Arata glanced at Naruto and said evenly, "You'll understand someday. For now, it doesn't matter if you don't."
Naturally, he had no intention of explaining anything to Naruto. And with Sasuke's personality, he definitely wouldn't bother explaining either.
Sakura, meanwhile, was already lost in her own imagination and didn't even respond to Naruto's whining.
Arata lifted his gaze to the moon.
"It's late. Let's stop here for today."
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all nodded.
Just as Arata turned to leave, Sasuke called out.
"Arata."
Arata paused.
"Kakashi-sensei said we'll be able to rest for a long time starting tomorrow," Sasuke said. "During that break… can you train with me?"
"…Here."
Arata hesitated.
Naruto's eyes lit up instantly. "Then I'm coming too! Sasuke, don't even think about training behind my back!"
Sasuke didn't refuse.
He no longer treated Naruto as a rival the way he used to—but Naruto still saw Sasuke as competition.
And Sasuke wanted to see something as well: how strong the Nine-Tails really was… and whether Naruto could handle even a fraction of that power.
Seeing Arata hesitate, Sasuke added more quietly, "If you have time, come. If you're busy with missions, don't force it."
Arata nearly sighed out loud.
If there was a mission, of course he couldn't come. The problem was… he'd done all that work specifically to stop these three from clinging to him.
And yet here Sasuke was, still trying to pull him into training.
Sakura spoke up too.
"Please, Arata. If you're not here, we won't even know how to train properly. We trust you. And if Naruto goes berserk, you're the only one who can stop him."
Naruto pouted, clearly unhappy about that assumption.
But he couldn't deny it.
After what Arata had told him, even Naruto understood that if he instinctively reached for the Nine-Tails' chakra during training, there was a real chance he'd lose control.
And even though Arata had added another seal, it couldn't stop Naruto if Naruto himself insisted on opening it.
The difference was simple:
Minato had never given Naruto the "key."
But Arata had.
It was his way of respecting Naruto's choice—if Naruto wanted the Nine-Tails' power, he could take it.
The consequences would also be his.
Arata looked at Sakura.
"You don't need to worry too much. As long as Naruto doesn't actively open the seal, it'll be hard for him to go berserk—unless he forces chakra out of the Nine-Tails."
There were other edge cases too: extreme rage, or burning through his own chakra until his body instinctively grabbed the Nine-Tails' chakra to survive.
In those situations, even Kurama wouldn't fully control what happened.
Until Naruto earned the Nine-Tails' acknowledgment and became a perfect jinchūriki, there would always be a portion of chakra neither side controlled completely.
Arata, however, had no desire to become their personal sparring partner.
He had other plans for the break: the Archives.
If he could read Konoha's stored records—ninjutsu, sealing arts, history—it would be far more valuable than babysitting three genin.
When he hesitated, all three of them looked disappointed.
They had spent enough time with Arata to genuinely consider him a close friend. And more importantly—whenever they stayed near him, they learned things they couldn't learn anywhere else.
Arata didn't want their emotions swinging too hard, so after a moment of thought, he softened his answer.
"If I have time, I'll come."
Then he added casually, "I'm pretty interested in the Sharingan, after all. And I'll help Naruto learn to control the Nine-Tails' power too."
Sasuke's expression eased slightly.
Arata turned to Sakura next.
"But you shouldn't waste your break training with them. Use that time to learn properly from Kakashi-sensei—taijutsu and genjutsu."
Sakura froze.
"You're still only using the basic three jutsu, right? That won't be enough in real fights."
Sakura looked conflicted—of course she wanted to stay with Sasuke.
But she knew Arata was right.
"…Okay," she said softly. "I'll go find Kakashi-sensei."
Arata then looked at Sasuke.
"And Sasuke—you should also learn from Kakashi-sensei about developing the Sharingan. Even if you have your clan's records, in practice you're still far behind him."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "And you said he has a technique that suits me?"
Arata didn't answer.
He simply raised his right hand.
No hand seals.
Just a thought.
Instantly, golden lightning erupted around his palm.
Crack—!
The dark night flashed as if it had been split open.
"This technique is called Chidori," Arata said. "It's a high-lethality jutsu Kakashi created. An A-rank technique. Extremely difficult—and extremely powerful."
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura stood frozen.
Even without understanding the details, they could feel the danger in that lightning.
It wasn't as overwhelming as the Thunder Net from earlier… but it carried something sharper.
A killing intent that felt like it could pierce anything.
Sasuke stared at the lightning in Arata's hand, eyes burning.
He liked it instantly.
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