Youthful Father and Son

The ice and snow melted, and a new year officially began. Konoha was peaceful; after all, it was not a time of war.

"Morning! Uchiha Shisui!" Kakashi greeted Uchiha Shisui with one hand tucked into his pocket.

"Yo, Kakashi, you're here pretty fast!" Uchiha Shisui stood up and jumped down from the railing.

Since that sparring match, they had been training together, though most of the time, Uchiha Shisui was just slacking off. After all, a man with a cheat code didn't need to work hard.

At the Ninja Academy, Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui walked out of the school gates.

"Have you checked the admission notices yet, Uchiha Shisui?" Kakashi pulled a novel from his pocket and began reading, speaking in a nonchalant tone.

"Admission to the Ninja Academy? Isn't that a simple matter for us, Kakashi? Are you questioning the status of a genius?"

Uchiha Shisui looked up at the azure sky, speechless for a moment, then spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, genius of the Uchiha clan."

Kakashi closed his novel, pressed his palms together, and made an apologetic gesture.

"Let's go, the training ground is just ahead. Let's have a real spar. Kakashi, we haven't had a proper fight since before. Let me see if you've made any progress during this time."

"Well, I suppose a little exercise wouldn't hurt."

A glint of sharpness flashed in Kakashi's dead-fish eyes. He had been studying taijutsu diligently during this period. He had always lagged behind Uchiha Shisui in taijutsu, and this time, he had to reclaim the dignity of a genius.

The two walked over to the wire fence, where a figure was running with a piece of white cloth tied to his back (earning a make-up admission by running 500 laps).

A shiny bowl cut, a green jumpsuit, and very thick eyebrows.

Uchiha Shisui felt a jolt in his heart as he looked at the figure before him. Having watched Naruto, he knew exactly who this was. Even someone as strong as Madara Uchiha had struggled to withstand a kick from Might Guy; this was the man who nearly kicked the series to its finale.

"Uchiha Shisui, why are you spacing out?" Kakashi looked suspiciously at Uchiha Shisui, who had stopped in his tracks.

"It's nothing, let's go in."

Uchiha Shisui and Kakashi walked into the training ground. Kakashi also noticed the bowl-cut boy panting like an ox from his run, but he didn't pay him much mind.

"Might Guy! Keep it up! Youth is beckoning to us!"

Uchiha Shisui looked toward the source of the voice—the same reflective bowl cut, thick eyebrows, and green jumpsuit. Naturally, he knew his identity: the man who kicked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist Village's special forces into a trio of jokes—Might Duy.

"That's 235 laps, Might Guy! Keep going!" Might Duy shouted, tears streaming down his face.

"Father! I... I can't do it anymore!" After saying this, the small figure of Might Guy collapsed onto the ground.

"Hahaha, this bowl cut is so funny."

"Yeah, yeah, and that ugly green outfit."

People nearby saw the pair of father and son and began to mock them.

Uchiha Shisui and Kakashi exchanged a glance after seeing this, curious to see how the father and son would react.

"This is youth! Thank you for your support!" Instead of getting angry at the mockery, Might Duy gave a thumbs-up to the children laughing nearby.

With that, Might Duy helped Might Guy up and then punched him hard in the face.

"Ah!" Might Guy fell backward, his face instantly turning red and swollen. "I'm sorry, Father. I'm already five years old, and I still can't complete 500 laps around the training ground."

"Might Guy! I hit you because you used the wrong way to unleash your youth. Do you want to know how I unleash my youth?" Might Duy was covered in tears, holding Might Guy's shoulders.

"I do! Father! I want to know!"

"Very good! Might Guy! I call it the self-discipline of youth! It means that when challenging certain difficulties, you intentionally set a penalty for yourself if you fail! You force yourself into a corner with no way out, and only then can you push yourself to complete the challenge!"

"I understand, Father!"

"Very good! Might Guy! You have grasped self-discipline. Now, start unleashing your youth!"

The two immediately hugged each other, tears soaking their jumpsuits, and vowed to run the 500 laps.

