Chapter 19: Secret Talks with Konoha’s Top Brass 

Early the next morning, Team 7 arrived at Varen's bookstore.

"Did you have breakfast?" Varen asked.

"Yes!" Sakura and Naruto replied in unison. Sasuke just nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Varen also nodded. Then he locked the door of the bookstore and led the three of them outside the village.

Although Varen had suggested Sasuke find Kakashi and enter Anbu, Kakashi was notoriously late in the mornings. Not wanting to waste this precious time, Sasuke decided to join Sakura and Naruto to see what he could learn.

…

The four of them soon arrived at a river outside the village.

"We're here, let's start practicing," Varen said, looking at Naruto. "Naruto, your Chakra control skills are too poor. If you want to become stronger, the first step is to improve your Chakra control."

"Uh-huh!" Naruto nodded eagerly, curious and excited. He had seen Hinata's progress and admired Varen's abilities.

"How do I improve?" Naruto asked.

"You should have learned how to gather chakra on your feet and climb trees smoothly, right?" Varen asked.

"Yes!" Naruto confirmed.

"In that case, you should practice walking on water first. The principle is the same."

"OK!" Naruto said, running happily to the river.

"Sakura," Varen turned to her. In fact, he hadn't initially planned on teaching Sakura. After all, when the time came, he could simply find a suitable Pokémon card for her, which would instantly boost her strength. But finding the right diamond-level card wasn't easy, so he decided to teach her something practical in the meantime.

"Your Chakra control ability is very strong, very suitable for being a medical ninja. We can try to develop you in this direction in the future. However, medical ninjas also need a certain ability to protect themselves."

With that, Varen gathered Chakra into his fist and explained the technique to Sakura, detailing the specific usage and the method of Chakra aggregation. Then he punched the ground.

"Boom!" The ground trembled and cracked, the power quite terrifying.

"So... so strong!" The three stared in awe. Naruto broke into a cold sweat. "If Sakura-chan punches me in the head like this..." he thought, trembling at the idea.

"Very good!" Sakura said excitedly. "If I had learned this trick earlier, I could have definitely knocked Ino away! Varen, what is this technique called?"

"Sakura Blossom Crush," Varen replied.

"Varen..." Sakura's face turned red. "Did you create this just for me?"

"Well..." Varen hesitated. In the original plot, Sakura had invented this technique herself, which is why it had such a name. Not wanting to explain further, he changed the subject. "You should practice this move well."

Then he looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke, since you're here too, I will teach you a ninjutsu as well."

"Um?" Sasuke's face remained expressionless, but inside, he was thrilled. After seeing Hinata's transformation and Sakura's new taijutsu, he was eager to learn something special himself.

"I heard Naruto say that once Kakashi has a ninjutsu called Raikiri. Then I figured it out myself."

With that, Varen quickly made seals. Moments later, a dazzling light appeared on his hand, accompanied by a "chirping" sound like a bird's song. It was Raikiri, one of Kakashi's famous techniques.

Sasuke looked at this move in horror. "He just listened to Naruto's description and created it himself!? This is too scary! This is a creative ninjutsu. Does he think this is making a clay figure?"

While terrified, Sasuke also admired Varen even more. "As expected of the man who always outdoes me... Much better than Kakashi who can only teach me how to find cats!"

After teaching Sasuke Raikiri, Varen took a magazine and sat quietly under a tree, enjoying his leisurely time.

…

At the same time, Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned three of his old friends and sat in his office to discuss the information obtained from Varen the previous day.

"Snort! Divination? What nonsense!" Danzo's eyes flickered as he slapped the table, shouting angrily. "Hiruzen, you are no longer young. How could you believe such nonsense?"

"I don't believe in divination either," Utatane Koharu said slowly. "However, this information is very detailed. It makes one wonder whether Varen has any special channels for obtaining information."

"I asked someone to investigate Varen. His family background is innocent and there are no problems," Mitokado Homura said. "However, maybe he really has some ability to divine fortune. Didn't Jiraiya say that the Great Toad Sage can prophesy? Maybe Varen has a special blood inheritance limit and saw such a scene in his dream, which is why he said it so accurately."

"Possible," Utatane Koharu nodded. "In this case, we have to guard against it. It is better to believe that it exists than to believe that it does not."

"I don't think it's necessary at all! That guy is talking nonsense!" Danzo retorted.

"Danzo, why do you keep arguing? Are you still in contact with Orochimaru? Or are you planning all this?" The three of them looked at Danzo simultaneously.

Danzo was stunned, then said with some embarrassment, "How is that possible! I'm just talking about divination~ No other meaning."

Seeing that the three seemed to believe him, Danzo sighed with relief. "It's really troublesome. Should I tell Orochimaru this news?"

…

Meanwhile, Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone, whispering to himself. "Obito, do you know? Two of my students passed the Chūnin exam preliminaries. One of them is like me, a genius. One of them looks like you, a fool. The friendship between them is very similar to ours~ It's so nostalgic~ I still remember that you almost caused the three of us to be eliminated because you were late~ Also, I still remember your Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique~ Haha~"

Kakashi chuckled and then fell silent. After a long time, he sighed deeply. "Obito, those three little guys are actually practicing with a boy their age. It's really unsettling. I'm going to go see those three little guys. I'll see you again tomorrow."