Encounter

Other people's opinions, other people's methods.

Ueno Kei had never cared about such illusory, unimportant things. When he had become friends with Naruto without hesitation and been shunned by others, he had never regretted it.

Day after day, training, training! Becoming a true ninja was Ueno Kei's unwavering goal!

"Phew." Ueno Kei stopped punching after hundreds of strikes and let out a long breath.

He grabbed a towel from a nearby stump and wiped the sweat from his face. A refreshing feeling washed over him.

Then Ueno Kei headed for the river. After taking a deep breath at the bank, he leaped in with a splash. Every morning after training here, he would bathe in the river and catch a couple of fish for breakfast.

As far as Ueno Kei could tell, no one else came here. Besides, the river was flowing water, and it didn't run in the direction of the water used by the people of Konoha.

There was no need to worry about making it dirty and affecting others. Besides, no one had noticed—or, if they had, they hadn't cared enough to come warn Ueno Kei.

So Ueno Kei continued doing as he pleased.

Of course, he only did this because there were no strict rules or restrictions against it. Ueno Kei never violated Konoha's prohibitions or mandatory regulations.

Without rules, there could be no order. Ueno Kei had great faith in that saying.

The First, who had founded Konoha and laid down its rules and regulations, had become a spiritual inspiration to Ueno Kei—someone he couldn't help but admire, and, at the very least, the person he respected most.

Ueno Kei fully approved of the title "God of Shinobi." When chatting with Naruto in private, he had enthusiastically praised the First. He also greatly admired the Will of Fire that the First had passed down.

Naturally, Ueno Kei would never talk like that in public. Otherwise, people would think he was a snot-nosed brat who didn't know his place and was full of himself. That wasn't what Ueno Kei wanted.

As he swam, Ueno Kei ducked beneath the surface to search for fish. He figured that Naruto was coming over for lunch today, so besides catching a couple for breakfast, he would need to catch several more to add to the meal.

Naruto hadn't come over to eat for several days. Thinking of him, Ueno Kei's lips curled into a smile.

Just then, a large fish swam lazily past above and to Ueno Kei's left.

Ueno Kei's eyes lit up. It was about half again as large as the fish he usually caught. He immediately swung around and swam after it with all his strength.

The fish seemed to have been startled by Ueno Kei and began darting about in a panic. Ueno Kei stayed calm, drawing out the faint chakra within him and directing it to cling to his limbs.

No one had taught Ueno Kei how to do this, but the greatest thing he had learned from his training so far was that attaching chakra to a part of his body could make it more agile.

Ueno Kei had once wondered whether he could use this to climb a tree upside down or walk on water. Of course, those were only things he had imagined; he had never managed to do them.

Besides, his pitifully small amount of chakra wasn't enough to waste.

Ueno Kei followed close behind the fish, in no hurry to strike. He kept his eyes fixed on it, then suddenly narrowed his gaze.

His right hand shot out.

As luck would have it, the fish swerved right into his hand.

Ueno Kei's lips lifted slightly. He was about to surface for air and secure the fish when—

A faint glimmer flickered in the depths of the river. Ueno Kei paused, but just then he began to feel short of breath.

He had no time to think it over. He surfaced at once and vigorously wiped the water from his face.

He looked around.

"Looks like I chased that fish a fair distance from my training spot," Ueno Kei muttered.

"There's a glint down there. There must be something at the bottom." Ueno Kei frowned as he thought it over. "But what could it be? Judging by the reflection, it's probably made of metal."

Ueno Kei swam to shore, marked the spot, and ran back to his training ground. He put the big fish in a bamboo basket he had prepared earlier, grabbed a kunai, and hurried back to where he had been.

Ueno Kei squinted at the water for a while. At last, he spotted an unusual glimmer on the rippling surface. Steadying himself, he gripped the kunai between his teeth.

Then he jumped into the water toward the glimmer.

Once underwater, Ueno Kei adjusted his position, located the source of the reflection, and swam toward it with all his strength.

Before long, he reached the riverbed where the glimmer had come from.

Ueno Kei swam in a circle, puzzled, but was surprised to find nothing at all. It made no sense. If he could see the reflection of something at the bottom from the surface, it should be easy to find once he was down there.

Ueno Kei refused to give up and searched again, but still found nothing.

With no other choice, Ueno Kei surfaced again. After climbing onto the bank, he clicked his tongue and scratched his head.

"That's impossible. There has to be something there. How can I not find it?"

Ueno Kei frowned and racked his brain, but couldn't think of anything. Irritated, he flopped onto the ground behind him. Suddenly, his face lit up with understanding.

"Of course! I was blocking the sunlight. That's why the thing wasn't reflecting."

After figuring out the reason, Ueno Kei eagerly dove back into the river. This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake.

Ueno Kei submerged a little way from the spot where he had seen the glimmer and kept going until he reached the bottom. Then he lay on the riverbed and slowly paddled along, like a dog swimming.

This time, it took only a little while for Ueno Kei to find the spot that had been glinting. A pleased smile appeared on his face. Just as he thought.

Something like the tip of a blade or sword—or maybe a needle—protruded from the riverbed.

But only a tiny part of it showed, just the very tip.

Ueno Kei immediately took the kunai from his mouth and began digging into the riverbed with all his strength.

When he ran out of breath, he surfaced for air, then went back down and continued digging. The riverbed was unexpectedly hard. If his arm strength hadn't improved over the past six months of training, digging it out would have been far too difficult.

Even so, Ueno Kei had to surface seven or eight times before he finally dug the object out of the riverbed. It was just as he had suspected.

It was a very old-looking blade, about seventy or eighty centimeters long. A scroll was tied to its hilt.

Ueno Kei carefully retrieved both items. Then he climbed ashore and ran back to his training spot, put his clothes on, and tucked the scroll into his chest, holding it tightly in place. He strapped the greatsword—nearly as tall as he was—to his back with a rope.

Picking up the bamboo basket, he hurried home.