The next day.
Ninja Academy.
The classroom was quieter than usual.
The same people were there, but each face had something different about it.
Obito sat in front of Guy, twisting around to look him up and down.
"Did you really kick a Chunin to death?"
Guy nodded.
"Yeah."
"With one kick?"
"Yeah."
Obito fell silent.
He stared at Guy as if he were some kind of alien.
"That guy was a Chunin who'd defected from Iwagakure, a bona fide Chunin, and you killed him with one kick?"
Guy thought about it.
"Well, I didn't quite kick him to death."
Obito's eyes lit up. "Huh?"
"He only died after he got embedded in a tree."
Obito: "..."
Beside him, Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses, his expression complicated.
He'd been there and seen it with his own eyes.
Scarface had been embedded in the tree, eyes wide, his body caved in.
Just thinking about it still made his legs feel weak.
"Ebisu."
Ebisu turned around.
Shiranui Genma was chewing on a toothpick as he looked at him.
"Weren't you acting all high and mighty back then? Still feeling high and mighty now?"
Ebisu's mouth twitched.
He wanted to argue.
But after thinking it over, he kept quiet.
Acting high and mighty compared to that guy?
That guy had kicked a Chunin to death.
What had Ebisu ever killed with a kick?
A few low-level bandits, maybe—and they were tied up.
The classroom door opened.
Ikkaku Umino walked in.
He had several envelopes in his hand.
"Everyone, take your seats."
They all sat up straight.
Ikkaku Umino glanced around and began calling out the names.
"Team One, two thousand ryo each."
"Team Two, two thousand ryo each."
"..."
When he got to the fifth team, he paused.
"Team Six: Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and Ebisu."
The three of them stood up.
Ikkaku Umino looked at them.
"You three dealt with the most bandits. In particular, when Team 7 got into trouble, you rushed to help right away."
He handed them their envelopes.
"Three thousand ryo each."
Ebisu's eyes lit up.
Three thousand ryo!
That was more than his father gave him for pocket money in a whole month!
Genma took his envelope, his expression unchanged, but the toothpick made a full circle in his mouth.
Guy took his envelope and casually tucked it into his pocket.
Ikkaku Umino looked at him.
"Guy, stay behind for a moment. The rest of you are dismissed. You have the afternoon off."
Obito stood up. As he passed Guy, he lowered his voice. "You'd better treat us later!"
Guy nodded.
"Sure."
Soon, everyone had left the classroom.
Only Guy and Ikkaku Umino remained.
Ikkaku Umino took something wrapped in cloth from beneath the lectern.
It was long.
He set it on the lectern and unwrapped it.
A massive cleaver.
The blade was longer than an adult's arm.
Its handle was wrapped in black hemp cord and gleamed faintly.
It was the bandit chief's sword from yesterday.
Guy froze for a moment.
Ikkaku Umino looked at him.
"I heard you're practicing with a sword?"
Guy nodded.
"I am."
"What kind of swordsmanship are you practicing?"
Guy thought about it.
"A style I came up with myself."
Ikkaku Umino didn't ask him what kind of style it was.
He pushed the cleaver toward Guy.
"This is for you."
Guy blinked.
"For me?"
"Yeah," Ikkaku Umino said. "It's good quality, better than an ordinary Ninja Blade."
He paused and looked at Guy.
"If it weren't for you yesterday, that kid from Team 7 wouldn't have made it."
"He's in the hospital now, but he's going to live. The doctor said that if you'd been half a minute later, even the gods couldn't have saved him."
Guy said nothing.
Ikkaku Umino continued.
"This sword belonged to the bandit chief. You killed him with a kick, so it makes sense that his sword should go to you."
"Also—"
He pulled an envelope from inside his shirt, much thicker than the ones he'd handed out earlier.
He placed it beside the sword.
"This is just for you."
Guy picked it up and opened it.
Thirty thousand ryo.
He looked up at Ikkaku Umino.
Ikkaku Umino waved a hand.
"Don't look at me. The village approved it. The kid you saved comes from a family with some influence. This is their token of gratitude."
"Add that to everything you did during the mission, and it comes out to about this much."
Guy fell silent for two seconds.
Then he tucked the money into his pocket.
"Thank you, Umino-sensei."
Ikkaku Umino nodded.
"All right, off you go. You have half a day off, so get some rest."
Guy picked up the sword.
It was heavy.
Much heavier than the sword blanks at the Blacksmith Shop.
But once he held it, it felt surprisingly comfortable, apart from being a little large.
He turned and headed for the door.
When he reached it, something suddenly occurred to him.
He turned back.
"Umino-sensei."
"Hm?"
"What was that classmate's name?"
Ikkaku Umino stared at him for a moment.
"You don't know?"
Guy nodded awkwardly.
They'd been classmates for almost a year, and he didn't know the kid's name. It really was awkward.
Ikkaku Umino rolled his eyes. "His name is Aburame Shikuroo."
Guy nodded.
Aburame Shikuroo.
I'll remember it this time.
When he walked out of the school gates, the sun was directly overhead.
Guy stood by the entrance and looked down at the sword in his hand.
Then he looked at the thirty thousand ryo in his pocket.
He grinned.
Half a day off.
Where to?
Obviously, the training ground behind the mountain.
He carried the sword and headed there.
On the way, he ran into a few familiar faces.
Ramen Uncle poked his head out, spotted the sword in Guy's hand, and stared.
"Hey, Guy, where'd you get that sword?"
Guy gave him a thumbs-up.
"War trophy!"
Ramen Uncle blinked and looked at the sword, which was taller than Guy.
"Uh... isn't it tiring to carry that?"
Guy shook his head.
"Nope."
Then he kept walking.
Ramen Uncle watched him go and muttered, "That kid's getting less and less like a seven-year-old..."
The training ground behind the mountain.
The same clearing as before.
Guy stuck the sword into the ground and plopped down.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, warm against his skin.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Yesterday, he'd been exhausted. After he got home, he'd put the Monk Points into Yijin Jing, then collapsed straight into bed without even opening the gift pack.
Now was the perfect time.
He opened the system panel.
[Host: Might Guy (age seven)] [Monk Points: 0] [Special Techniques] [Yijin Jing (Superior): 952 (Mastery)] (Cliffside bond: 40 + bandit extermination: 100 + several months of regular training) [Precept-Breaking Blade (Intermediate): 348 (Mastery)] [Vajra Leg (Basic): 1000 (Mastery of Perfection)] [Vajra Finger (Basic): 1000 (Mastery of Perfection)] [Golden Bell Shield (Basic): 87 (Some Accomplishment)] [Intermediate Gift Pack ×1]
His Yijin Jing proficiency had reached 952 points!
He needed just 48 more points to break through to perfection!
But he could only gain one point of Yijin Jing proficiency every seven days.
Forty-eight points meant 336 days.
Less than a year!
Guy took a deep breath.
At this rate, it might take only a few more months for his Yijin Jing to reach its limit.
Of course, that was assuming he didn't hit a bottleneck.
Then he looked at another notification on the system panel.
[Random Intermediate Gift Pack ×1, unopened]
An intermediate gift pack.
It was his first time seeing one.
Guy sat up straight, feeling a little excited.
"Open it."
Golden light burst forth.
Two things appeared in his mind.