Chapter 418: Everyone's Constitution is Unique

Chapter 418: Everyone’s Constitution is Unique

Kakashi awoke to the gentle jostling of the carriage.

He opened his eyes with alertness, realizing he was lying on a soft, silk-lined cushion. A pale light filtered through the carriage window, and the air around him felt cool.

What happened? Did I get rescued?

Kakashi was momentarily disoriented. His last memory was of collapsing from poison in front of Sasori of the Red Sand.

Sasori was a terrifying opponent, capable of overwhelming even the most skilled ninja with an endless array of puppets. The Third Kazekage Puppet, renowned as the "Strongest Kazekage", and the formidable Magnet Release technique were enough to make any ninja wary, even outside the desert.

Especially the pervasive poison, which would likely be a challenge for even a medical ninja of Tsunade’s caliber to counter without prior analysis.

Kakashi sensed that Sasori had held back, or else he would have fallen even faster.

Not to mention Orochimaru...

The thought made Kakashi's heart tighten, and he quickly rose, pulling back the curtain.

A familiar figure lay back with his hands behind his head, one leg resting on the other knee, looking utterly relaxed. He turned his head at the sound of movement and smiled slightly.

"Hey, you’re awake."

I’m not dead...

Kakashi’s shoulders sagged slightly, as if only now waking from a nightmare. He took a deep breath, then quickly regained his composure.

"Where are we? Are there any pursuers?"

"No pursuers. We’re safe now."

Lu Ke nodded toward the distance. "You’ve been out for three days. We’ve already crossed the border of the Land of Fire and are almost back to Konoha."

Kakashi nodded, hesitating before speaking. "How did we escape?"

"You don’t remember?"

Lu Ke’s eyes widened in mock surprise, looking at Kakashi with a puzzled expression.

Kakashi frowned, trying to recall, but the details eluded him. He could only shake his head in resignation.

"Have you forgotten how you beat Sasori of the Red Sand and saved me from Orochimaru?"

Lu Ke looked at Kakashi earnestly, spinning the tale.

Kakashi’s confusion deepened. He was almost out of chakra, poisoned, and his only accomplishment was destroying a few insignificant puppets. How could he have defeated Sasori and rescued Lu Ke from Orochimaru?

"Tell me the details."

"It went like this..."

Lu Ke spoke slowly, giving himself time to fabricate the story. "Orochimaru had me cornered and brought me to Sasori. You had already collapsed, and Orochimaru invited me to join the Akatsuki. He said he wouldn’t harm me if I agreed."

"Did you agree?"

Kakashi’s face grew serious.

Lu Ke shook his head. "I said I would join the Akatsuki, but only if Sasori spared you and helped you with the poison."

Kakashi felt a warm sensation in his chest. "He wouldn’t have agreed."

Sasori’s parents were killed by Sakumo Hatake. Kakashi didn’t fault his father for his actions on the battlefield—there was no right or wrong, only enemies. Every ninja who stepped onto the field of battle knew this. But he also understood that hatred could be passed down through bloodlines.

"Exactly. He was determined to kill you and didn’t have any antidote. As you can imagine, he never planned to leave any survivors. After all, he had transformed himself into a puppet and was immune to poison."

Lu Ke sighed. "So I couldn’t join the Akatsuki. I couldn’t join an organization that would kill my friend. Orochimaru was disappointed and prepared to attack me..."

"Then what happened?"

Kakashi asked, his voice tense.

"Then you suddenly woke up, shouting about bonds, youth, and friendship, and charged in."

It was a well-known fact that a rousing battle cry, paired with a dramatic background music, could overcome any enemy. This was even documented in Fairy Tail.

Lu Ke blinked and lightly tapped his left hand with his right fist. "You took down Sasori in a few moves, and Orochimaru fled in a panic."

Lu Ke continued to embellish the story, painting Kakashi as a god-like figure, until Kakashi could hardly keep a straight face.

"You were like a demon come to life!"

Kakashi: "..."

While he wanted to believe Lu Ke, the story was too far-fetched...

The idea of shouting a few slogans and suddenly becoming invincible was something you’d see in a shonen manga. And shouting about bonds, youth, and friendship sounded more like something Gai would do.

Thinking of Gai, Kakashi felt a bit more at ease. It wasn’t as ridiculous as he initially thought.

