Kakashi Hatake

Peace was within reach, and the villagers of Leaf Village wore happy smiles every day. Their relationships with one another seemed to have grown much closer.

Hyuga Iwa sat upright in the classroom while their history teacher lectured from the podium.

Today's lesson was about the history of Fire Country, but the material was quite basic. The teacher merely explained the textbook's contents, finding it tedious to teach, while the students found it boring to listen to.

Most students did not care much about this knowledge to begin with. In most people's minds, why would a ninja need to learn such things?

Although Hyuga Iwa was quite interested in history, he had already read through the book once. The teacher's lecture offered nothing new, so he had no interest in listening. One moment he was deep in thought; the next, he was scribbling furiously.

Hyuga Iwa was replanning his training schedule!

There was no helping it. Now that he was attending school, the time he had once used for training was gone. School took up most of his day, and aside from eating and sleeping, he barely had any time left to exercise. It had completely disrupted his plans.

Since the old plan would not work, he could only make a new one.

Hyuga Iwa looked at the class schedule and felt a headache coming on.

There was no way to change the morning theory classes, but he could think of something for the practical classes in the afternoon.

Still, theory classes were not entirely useless. If the lesson was boring, he could use the time to practice things he could do anywhere, such as chakra control.

As for the afternoon practical classes, he could do some basic physical training, but...

Hyuga Iwa looked up at Uchiha Shin not far away and sighed. What a troublesome guy. Were all Uchiha Clan members this petty?!

The Uchiha Kureha beside him, however, was not bad. Her voice was soft, she was cute, and her body was frail... Uh, his thoughts had gone in the wrong direction.

Hyuga Iwa then looked at Might Guy beside him. Guy was dozing off, his head bobbing up and down, just short of slamming into the desk.

Hyuga Iwa found it amusing, then immediately composed himself. He had probably trained until very late again.

Hyuga Iwa subconsciously touched his chin. It was smooth and clean. It would be a long time before he could grow a beard.

Come to think of it, Hyuga Iwa still had not changed several habits after being reborn. One was that whenever he thought about something, he would unconsciously stroke his beard—strictly speaking, his stubble. Another was that when talking to people or feeling nervous, he would unconsciously scratch his head.

It was rather funny. Perhaps he had gone to eat ramen with the Duke of Zhou in his dreams. As Guy dozed, he smacked his lips and muttered, "Ramen, delicious ramen..."

The teacher was lecturing enthusiastically when he suddenly discovered that someone below had fallen asleep. Sleeping was one thing, but he was even shouting about wanting ramen!

Standing on the podium, the teacher's face twitched. The other students all turned around at once and stared in their direction.

Hyuga Iwa covered his face, looking utterly ashamed.

"Hahahaha..."

A moment later, the entire classroom burst into laughter.

Seemingly awakened by the noise, Guy yawned and opened his eyes groggily. Looking at his classmates laughing themselves silly, he said, "Huh? Is class over? Iwa, I'm hungry. Let's go eat ramen today."

After a brief silence, the classroom erupted into even louder laughter!

Hyuga Iwa was amused as well, and even the teacher on the podium could not help laughing.

Guy looked at his classmates in confusion. Why was everyone laughing? So he laughed too, even though he had no idea they were actually laughing at him.

After a while, when everyone had calmed down, the teacher finally clapped his hands. "Quiet, quiet. That's enough. And Guy, it's still class time. It isn't time for you to eat ramen yet."

Only then did Guy realize that his classmates might have been laughing at him.

The thick-skinned Guy scratched his head and sat down awkwardly.

Guy had brought some life to the dreary classroom. Even after the lesson resumed, there was more interaction in the once-dull class.

After class, the students walked around in small groups. Some occasionally looked back at Guy, teasing him or making faces, clearly delighted.

Children were like that. As long as there was something amusing, they could laugh about it for half the day.

Guy, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He followed beside Hyuga Iwa, chattering endlessly about things he found interesting.

"Oh, right, Iwa. Let's challenge Kakashi Hatake in practical class this afternoon!"

"Kakashi Hatake? The legendary genius Kakashi Hatake?" Hyuga K asked in surprise.

