Sitting at the wooden table, Naruto cheerfully waved at Kakashi. His long, blonde twin-tailed wig, paired with a delicately made-up androgynous face, gave off a strangely convincing femininity. Those large ocean-blue eyes reflected the golden morning sun like a pair of exquisite sapphires.
Hmm...
Stay calm... he's a boy.
He's just cross-dressing... and he's your student. No, thinking like this—must still be the alcohol talking...
Rubbing his nose bridge roughly, Kakashi finally managed to lift his hand and say, "Yo~ everyone's studying hard today, huh... Eh?!"
He froze mid-sentence.
Wait... Naruto and Sasuke, who were usually like wild dogs off the leash, and the elusive Hinata, were all studying indoors without being told?!
"What kind of reaction is that? Is it really so strange?"
Hinata, seated at the table too, smiled mischievously. Truth was, there was no way Kakashi could've been knocked out by just one bottle of liquor. Yesterday's bottle of baijiu had been diluted with soda. And judging by the result, it worked wonders—Kakashi had been knocked out cold for over ten hours. Maybe his alcohol tolerance just really sucked.
"Hm... the Danzhong and Qihai points are easy to locate, but the remaining three pairs of gate points are still a bit unclear."
Sasuke, without even lifting his head, studied the pressure point diagram on the table. Obviously, if one wanted to learn Yamata-no-Orochi (Eight-Fold Serpent Maiden), they needed to know which eight vital points it struck. It didn't have to match the Jūken (Gentle Fist) in internal destruction—as long as it hit the right pressure points from the outside, it could still deliver devastating power.
But since neither Naruto nor Sasuke had the Byakugan, they had to memorize the location of the eight points by rote.
"Ah... you guys are studying human pressure points today? Well, cough cough, just so happens I know a thing or two about those. If there's anything unclear, feel free to ask me."
Kakashi shook his head and coughed lightly. The white-haired jōnin was genuinely moved—finally! Although he was their teacher, until now, he'd never really taught these three kids. The reason was simple—there was barely anything he could teach them.
Ninjutsu? Only usable if the student's chakra nature matched the technique. Sasuke, the only one with a matching nature to Kakashi, had already taught himself Chidori from the forbidden scrolls and was now even developing Chidori Eisō (Chidori: Sharp Spear).
Taijutsu? Honestly, Kakashi didn't think any style he knew was stronger than their current training in Nantō Shichisei-ken (Seven Sacred Fist Style). In terms of sheer destructive power, only Guy's Hachimon Tonkō (Eight Gates Released Formation) might barely beat it, but that technique was just as absurdly difficult to master.
And as for genjutsu—totally useless here. Sasuke and Hinata had dojutsu-based bloodline limits and could seedo through illusions without effort. And Naruto? His brain was as straightforward as a kunai handle—don't even try teaching him genjutsu.
As for "life experience"? Cough cough... telling off the people who determined his paycheck? Yeah, probably not a good idea.
So up until now, Kakashi had been rather disheartened. Besides taking them on missions, he'd had very few chances to be an actual teacher. But now, finally, here was an opportunity! Even lazy old Kakashi felt a rare spark of enthusiasm.
"Oh~ really?"
Hinata raised her head slightly, sounding genuinely surprised. "Kakashi-sensei actually wants to teach us for once?"
"Of course~ I'm your team leader, after all. Don't judge by appearances—I'm a very responsible person. So, whatever you need, just say it~ Ahahahaha~~~"
Kakashi laughed heartily, arms crossed. He could already picture a harmonious future. That's right! He was their teacher!
"Mm~~ thank you so much. We've been struggling with the inaccuracies in this diagram~"
Naruto also folded his arms across his chest in admiration—a feminine gesture that made his appreciation for Kakashi's manly resolve all the more apparent.
"Hmph~ well, yeah. You are the teacher, after all."
Even Sasuke gave a cool nod of approval. Clearly, he backed this too.
"Ehahahahaha~~ so don't be shy—what do you need?"
