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[Dungeon] Chapter 23 – Student and Teacher
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 18:48:01 +0000 UTCIn a hidden village located at a forest of Fire Nation, hidden by the thick trees, a village stood proudly with its name. Konohagakure, the village where shinobi lives, the land where they called home, the place they were proud of.
A ninja was sitting on top of a building. He had a bandana around his head, which had the Konoha village symbol on it, a proof of his allegiance. His face was hidden behind the black bandana, but a single Sharingan was revealed, showing its beauty.
He was Kakashi Hatake, a Jounin and a teacher for the new generation of Ninja. The man had an orange book on his hands, reading and chuckling at a scene. He was a teacher now, but his love for the Icha-Icha series didn't wane, even though it had been more than a few years since the last series was written by his favorite author, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, the legendary Sannin.
"Hm, what a good book, as usual." He chuckled, hiding his face with the book, "Maybe I should visit a certain ramen stand to enjoy my lunch."
As the man put the book away in his pocket, his head suddenly snapped up to a direction, looking at the horizon. Birds flew away from a certain area, a forest that was near his village. Strange unrest was happening. A sudden change.
"Hm, that place is..."
While Kakashi wasn't a sensor ninja, he could feel that a sudden change was happening in that forest, as if an abnormal phenomenon was taking place, and something was born from it. His instinct, honed several years in Anbu and battlefield, screamed at him. Something wasn't right.
And when he turned his attention away from his senses, he noticed something on his back.
"Uhh, sensei! You're leaking! You're leaking!" A young ninja with blond hair and wearing a jacket composed of orange and black was screaming and coming at him with a bucket full of water.
At that moment...
Poof!
He turned into a log and appeared behind the boy, holding his head in a painful grip.
"Not today."
"Ouch ouch ouch! That hurts sensei! What's wrong with you?! Why did you do that to me?! We haven't met for 2 years and yet you still treat me the same, huh?! " Naruto screamed.
The pain didn't affect him too much, as his pain threshold had gotten higher after the training with Jiraiya.
He jumped away and scratched his head, which was hurt from the grip.
"And here I bring you something good."
"Sorry. I thought you're someone else. You really caught me off guard there, Naruto." The silver-haired Jounin said, hiding the fact that he had a feeling that something was wrong. His eyes went to the book that his student held, "Could that be?"
"Hehehe, it is. The new volume of Icha Icha! This one's a limited edition, so there are only a hundred of these in the world. It's called Icha Icha Paradise!"
Hearing this, Kakashi's interest immediately peaked, but he controlled his expression to appear nonchalant. The mask definitely helped with that.
"Is that so? If you give it to me, then I won't refuse."
Naruto smirked. He already knew that he had won, and Kakashi wouldn't refuse. Not when Icha-Icha Paradise, which only a hundred of these were printed in this world, was being held in front of his face.
"Well, you can have it, sensei." He grinned and lifted his finger up, "But! I will show you my progress. Let's have a spar in the forest. It's been a long time since we met. I want to show you my progress."
The white-haired ninja smiled under his mask, nodding his head. It had been a while since he had seen his student's progress. He had heard about the boy's development from other people who met him first, and now he wanted to confirm it himself.
"Let's go then."
Ignoring his false alarm, Kakashi and Naruto went to the forest. They unconsciously walked toward where the strange phenomenon was happening, as if they were moths flying toward a lamp, straight toward the dungeon's location.
It took them about half an hour to reach a secluded part of the forest where they were surrounded by thick trees. There were animals nearby too. Birds, rabbits, and some insects.
Naruto immediately took his battle stance and attacked Kakashi once they reached a clearing. The Jounin teacher, on the other hand, dodged the attacks with a lazy look. He kept moving between trees and foliage while evading and counter attacking.
"You have become much faster. You are stronger now. But your technique is a bit sloppy."
"Sloppy?! Don’t call it that!" Naruto exclaimed. "This is my Taijutsu. My own fighting style! But you’re cheating. You’re using a sharingan already."
Kakashi dodged to the left while laughing, then jumped on the branch of a tall tree and watched his student from above while crouching. His smile widened under his mask. "I'm glad you're not the same old Naruto. You've gotten stronger."
"You bet! This is just my first step." He grinned widely.
Both of them talked for a while and walked around the forest, reminiscing about the old times. At the same time, they also discussed their progress. A pretty chill and nostalgic conversation, as it had been 2 years since the two met.
During their conversation, Naruto noticed that they were in a part of the forest that was familiar. A clearing where the grass was thick and the trees were lush. The boy couldn't help but frown in confusion, and then a memory surfaced in his mind. There should be a tree he used to train back in the day.
'It should be around here.' He hummed and turned to the right, expecting to see the old tree.
And when he did, his eyes widened.
"The tree... it's gone?"
In the place where an old, large tree was, stood a cave entrance with a sign.
[Fun Fun Dungeon! Please enter to challenge the dungeon! Only 6 people can enter the dungeon at once!]