"Yeah, Kakashi Hatake really is a genius. He has been at the Ninja Academy for less than a year, but they say he already has the strength of a Genin!"

Guy nodded, his face full of admiration. "But one day, I'll defeat him!"

"You?" Hyuga K clearly did not believe him. "The only one who can defeat him is me! Oh, right, and Iwa too. Iwa, you think so too, don't you?!"

"Kakashi Hatake..." Hyuga Iwa thought for a moment. "I probably still wouldn't be his match right now."

Hyuga Iwa was very rational. He knew the limits of his own abilities and did not think highly of his chances of defeating Kakashi Hatake at this point.

If he remembered correctly, Kakashi Hatake had graduated after spending only one year at the Ninja Academy, and he would become a Chunin just one year later!

Such a genius was indeed not someone he could defeat right now.

"Huh? Even you aren't his match?" Hyuga K looked at Hyuga Iwa in surprise.

Guy, meanwhile, wore an eager expression. "As expected of the person I'm going to defeat someday!"

"..."

Sometimes, Hyuga Iwa thought Guy's single-minded personality was quite adorable. But at other times, it gave him a headache.

"Iwa, K, let's go eat ramen today. I've been hungry for ages." Guy rubbed his stomach, seemingly on the verge of drooling. "I want tonkotsu ramen."

"..."

"You two go ahead. I'm going home to eat. My mom made my favorite curry rice today."

"Alright, then the two of us will go. See you this afternoon."

"Yeah, see you this afternoon."

After eating delicious ramen, Hyuga Iwa and Guy came to the school training ground. They found a sunny spot and sat down cross-legged.

It was not suitable to do intense exercise after eating, but Zen Contemplation was fine, as was practicing chakra control. In Hyuga Iwa's newly revised schedule, he had moved all such training to after meals. It was an efficient use of time.

In order to learn chakra control, Guy also persevered every day. Whenever he had a free moment, he would practice Zen Contemplation and empty his mind.

But unlike Hyuga Iwa, Guy had only just begun cultivating this way and still could not grasp the method. Each time, he either fell asleep or failed to calm his mind.

Still, he always remembered Hyuga Iwa's words. If he wanted to succeed, he had to persist!

Scenes like this played out on the training ground almost every day. At first, some classmates found it strange, but after a while, they grew used to it.

Winter noon was the warmest time of the day. The weather was excellent today, and the warm sunlight gently shone upon them, driving away traces of the cold.

Hyuga Iwa was in excellent condition today. During his Zen Meditation, he vaguely sensed something different—a feeling that was impossible to explain.

The noisy training ground seemed to suddenly fall silent, as if he had entered a tranquil place. There was no sound at all, yet he could clearly hear his own heartbeat, and it made him feel at ease.

The sunlight fell upon him, filling him with warmth. With his eyes closed, he felt as though he were bathing in a sea of light.

Hyuga Iwa's thoughts seemed to slow down, as though time itself had suddenly become extraordinarily sluggish.

His heart was completely calm, as though he were standing upon a peaceful, vast lake, where only occasional ripples spread across the surface.

He did not know how long passed before Hyuga Iwa suddenly awakened from that wondrous state.

He sensed something strange. In his perception, there seemed to be a small fireball beside him, constantly giving off the aura of life. It was hazy and faint, as though it might drift away with the wind at any moment, wavering unsteadily.

Hyuga Iwa knew it was Guy, because Guy was sitting beside him.

But that feeling only flashed by. When Hyuga Iwa became aware of it, he could no longer enter that state no matter how hard he tried.

What a pity!

Hyuga Iwa sighed inwardly, but his heart remained burning with excitement!

He understood. His long-term efforts had finally yielded some results. Although he could not yet sense it reliably, one day he would completely master that state!

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Guy sitting cross-legged in front of him, his occasionally twitching body clearly far from calm.

"Guy," Hyuga Iwa called softly.

Hearing Hyuga Iwa's voice, Guy instantly opened his eyes. "Are we done? Then I'm going running."

"Mm. I'll go with you."

After brushing the dust off themselves, Hyuga Iwa and Guy began running around the training ground.

By the time afternoon practical class began, Hyuga Iwa and Guy had already run more than ten kilometers. Sweat streamed continuously down their bodies, as though they had just been pulled from water.

