Kuro and the Might Father and Son's Youth Training Manual
Kouchi sat slumped on the rooftop, staring blankly at the Konoha trio on the dock below, who were having a friendly diplomatic meeting with the Mist Village squad he had dispatched.
He stared wide-eyed at the unconscious Kai below, and subconsciously murmured:
"What were Konoha thinking? Why would they send Guy? It makes no sense!"
"This is legitimate diplomatic cooperation! Does that idiot Kai have the ability to negotiate cooperation? He doesn't! Who was the brilliant strategist who chose him?!"
Kou rubbed his slightly messy black hair and couldn't help but complain:
"Don't those old perverts Jiraiya and the Third Hokage Old Man do any personnel vetting?"
This is the first time in so many years that Konoha has sent a delegation to Mist Village to discuss cooperation. How can you do this to the white-haired loli who laid such a solid foundation for Konoha's diplomatic endeavors?!
Kou took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to complain, and stuffed the last string of three-colored dumplings into his mouth.
Once his feverish mind had finally calmed down, he turned his gaze back to the dock, to the silver-haired ninja standing in front of Zabuza, exchanging pleasantries with him.
"... Was this decision made by you, Kakashi?"
The knocking faded, and a whisper came in a tone that was hard to define as either gratified or bittersweet.
If this is Kakashi's decision, I wouldn't be too surprised.
If we were to name the person in the entire Ninja World who understands Might Guy's strength best, besides himself, it would undoubtedly be Kakashi.
Although Guy is only twenty-two years old now, he is still quite a distance away from his peak, when he kicked Six Paths Madara's body during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Even at this age, he has cultivated himself to a level that makes even his current self wary.
Even now, Might Guy, with Eight Gates fully opened, can definitely be considered the strongest fighter in the Ninja World today.
Even though Kakashi didn't know exactly how strong Guy would be after opening the Gate of Death, he was absolutely certain of Guy's level at least with the Seventh Gate.
To put it bluntly, Might Guy, with the Seventh Gate open, is fully capable of tying up all the Kirigakure Ninja except himself and Obito and whipping them like tops!
Bringing Kai along means bringing a minimum level of combat strength.
Koko knew very well that it was absolutely impossible for Kakashi, who had experienced Rin's death, to say that he had no lingering resentment towards Mist Village.
Even now, based on the strategic goal of jointly investigating Akatsuki, Konoha needs to cooperate with the Reformist Faction in Mist Village, Kakashi will never let his guard down.
Even with his current Kage Level strength, he wouldn't be so arrogant as to think he could leave unscathed after venturing deep into Mist Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
But with Kai as a powerful force, the one we need to worry about is Mist Village...
"Because this man named Might Guy is just so reassuring..."
Looking down at Kai, a hint of reminiscence flashed in his eyes.
Back when I hadn't yet distinguished myself in the Uchiha Clan, and was just an ordinary child with mediocre talent who wasn't favored by anyone, I trained alongside Guy and his father Might Duy.
The Eight Inner Gates is one of the essential Ninjutsu techniques for any transmigrator, and I certainly wouldn't let it pass me by, given my lack of talent at the time.
Moreover, Might Duy and his son Might Dai are among the few truly trustworthy and honest people in the entire Ninja World.
As long as you work hard enough and act cheerful and outgoing, getting along with them will be no problem at all!
And indeed, things unfolded exactly as I had predicted.
After countless morning runs in the streets of Konoha, where he pretended to bump into people at dawn, he successfully became a member of the Youth Training Manual.
He, Uchiha Kuro, officially formed the "MY MY Boys" trio with Guy and Dai!
The sound of footsteps running through the streets of Konoha in the Konoha, the counting of push-ups on the Training Ground, and the strange looks from passersby when walking upside down by the river...
Those were all his purest childhood memories.
The cheerful personality I now feign is something I gradually developed during that period, influenced by Kai and Uncle Dai.
Although the training was extremely tough, that time was truly enjoyable.
Uncle Dai and Kai are both very good people. In front of them, I can completely let down my guard and be completely honest with them.
Although the father and son's behavior was quite flamboyant, they were truly remarkable figures in the Ninja World.
I would always join them in shouting youth slogans on the streets of Konoha, while secretly feeling incredibly ashamed.
But looking back now... actually, Jiahao's role was quite interesting, huh?
Back then, I was full of hope for the future and genuinely enjoyed that bittersweet time.
He had spent countless evenings after training sessions lying on the grass by the Training Ground, dreaming of activating his Sage Body, creating a side-effect-free version of the Eight Inner Gates, and then activating his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, or even the Rinnegan, to spin Uchiha Madara and Otsutsuki Kaguya like tops...
Whenever those images surfaced in his mind, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He worked tirelessly every day to achieve that dream.
Back then, I genuinely believed that everything would proceed smoothly.
