The snow melted, and a new year officially began. Konoha was peaceful, after all—it wasn't wartime.
"Morning, Shisui!" Kakashi greeted Uchiha Shisui with one hand in his pocket.
"Hey, Kakashi. You're here pretty early!" Uchiha Shisui hopped down from the railing.
Ever since their match that day, they'd trained together regularly. Most of the time, though, Shisui slacked off. After all, a man with a cheat didn't need to work hard.
Kakashi and Shisui walked out of the Ninja Academy.
"Have you checked the admission notice yet, Shisui?" Kakashi asked casually, pulling a novel out of his pocket and starting to read.
"Admission to the Ninja Academy? Isn't that a piece of cake for us, Kakashi? Are you questioning a genius's credentials?"
Uchiha Shisui looked up at the blue sky, fell silent for a moment, then replied.
"Why, sorry, genius of the Uchiha Clan."
Kakashi closed his novel, pressed his palms together, and made an apologetic gesture.
"Come on. The training ground is just ahead. Let's have a real match. We never actually fought for real last time, Kakashi. Let's see if you've improved at all."
"Sure, a little exercise wouldn't hurt."
A glint flashed in Kakashi's usually dull eyes. He'd been working hard on his Taijutsu lately. He'd always been outmatched by Shisui in that area, and this time he was going to reclaim his dignity as a genius.
The two walked over to the wire fence. Inside, someone was running with a white cloth tied across his back. (Run five hundred laps to earn a late admission.)
A shiny bowl cut, a green bodysuit, and very thick eyebrows.
Shisui stared at the figure before him, startled. He'd watched Naruto, so he knew exactly who this was. Even the mighty Six Paths Madara could barely withstand Guy's kick. This was the man who'd nearly kicked the story to its finale.
"Shisui, what are you spacing out for?" Kakashi asked, puzzled, looking at Uchiha Shisui, who'd stopped walking.
"It's nothing. Let's go in."
Shisui and Kakashi entered the training ground. Kakashi also noticed the bowl-cut boy, panting like a bull after running, but paid him little attention.
"Guy! Keep going! Youth is waving at us!"
Shisui looked toward the voice. There was another shiny bowl cut, thick eyebrows, and a green bodysuit. He knew who it was, of course: Might Duy, the man who'd kicked the Mist Village's elite force, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, down to the Lucky Three.
"That's two hundred and thirty-five laps, Guy! Keep going!" Might Duy cried, tears streaming down his face.
"Dad! I... I can't go on!" the little Guy said, then collapsed onto the ground.
"Hahaha, that bowl cut is hilarious."
"Yeah, and that ugly green outfit!"
The people nearby saw the father and son and started jeering at them.
After seeing this, Shisui and Kakashi exchanged a glance, curious to see how the father and son would react.
"This is youth! Thanks for your support!" Might Duy didn't get angry at the taunts. Instead, he gave a thumbs-up to the children laughing nearby.
With that, Might Duy helped Might Guy to his feet, then punched him hard in the face.
"Ah!" Might Guy fell backward, his face swelling and reddening at once. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm already five years old, but I can't even finish five hundred laps around the training ground."
"Guy! I hit you because you were going about your youth the wrong way. Do you want to know how I live my youth?" Tears streamed down Might Duy's face as he held Might Guy by the shoulders.
"I do, Dad! I want to know!"
"Good! Guy! I call it the self-discipline of youth! When you challenge yourself to overcome a difficulty, you deliberately add a penalty for failing! You back yourself into a corner, and then you'll have no choice but to give the challenge your all!"
"I understand, Dad!"
"Excellent, Guy! You've grasped the meaning of self-discipline. Now go and live your youth!"
The two embraced, tears soaking their bodysuits, and vowed to run five hundred laps.
"Hahaha, look at them."
The two children nearby started laughing again.
"Thanks for your support!" Might Duy smiled and gave them a thumbs-up.
"Run! His smile is terrifying!" The two children turned and bolted in fright.
"Dad! I'm going to run five hundred laps around the training ground! If I can't finish, I'll do five hundred push-ups instead!" Might Guy clenched his fist and made up his mind.
"Keep going, Guy! This is youth!"
"Shisui, are you...?" Kakashi looked at Shisui, utterly confused by the tears suddenly streaming down his face.
"Kakashi, kore wa is youth! Let's have a youthful match of our own!" Shisui struck a pose completely at odds with his usual image.
Kakashi: "???"
"I'm kidding, Kakashi. Seal of Confrontation." Shisui composed himself and formed the Seal of Confrontation.
"I'm not going easy on you this time." Kakashi formed the Seal of Confrontation.
As soon as Kakashi lowered his hands after forming the seal, Shisui flashed forward, his fist cutting through the air toward Kakashi's face.
Kakashi tilted his head to dodge, then spun and kicked backward. Shisui flipped several times to evade him, and when he reappeared, he was already holding a wooden Kunai.
Kakashi put some distance between them and rapidly formed Hand Seals. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
An earthen wall topped with a dog's head rose from the ground, shielding Kakashi.
With Kakashi out of sight, Shisui's eyes flashed. His scarlet One-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spun.
Uchiha Shisui looked down, his scarlet eyes fixed below as the corner of his mouth lifted.
"What a 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 up from beneath the earth—but they caught nothing.
"Kakashi, I win again."
Shisui jumped down from the wall and held his Kunai against Kakashi, who had crawled out of a hole.
"It's not over yet." Kakashi smiled, then turned into a pile of dirt.
"What? A mud clone?"
As soon as Shisui spoke, Kakashi appeared behind Uchiha Shisui, holding a wooden Kunai against his neck.
"How about it, Shisui? Even with the Sharingan, it's not easy to tell apart a clone infused with Chakra Nature Transformation, is it?"
"Tch, Kakashi. Fine, you can have this one. Dinner's on you." Uchiha Shisui shrugged indifferently.
"Shisui, you freeload at my house for dinner almost every night!" Kakashi said, a dark look on his face.
"I don't care." Shisui dragged Kakashi out of the training ground, planning to head home.
"Keep going! That's youth!"
"I will, Dad!"
While the two were getting swept up in the moment, two Chunin nearby mocked them. "Playing training games with your son again?"
"Being a Genin forever can't be easy, hahaha."
With that, the two walked away from the training ground.
"Thanks for your support!" Might Duy didn't take it to heart. He gave them a thumbs-up in thanks.
"Dad..." Might Guy clenched his fists and watched the two Chunin walk away.
After Might Duy left, Might Guy chased after the two Chunin by himself. A pebble struck one of them squarely in the back of the head.
"Damn it, who was that? Who dares sneak up on a ninja?" The Chunin scanned the area, then looked down and spotted the kid he'd just mocked.
"Kid, you've got some nerve!"
He held Might Guy back by the head, and no matter how Guy swung his fists, he couldn't reach him.
"Kakashi, should we help?" Shisui asked, looking at Kakashi beside him.
They'd just returned from the training ground when they witnessed the scene.
"Yeah!" Kakashi leaped over at once and kicked both Chunin to the ground.
Then he turned to Might Guy and said, "Your dad was mocked like that, and you couldn't even fight back?"
Just then, Hatake Sakumo, wearing a Jonin vest, walked over. "Kakashi, it's time to come home for dinner. Shisui, would you like to join us?"
"Coming, Uncle Sakumo!" Shisui hurried over to Kakashi.
Might Guy watched the three walk away, his heart filled with loneliness and resentment.