Fishing

"So, someone losing a copy of Make-Out Paradise was fake, right?"

"I don't know. I only heard some clan members mention it in passing. Maybe it fell into the river?"

"So you were planning to fish here all day?"

"Kakashi-senpai, the joy of fishing was never about the fish."

"?"

Kakashi Hatake somehow felt that he was the fish.

When he was five, had he been this calculating?

And he hadn't told anyone about Make-Out Paradise. How did this kid know he was interested in Lord Jiraiya's writing ability?

But since he was already here.

Kakashi Hatake lounged on the small slope by the riverbank, quietly watching the sky. The warm afternoon sun lazily spilled over him, and somehow, it felt more comfortable than lying at home.

Ever since Obito and Rin had died, Kakashi had fallen completely into despair.

The youthful ambition he once had to restore his father's name had gradually been worn away. All he had gained from the merciless war was endless grief, and he had slowly become lost regarding the direction of his life. Even in the ANBU, he no longer possessed the drive he once had to throw himself into everything.

He was tired.

Yuzuru Hyuga also lounged lazily by the river, a newly bought fishing rod propped beside his feet. As the young master of the Hyuga clan's Branch House, he had no interest in money. If it needed spending, he spent it.

Neither of them spoke. They simply enjoyed the leisurely time at an unhurried pace. In the end, Kakashi Hatake was the first to lose his patience.

"The fish got away."

The fishing rod swayed a few times before falling still. Clearly, the fish had eaten all the bait and taken the chance to escape.

Yuzuru Hyuga gave an "oh," reeled in the line, rebaited the hook, cast it back into the water, and lay down again.

The two fell silent once more. Even when the rod began shaking again and the fish in the river nearly dragged it away, Yuzuru Hyuga did not move. Kakashi Hatake finally could not help saying, "If you wanted to do a good deed, wouldn't it be better to just dump all the bait in?"

"Easy little fish that bite without a thought can't make a delicious grilled fish." Yuzuru Hyuga casually grabbed the rod and gave it a shake. A fish was lifted onto the shore.

He casually removed the fish from the hook and tossed it back into the river.

Kakashi Hatake understood.

This brat was hinting at me.

He lazily adjusted his forehead protector. "I've rested enough. I'm heading back."

Kid, if you have something to say, say it already.

Kakashi Hatake patted off his pants and stood up, only to see Yuzuru Hyuga stretch as well. At the same time, just as Kakashi turned to leave, Yuzuru flung a kunai at him.

The kunai was not fast. Kakashi merely reached out and caught the off-target weapon in midair, spun it once around his fingers, then held it in a reverse grip. "Looks like my kindness was wasted."

"Let's have a spirited practice match, Kakashi-senpai." Yuzuru Hyuga pushed up his glasses and smiled. "Who knows? Maybe next year, you'll be my partner in the ANBU."

Kakashi Hatake showed no surprise at the information Yuzuru had revealed. He only sighed. "Today is my day off."

"Sorry. Please forgive my presumption, but the moment I saw Kakashi-senpai, I couldn't help wondering what had turned you into someone so dispirited."

Yuzuru Hyuga's words made Kakashi Hatake's gaze turn colder.

Yet Yuzuru Hyuga merely adjusted his glasses, his smile carrying an inscrutable meaning. "Could you let me witness the swordsmanship of the Konoha White Fang?"

"Sorry. If that's your goal, then I refuse." Kakashi Hatake's eyes were icy. He did not know how much this child knew, but there were certain things he disliked hearing people bring up.

Kakashi Hatake turned and walked away, keeping most of his attention trained behind him. He assumed that brat would probably strike without warning and force him into a match.

An immature genius.

Kakashi Hatake was long past the age when the title of genius could make his blood boil with the urge to fight. Nor would he lose his head over a few taunting remarks.

Besides, this guy was annoyingly unpleasant to talk to. That only made Kakashi less willing to grant his wish.

But unexpectedly, Yuzuru Hyuga did not attack.

Only his voice sounded from behind Kakashi, laden with meaning.

"The fish is on the hook again. Aren't you staying for grilled fish?"

"Sorry, I don't like fish."