Until the day my parents in this life passed away...
That day, he, Uchiha Kuro, awakened the Sharingan he had always dreamed of.
It was on that day that I truly felt the sense of crisis called "survival" for the first time.
Because of loss...
With the awakening of his Sharingan, his situation within the clan underwent a dramatic change.
His close contact with the Might Guy father and son, who were considered "useless" in the village, had already drawn a lot of criticism.
Even his parents in this life had repeatedly advised him in private not to always fool around with that strange father and son.
But after her confident assurances that she was naturally precocious, her parents didn't say anything more about the topic.
After all, they were just ordinary Uchiha, and their parents were just ordinary Chunin who never awakened their Sharingan in their entire lives.
In their hearts, they were just ordinary, average children.
They'll naturally understand when they grow up a bit more...
But they passed away before they could witness themselves grow up.
After their deaths, he awakened the One-Tomoe Sharingan.
I was only six years old at that time.
Unsurprisingly, he, who was originally considered an insignificant figure within the clan, suddenly came into the sights of the Uchiha Clan's higher-ups almost overnight.
Although his own talent wasn't particularly outstanding, for the Uchiha Clan, a child who awakened the Sharingan at the age of six, regardless of his natural talent, undoubtedly proved to have extremely high potential for development.
The clan has arranged a systematic elite training program for itself, from Chakra control to the basics of Fire Release, from Shurikenjutsu to the use of the Sharingan, with each course having a senior member of the clan responsible for providing guidance.
Under this plan, I can grow at the fastest speed, but it also means that I can no longer spend my youth sweating on the Training Ground with Kai and Uncle Dai Tenten like before.
At that time, I was deeply conflicted about this.
It was at that time that Uncle Dai took the initiative to approach him.
The middle-aged man, ridiculed by the entire village as a "perennial Genin," looked at him earnestly with his eyes that were always narrowed into slits when he smiled, advising him to temporarily put aside his training with them and focus his energy on the training program arranged by the Uchiha Clan.
"Kou, you're different from me and Kai... You're a member of the Uchiha Clan, a genius who awakened the Sharingan."
"Taijutsu are the only option for me and Kai, but for you... it's not."
Faced with Uncle Dai's almost self-deprecating advice, Kou wanted to refute it, but Uncle Dai's next words struck his anxious heart hard.
"If you continue to focus solely on Taijutsu training, wasting your talent and abilities, you... are very likely to die on the battlefield ahead."
At the time, I could hardly refute that.
Mastering the Eight Inner Gates requires time, a great deal of time.
On the eve of the Third Ninja World War, a young ninja with mediocre Taijutsu might not survive until the war ends.
In contrast, with the Uchiha Clan's preferential treatment and nurturing, he was actually more likely to survive.
At that time, I was deeply anxious because of the death of my parents. I eventually accepted Uncle Dai's advice and devoted most of my time to the training of the Uchiha Clan.
But in the early morning, on the Konoha streets that the three of them had run countless times, he would still run side by side with Uncle Dai and Kai on the Konoha streets at 4 a. m.
Thanks to the solid Taijutsu foundation he built while training with Guy and Uncle Dai, he achieved results far exceeding the clan's expectations in the Uchiha Clan's training program.
Seeing his obvious progress, the Uchiha clan leaders no longer objected to his morning training schedule.
Through this daily training, he gradually grew into one of the best among the younger generation of the Uchiha Clan.
Time flew by, and when he was twelve, he and Kai officially received the long-awaited inheritance of the Eight Inner Gates from Uncle Dai...
And I did what I believed I could change through Uncle Dai and Kai.
During the Third Ninja World War, when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen attacked Guy and Ebisu, he arrived at the scene in time with Minato and reinforcements from the Uchiha Clan.
Because of their timely intervention, Uncle Dai, who would have died in that battle while opening the Gate of Death to protect Kai, survived.
This is, in Kou's opinion, one of the few things that truly "changed" things in his failed first half of life.
Until his defection, he maintained that initial and purest bond with the father and son...
Looking down at Kai, who was lying on the dock, vomiting and turning blue, still unconsciously muttering about youth, a very faint smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"It's so good to see you still the same as always... Kai."
He paused, his smile slowly fading, replaced by a hint of worry on his face.
"I wonder how Uncle Dai is doing now..."
"Is he, like Kakashi and the others, still thinking about my defection?"
Thinking of the elder who had taken care of him since he was four years old, Kou sighed sadly.
But he didn't dwell on his sadness for long.
Kou squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them again, his dark eyes had regained their usual calm.
"Now... is not the time to be sentimental about the past."
Kou slowly shifted his gaze from Kai to the figure of the boy in the gray robe beside Kai.
His brow furrowed tightly at that moment.
"Kabuto."
Why... is he here?