Rustle.
The wind blew past the two-story house. Outside, only the leaves whispered.
There was no other sound.
"Was that my imagination?"
Uchiha Jin murmured, his gaze fixed suspiciously on the densely packed treetops.
Whoosh—
The night wind carried the sound of pines rustling on the hills behind the Leaf, swept quietly over the eaves, and settled on the crooked tree in front of the house.
Uchiha Jin stood in front of the shabby two-story house, holding two large bags of trash in one hand.
He stared straight at the crooked tree twenty meters away.
Light rippled in his eyes.
Dynamic Vision, activate!
Whoosh, whoosh—
The wind picked up. Between the branches twenty meters away, a strand of silver hair swayed gently in the night breeze—like a spider's thread woven from moonlight.
"White-haired Anbu. So it really is you, Senior Kakashi."
Jin smiled, casually lifting the two bags of trash as he greeted him.
Crack.
On the treetop, the figure's relaxed muscles tensed in an instant.
"He recognized me?"
Kakashi's throat bobbed beneath his mask. A hint of interest appeared in his one visible eye.
"To think that, after all these years, a boy this interesting would appear in the Leaf."
As he thought this, he parted the branches and poked his head out to take a look.
The moment he showed his face, he was instantly taken out.
"So, Senior Kakashi, you didn't know to teach this kid not to drink expired milk or eat instant noodles? They're bad for him."
Jin swung the two bags of trash in his hands, and a huge pot came crashing down.
Crack.
A withered leaf snapped underfoot.
Kakashi, who had just poked his head out, froze in place, his expression shifting unpredictably.
Guilt and self-reproach crept over his face.
Honestly, after losing his teammates, he'd spent some time in a daze. Later, on the battlefield, he'd gone on a killing spree to numb himself.
For a while, Kakashi had felt lost.
Fortunately, he'd managed to pull himself out of it by leaning into his lazy, listless nature.
But... he couldn't seem to shake that laziness.
Now that Jin had called him out, a thought rose in his mind:
If Teacher Minato knew his orphan had ended up like this, he'd surely be very disappointed in me...
Without thinking, he stopped in mid-step.
He didn't want to show himself.
Or, rather, he didn't dare.
He couldn't bring himself to face the strikingly familiar face below.
Little Naruto really does look just like Teacher Minato...
Thinking this, he struck the leaves beside him, revealing two Anbu hiding within.
The two Anbu, who'd been eating meatballs and watching the show: ???
No, Senior Kakashi, you!
The pair froze for a moment.
Almost instinctively, they looked back toward the window.
Six eyes met.
"Oh! Isn't that the cat-faced uncle who was watching my house every day last month?"
Recognizing the familiar outfit beneath the mask, Jin perked up. His voice rose noticeably.
"Why haven't you come this month? The new cat-faced uncle is mute. He doesn't say a word."
"Ah, he just goes 'aba aba'..."
Smack.
Both Anbu went rigid.
One of them in particular—the mask made a sharp crack as a split appeared in it, exposing his pale face.
He was crying.
He was about to cry.
While monitoring the Uchiha clan, he'd been teased and chatted with every day from his perch in the tree, like a monkey!
And the damn Uchiha brat had even used bananas to tempt him into saying more.
Bananas!
Did the kid really think he was a monkey to play with?
As a Chunin, he had his pride!
That was why, after putting up with it for two and a half years, he'd finally requested a transfer.
But... who could have guessed he'd run into the kid here, too?
The buzzing in his ears made him increasingly irritated.
At last, he couldn't take it anymore and shouted:
"Shut up!"
"I already requested a transfer! How am I still running into you?"
"Damn it, they pay me next to nothing for a whole month. Why should I risk my neck?"
With that, he turned and ran.
Behind him, his Anbu partner hesitated, then silently followed.
With Senior Kakashi there, they were no use anyway.
Kakashi: ...
"As Anbu, you actually got scared off by a kid? Hah. Young people are far too impatient."
He sneered, intending to catch up and drag the two men back.
But just then, the boy's voice came from beside the window again:
"Senior Kakashi, you wouldn't want your teacher to hear about this, would you?"
Crack.
Another branch snapped beneath his foot.
Kakashi sighed and stopped.
His silver-white hair poked out from among the leaves.
His gaze was full of suspicion. "Who exactly is this kid?"
A boy of only five or six knew far too much!
He even knew secrets about Kakashi himself!
Something was very wrong.
Was there a problem with the Uchiha clan?
Maybe talking with the kid would lead to an unexpected discovery.
Thinking that, he felt even more disdain for the two Anbu who'd just left.
They'd had the chance to openly extract information, yet they'd chosen to avoid the conversation.
"Honestly, young people these days are far too impatient."
He shook his head and stood straight on the tree trunk.
"Don't be nervous." Jin sat cross-legged by the window, casually playing with the breeze before him. "I just wanted to ask you, Senior Kakashi: when you use Earth Style: Earth Wall, do you have to carve a dog's head into it?"
Kakashi: He was starting to feel like leaving.
Three minutes later, Kakashi's brow twitched.
[Conversation target: Kakashi Hatake.] [Analyzing copyable traits.] [Weak Constitution (Black), Sharingan (Purple), Fire Style Mastery (Blue), Water Style Mastery (Blue), Lightning Release Mastery (Blue), Earth Style Mastery (Blue), Taijutsu Mastery (Blue), Genjutsu Mastery (Blue),...]
"Whoa! So this is Kakashi, the Hexagonal Warrior whom people call 'Little Jiraiya'?"
"These stats..."
Honestly, Jin was a little surprised when he saw the attributes he'd scanned.
Even though he'd known that the legendary Copy Ninja had mastered countless jutsu, the sheer number of mastery traits still exceeded his expectations.
The Sharingan might have played a part, but surely it wasn't the main reason.
Otherwise, why did most Uchiha specialize only in Fire Style?
Was it because the others didn't want to master anything else?!
Besides, with so many mastery traits, surely whichever one he copied would be a pretty good trait, right?
The odds were right there in front of him. There was no way he'd end up copying Weak Constitution, was there?
Jin didn't believe he could be that unlucky.
Of course, if he got something like Lightning Blade or Chidori, that would be even better.
At the thought, he could barely wait for the trait copying to finish in ten minutes.
"Looks like I'll have to chat with Kakashi more often from now on."
Thinking this, Jin looked at Kakashi with excitement.
Ten minutes.
Kakashi rubbed his temples, finding the boy rather noisy.
He'd originally wanted to fish for information, but—the kid in front of him just kept talking nonsense!
And hitting him where it hurt!
They were only the words of a child, sure.
But—couldn't he be a little less reckless with them?
At this rate, Kakashi felt he might grab a kunai and stab Jin's mouth shut!
[After talking with Kakashi Hatake for ten minutes, attempting to copy a trait.] [Copy successful. Congratulations, host! You obtained the special trait Thousand Years of Death (Black): Poking someone's weak spot in a special way often yields surprising results.]
Seeing the notification, Jin's smile faltered.
Well, he didn't need Thousand Years of Death...
Would that mean that on the battlefield, everyone else would be racking up kills—
while he had Weak Presence over his head, Flying Thunder God beneath his feet, and Thousand Years of Death in his hand?
Whoever took off, he'd poke?
Maybe he should just fuse it away?
Before you continue