"Kakashi, aren't you graduating early?"
Obito Uchiha sidled up beside him and asked, "Heh heh, you must be reluctant to leave me, right? You're afraid that once you graduate, you'll be lonely without yours truly as your rival..."
As he spoke, he lightly bumped Kakashi with his shoulder.
While others still hesitated over how to approach him, Obito had no such reservations.
Some people were simply destined to be drawn to each other.
Take Kakashi and Obito, for example. At first glance, a cool and arrogant little genius and a hot-blooded Dead Last seemed to have nothing in common to talk about...
Yet the two of them got along remarkably well.
Kakashi surprisingly did not find Obito's pestering annoying, even when the other boy followed him while he fished or watched him cook, with little sense of personal boundaries.
Kakashi could clearly feel that pure goodwill, and Obito's longing for his friendship.
He would often call out Obito when he caught him hiding nearby and peeking, inviting him to eat with him.
Sometimes, Nohara Rin would also quietly watch what Kakashi did in his daily life together with Obito...
So even though they had not yet graduated, the bond between the three of them was already as close as that of a fully formed three-man squad.
"Hey, you don't understand what the world outside the Ninja Academy is like at all..."
Kakashi set down the Sword Technique Notes in his hand. The calmness in his eyes turned into a faint melancholy as he spoke in the tone of a little adult:
"If you graduate rashly without being prepared, you'll find that the outside world is hell..."
Eh?
The Ninja Academy students who had gradually gathered around were somewhat surprised.
Although the academy had yet to establish an advanced training class,