Hands on his hips, Kakashi was practically glowing. If they were just normal kids, he wouldn't be so moved. But heaven knows, these three wildlings finally acknowledging his authority as a teacher? That meant something.
"Well then, Kakashi-sensei."
Hinata sighed and stood up. She spoke casually, "Take your clothes off."
"Hahaha, sure... Eh?"
Kakashi instinctively reached for his buttons—then froze mid-motion, stammering, "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Naruto, the idiot, kept complaining the pressure point chart was too vague. Since you're here, why not be the teaching model? At least help them locate the actual point positions."
Arms crossed, Sasuke chimed in coldly, "Honestly, I didn't expect you to be such a selfless teacher—offering up your body like that."
"Exactly. We were thinking of using a real person. Tazuna's too old and already left. His daughter's fine, but we didn't want to make a widow strip in front of two guys—that would turn into some kind of awkward biology class. So..."
Hinata gave a very grateful smile. "Since you showed up, problem solved."
"Ah... I... see..."
Kakashi instinctively clutched his chest. In that moment, he fully understood the word heartache. He should probably schedule a cardiology checkup at Konoha General after this mission...
But perhaps fate wasn't entirely cruel—right then, a loud, arrogant voice rang out from outside Tazuna's house.
"Hey, you inside! Hand over the little brats who hurt our boss! Or we'll burn this dump to the ground!!"
Huh?!
Kakashi and the trio exchanged looks, then all four of them poked their heads out the window. Sure enough, a gang of ruffians armed with torches and weapons surrounded the house. Clearly, these were the comrades of the thugs Hinata hadn't finished off yesterday.
These samurai were tightly knit in private. Kado had only hired them for work—he hadn't forbidden them from starting trouble. If Hinata had killed them outright like she had the other night, maybe it would've scared the rest off. But her mercy was mistaken as weakness.
So once they found out where Hinata and the others were staying, they rallied a mob and came storming in.
"Mm... Kakashi-sensei, I'll leave the teaching model to you."
Hinata thoughtfully stroked her chin, then casually sat back down at the table. Naruto and Sasuke also muttered and returned to their seats, clearly not planning to interfere yet. Since Kakashi had volunteered to be the "teaching model," of course it was up to him to take care of it.
"Right away~ Please relax~"
Eyes squinting in satisfaction, Kakashi felt a surge of relief at this last-minute escape. The white-haired jōnin leapt out the window, followed by a series of screams and smacks outside. Despite there being over twenty attackers, in the face of an elite Konoha jōnin, they were as threatening as twenty ducks.
Soon enough, the yard outside Tazuna's house was littered with knocked-out thugs. Kakashi hadn't killed anyone, but just to keep them down, he'd used about ten percent of his strength.
Three of thugs from earlier who came to make trouble were now strung up on a makeshift wooden crosses, bruised and battered.
Grinning, Kakashi pointed at them with a stick. "Alright, everyone—note how pressure points vary by body type. Fat or thin, tall or short—those variations change the distances. That's why it's important to factor in proportions when targeting. If you get the proportions right, you'll never miss a point."
"Oh~ but doesn't that make things kinda complicated?"
Naruto scratched his cheek and craned his neck to compare the diagram to the real-life "models," trying hard to match up the locations.
"Learning proportions takes practice. You don't have Hinata's Byakugan, so if you want to pinpoint pressure points, it all comes down to hard work."
Enjoying his role as a teacher, Kakashi seemed eager to assert his authority now that he had the chance.
But then—a sudden crash echoed from the sea outside the house!
---
"Mm… looks bad…"
Staring out toward the sea, Kakashi's expression turned serious again. His lazy demeanor remained, but it was the stillness that comes before a fight.
A wooden ship lay skewed and stuck in the water. Its tilted posture was unnatural—like something from beneath the sea had pierced its hull and locked it in place.
Even from this distance, ninja eyesight could already make out the dorsal fins of many sharks, circling in from all sides.
"This is strange. If I'm not mistaken, we passed through this part of the sea on our way here. Our ship was fine then. So why…"
As a seasoned jōnin, Kakashi was always on alert. He trusted his allies—but everything else? He missed nothing.