Naruto woke up in the hospital. The familiar ceiling, the smell of medicine, the creaky bed. Once again, he found himself in his own private room. And if he was here, it meant he survived. But he couldn't remember anything. The last moment he recalled was the destabilization of Chidori and the lightning explosion. And what about that girl? Was she dead or alive? There were so many questions. Naruto sat up and perched on the edge of the bed.

"I wouldn't be heroic if I were you," came the voice of his sensei from the window. Naruto turned and saw Kakashi sitting on the windowsill. "You should stay in bed. Your wounds haven't healed yet; you need to rest," Kakashi added, folding his arms.

"But we had no choice... She..." Naruto tried to explain, but Kakashi interrupted him.

"Itachi told me everything," the silver-haired shinobi sighed. "No matter what, you did the right thing. To be honest, I'm proud of you. But from now on, don't do something like that again."

"Alright," Naruto smiled, but the smile quickly faded. "How's Shisui?"

"Fortunately, we made it in time," Kakashi began his account. "On our way, we stumbled upon a village. There, we found a doctor, and he provided first aid. I must say, he had a gift. We managed to provide initial care, but we needed to hurry to Konoha. The doctor said he did all he could, but now it requires the expertise of an Iryō-nin, which he wasn't. Then Itachi arrived with you in his arms."

"I see, you made it in time," Naruto finished Kakashi's statement.

"Exactly. Shisui is in a separate room now, recovering," a moment of silence ensued, which Naruto was eager to break.

"Kakashi-sensei, tell me about Rasengan," this caught Kakashi off guard, as Naruto already knew everything about the technique and was confident about it. But he asked anyway.

"Rasengan is a technique invented by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. The essence of the technique lies in controlling chakra to rapidly rotate, giving it devastating power."

"I know that," Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "I wanted to ask about something else. Jiraiya mentioned that it was incomplete..."

"You're talking about that," Kakashi paused, trying to recall Jiraiya's words. "Ah, yes. The Fourth didn't complete it, and on top of that, he wanted to add chakra nature manipulation to it."

"That's it!" Naruto lowered his head, clearly having an idea. "Do you think I could master it, combining Rasengan with chakra nature?"

"Where are these thoughts coming from?" Kakashi didn't expect such words; it was the first time he heard something like this from his student.

"In the battle with that girl, Itachi and I realized that she could turn everything with a solid form, even Rasengan, into dust. Only elemental techniques worked against her. So, I thought..."

"You never cease to amaze me. I believe you're very talented, and you can do it," Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

"By the way, why are you in jōnin form?"

"Where to start... You see... With that technique, you killed that girl, and since she was a jinchūriki, the Waterfall demands justice and wants to kill all five of us," Kakashi lowered his head. "Moreover, they also want to kill the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails."

"And who is the jinchūriki?" the blonde asked.

"No one knows, that's the main problem. Kurama was killed, and it becomes a problem," Kakashi decided to change the subject. "Don't dwell on it; everything will be fine. Just focus on getting better, and then we'll start training," Kakashi climbed out the window. "See you again soon."

A week later. Training Ground.

Yesterday, Naruto was discharged from the hospital, and today he was already preparing to train at full speed. Currently, Kakashi was explaining the characteristics of each element. Although Naruto knew this, he didn't refuse the repetition. So, since wind was the first element, Hatake suggested studying it. Naruto agreed with that, and only afterward, he would master the other two.

"And where do we start the training?" Naruto was already looking forward to learning a new technique, but he didn't show it.

"To begin with, let's try to master the wind element. And we will try it with this," Kakashi reached up and plucked a leaf. "A leaf?" Blonde Naruto was surprised.

"To start, you'll try to cut it," he handed it to Naruto. "Hold it between your palms."

Naruto followed Kakashi's order and clasped the leaf. As Uzumaki understood, he had to cut the leaf with chakra. At first, it seemed easy to him, but as it turned out, it wasn't. After the first attempt, the cut was only a quarter of what was needed.

"Not bad for the first time, keep going in the same spirit," Kakashi climbed up a tree and took out a book. "You won't use clones?"

"I want to do it all myself," the student replied briefly.

"That's great."

The whole day, Naruto spent on cutting the leaf, but he could only cut it in half. At the end of the day, Naruto sat down to think. Wind is air. Air is an uncontrollable stream. But if you control it, then it means you can give it shape. Techniques have shapes, as well as sword blades charged with this chakra. From this, it follows that wind chakra is a blade.

Naruto plucked another leaf and tried again. The result didn't disappoint - the leaf was cut, but only a tiny part of it, very small.

"Decent enough," Hatake complimented, putting the book aside. "I think that's enough for today." Kakashi jumped off the tree.

"I can continue, and besides, the sun hasn't set yet," Naruto looked at the horizon, and he could confidently say that he had at least an hour.

"You've recently left the hospital, you shouldn't strain yourself too much," Kakashi explained.

"Alright," with that, Naruto left the training ground without saying anything.

Training for Naruto continued. He progressed quickly, and as Kakashi believed, he would finish by evening. Hatake was truly impressed by the blonde; he was mastering everything on the go. However, the next stage would be more challenging. The silver-haired ninja had already planned everything; he just needed to convince one person.

"I've got it!" Naruto shouted and threw a leaf split in half.

