Asuma was a man of his word. He took everyone to the most luxurious barbecue restaurant in Konoha. He had been a little worried about running into other jonin, like Kurenai, Guy, or Kakashi. But after arriving, he realized he had been overthinking it. Besides himself, which other jonin would lose to a newly graduated genin?
As they sat down, the team excitedly ordered several deluxe platters. Watching his wallet bleed, Asuma wore an expression of utter despair, clearly still reeling from the heavy blow.
Kusuo pondered for a moment before speaking up. "Sensei, I feel it's necessary to have a simple talk with you."
"Hm?" Asuma looked up at his monstrously talented student. "What do you mean?" He now regarded Kusuo with enough importance to ask for his guidance humbly.
Kusuo smiled, his expression confident and sunny. "It's simple. Sensei, your path is wrong!"
This single sentence stunned Naruto and Hinata into silence. Hiss. They were both dumbfounded. Asuma was愣住了 (lèngzhùle) - frozen in shock as well.
A mere brat who had just graduated dared to so brazenly tell a jonin, his own supervising instructor, that his path was wrong?
"Kusuo..." Hinata worriedly tugged on his sleeve. Naruto also looked back and forth between the two, at a loss for what to do.
Unexpectedly, Asuma wasn't angry at all. Instead, he looked at Kusuo with a solemn expression. His burning gaze seemed to be that of someone sincerely seeking guidance.
"..."
"..."
Hinata and Naruto were shocked.
"It's simple," Kusuo said, helping himself to a piece of grilled meat that had just arrived. "If I'm not mistaken, your chakra nature leans towards Wind, right?" In other words, Wind Style. "During the fight, you clearly had a decent close-combat technique, the Wind Blade. I could feel the sharpness of the chakra infused within it. Since that's the case, why abandon the root to chase after the branches by studying other ninjutsu?" Kusuo was referring to his Fire Style jutsus.
With his Yoriichi template at over one-third completion, he already possessed a talent that surpassed most people in this world, allowing him to see such flaws at a glance. Combined with his knowledge of the plot, where Asuma dies tragically at the hands of the Akatsuki's "Immortal Duo," Kusuo was confident in giving his opinion.
"You mean?" Asuma looked at Kusuo hesitantly, intrigued but uncertain.
"That's right. I'm sure you've felt it yourself, Sensei. It's better to be a master of one than a jack-of-all-trades. If your chakra reserves aren't that great and your energy is limited, wouldn't it be better to develop one ninjutsu to its absolute limit?"
"Doing an ordinary thing to the extreme can have extraordinary results!"
"Just like the sword in my hand! It cuts through everything, indestructible, unbreakable!" BAM! Kusuo slammed the sheathed sword on the table. The loud noise startled the other diners, but it also startled Asuma awake.
"Doing an ordinary thing to the extreme can have extraordinary results..." Asuma repeated the phrase in his mind, thinking back on his life. In his youth, he had been arrogant and clueless, even foolishly leaving to become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja in search of his own "King." It seemed like a rich experience, but in reality, he was pitifully weak in every area.
So... was my path truly wrong? I should specialize in Wind Style ninjutsu, develop that elemental affinity to its peak?!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Asuma felt as if he had found his path in life, and his eyes lit up.
BANG!
Asuma Sarutobi shot to his feet. Then, under the incredulous gazes of Hinata and Naruto, he gave Kusuo a deep, heavy bow.
"Thank you, Kusuo!"
Hinata and Naruto's mouths fell open, their eyes wide as they stared at Kusuo in disbelief. No way, no way! Asuma-sensei just bowed to Kusuo!
The latter, however, calmly began to eat his barbecue as if it were a trivial matter. What he had said wasn't just empty talk; it was sound advice based on facts and his omniscient foreknowledge.
A ninja doesn't need a lot of flashy jutsu. Naruto, sitting right next to them, was the best example. He could take one Rasengan and use it in a thousand different ways, all the way to the end of the story. Asuma's Wind Blade was no less sharp than the later Rasenshuriken, so why couldn't it be developed to its ultimate potential? At that point, shattering a Susanoo with one strike wouldn't be a dream.
After that, the group finally started to eat barbecue cheerfully. Asuma, while carefully keeping his beard from getting greasy, looked at Kusuo with a happy grin. Such a talented boy, I've really hit the jackpot!
There was a sense of competition among the jonin. Usually, they competed over the number and difficulty of missions they completed, to see who had more S-rank missions. Later, they'd compete over who had a higher status and was more valued by the village. (Of course, anomalies like Guy were in a category of their own.) With this round of team assignments, all the jonin instructors were feeling a competitive fire.
Now, it seemed he was destined to win. Even Kakashi, who got Sasuke, was definitely no match for him. The thought of Kurenai looking at him with admiration for mentoring such an outstanding student made Asuma's heart bloom with joy. He unconsciously started humming a tune.
"Lang-ge-li-ge-lang, lang-ge-li-ge-lang..."
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