My First Friend (Please Keep Reading)

"Hmm?" Hearing Nohara Rin's words, Uchiha Chi let out a nasal sound and looked over in surprise. "Friends?"

Under the boy's gaze, Nohara Rin's fingers, which had been rubbing the ends of her hair, stiffened, and the tips of her ears grew redder and redder.

She looked away, her voice so soft she could barely hear it herself. "N-No, it's nothing..."

"Thank you, Rin."

His clear, spring-like voice gently interrupted the girl's murmur.

Nohara Rin tilted her head and pointed at the purple markings on her face in confusion. "Thank... me?"

"Yes."

Nohara Rin's eyes widened at once, and she quickly asked, "Why?"

"Because..." Uchiha Chi crossed his hands beneath his chin and said with a smile, "You're the first person who wanted to be friends with me."

Nohara Rin blinked rapidly, taking several seconds to understand what he meant.

"Really!?" Nohara Rin covered her mouth in delighted surprise, nearly rising from her chair.

She had originally thought that Uchiha Chi merely had few friends at the Ninja Academy.

After all, the Uchiha were such a powerful ninja clan. No matter how withdrawn Uchiha Chi was, surely he had one or two close friends in the clan whom he had grown up with?

Yet he really did not have a single one...

But in the next moment, she realized something was wrong with her reaction.

No matter how she looked at it, this was clearly not a good thing. How could she be so happy about it? How could she show that happiness?

So she furrowed her delicate brows, pressed her Lips together, and asked sympathetically, "Really?"

[Detected joy from Nohara Rin!]

[Obtained 15 points. Defense increased by 3%!]

"..."

Uchiha Chi glanced at the word "joy" on the system panel, then looked at Nohara Rin's worried face.

After two seconds of silence, he nodded firmly. "Really."

Great!

Clenching her hand into a fist beneath the wooden table, Nohara Rin silently cheered herself on.

"Then, Chi-kun," she raised her oval face and looked at Uchiha Chi with hopeful eyes, "are we friends now?"

Her tone was as gentle and quiet as always, yet it carried an indescribable unease.

"Actually, I should be the one asking that." Uchiha Chi looked a little worried as he cautiously watched Nohara Rin. "Do you really want to be friends with someone like me?"

"Of course I do!" Nohara Rin said without hesitation.

Hearing her answer, which carried not the slightest trace of doubt, Uchiha Chi revealed a heartfelt smile.

Half an hour later.

Outside Uchiha Chi's home.

"I'm truly sorry for getting your blanket dirty. I'll definitely wash it properly and return it to you!"

Nohara Rin hugged the brown blanket she had dirtied, her cheeks slightly flushed as she repeatedly lowered her head in apology.

She did not usually cry much, either. But she had slept poorly all night yesterday, and with her body in a special state these past few days, plus the long time she had spent in the cold wind outside Uchiha Chi's door, her emotions had suddenly become unusually fragile.

As a result, after Uchiha Chi returned, she, who should have been the one apologizing, was instead the first to receive emotional comfort.

Then, noticing that she did not look well, he had gone into his bedroom and found this warm blanket for her...

That thoughtfulness had instantly made Nohara Rin unable to hold back her tears.

"It's fine, it's fine." Uchiha Chi lightly waved his hand with a smile and asked with concern, "Do you know the way? Do you want me to walk you home?"

Nohara Rin nodded, her youthful oval face filled with a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, Chi-kun. I know the way. I'll just walk slowly.

"Don't you still have training to do? Hurry and get back to it... Do your best!"

She clenched a fist at Uchiha Chi, striking an adorably encouraging pose.

Uchiha Chi nodded at her words, said nothing more, and closed the door.

"Thank you for the encouragement, Nohara Rin. I'll do my best."

With that, he turned and left.

Watching Uchiha Chi's retreating figure gradually disappear, Nohara Rin pouted unhappily.

"Why does he still call me classmate..."

However, feeling the warmth of the blanket in her arms, the displeasure on her face quickly vanished, replaced by a faint blush hidden beneath the purple markings.

"Forget it. I'll make him change it next time I come to return the blanket."

Death Forest.

Towering ancient trees, dozens of meters high, crisscrossed one another, forming an exceptionally unique landscape.

Huge swathes of leaves covered the sky, while roots thicker than an adult man's waist intertwined and spread across the ground, taking up all the sunlight and land here. The entire space resembled an emerald-green cage.

This was the Death Forest, a forbidden zone of life that no intelligent creature would enter.

Yet beneath the shadows that were usually deathly silent, two figures were now constantly colliding and crossing paths, spilling the sweat unique to youth.

Whoosh!

That was the sound of a hand chop slicing through the air.

Bang!

That was the sound of fists smashing into each other.

Boom—

That was the muffled sound of Giant Strength driving someone into a tree trunk.

Creak, creak...

That was the sound of friction coming from within the trunk.

Not long after.

The entire massive tree suddenly trembled. Then Might Guy, dressed in a green tracksuit, sprang out from the trunk.

He performed five or six consecutive backflips in midair before landing steadily on the ground, every movement practiced and fluid.

After steadying himself, Might Guy raised his head, his face brimming with an excited smile as he gave the figure standing on a branch a thumbs-up.

"Chi-san, your strength is really incredible!"

Uchiha Chi merely smiled at Might Guy's praise without confirming or denying it.

Over the past two days, he had been making time to train with Might Guy in the Death Forest.

He had indeed acquired many Taijutsu techniques and ninjutsu, but if he did not properly adapt to them, then trying to figure them out in the middle of battle would make him look like he was drunkenly flailing about.

For example, when he had seized an opening and used Giant Strength just now, Might Guy had cleverly redirected the force into the air before he had become proficient with it.

Then Might Guy flew even higher than the giant trees of the Death Forest, shouting in the sky about how fun and exhilarating it was. After landing, he had pestered Uchiha Chi to do it several more times.

At the time, Uchiha Chi had felt that Might Guy was humiliating him. Was this guy treating me like a human drop tower or what?

Still, heated as he had been, the past two days of training had brought him obvious improvement.

He could now skillfully use all the abilities on the panel and chain them together at will.

"Now it really is all hard work and sweat..."

Uchiha Chi sighed, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and checked the time displayed by the system. He found that it was nearly dinner time.

"Let's call it a day."

He clapped his hands, jumped down from the branch, and walked up to Might Guy. Grinning, he gave him a thumbs-up. "Guy-san, thank you for training with me these past two days. You've really worked hard."

"Chi-san, I'm not tired at all! Seeing you improve so quickly truly makes me happy from the bottom of my heart, and besides..."

Might Guy shook his head forcefully, tears welling in his eyes as he said, "This is the first time anyone has voluntarily asked me to train with them."

At that, he rubbed his hands together and looked at Uchiha Chi expectantly. "Am I your first friend, Chi-san?"

Uchiha Chi hesitated for a moment. The formula friend ≠ best friend instantly surfaced in his mind, and then he decisively nodded.

"That's right. You're my first best friend!"

"Best friend..."

Might Guy's tears immediately began pouring down as though they cost nothing.

His trembling finger pointed toward the setting sun as he declared with firm conviction:

"This is... youth..."