Arriving beside Sasuke, Orion looked at his body—pierced with shuriken and kunai, soaked in blood—and couldn't help twitching his lips.
"He's really such a tsundere… cares so much, yet always acts like he can't stand Naruto."
Orion knew very well—Sasuke had taken Haku's attack for Naruto.
Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have gone berserk.
This was the bond between the two of them.
Even Orion's presence hadn't changed that.
Carefully, Orion pulled out every kunai and shuriken embedded in Sasuke's body and bandaged him thoroughly.
Soon, Sasuke was wrapped up like a mummy.
"Good thing you're unconscious. If you saw yourself like this, you'd probably be furious."
With Sasuke's pride, he'd never accept looking like this.
He might even want to kill Orion out of embarrassment.
"Well, I'm not a medical ninja… this is good enough."
Orion lifted Sasuke onto his shoulder.
After Zabuza retreated, Kakashi arrived beside Orion and looked at the heavily bandaged Sasuke.
"How is he?"
"No life-threatening injuries. Just lost a lot of blood."
Kakashi nodded.
Then he asked,
"Zabuza said one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—Raiga Kurosuki—went after you. What happened?"
Orion briefly explained the fight.
Kakashi listened quietly. He was surprised—but not confused.
"Your strength now… has already surpassed mine."
Orion blinked.
"That much?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"I saw that jutsu just now. Even I would struggle to block it."
Orion fell silent.
After killing Raiga and knocking out Naruto in his Two-Tails state, he had already realized—
His strength had reached at least jōnin level.
But he still didn't feel anything special about it.
Kakashi continued,
"When we return to Konoha, you should let Kimoto Dōichi evaluate your level. He's always worried about you."
Orion smiled slightly.
"That's normal. Following an elite jōnin like you on missions… situations like today are bound to happen."
"If I hadn't learned those techniques from you recently, I might've died trying to save Sakura."
Kakashi shook his head again.
"With your talent, it wouldn't matter who taught you."
"Most of your techniques… you created or improved yourself."
"That jutsu just now—"
"It already exceeded the limits of its original form."
"A combination of Lightning and Water Release… that's beyond S-rank."
He wasn't wrong.
Orion had learned many techniques—but almost all of them had been improved.
Take Water Dragon Jutsu for example—
Originally a B-rank technique.
But in Orion's hands, it had surpassed S-rank in both scale and power.
It was practically a brand-new technique.
However—
Only Orion could use it properly.
Because every one of his techniques required enormous chakra.
And more importantly—
His chakra wasn't normal.
It was natural-energy-based, essentially Sage-like chakra, giving his techniques a strange sense of life.
Just like how Hashirama Senju's Wood Release constructs seemed alive.
Orion's water dragon also behaved as if it had consciousness.
Kakashi looked at him and smiled.
"Your techniques… are already at the level of forbidden jutsu."
"Normal techniques, turned into something dangerous just by your modification."
"I'm guessing it's because of your special chakra."
Orion nodded.
"I think so too."
Kakashi understood Orion's chakra nature—
But not its quantity.
In just over ten days—
Orion's chakra had increased to ten times Kakashi's.
Even without counting the Nine-Tails—
His chakra now surpassed Naruto's.
Among Kage-level fighters, his reserves would already rank at the top.
However—
Orion could feel the growth slowing down.
Just as he had predicted—
His body was struggling to keep up with the rapid increase.
Until his physical strength caught up, his chakra wouldn't grow much further.
Of course, there was still one method left—
Learning Sage Mode.
If he mastered it—
His chakra could increase tenfold again.
But for now—
He was already satisfied.
Kakashi looked at Orion, a bit amused.
"You don't seem surprised at all."
"In just ten days, your strength has grown this much—and you're completely calm?"
Orion smiled faintly.
"Kakashi-sensei, I already understood my situation."
"My only question before was—"
"I lacked real combat experience. I didn't know how strong I truly was against real jōnin."
"Now I do."
"So there's nothing surprising about it."
Kakashi sighed and shook his head.
"Your mindset really doesn't match your age."
"But… that's a good thing."
He paused.
"Back then, Itachi Uchiha was just like you—mature beyond his years."
At the mention of Itachi, Kakashi glanced at Sasuke.
"When he wakes up and learns how strong you are…"
"He's definitely going to cling to you."
Orion smiled helplessly.
"I just hope Sakura doesn't talk too much…"
"But knowing her… that's unlikely."
After all—
She had witnessed everything.
How Orion killed Raiga.
How he subdued Naruto with a single move.
There was no way she could keep that to herself.
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