Beginner's Gift Pack

"Kakashi, let's go train!"

"Not interested!"

"The passion of youth has only just begun! Instead of sitting here catching a cold breeze, why not head down and run ten thousand meters?"

Perched high atop a wall, Kakashi's mouth twitched. The guy beside him—sporting a bowl cut and a green spandex bodysuit—was Might Guy, and he was truly annoying.

Seeing he couldn't sway his classmate, Might Guy couldn't help but scratch his head.

Kakashi was the genius student of their year at the ninja academy. Guy wanted to surpass him through sheer hard work, but Kakashi never accepted his invitations.

Flashing a grin of pearly white teeth, Might Guy shouted, "Are you worried about White Fang of Konoha?"

Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's father, was known as the White Fang of Konoha, a man said to be even more formidable than the Sannin.

For the past six months, however, he had been trapped in the center of a massive public outcry.

During a top-secret mission, Hatake Sakumo, acting as team leader, had been forced to make an impossible choice: complete the mission or save his comrades.

According to regulations, abandoning a mission was strictly forbidden, yet he had chosen to save his teammates' lives instead. The ninjas of the village blamed him for the losses the village suffered as a result.

If that were all, it might have been manageable, but just two days ago, even the comrades he had saved had come forward to criticize Hatake Sakumo.

This left the White Fang of Konoha in deep despair.

As the son of the White Fang, Kakashi was deeply concerned for his father, his heart heavy with worry.

Glancing at Might Guy, Kakashi clenched his fists but said nothing.

Just as the two sat on the wall, legs dangling, a rush of rapid footsteps echoed from the end of the street.

A young boy with fair skin and a resolute expression ran past them, his legs heavy and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Looking down from his vantage point, Might Guy's eyes lit up.

"Isn't that Gong Yi?"

Kakashi cast a fleeting glance, his expression remaining completely indifferent.

"He's been training himself intensely lately. This is the third time I've seen him run past here."

Hearing Kakashi say this, Might Guy felt a surge of joy.

So Gong Yi, who was in the same class, was also a hard worker!

"Since you won't come train with me, I'll go find Gong Yi instead."

Might Guy jumped off the high wall and chased after Gong Yi.

"One thousand meters, five hundred, one hundred... finally!"

Gong Yi dragged his heavy feet and let out a long sigh of relief.

His thirty-thousand-meter long-distance training for the day was finally over, and he was exhausted.

Behind him, Might Guy's booming voice rang out, "Gong Yi, are you stopping? Keep going! Don't give up! Youth has only just begun, how can you stop here?"

Looking at Might Guy's passionate display, Gong Yi remained expressionless.

How could Guy know that he had already run thirty thousand meters, circled the entirety of Konoha, and even finished five hundred sit-ups and one thousand push-ups?

"Guy, you keep going. I'm heading home."

"Uh, why are you just as cold as Kakashi?"

Gong Yi shook his head without offering an explanation, passed through the gates of Konoha, and walked slowly toward his home.

His coldness was fundamentally different from Kakashi's.

Kakashi, or even their classmates like Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi, came from prominent Konoha families. They were clan ninjas who carried a natural sense of pride.

As for Gong Yi, his coldness was merely a shield to keep others at a distance, preventing them from probing into his secrets.

At a guard post outside Konoha, three ninjas watched the small, lonely child walking toward the outskirts of the village, whispering among themselves.

"That kid named Gong Yi is a war orphan, right? He's working really hard!"

"I heard Kinoshita Ryota brought him back from Kusagakure. It's a pity Ryota died in the last mission."

At the mention of their familiar comrade's name, the three ninjas fell silent.

A sudden wave of sorrow washed over them.

The ninja world was too cruel; comrades who were drinking and eating barbecue together yesterday might die on a mission tomorrow.

They had just finished some missions, and after their leave, the village—seeing how hard they had worked—had assigned them to these easy sentry duties to guard the village.

Someone suddenly remarked, "That kid has been training too hard lately. He's still so young; I'm afraid his body won't be able to take it."

There is a saying that "the poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts." Since ancient times, to walk a path of greatness in physical training, one needed not only talent but also massive resources.

For example, ninjas raised in clans had specialized instructors for taijutsu training in addition to their necessary ninjutsu studies.

Beyond that, they had the support of medicinal soups and medical ninjutsu to ensure they didn't ruin their bodies.

"He's just an orphan. If he doesn't work hard, he'll be sent on missions or to the battlefield as soon as he graduates from the ninja academy. At that point, he'll just be waiting for death."

"Shh, don't mention the battlefield. I hate war!"

"Who actually likes it? But the situation in the village has been getting increasingly tense lately, and Sunagakure keeps stirring up trouble."

The three of them chatted idly, drifting from the topic of orphans to national affairs, until eventually, Gong Yi was gradually forgotten by them.

Just like the perspective of these adults, Gong Yi was well aware that if he wanted to engage in grueling, high-intensity training, the scarcity of logistical resources was his greatest weakness.

He did not have enough resources to properly condition his body after such an immense training load.

Even in this world of Naruto, a land brimming with energy, his body would not be able to withstand it.

However, after his first training session, Gong Yi set those worries aside.

"Ninja Scholar System, Newbie Gift Pack issued. Scholar Skill--Omni-Directional Recovery Technique trial card. Duration: one year!"