Kakashi held the scroll and remained silent for a while.
"Why are you helping me so much?"
His voice was devoid of emotion, but his eyes were fixed on Shinichi, as if waiting for an answer.
'Tsk, I'm terrified by Konoha's friendship.'
Shinichi inwardly scoffed, but didn't show it on his face. He smiled and said, "We're all comrades, isn't it only natural to help each other? Besides..."
"As a comrade, it's a good thing for me if you become stronger. If I ever encounter any danger on the battlefield or during a mission, I might have to rely on you to save me."
Shinichi had his own plans.
Kakashi is a true genius, especially in his talent for Lightning Style; it's practically an innate ability.
Kakashi progressed rapidly and deeply on this path, developing Chidori, combining Lightning Style with weapons, and even exploring application ideas that Shinichi had never even considered.
Not to mention that he now has two attributes, Chunin occupation and Guidance talent, which slightly improve his efficiency in guiding others.
Additionally, the Master Swordsman occupation also slightly improved his ability to guide others in weapon-related techniques.
Because of these, Kakashi could integrate Lightning Style into weapons even faster, making his improvement especially obvious.
His own clone, though inheriting the bloodline of the Adamantine Monkey Clan and possessing a powerful physique and the ability to use Lightning Style, lacked the talent attributes related to ninja skills.
For example, the training efficiency bonus of the Chunin occupation, or the deeper understanding of ninjutsu provided by the Master of Ninjutsu (Blue) talent. Because of this, in terms of developing Lightning Style, it could never match Kakashi, who was a natural Lightning Style prodigy.
As for Shinichi's main body, it simply didn't possess lightning nature chakra at all. If he wanted to start training in the change in chakra nature from scratch, it would require a long period of focused, strenuous training.
At this critical moment, where would he find that kind of time and energy?
However, guiding Kakashi had mutual benefits.
Every bit of Kakashi's progress in Lightning Style, every breakthrough he made, would be synchronously obtained by that clone.
Their frequent exchanges and sparring sessions during this time had long since gone beyond simple practice matches.
What Kakashi was thinking about, what Kakashi was attempting, what difficulties Kakashi encountered, and how he solved them…
All of it became the most valuable nourishment for the clone and would become a high-speed channel for the main body to quickly learn and master Lightning Style in the future.
Helping Kakashi grow faster was, in the end, helping himself.
"Save you? You're so strong, do you really need me to save you?"
Upon hearing this, Kakashi paused for a moment, then turned his face away.
"If it conflicts with my mission..."
He said in a harsh voice, as if squeezed out from between his teeth, "You shouldn't expect me to abandon my mission to save you, so you'd better not get into any danger."
After saying that, he put the scroll into his tool bag and turned to leave.
After taking only a few steps, Kakashi suddenly stopped, turned his head, and his voice came over in a hard tone: "I have to go on a mission tomorrow, and I may be away from the village for ten days to half a month."
Shinichi raised an eyebrow but didn't reply.
"I will come back to challenge you again in half a month."
After saying that, Kakashi walked away without looking back, his steps even faster than before.
Oh?
Ten days or half a month?
Perfect timing, time to start planning.
Shinichi watched the departing figure, a slow smile appearing on his lips.
...
That evening, in the Hokage's office, the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, put down his pipe and solemnly picked up the document signed by Shinichi Higashino.
"What did this child write this time?"
This is the second time.
As early as last year, shortly after returning from the Chunin exams in the Village Hidden in the Sand, that child handed over a document report with a concise and direct title: "Analysis and prediction of the current Shinobi World situation."
When the third Hokage received the document, he simply smiled. It was common for a child to write down his thoughts and feelings after experiencing the customs and culture of the Village Hidden in the Sand. He had planned to just flip through it casually, offer a few words of praise, and encourage the child's enthusiasm.
However, when he turned to the first page and his eyes swept over the first few lines, the smile on his lips froze.
The document begins by analyzing the macro-level situation of the Five Great Shinobi Countries and Five Great Ninja Villages, revealing a breadth of vision and depth of thought that is unlike anything a child could write.
"Since the end of the Second Shinobi World War, major ninja villages in various countries have been recuperating, their populations have recovered, their economies have rebounded, and the size of their ninja forces has continued to expand..."
"Ninjas are regular military personnel appointed by the country. The core income of each ninja village relies on government funding. At the same time, civilian and official commissions such as caravan escort, border patrol, intelligence gathering, and disaster relief constitute other sources of income for the ninja villages. Together, these two sources support the economic foundation of the ninja villages..."
"However, a nation's total resources, its fiscal capacity, and the scale of its contracted markets ultimately have their limits. When the expansion speed of a ninja village's ninja force exceeds the combined capacity of national support and contracted economic support, and when internal resources cannot meet the expanding demands, seeking breakthroughs externally becomes inevitable..."
When the third Hokage saw this, he was deeply moved, his pipe hovering in mid-air, unable to take a puff for a long time.
The document then went on to elaborate, first listing the military equipment data for major ninja villages across various countries, and then analyzing the deep-seated predicaments they face from the perspectives of economic foundation, resource distribution, and geopolitical structure.
In some countries, most of the land is covered by barren deserts, leaving very little agricultural land. The national treasury is already tight, and the support funds that can be allocated to ninja villages are just a drop in the bucket.
The number of regular missions that can be taken on within the country is pitifully small.
In order to support the continuous graduation of new ninjas, the ninja villages have no choice but to force ninjas to cross borders and compete for mission quotas from neighboring countries. As a result, more and more ninjas are turning against each other in order to compete for mission quotas.
It is common for ninja villages from different countries to have conflicting missions, and every conflict during a mission, every ninja who dies in a mission, sows the seeds of hatred between the two sides.
Some countries have small, cramped territories with continuous rainfall and frequent flooding year-round, making it difficult to sustain stable agriculture and trade. Their national finances are insufficient, and their support for ninja villages is intermittent. They are also sandwiched between several powerful countries, and their homeland is used as a battlefield for battles by ninjas from major powers.
Formal commissions are simply out of the question. In order to survive, they can kill anyone, and they can die at the hands of anyone.
They even dared to defy the world and invade the Land of Iron, a country universally recognized as permanently neutral in the Shinobi World.
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