Adoption

Because of the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha Orphanage had taken in many children. Some were the children of civilian shinobi who had died in battle for the village, while others, like Lin Bai, were war orphans brought back from outside the village.

The Konoha Ninja Academy admitted students at the age of six, which meant I had six years to train in advance. Ideally, I'd find someone to adopt me before I started school.

The stamina recovery ability granted by the system was powerful, but it wasn't without a cost. It consumed energy, which meant I had to keep eating to maintain it. I had no idea if there would be other ways to replenish my energy in the future.

[Haku, don't run off just yet. Come over here.]

[Sister Yahui, what is it?]

Lin Bai ran over to Miyake Yahue and stopped. She turned to him and said,

[Mr. Might Duy, this is Haku.]

[Haku, this is Mr. Might Duy. He's interested in adopting you. Why don't you see if you'd like to go with him?]

[Haku, I'm Duy, a Genin from the village. I have a son named Guy, who's about your age. What do you say? Come home with me! You'll have a wonderful youth!]

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs-up. His smile revealed a gleaming row of teeth, and with his bowl cut and green jumpsuit, he looked the part.

Seeing that classic outfit, Lin Bai immediately understood. This was the grandfather of the future Emperor Kai.

With my body growing stronger the more I fought, the Might Family's secret forbidden technique, the Eight Inner Gates Formation Technique, was indeed the best fit for me.

Since that was the case, there was nothing to hesitate about. Lin Bai replied,

[Mr. Duy, I'd be happy to. I hope you'll take good care of me from now on!]

And so, Lin Bai went home with Might Duy and officially became Might Guy's brother.

[Guy! This is Haku. He'll be your little brother from now on, so get along with him! Starting tomorrow, he'll join us in our passionate, youth-filled training!]

After speaking to Might Guy, Duy turned to Lin Bai.

[Haku, this is Guy! I've decided to adopt you. I've actually been keeping an eye on you for quite a while. You're in great shape, and you recover well. You're only three, but you've got a remarkably strong will.]

[I'm a Genin from the village, not a high rank. It's not because I'm weak, though. I just don't know any ninjutsu. I only know Taijutsu.]

[In the Might Family, we've always focused on Taijutsu. Ninjutsu has always been our weak point. That's why we've never produced any proper shinobi; they've all been Genin.]

[Guy is just like me. He'll become strong through Taijutsu alone, but without ninjutsu, he won't be able to reach Chunin rank.]

[I hope you'll learn my Taijutsu and take the Might Family's name—and our Taijutsu—to greater heights.]

As he spoke, his eyes lit up.

Before Lin Bai could respond, Guy's tears were already streaming down his face. He threw his arms around Duy, and the two embraced.

[Youth is all about hard work! Even if you're a Genin, you should be the strongest Genin!]

Watching the two black-haired bowl cuts in green jumpsuits holding each other and sobbing, Lin Bai was speechless. He hoped he wouldn't turn out like them.

Lying in bed, Haku called up his status panel.

[Combat Power: 3]

[S-Cells: 3]

[Ninjutsu: 0]

[Taijutsu: 0]

[Genjutsu: 0]

[Wisdom: 5]

[Strength: 2]

[Speed: 2]

[Chakra: 0]

[Hand Seals: 0]

[Abilities: None]

Looking at the bare-bones status panel, I saw that even the system's evaluation had disappeared.

Thinking back to how, because I was too young, my body hadn't had a chance to develop, I could only marvel at how hard it was to increase my Combat Power. In three years at the orphanage, I'd gained just two points.

But now that I was training with Might Duy, my Combat Power should increase faster. In the three years before the Ninja Academy opened, I ought to reach Genin level.

Thinking about the training the next day, Haku soon drifted off to sleep.

[Four hundred and ninety-seven... four hundred and ninety-eight...]

In the distance, three figures—one large and two small—came hopping toward me in frog jumps.

Two years had passed since Might Duy adopted me.

Over those two years, the three of us had started training before dawn every day, beginning with running.

[We'll start with a run. This morning, we have to run ten laps around the village. That's youth! We mustn't waste our youth! If you can't finish, you'll do a thousand push-ups!]

Of course, running ten laps around the village was impossible for Guy and Haku, who had only just learned to stand steadily.

Whenever they failed to finish, Duy would tell Guy and Haku,

[You didn't finish ten laps, so now you have to do a thousand push-ups. That's youth! We mustn't waste our youth! Let's bloom together in the flower of youth!]

He'd give Guy and Haku a thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming silver. Then Guy would throw his arms around Duy and start crying.

Whenever that happened, Haku would quietly move a good distance away. He didn't want to catch whatever those two had.

Even now, he refused to get the bowl cut, straight bangs, thick eyebrows, and green jumpsuit.

After Duy failed to persuade him time and again, he gave up on getting Haku to wear the same jumpsuit as him and Guy. Instead, he prepared a black undershirt, a red sleeveless undershirt, black wrist guards, and black boots, just as Haku wanted.

That's right, Haku wore the same martial arts uniform as Sun Wukong from the Dragon Ball world. He figured he might get to visit the Dragon Ball world someday, and getting used to it early would make things easier later.