Lu Ke offered a less scientific explanation. "It’s well-known that a person can burst with potential in life-or-death situations. You broke through your limits and surpassed both Sasori and Orochimaru. It’s entirely plausible."

"Plausible how?"

"Everyone’s constitution is different. How do you know you couldn’t do it?"

Kakashi paused, closing his eyes. When he woke up, he was so confused that he overlooked many details. Now, with a reminder, he examined himself more closely and noticed the differences.

He felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if all his fatigue and burdens had been washed away. His body felt lighter than he could ever remember, and a vibrant energy surged within him.

"I feel better than ever..."

Kakashi marveled at his rejuvenated body, feeling as if every muscle had been tempered through countless trials. And his chakra...

He opened his eyes, disbelief clear in his gaze.

The amount of chakra in his body was beyond anything he had ever imagined. If his original chakra capacity was a stream, it was now a river, abundant and overwhelming. The rate at which he could generate chakra was astonishing, like the protagonist in a lewd manga.

Is this really my body?

Is this just a hallucination before I die from Sasori’s poison?

"Feel any different?"

Seeing the shock on Kakashi’s face, Lu Ke asked with a smile.

With this new body, he indeed had the potential to defeat those two. Kakashi pondered.

"The poison seems to have dissolved on its own, and there’s no sign of any injuries inside my body..."

Lu Ke nodded. "Clearly, your potential was unleashed in the face of death."

"My constitution seems to have become much stronger..."

"Indeed, your potential was unleashed in the face of death."

"My chakra capacity has more than tripled..."

"Potential in the face of death."

Lu Ke nodded, repeating the same explanation, making Kakashi doubt himself.

Did I really have that much potential?

While he didn’t deny his own talent, there were many geniuses in the world. In Konoha alone, Obito and Itachi were just as talented, and there were plenty of promising young talents.

"Stop thinking so much. Leave the professional matters to the professionals. When we get back, have Tsunade check you for any hidden issues."

Lu Ke offered a simple reassurance, shrugging.

"Getting stronger isn’t a bad thing."

Kakashi had to admit that was true, and he stopped questioning.

For a ninja, strength was everything. If he had had this power from the start, he wouldn’t have been so helpless against Sasori and Orochimaru.

Thinking of this, Kakashi felt an urge to find a place to test his new strength. But with the recent attack, he maintained his patience and decided to wait until they returned to Konoha.

After a brief rest in a nearby village, they resupplied with food and water from a local vendor and returned to the carriage.

After eating, Kakashi felt a slight discomfort in his lower abdomen. He hadn’t relieved himself in three days, so he found a place to do so during a break.

A few moments later, Kakashi returned with a strange look on his face.

It was just a feeling, but his "little Kakashi" seemed bigger.

Lu Ke, who had been watching from the carriage, saw the mix of joy and embarrassment on Kakashi’s face and shook his head disapprovingly.

His friend was too inexperienced, like a newcomer to the world of adult manga.

You still have a lot to learn, you know. There’s a whole world of adult manga beyond what you’ve seen.

...

In the underground base of Otogakure, a white-haired boy entered the deepest room, surprised to see the person inside.

As a member of the noble Uchiha clan, Sasuke had never witnessed such unguarded displays of affection between shinobi. The sight of Naruto and his little brother clinging to Lu Ke’s legs like children unsettled him—such behavior was undignified, even for Konoha’s notoriously eccentric duo.

His lips twitched faintly as he turned away, hands shoved into his pockets. Sentimentality weakens resolve, he thought, echoing Itachi’s teachings. Yet, a flicker of curiosity tugged at him. If this was how bonds were forged now, perhaps there was merit in understanding it… from a distance, of course.

The Uchiha legacy demanded composure, after all. Even as Lu Ke pried the two boys off his legs with a bemused sigh, Sasuke’s sharp eyes noted the warmth in their laughter—a contrast to the cold solitude of his own path. But there would be time to ponder that later. For now, he had shuriken to sharpen and exams to pass.

"Lord Orochimaru, you..."

"Is there something wrong, Kabuto? Do you disapprove of my new look?"

"No, not at all."

Kabuto quickly lowered his head, resuming his usual duties.

As Orochimaru’s top spy and caretaker, he gathered intelligence and managed the base and Otogakure.

