After hours of dragging the passed-out Copy Ninja, they finally arrived at their destination—the Land of Waves, or to be exact, the house of their employer, Tazuna.
There, Tazuna's daughter and his son were waiting for him. Seeing multiple kids only a few years older than her own son coming to protect her father and this land, Tsunami was concerned, to say the least.
Especially when the only adult ninja among them was being carried by quadruplets—who, as she later realized, were clones. Ninja and their strange magic.
"What now? Do you think they'll come back?" Karin finally asked, concern in her voice. Something inside her stirred when she saw Tazuna's daughter and son—it reminded her of her own situation back in the Hidden Grass.
"Of course they'll come. The only way to stop them would be to either kill them or take out their employer outright. No money means no motive to act against us," Sukuna said, gulping down his lunch while keeping an eye on his surroundings at the same time.
"Let them come. Next time, I'll beat him." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his glare directly aimed at Sukuna, clearly telling him not to interfere with his fight next time.
"I doubt that'll be the case if things remain the same. Not only you but all of you lack the necessary power or the right moveset to beat your opponents," Sukuna said, ignoring the Uchiha completely.
He had acted back then because Sasuke had no way to win. He would have lost—worse, been killed—if Sukuna hadn't intervened. A small part of it was, of course, his wish to test his bootleg Piercing Blood attack.
The attack was pretty useless since it took so much effort to achieve an effect Sukuna could easily accomplish with a single Dismantle. However, he hadn't learned it to use in battle. He was practicing his technique to mastery by combining different ideas and had ended up imitating the Kumo Clan's famous technique.
Sukuna's retort hit right where it hurt. Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and Sakura—all of them recalled the fight and knew what he said was true.
"Oi, Sukuna! You said you'd teach me that attack you did back then! Teach me now!" Naruto blurted out, eager to learn that black lightning attack Sukuna had used to send that annoying blue-haired kid flying.
"When did I promise you that?" Sukuna was speechless at Naruto's shamelessness.
"Oh, come on! Don't be such a hoarder—teach me already!" Naruto complained, already rubbing his hands together and circling around Sukuna like a hyena.
"Quiet it. I'm not teaching you that. You can't learn it. It needs very good chakra control, and we all know how you are with that. You better learn something else instead of going after that technique," Sukuna said, shooting the flying blond down mercilessly.
Deflated, Naruto now looked like a kicked puppy who'd been wronged, staring at Sukuna like he'd burst into tears if he didn't get something in compensation.
As acting went, Sukuna had to admit Naruto was a natural. But Sukuna couldn't help him—he himself had no idea about ninjutsu, especially anything that might work on Suigetsu.
Only Kakashi could help Naruto in that aspect, and even that might not work since Naruto didn't have a lightning-style affinity.
"Wait for Kakashi-sensei to wake up. He's your jonin sensei, isn't he? Go pester him," Sukuna said, shrugging off Naruto's puppy-eye no jutsu and turning to the others.
"What black lightning is he talking about?" Sakura was the first to ask, her eyes narrowing like she'd caught him with another girl.
'Wait, that's not the right example…'
"Everyone's got their secrets, little sister. Like the one you have under your bed, you know the—" Before Sukuna could finish, a meteor-sized fist of righteous sisterly fury connected with his jaw, sending him flying two meters straight.
'Sasuke shrine…' His half-finished sentence would never be completed.
A big tick mark and an even bigger blush adorned Sakura's smoking fist and lowered face, respectively.
"Ahem, as I was about to say before being rudely interrupted…" As if nothing had happened, the pink-haired menace was back on her feet and continued.
"Technically speaking, all of you would have lost if I hadn't interfered back then. You know that, right?" He, for once, got serious, looking at all of them in silence.
None retorted—they wanted to, but they knew better. They really would have lost if Sukuna hadn't acted when he did. Whether it was saving Sasuke's ass, ending the endless comedy show that was Naruto's fight, or the most important—helping Kakashi when he did.
If he hadn't acted when he did, they would have lost.
"Good to see that at least you know your current situation. Now, does anyone have any idea what you guys did wrong?" he asked, waiting for a reply while the kids pondered to themselves, heads lowered in shame at being saved by Sukuna.
The bastard was definitely not letting that go for a long time.
"We weren't strong enough," Sasuke said finally—of course, his idea of strength was as simple as ever.
"Hmm, yes… but not exactly. I do see you guys winning. It wasn't exactly power that held you back. Though I do agree, not only for this battle but for many future battles, you guys are indeed not strong enough," Sukuna nodded.
"We lack jutsu! If only I knew that black lightning technique you know, I would've beaten that annoying guy until he asked for water…" Naruto said with righteous fury.
