A Strange Sense of NTR

Night.

Akiyama Shun arrived at Yuhi Kurenai's house. Yuhi Shinku had also returned.

The food on the table was as plentiful as ever.

"Congratulations, Shun. You came in first again. Though I've lost count of how many times I've said 'again.'"

Yuhi Shinku looked at Akiyama Shun with a beaming smile, growing more and more pleased with him.

He'd already thought it incredible that Shun had figured out the Shuriken Manipulation Technique on his own. He hadn't expected that to be only the beginning.

Now he'd even mastered the Great Fire Dragon Technique!

"Thanks, Uncle Shinku. You'll have plenty more chances to say 'again' in the future."

Akiyama Shun contentedly took a bite of meat and replied.

Yuhi Shinku paused, then patted Akiyama Shun on the shoulder.

"Hahahaha! I'll look forward to saying it again!"

"Father, you weren't there—you didn't see it! Shun's swordsmanship was amazing, too. Kakashi's White Fang Sword Technique was no match for him!"

Yuhi Kurenai stood up, hands on her hips and face full of pride, as if she herself had defeated Kakashi with her swordsmanship.

"Really? Hahahaha! Perhaps you'll become as strong as Lord White Fang one day."

Yuhi Shinku smiled at his daughter's expression. He seemed to be joking, but he truly believed Akiyama Shun would one day be as strong as the White Fang of Konoha.

After all, the talent Akiyama Shun had shown so far was simply terrifying.

"By the way, you're on break now, too, right? Make sure to relax during the holidays. A good balance between work and rest is best."

"Thanks for your concern, Uncle Shinku. I'll keep that in mind."

Dinner ended amid laughter from the three of them.

Akiyama Shun didn't stay at Yuhi Kurenai's house.

Even though they didn't mind, he still wasn't used to staying in someone else's home.

On his way home, Akiyama Shun noticed a figure leaning against a wall by the roadside. It seemed to have been waiting there for him for quite a while.

The figure was small, seemingly around his age, and carried a sword.

Akiyama Shun knew her.

Uzuki Yugao.

In the original story, she was Gekko Hayate's lover and an Anbu prodigy.

After Gekko Hayate died, she became a widow.

Like Gekko Hayate, she studied Konoha Style Swordsmanship.

She was a B-rank ninja in Naruto Mobile Game.

However, the B-rank version was her grown-up form. This [Uzuki Yugao (Young)] hadn't been released yet.

"Classmate Akiyama Shun, I've finally managed to catch you coming home!"

When Uzuki Yugao saw Akiyama Shun return, she hurried over at a jog.

Before Akiyama Shun could react, she bowed deeply to him.

"Classmate Akiyama Shun, what you used earlier was Konoha Style Swordsmanship, right?"

Though she phrased it as a question, Uzuki Yugao knew perfectly well that Akiyama Shun had used Konoha Style Swordsmanship!

Uzuki Yugao had always taught herself Konoha Style Swordsmanship. She'd only reached the beginner level, and without a teacher, making progress from there would be extremely difficult.

She'd been trying to find someone to take her on as a student, but not many people in Konoha practiced this sword style, and the strong ones weren't easy to meet. Then, during the practical exam, she saw Akiyama Shun perform the Dance of the Crescent Moon!

She knew her chance had come!

"Oh, yeah."

Akiyama Shun nodded.

"Please, teach me! I want to become as strong as you! I'll pay you!"

Seeing Uzuki Yugao still bowing without lifting her head, Akiyama Shun hesitated for a second, then agreed.

It wouldn't take much time, and it was no trouble to teach her a little while he was at it.

And, well...

He was going to use the sword style of the future Gekko Hayate to teach Uzuki Yugao, who was originally his fiancée.

Yeah. It gave him a strange sense of NTR.

"Sure. You don't need to pay me. I practice this sword style every day, so you can watch from the side, and I'll give you some pointers while I'm at it."

Hearing Akiyama Shun agree, Uzuki Yugao raised her head and looked at him with eyes practically shining.

"Thank you so much, classmate Akiyama Shun!"

When she started to bow again, Akiyama Shun quickly helped her straighten up.

"I practice in the back hills every day. You can come find me there. For today, go home and get some rest."

Night.

At the Sarutobi residence.

"Akiyama Shun is so amazing! I have no idea where he learned all that. I'm going to work hard from now on, too!"

At the dinner table, Asuma chattered away to Sarutobi Hiruzen and his wife about what had happened during the practical exam that day.

After listening, the Sarutobi couple exchanged glances and smiled.

Naturally, they were pleased to see their son suddenly wanting to work hard, too.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen's thoughts had drifted back to Akiyama Shun.

Learning?

Sarutobi Hiruzen was all too familiar with that word.

He had learned from the Second Hokage, and the Sannin had learned from him. It was the path everyone took to grow stronger.

But ever since he'd discovered Akiyama Shun using Shadow Clones to clean, Sarutobi Hiruzen had taken to watching what the boy was up to whenever he had some free time.

The boy really was hardworking, but all his effort went into reviewing things he'd already learned.

Did Akiyama Shun even...

have a learning stage?

The Mystical Palm Technique, Shadow Clones, the Great Fire Dragon Technique—Sarutobi Hiruzen had never seen anyone teach Akiyama Shun ninjutsu, nor had he ever seen him study.

Could the kid really learn something just by watching someone use it once?

No, if it were those ninjutsu, it wouldn't be so surprising.

But no one had ever performed the Dance of the Crescent Moon in front of him!

The only chance Akiyama Shun had had to encounter this sword style was when he'd asked Tsunade for the Konoha Style Swordsmanship manual.

At the time, Tsunade had even said, "Kid, don't waste your medical talent. Just take a look at this thing. It takes a long time to master."

Wait...

Could the kid have learned it just by looking at the manual?

Sarutobi Hiruzen had just contributed to global warming.

During the rest of the holidays, Akiyama Shun added a new item to his daily tasks.

That was teaching Uzuki Yugao Konoha Style Swordsmanship.

Aside from that, he kept up his usual training and helped Tsunade make money.

A few days before school was due to start again,

Akiyama Shun managed to save up [3304] coins once more.

No need to say more!

Let's roll!

During this period, eager to graduate as soon as possible, Akiyama Shun had drawn as soon as he'd saved up 1600 coins.

Before school started again, he'd successfully done two ten-pulls. The results were:

[Scroll]

[Forbidden Technique: Yin Healing Wound Destruction x2 (2/5)]

[A-rank Ninja]

[Namikaze Minato (New Year Limited) Fragments x8 (8/40)]

[B-rank Ninja]

[Hatake Kakashi (Young) x40 (40/40)]

[Haku Fragments x30 (30/40)]

[...]

[C-rank Ninja]

[Tsunade (Young) x8 (8/10)]

[...]

He still hadn't gotten a weapon or a summoning beast, but that was normal. If rarity was measured by fragments, those two were on the same level as S-rank ninjas.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was...

Young Kakashi had finally appeared!

Chidori and White Fang Sword Technique!

It was time to apply for early graduation!

Before making plans to graduate early, Akiyama Shun first went to find Tsunade and told her what he had in mind.

Tsunade didn't say much. She was even a little puzzled about why he was only applying for early graduation now.

But just before Akiyama Shun left, Tsunade said one more thing.

Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo—the White Fang of Konoha—

was dead.