knew the gap between them had widened significantly — especially now, with Yoruha in the mix.
Compared to him, she felt painfully weak.
If fighting wasn't her strength, then she would focus on what she could do — mastering medical ninjutsu to protect and heal her teammates.
Of course, what she didn't know was that she wasn't lacking in combat talent — she just hadn't met a teacher who could draw it out.
Yoruha knew this, but with Tsunade still away from the village, learning medical ninjutsu first would benefit her the most.
Between lessons, she could even study genjutsu under Kakashi.
A ninja skilled in both genjutsu and medical arts would already be very formidable among the average shinobi.
Take Kurenai Yūhi, for instance — despite her poor results against Itachi, nearly anyone would fare the same against him. She wasn't an exception.
Even so, Kurenai was still among the best genjutsu specialists in Konoha — the fact that she was a full jōnin, not a special jōnin, proved that.
To become a jōnin, one had to excel in all areas, not just a single specialty.
So with enough talent, even an ordinary ninja could reach that level through genjutsu mastery — unless they possessed special bloodline powers like the Sharingan, which was another matter entirely.
In Yoruha's eyes, Sakura actually had excellent potential — her talent suited taijutsu, genjutsu, and medical ninjutsu alike.
In the original timeline, she had lagged behind simply because Kakashi hadn't paid her much attention early on. Before she met Tsunade, her combat skills had barely improved from her academy days.
If she could master genjutsu and medical ninjutsu before that point, she might not be a jōnin yet, but becoming a chūnin would be effortless.
Sakura smiled at Yoruha. "Then you'd better not make me angry in the future! Once I learn medical ninjutsu, you'll have to rely on me to patch you up after battles."
Yoruha blinked.
"But I'm not even on your team. Maybe we should wait until Sasuke and Naruto wake up before breaking that unfortunate news to them," he joked.
"Oh, come on," Sakura laughed. "You'll definitely be going on missions with us again! Kakashi-sensei is totally biased — he probably won't even let you go back to your old squad!"
She shot Kakashi a teasing look.
Kakashi coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed — she'd hit the mark.
Yoruha glanced at him and noticed his awkward expression, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
Wait… could Sakura actually be right?
And indeed, she was.
Kakashi did plan to keep bringing Yoruha along on missions.
Partly to broaden his experience and sharpen his combat instincts — but mostly because Kakashi didn't trust leaving him in the village.
He feared that the Third Hokage or Danzō might eventually target him.
He didn't believe the Third would do such a thing — not after his earlier promise — but who could ever be certain?
What if something happened?
Kakashi wasn't willing to gamble on that. The Third was known for compromise, and Danzō was skilled at forcing people's hands.
Having spent so many years in the ANBU, Kakashi had seen such things happen far too often.
If Yoruha stayed in the village, Kakashi wouldn't rest easy — and he knew that his old friend Kimoto Tōichi couldn't protect Yoruha the way he could.
Tōichi simply didn't have the same standing in Konoha as Kakashi.
Worse, if the village ever moved against Yoruha, Tōichi might turn against Konoha in his defense — perhaps even become a rogue ninja.
Kakashi didn't believe Tōichi would betray the village willingly, but if the Third and Danzō pushed him into a corner… who knew?
With his personality, Tōichi would never stand by and let someone harm his student — especially not Yoruha, his personal disciple, even if he hadn't taught him much directly.
That bond alone was enough to drive him to extremes.
If Yoruha stayed under his care, Kakashi worried Tōichi might take him and flee the village — a disastrous outcome.
Of course, none of that had happened yet. These were only Kakashi's private fears — the cautious, slightly dark thoughts of a man who'd spent too long in ANBU.
But while Kakashi was thinking this way, Yoruha himself wasn't too eager to keep tagging along on Kakashi's missions.
After all, Kimoto Tōichi was his true teacher — and he'd only gone on one mission with his original teammates, Motonoya Toko and Yamada Jumoku.
He worried they might feel neglected or even hurt by his absence.
Yoruha wasn't particularly ambitious, but he did care about the feelings of his teacher and teammates.