'Was there a joke I'm not getting?' Sukuna pondered.
"You indeed weren't suitable for fighting that Hozuki Clan shinobi, just like how Sasuke had trouble fighting that Kaguya," Sukuna said, not denying the fact.
"Hozuki? Kaguya? You know them?" Karin blinked. At this point, was there anything he didn't know?
"Yup. Both of those clans are from the Hidden Mist. Both are Kekkei Genkai clans like Sasuke's here. However, while Sasuke's Kekkei Genkai manifests as a dōjutsu, theirs manifests elementally.
The one Naruto fought had Hydrification—turning the body into water. Physical attacks are pointless against them. Even most chakra attacks wouldn't do anything. Only certain elemental attacks could damage them—like fire to evaporate water or lightning."
"Exactly. Good job researching them beforehand, Sukuna."
Just as Sukuna finished explaining, a voice interrupted from behind. Kakashi, though still weary, was recovering well.
"Kakashi-sensei…" all the genin said at once, to which Kakashi responded with his iconic half-moon smile.
"You should rest and recover your chakra," Sukuna said, but Kakashi just waved it off.
"Don't worry, I'm used to this. I'll be fine. But it seems I didn't have to come after all—you're already doing my job," Kakashi smiled again.
'Why does that smile look like he's about to dump all his responsibilities on me and go read his perverted book again?' Sukuna had a bad feeling. Hell, he was sure that's exactly what the man was thinking right now.
"Please continue. There should be something more they did wrong, right?" Kakashi motioned for them to go on.
"Ah yes, where was I?"
"You were talking about the Hozuki Clan's Hydrification," Sakura helpfully added.
"Ah yes, they can turn their bodies into water. Only lightning-style or fire-style techniques work on them to some degree. You guys would've known that if you cared to go to the library once in a while."
The way all of them averted their eyes at the mention of the library was amusing enough to start a separate discussion, but Sukuna let it drop.
"Just like him, that masked man Sakura and Karin fought was from the Yuki Clan, and as it's obvious, their Kekkei Genkai is Ice Release. As for the Kaguya Clan, their Kekkei Genkai is…"
"Bones," Sasuke said before Sukuna could finish.
"Yes, bones. They can control bones."
"That's freaky," Naruto chipped in.
"So we not only lack power but also intel on our enemies," Karin said after piecing things together.
"Yup, pretty much. Of course, there's just one more thing you did wrong, the one that actually mattered the most in this fight. Care to guess what?" Sukuna asked with a knowing smirk, sending all of them into confusion.
"What more? Isn't that everything? Are you trying to act cool by deliberately looking mysterious?" Sakura didn't believe him for a second. How could they have done so many things wrong? This guy was definitely making things up.
"If you think so. But I know one more mistake that all of you made—the biggest and most crucial in this fight. It led to your loss. In fact, even if you had done everything else wrong but gotten this one thing right, you could've won."
His words froze all of them. Now they were genuinely questioning what they did wrong. Kakashi on the side also looked thoughtful, wondering what Sukuna was getting at.
After a while, they gave up—nothing came to mind.
"Okay, tell us already. What is it?"
"Ah, couldn't guess it, could you? Makes sense—the reason you couldn't is because you're not thinking as a team.
Think about it.
Naruto couldn't even fight that Hozuki Clan shinobi with his water-style. None of you could have, except Karin here. She could've used her sealing skills to stop him.
If she had fought him, the outcome would've been different.
The same goes for that masked shinobi with Ice Release. He was fast, and you both struggled with his speed. But if Sasuke had fought him with his Sharingan and speed, maybe the outcome would've been different.
As for the last enemy, Naruto and Sakura could've fought him together—one distracting while the other attacked. That one might've been tough, but still better odds than Sasuke fighting him alone," Sukuna said with full confidence, while on the side, Kakashi's smile widened a little.
'Seems like Hokage-sama wasn't wrong in his observation of this kid,' he mused.
"So… we chose the wrong opponents?" Sakura frowned.
"Nah, with the lack of intel on your enemies, there was no right or wrong choice at the start of the fight. However, your mistake lies in not switching opponents later when you realized you weren't suitable to fight them.
If only you'd thought of it as a team and not as individual fights, you might've won," Sukuna said with a shrug.
Clap clap
Kakashi clapped with a pleased look on his face.
"Very good observation and analysis, Sukuna. Indeed, while being able to fight an opponent is important, it's equally important to realize one's own limitations.
And in times like those is when a team truly shines. They cover each other's weaknesses and enhance each other's strengths.
Teamwork isn't just about fighting together—it's about working as one single unit. You have to rely on each other and believe in your team."
...
A/N : Sukuna Sensei's On Fire Today...