He waved a hand and left with effortless flair. Even at this point in time, he already had a little of that later Shippuden flavor.

Yuzuru Hyuga merely smiled meaningfully, lay back down, and basked in the sun.

Some big fish would not bite a hook impatiently just because of a little bait.

They hid themselves in dark waters. Seeing only the sparse glimmers of light on the surface, they believed that even above the water was nothing but darkness.

To turn such fish into a delicious grilled meal required patience, as well as repeated, long-term baiting.

Only once they were drawn in by the scattered bait and willingly swam upward, using the sunlight to clearly see the bait tied to the hook, would they cautiously bite down on it and begin a life-or-death struggle with the fisherman.

The only pity was that there would probably be no one to share today's fish with him.

Yuzuru Hyuga suddenly reached out and seized the rod. A large fish was hauled up, thrashing desperately and pitifully on the hook. The ones that ate earlier were fine, so why was it different for me?

After tossing the large fish into the bucket beside him, Yuzuru Hyuga stretched.

"Sure enough, retirement life doesn't suit me yet."

He set the bucket aside and simply began training where he stood.

He could not help it. After resting for only a few hours, he already felt uncomfortable all over. An inexplicable sense of crisis seemed to surround him, and only pouring every ounce of effort into training could ease that pressure.

Sweat soon began dripping down.

Although Yuzuru Hyuga appeared to be practicing only basic Gentle Fist techniques, the occasional blue ripples of chakra flashing through the air proved that the Gentle Fist he practiced was far less harmless than it looked.

Countless faint, ghostly blue chakra fist-images blasted into the empty air around him. Yuzuru Hyuga controlled his chakra output, making it look ninety percent similar to the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. Even if a Hyuga elder saw it, he could only helplessly conclude that Yuzuru had studied the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm on his own and gone astray.

But in truth, was an evolved Gentle Fist really only on the same level as the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm?

Of course not!

With close observation, one could vaguely discover that this Gentle Fist, which Yuzuru Hyuga jokingly called the Little Divine Air Strike, already possessed some of the traits of the Divine Air Strike.

"Multi-hit."

The complete form of the Divine Air Strike, the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, could be simply described as follows: chakra was gathered in the palms and then released, producing countless powerful fists. Those fists could be used not only to attack, but also to defend. Combined with Kaguya's Byakugan, they could form a flawless formation that integrated offense and defense.

In other words, one gathering of chakra, multiple instances of damage.

The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was merely a long-range "Gentle Fist basic attack."

The Divine Air Strike, meanwhile, came with phantom-image effects. One attack could take effect multiple times.

Yuzuru Hyuga's Gentle Fist was the same at this moment.

He trained in silence. Even when the Byakugan in his eyes could no longer be maintained, he did not stop. Instead, he began refining chakra while using basic Gentle Fist techniques to train his taijutsu with all his strength.

After training for who knew how long, Yuzuru Hyuga suddenly stopped moving.

When he turned his head, he saw a girl standing atop the riverbank—someone both familiar and unfamiliar.

Her black hair danced in the wind. Between her strands of hair, cyan Caged Bird markings flickered faintly above a pair of white eyes similar to Yuzuru Hyuga's.

The girl's face still carried a trace of childishness, yet she already had the features of an adult. Her features were sharply defined, and she resembled a grown-up Hinata, though she looked colder. Perhaps because her features were too pronounced, she seemed somewhat unfriendly.

The hem of her long white dress swayed gently in the wind, revealing and concealing a pair of fair, slender calves that still retained clear muscle definition.

When she saw that Yuzuru Hyuga had noticed her, the girl was not surprised. She only looked at him quietly. Under his questioning gaze, she suddenly asked softly, "Young Master Yuzuru... what meaning is there in this?"

Yuzuru Hyuga raised his head. Looking at the girl before him, he felt that the scene was both familiar and strange. The sudden sense of déjà vu left him dazed, and an inexplicable, faint sense of crisis rose in his heart.

After all, Yuzuru Hyuga was not a proper fisherman.

He did not understand that perhaps people sometimes merely paced beside a pond without thinking, and curious fish would be drawn by their shadows, leap from the water, and only then discover that the specks of shadow that resembled bait were actually a massive creature that fish should never touch.