Kakashi Hatake

The young girl walked farther and farther away beneath Ye Lan's gaze.

Ye Lan finally pulled his eyes away reluctantly and looked down at the forehead protector in his hand.

After a long while, Ye Lan murmured, "Miss Tsuyuri from the Land of Water, huh? Heh, that really is a lovely name. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Smiling, he shook his head and gradually calmed his slightly restless heart. He carefully tucked the forehead protector into the inner pocket of his clothes, then grinned freely and strode toward the village.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Ye Lan had barely taken a few steps when a series of sharp gusts cut through the air ahead of him.

He instinctively looked up, only to see a face that was extremely familiar to him rapidly approaching.

Once Ye Lan saw who it was, excitement stirred within him as well.

Before long, the newcomer landed directly in front of Ye Lan.

The man did not speak immediately. Instead, he sized Ye Lan up from head to toe. Ye Lan returned his gaze with a smile, quietly watching him, though his eyes constantly flickered with excitement.

After a moment, seemingly having found nothing, the man smiled and extended a hand to Ye Lan. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm a Jonin of Konoha. The Third Hokage already knows about your situation and specifically sent me to receive you."

Seeing someone he had admired so much, Ye Lan was as excited as if he had been pumped full of adrenaline. Kakashi Hatake had been one of the characters he greatly admired when he used to watch Naruto. The Copy Ninja's reputation was truly thunderous.

Ye Lan exclaimed excitedly, "My name is Ye Lan. You can call me Lan. By the way, how did you know I was here?"

Kakashi said lazily, "Oh, that? After the Third Hokage gave me the mission, I made a trip to the Anbu and asked Ibiki about some of your physical features. Also, there was a faint scent on Ibiki that didn't belong to him. I judged that it was your scent, so I summoned Pakkun to find you."

After saying that, Kakashi added, "Pakkun is my Ninja Hound."

Of course, Ye Lan had known that already. Wasn't Pakkun that little pug?

Naturally, he only dared mutter that quietly in his heart. If Pakkun happened to hear him say it out loud, it would definitely bite him to death.

As Ye Lan pondered, a system notification sounded in his mind:

Ding! The host has triggered a side quest: Become Kakashi's student and a member of Team 7. Reward for success: Obtain the Uchiha Bloodline Limit. Penalty for failure: All learned Ninjutsu will be stripped away, and the Copy ability will be reclaimed.

Ye Lan was not the least bit flustered by the system's mission. Instead, he was looking forward to the reward he would receive after completing it.

The Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai—if used well, it was an ability even more overpowered than a bug in Naruto.

Looking at the boy before him, who seemed not only strange but had also remained silent the entire time, Kakashi could not help asking, "Lan, do you have any other questions?"

"Oh, n-no..."

Ye Lan was abruptly pulled back to his senses.

Kakashi nodded and said, "Next, I'll send you to the Ninja Academy to learn the most basic Ninjutsu. You need to graduate from the Ninja Academy before you can become a true ninja. After that, you'll carry out missions in the village. So, is there anything you need to prepare before enrolling?"

Hearing Kakashi say that, Ye Lan hurriedly shook his head.

How could he possibly go study at the Ninja Academy? If he really went, how would he become Kakashi's student?