"Hahaha, look at them."

The two children nearby started laughing again.

"Thank you for your support!" Might Duy smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

"Let's go, his smile is terrifying!" The two children were so scared they ran away.

"Father! I will run 500 laps around the training ground! If I can't finish, I'll do 500 push-ups!" Might Guy raised his fist, determined.

"Keep it up! Might Guy! This is youth!"

"Uchiha Shisui, are you...?" Kakashi looked at Uchiha Shisui with a face full of question marks, not understanding why he had suddenly shed tears.

"Kakashi, kore wa—this is youth! Let's have a youthful spar ourselves!" Uchiha Shisui struck a pose completely out of character for him.

Kakashi: "???"

"Just kidding, Kakashi. Seal of Confrontation." Uchiha Shisui composed his expression and formed the Seal of Confrontation.

"I won't go easy on you this time." Kakashi formed the Seal of Confrontation.

The moment Kakashi's hands finished the seal, Uchiha Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to appear, his fist whistling through the air as it smashed toward Kakashi's face.

Kakashi tilted his head to dodge, then turned and kicked backward. Uchiha Shisui performed several backflips to evade, and when he reappeared, he was already holding a wooden kunai in his hand.

Kakashi pulled back, his hands weaving seals at high speed: "Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

A wall of earth adorned with dog-head carvings rose from the ground, shielding Kakashi's body.

Losing sight of Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui's pupils flashed as his scarlet, single-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated.

Uchiha Shisui looked down with his scarlet eyes, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"A truly clumsy tactic, Kakashi."

With that, he pushed off the ground and leaped onto the earth wall. Just as Uchiha Shisui's feet left the ground, a pair of hands reached out from the earth, though they failed to grab anything.

"Kakashi, I win this time as well."

Shisui jumped off the wall, holding a kunai to the Kakashi who had crawled out of the hole.

"The outcome hasn't been decided yet." Kakashi smiled, then dissolved into a pile of mud.

"Nani? An Earth Clone?"

No sooner had the words left Shisui's lips than Kakashi appeared behind Uchiha Shisui, holding a wooden kunai to his throat.

"Shisui, how about that? Even with the Sharingan, it's not easy to distinguish a clone infused with chakra nature transformation, is it?"

"Tch, Kakashi, I'll count this as your win, but you're covering dinner." Uchiha Shisui shrugged, acting indifferent.

"Shisui, you sponge off my family for almost every dinner, don't you?" Kakashi's face darkened with sweat drops.

"I don't care." Shisui pulled Kakashi out of the training ground, intending to head home.

"Keep it up! This is youth!"

"I will! Father!"

Just as the two were feeling moved by themselves, two nearby chunin mocked them, saying: "Playing training games with your son again?"

"It's not easy being an eternal genin, hahahaha."

With that, the two walked away from the training ground.

"Thanks for the support!" Might Duy didn't mind at all, giving a thumbs-up in gratitude.

"Father..." Might Guy clenched his fists secretly, glaring at the two departing chunin.

After Might Duy left, Might Guy chased after the two chunin alone, hitting one of them squarely in the back of the head with a pebble.

"Damn it, who is it? Daring to sneak-attack a ninja." The chunin looked around, only to look down and see the brat he had just mocked.

"Brat, you've got some nerve!"

He reached out and pressed his hand against Might Guy's head; no matter how hard the boy swung his fists, he couldn't land a hit.

"Kakashi, should we help?" Shisui asked, looking at Kakashi beside him.

They had just returned from the training ground and witnessed this scene.

"Help!" Kakashi leaped over in an instant, kicking both chunin to the ground.

He then looked at Might Guy and said: "Your father was mocked like that, yet you couldn't even fight back?"

Just then, Hatake Sakumo, wearing his jonin vest, walked over: "Kakashi, time to go home for dinner. And Shisui, would you like to join us?"

"Coming! Uncle Sakumo!" Shisui walked quickly to Kakashi's side.

Might Guy watched the three walk away, feeling nothing but loneliness and resentment in his heart.