Kakashi's Heart Knot

Jiraiya chuckled and swore at him.

Seeing Minato's triumphant, mischievous expression, he shook his head with some exasperation.

He knew his eldest disciple's personality well. Though gentle by nature, Minato was usually serious as could be.

Only around people he trusted did he let his youthful side show.

Still.

Compared to Minato, Uchiha Shingen was at the opposite extreme.

He had no lofty ideals like protecting Konoha or becoming Hokage. All he wanted was to coast along at the Konoha Military Police Force until retirement.

Rather than a youth, he seemed more like a corporate drone whose dreams had been shattered after taking a merciless beating from society.

Only his terrifying talent defied description.

Remembering what had just happened, Jiraiya felt shaken, too.

Minato was right: Jiraiya himself specialized in large-scale, high-damage tactics, but that was because he had an enormous amount of Chakra to begin with.

Uchiha Shingen was far stronger than others his age, but he was only at Jonin level for now. His Chakra reserves weren't yet enough to support that kind of tactic.

And yet those Great Fireballs, erupting in an overwhelming wave, had enough firepower to cover a huge area of the battlefield. Used well, they could even wipe out a tactical squad led by a Jonin.

Could this kid really have a talent for this?!

Jiraiya was unconvinced, when Uchiha Shingen's voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Old man, give me a hand!"

"I've nearly wrung myself dry of Chakra!"

Jiraiya turned at the sound of his voice.

Uchiha Shingen stood at the edge of the sea of flames, bent over and panting heavily. The firelight made his face look deathly pale.

He looked thoroughly spent.

Clearly, even with Jonin-level Chakra reserves, Uchiha Shingen couldn't withstand those two successive bursts. Both his physical stamina and his mental strength had reached their limits.

"You reckless brat!"

Jiraiya shook his head and stepped forward to help Uchiha Shingen up.

Nearby, Minato watched Jiraiya help the boy to his feet, feeling shaken in a way he couldn't put into words.

Even with his own strength, Minato would have had to avoid the brunt of what had just happened.

After all, Minato wasn't known for large-scale ninjutsu. His strengths lay in his incredible mobility and ability to eliminate single targets.

"It's hard to say just how far Shingen will have grown in a few years."

"That guy..."

Kakashi came back to his senses and forced himself to stand, but his legs still felt weak.

For the first time, he had lost to someone his own age—and to someone who had once been far weaker than him. Even Kakashi, usually so aloof and seemingly uninterested in everything, felt a pang of frustration.

He lowered his eyes to his short blade. Its gleaming edge reflected his gaze.

For the first time, Kakashi saw an indescribable sense of defeat in his own eyes:

"Monster!"

"Come to think of it, Obito, weren't you pretty close to Shingen before?!"

"What kind of person is he, anyway?!"

Obito paused. After thinking for a few seconds, he looked toward Uchiha Shingen in the distance.

"He used to be uninterested in everything. All he cared about was how to skip class and lie in the sun. He spent most of his time drifting through life like that."

"After graduation..."

Obito remembered how Minato had casually mentioned Uchiha Shingen's experiences after graduation at the dinner table. His expression grew complicated.

"His comrades died right in front of him, and he couldn't do anything. He could only watch them fall, one after another..."

"It must have been hard on him, too."

"I heard that after that, Shingen chose to stay at the Konoha Military Police Force. Maybe he just didn't want to go through that pain again."

Kakashi fell silent. His gaze wavered for a moment as it rested on his short blade, but then, remembering what had happened with his father, it turned cold again.

"For a ninja, as long as the mission gets done..."

"Kakashi!"

Obito abruptly cut him off.

"The mission has never been everything. Your comrades come first."

"Ninjas risk their lives to complete missions so they can protect everyone in the village, don't they?!"

"..."

Kakashi's only response was silence.

He waved to the others present, then turned and left alone.

Night had fallen.

A full moon hung high in the sky, and Kakashi's retreating figure looked all the more lonely.

Minato watched him go, the smile gradually fading from his face.

"It seems your job as his teacher is more difficult than I thought."

Jiraiya sighed.

He wanted to help Kakashi see reason, but he didn't know what to say.

As Minato had said, Kakashi could only find his own way out of this.

There was only so much others could do.

The relatively harmonious atmosphere cracked a little as Kakashi left.

Uchiha Shingen watched quietly. He wasn't very interested in Team Minato's affairs, and he had no desire to interfere in someone else's life.

After resting for a while.

Uchiha Shingen recovered his strength and returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound with Jiraiya supporting him.

Before the master and student parted ways.

Jiraiya pulled a scroll he had prepared earlier from his robes and tossed it to Uchiha Shingen.

Uchiha Shingen caught it and glanced over its contents.

Besides a series of commonly used Earth Release techniques, the scroll also contained secret Earth Release techniques Jiraiya had developed himself, such as Swamp of the Underworld.

Clearly, Jiraiya had no intention of holding back from his student.

But as he looked at the scroll, Uchiha Shingen suddenly realized he'd been had:

"So you'd already prepared this thing to give me? Does that mean I fought for nothing tonight?!"

"Free bait, huh? You're pretty good, old man!"

"Didn't you seem to enjoy the fight?"

Jiraiya picked his nose, showing none of the imposing presence one would expect from a top-tier powerhouse. Instead, he looked more like an unkempt middle-aged geezer.

Especially with his unusual hobby, he looked even more the part.

Uchiha Shingen didn't even know where to begin with the complaints.

He decided to ignore the old geezer Jiraiya and turned toward the Uchiha Clan Compound, but stopped when he glanced at the scroll in his hand.

He didn't turn around, only gave a small wave.

"See ya~"

"Teacher Jiraiya!"

Whoosh—!

The night wind swept past, ruffling Jiraiya's silver hair.

He folded his arms and watched Uchiha Shingen until he disappeared from sight. Only then did he come to his senses and curse with a laugh:

"Brat!"

With that.

Jiraiya turned and left.

Forest of Death.

Not long after the others had left, a huge pitcher plant slowly emerged from the surrounding tree trunks.

Its two leaves, shaped like a gaping mouth, spread apart to reveal the White Zetsu hidden inside.

"That was close. I was almost discovered. I guess that's what you'd expect from a ninja bearing the title of Sannin!"

"And that blond man's speed! If I'm not mistaken, that was Space-Time Ninjutsu, right? Konoha's got quite the remarkable new talent!"

"And that Uchiha brat..."

"Interesting!"

"He's young, but already as strong as a Jonin... Madara would probably be interested in him, wouldn't he?"

"Maybe he could become a pawn we can use!"