Orochimaru listened to Kabuto’s report as usual, but when the topic turned to the preparation of his new body, he interrupted with a weary expression.

"Enough, no need to continue."

Kabuto looked at Orochimaru, confused. Orochimaru had always been meticulous about his new bodies, from selection to cultivation.

"I was too narrow-minded, too confined. Mourning the dead is futile, as are all techniques and eternal life. Everything is for the ultimate goal."

"For that, I need the favor and gaze of a god. For that, I must give everything, my entire life has been meaningless..."

"Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto called out, feeling a sense of fear.

Whereas Orochimaru had once been cold and dangerous, like a snake that sent shivers down one’s spine, he now seemed inhuman, as if he didn’t belong in this world.

"From today on, I am your father, brother, and superior."

Orochimaru looked at the white-haired boy, repeating the words he had used to recruit him.

Kabuto, still in shock, stared at Orochimaru.

"Kabuto, do you remember our agreement?"

"You mean... gathering all the information to determine who I am?"

"Exactly. I have fulfilled our agreement. I will give you the answer before I leave."

Orochimaru licked his lips, a habit. "You no longer need to be a spy. You are a talented child, with the potential to surpass me. Let me teach you a special technique."

"A special technique?"

"Edo Tensei, a forbidden technique that resurrects the dead, invented by the Second Hokage. It is imperfect and unstable."

Orochimaru looked at his own body, treating it as a useless burden. He smiled. "No matter. Having seen the ultimate, I will perfect this technique."

"Once you learn it, use it on me!"

Kabuto looked up, disbelief in his eyes, only to see the calm, deep gaze of Orochimaru.

...

In Konoha, at the Senkawa Shinobi Tools Shop.

The blond fox and the black-haired ball of energy collided at the entrance.

"Damn Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

The blond fox, Naruto, was the first to speak, his eyes wide and aggressive.

The black-haired ball of energy, Sasuke, looked at Naruto with a cold expression. "What else? To buy ninja tools. Are you so clueless, dead-last? I’m a regular here."

"I’m not the dead-last, I got a perfect score in practical tests!"

Naruto bristled, as if his tail had been stepped on.

"So what? You fail the theory and can’t learn the basic techniques. Who’s the dead-last if not you?"

Sasuke snorted, "I heard you’re planning to take the graduation exam this year. Trying to copy me? Well, following the Uchiha is a shortcut to success, but I advise you not to. You’re just a talentless mediocrity who should stay in school and learn."

"Ha? I remember someone who tried to graduate early in first year but failed and cried like a baby in his brother’s arms!"

Naruto, facing his rival, launched a precise attack, hitting Sasuke’s weak point.

Sasuke’s face darkened. Mimicking his brother Itachi, who graduated in first year but failed due to insufficient strength, was indeed a lifelong humiliation.

Naruto pressed his advantage, smacking his forehead as if a realization hit him, and burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha, I get it! You’re worried about failing the exam again, so you’re buying shuriken to practice, right?"

"Hmph, you’re delusional."

Sasuke’s body tensed, caught in the truth. As the youngest son of the Uchiha clan, spoiled from a young age, he wasn’t as diligent or hardworking.

While his talent was evident and his grades always top, he still had a ways to go to pass the exam. He only started to panic a week before the exam, determined to practice more.

I’ll deal with that dead-last brat later!

The door creaked open, and Senkawa Hikari, rubbing his sleepy eyes, yawned.

"It’s Naruto... and Sasuke."

Naruto greeted him energetically. "Good morning, Hikari!"

Sasuke nodded coolly, maintaining the Uchiha’s pride and dignity.

Senkawa Hikari opened the shop door, mumbling, "You two, can you stop bickering here? I was just dreaming about a delicious treat from the Land of Soup... Hey!?"

A carriage stopped in front of the shop, and Lu Ke stepped out, not yet having a chance to reflect on his return home, when a small figure rushed over.

The little brother latched onto his left leg, eyes shining.

"Bro, you’re finally back!"

"Lu Ke-bro!"

The blond fox also called out excitedly, attaching himself to Lu Ke’s right leg.

Lu Ke: ???

Why are there two attachments on my legs as soon as I get home?

Sasuke, standing nearby, was stunned. He had never seen his two friends act so affectionately. Was hugging legs the new trendy greeting?

As a member of the noble Uchi(End of Chapter)

Chapter end