"Excellent job, Naruto!" Kakashi emerged from the shadows of a tree. "You can take a break today."

"But what about the next stage?" the blonde asked.

"I need some time to prepare everything, so you have until tomorrow," the sensei explained.

The next day started with a surprise for Naruto. At the training ground, he met Kakashi together with Yamato. The cat was here to help; he created a waterfall and with the help of a tree, made a small bridge.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Naruto looked at the waterfall and then turned a questioning gaze to his sensei.

"The next stage requires this: you have to cut through the waterfall," Kakashi calmly explained.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"You need to use clones; otherwise, it won't work."

"Will four be enough?" the blonde asked.

"Enough."

Naruto crossed his fingers, and clones appeared around him. Then he undressed to his waist and walked onto the bridge. The clones, along with the original, spent some time discussing the best approach.

"Do you think he'll be able to do it, senpai?" Yamato asked.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, but something clearly worried him. "But first, he'll need to increase his chakra reserves."

"Does he have that little chakra?" Yamato guessed.

"No. For his level, he has more than enough," Hatake calmly replied. "But for his idea, he'll need more, much more."

"He's an interesting kid," Yamato admitted.

"Yes." Suddenly, Kakashi decided to talk about something else. "How are the negotiations going?"

"Badly," Yamato took off his mask. "The negotiations have hit a dead end. The Hokage is trying to negotiate on different terms, but the Waterfall insists on their conditions, and I can tell you one thing, they want something else. They're not interested in our death."

"How do you know?"

"I've been at several rounds of negotiations," the cat pondered. "They're clearly hiding something. Besides, Kamui expressed support in this conflict."

"They found out about everything so quickly," Kakashi was surprised.

"As you know, they carefully monitor us and our actions," the chestnut-haired man reminded. "And that's a bad sign. Other villages are silent for now, but I think it won't last long. The situation is heating up."

"I fear the worst outcome," the jonin confessed. "The village hasn't fully recovered, and the consequences of the past are still troubling us."

"Let's hope for the best, and now excuse me, senpai, but I have to go," Yamato put on his mask and disappeared.

Kakashi stayed to watch Naruto. Now, the clones were placing their palms on the water streams and releasing chakra, causing splashes. They were doing it individually, each clone separately. It was evident that Naruto was trying to find the right amount of chakra to release.

"As strategic as ever," Kakashi said to himself. "I hope you won't have to see what I saw." Hatake took out a book. "Now, time to do some reading. Where was I?"

Morning for Naruto started off not in the best way. Once again, waking up early from another nightmare, Naruto went to take a shower and clear his mind, spending an hour there. After breakfast, he dressed and decided to go to the training ground to work on his physical skills. The clock showed 8:00. Stepping outside, Uzumaki noticed that a large number of shinobi were heading towards the Hokage's residence. Judging by their attire, they were jonin. Among them was Kakashi himself.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto ran up to his teacher and walked alongside him. "Where is everyone going?"

"The Hokage has called for a meeting of Konoha's jonin; that's where most of them are going," Kakashi explained.

"Can I go with you?" Naruto looked at his teacher, who gave him a questioning look.

"This is the first time I've heard that from you. Should I ask the Hokage? And why do you want to be there? I've never seen you so interested before," Kakashi said.

"In my life, I've never seen anything like this," the blonde admitted honestly. "I'm curious."

"Alright, just stay close to me and don't wander off."

As Kakashi observed Naruto, he felt a tightening in his chest. This had only happened a few times in his life, before the war and after the attack of Kurama. Such a gathering didn't bode well. Hatake didn't want Naruto to experience the taste of war at such a young age. There were plenty of shinobi already, but he was already a chunin, which meant he would definitely be involved in combat. But if the situation worsened, even the genin, the children from the academy, would be sent to the front lines, everyone would be fighting.

Upon arriving at the Hokage's residence, they headed to the large hall, where a multitude of jonin, including Kakashi's acquaintances, had already gathered. He went over to them since Guy called him. Naruto followed him like a shadow.

"Kakashi! You finally decided to switch to a simple mask!" Guy shouted.

"No, my resignation request has not been processed yet," Kakashi honestly admitted. This response surprised Naruto, but he made no sound.

"And who is this with you?" Asuma noticed the blonde.

"My first student," Kakashi ruffled the boy's hair and smiled beneath his mask.

"Oh, and what caught your interest in him?" Kurenai joined the conversation.

"He turned out to be a genius, graduated from the academy early, and passed his first chunin exam on his first attempt," Kakashi listed his student's achievements.

"Seems like he's quite capable..." Asuma wanted to continue, but the door opened, and the Third Hokage walked in accompanied by the elders.

The Hokage took his place behind the only table in the hall, but unlike his companions, he didn't sit. Everyone fell silent. Hiruzen took a deep breath and began his speech.

"I am glad that you have gathered here, and I apologize for the early wake-up call, but after the negotiations, the situation is as follows: Stone declared its support for Waterfall immediately after the incident. The head of the village, Takeshi Tenkara, wanted the death of five shinobi from our village. During the negotiations, an opportunity arose to avoid the deaths of our comrades with payments. I received a response," the Hokage fell silent. "The Village of the Waterfall, along with Stone, has declared war on us!"