It was early morning in the Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was giving out orders about the situation in Roran.
"Namikaze Minato, Aburame Shibi, Akimichi Choza, you three, along with Sarutobi Ryo's Anbu Squad Six, will go to Roran. Your mission is to put down the rebellion and rescue Queen Sara..."
After some digging, Konoha's higher-ups discovered that someone had taken over Roran from the inside.
Normally, Konoha wouldn't jump into a simple local revolt.
But Roran was using the Dragon Vein's power to create weapons on a massive scale.
The whole city was gearing up for war, making all sorts of puppets day and night, like they were planning something big.
Strategically speaking, this was a problem.
With the Third Shinobi World War going on, a shaky little country like Roran could mess things up for Konoha.
To stop this threat and keep Konoha focused on fighting Sunagakure, they needed to calm things down in Roran.
"Honorable Hokage..."
Namikaze Minato glanced to the side, noticing Sarutobi Ryo standing there, relaxed and ready to go.
History is changing, he thought.
Should he bring Kakashi along on this mission too?
Namikaze Minato hesitated for a moment before deciding.
"Honorable Hokage, I would like to request that Hatake Kakashi join this mission as well."
Namikaze Minato handed over Kakashi's mission details.
Since becoming a Chunin, Kakashi had been doing great, quickly moving towards becoming a Jonin.
Even though Kakashi's potential was limited by his poor eyesight when things moved fast, he could still become a decent Jonin.
As for Obito and Rin, they were training for the Chunin Exams. They were still Genin, so they wouldn't be going on this mission.
"Hmm..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked over the documents.
This mission was classified as S-rank, meaning it was very dangerous.
Kakashi was just a Chunin. While sometimes Chunin were sent on tough missions, it wasn't common.
Unlike the movie version, where the mission was A-rank, in this reality, Guren had been found early, and the Konoha Anbu had investigated, making the mission S-rank.
A city full of weaponized puppets was nothing to ignore.
Sarutobi Hiruzen first looked at Namikaze Minato, letting him know he didn't have any hidden reasons.
Then, he turned to his oldest son.
"Sarutobi Ryo, what do you think?"
Hatake Sakumo had been Sarutobi Ryo's teacher.
Sarutobi Ryo also knew Kakashi well and had even commented on Kakashi's skills, which had all been correct.
Considering everything, Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to hear what his son thought.
"Honorable Hokage, I think this mission is a good chance for Kakashi to learn... He's too arrogant. He hasn't been knocked down a few times. This mission will open his eyes..."
Sarutobi Ryo answered right away.
Even if everyone lost their memories because of Namikaze Minato's sealing technique, the actual events would still leave a mark.
Sealing techniques could erase memories, but not what physically happened.
If Kakashi got hurt or had a breakdown during the mission, those things would still affect him.
So, this mission could help Kakashi face reality a bit.
"Alright, let's get going then."
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, knowing that Sarutobi Ryo would keep Kakashi safe during the mission, so there was no problem.
----
Soon, the group left Konoha.
When Kakashi heard he was going on an S-rank mission, he was clearly excited.
Hatake Sakumo was still alive.
So, this Kakashi was still pretty cocky, thought highly of himself, and wasn't as serious as he would become later.
He was more proud than calm, and seemed a bit reckless.
As they traveled, the group crossed the plains.
Kakashi ran beside Sarutobi Ryo, saying, "Young Master Ryo, my father said... if I have any questions about fighting styles, I can ask you..."
Kakashi's sudden question sounded a bit challenging.
But he also genuinely wanted to learn.
After Might Duy became famous, Guy's fighting style was improving quickly.
Just like Sarutobi Ryo had said before, some people start slow, but get faster and faster. Guy was one of those people.
Kakashi must have seen Guy's rapid progress and felt a little worried.
Hatake Sakumo wasn't great at the kind of close-up, punch-by-punch fighting style.
So, if Kakashi wanted to get better at that, he had to ask Sarutobi Ryo, who was an expert.
In Konoha, the only people who were better than Sarutobi Ryo at fighting were probably the Third Hokage, Princess Tsunade, and Might Duy.
After thinking it over, and remembering being teased by Sarutobi Ryo before, Kakashi naturally stuck to him.
"Fighting styles?"
Sarutobi Ryo glanced at Kakashi, his voice cold.
"That loser Guy you look down on will be one of the best fighters in the world in about 20 years. And with your skills, even if you train for 100 years, you still won't be as good as him..."
Sarutobi Ryo's words stung Kakashi's pride.
Kakashi's face turned pale: "You're lying!"
He snapped back without thinking.
How could he be worse than Guy? Not even as good after 100 years of training? That couldn't be true.
"..."
Namikaze Minato's eyes flickered.
Having seen the future through the Great Toad Sage's memories, he knew that Young Master Ryo was telling the truth.
Guy would indeed become the strongest hand-to-hand fighter among humans in the future.
Kakashi, even if he trained for 1000 years, would never be as good as Guy.
"Why would I lie to you? The truth hurts, and advice is hard to hear, don't you know that?"
Sarutobi Ryo looked at Kakashi, wanting to knock some sense into him.
"Your strength is that you learn quickly, like having a natural understanding and a head start..."
"You can also come up with your own techniques, but they're not that great compared to the really strong ninja..."
"Your eyesight isn't good when things move fast, so the techniques you make will probably be useless and fail..."
After this harsh criticism, Kakashi's face grew even paler.
"Tsk... being an average Jonin is the best you can hope for, hopeless..."
Sarutobi Ryo looked away and stopped talking.
The more he said, the more useless Kakashi seemed.
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[T/N:
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]