The practical class teacher looked at Hyuga Iwa and Guy and frowned imperceptibly.

One could not use ninjutsu and was already showing signs of becoming the worst student in the class. Despite his hard work, he showed no signs of growing stronger. The other was from the Hyuga Clan, yet did not associate with the other Hyuga Clan members and instead spent all day with a poor student. No matter how one looked at it, it was an odd pairing.

However, his sense of responsibility as a teacher kept him from saying anything. After explaining some precautions, he allowed the students to train freely.

"Kakashi Hatake, duel me!" Guy spotted Kakashi Hatake on the other side at once and challenged him.

Kakashi Hatake was not particularly interested in responding to Guy. He glanced at him, then turned his attention elsewhere, where several Uchiha Clan members were training.

Seeing that he had not refused, Guy naively assumed he had agreed. He took a stance and rushed forward in a few quick steps.

A simple straight punch came at him, fast yet full of variation.

After training with Hyuga Iwa for some time, Guy had also improved rapidly.

Noticing something unusual beside him, Kakashi Hatake caught sight of the incoming straight punch from the corner of his eye. With a casual sidestep, he avoided it.

But Guy often encountered such situations when sparring with Hyuga Iwa, so he had developed a response.

Just as the two were about to pass each other, Guy suddenly dropped low, stomped the ground hard, and swept his leg fiercely at Kakashi Hatake's feet.

Kakashi Hatake's expression did not change as he refocused his attention. Without any panic, he made a slight hop and easily avoided the sweep, then smoothly changed his movement and kicked at Guy's face.

Guy's eyes lit up when he saw the incoming foot. The instant he raised his hand to block it, he twisted his hand and grabbed Kakashi Hatake's ankle.

"Kakashi Hatake, today you'll get a taste of being thrown too!"

Guy rejoiced inwardly. Swinging his arm, he lifted Kakashi Hatake and smashed him toward the ground!

However, Guy celebrated too soon. The instant Kakashi Hatake realized something was wrong, his other foot lashed out and kicked Guy's hand. The pain made Guy release his ankle.

When the two stood apart again, Kakashi Hatake finally became somewhat serious, while Guy wore a regretful expression.

Although no expression could be seen on Kakashi Hatake's face, he had begun to acknowledge this person who kept challenging him. At the same time, he looked toward the Byakugan user nearby. Kakashi Hatake knew him. He was this guy's companion, and he seemed to have had some conflict with an Uchiha Clan member recently.

Still, this Guy seemed to have grown much stronger. He was no longer as single-minded in battle as before, repeating the same few moves over and over. Now there were more variations in his fighting. Was that Hyuga Clan boy's doing?!

Seeing Kakashi Hatake get distracted even during their duel, Guy shouted angrily and charged forward again.

This time, Kakashi Hatake became serious. And once Kakashi Hatake was serious, Guy was no match for him. In practically no time at all, Guy was defeated once more.

Having lost interest, Kakashi Hatake shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to leave. Throughout the entire fight, he had not said a single word!

Hyuga Iwa stopped Guy before he could charge forward again.

"Guy, that's enough. You're still not his match right now."

Guy struggled internally for a moment before stopping. He stared intently at Hyuga Iwa without speaking.

"Guy, you did better this time than before. Don't rush. The day you defeat him will come. Believe me, and believe in yourself too!"

"But I've already worked so hard..."

Hyuga Iwa cut Guy off before he could continue. "Guy, how do you know that while you're working hard, others are standing still and waiting for you?"

Guy froze. That was right. No one would stop and wait for him. While he was training hard, others were training too! If he wanted to defeat Kakashi Hatake, he could only work even harder!

"Thought it through?" Hyuga Iwa saw Guy's expression and knew he had probably understood. He continued, "So, Guy, don't compete with him over momentary courage. Believe me, the future will definitely belong to you! Besides, don't you still have the Eight Gates!"

"That's right, I still have the Eight Gates! As long as I learn the Eight Gates, my strength will definitely improve by leaps and bounds. Maybe then I'll be able to defeat Kakashi Hatake!"

"That's it, that's the look. We must always believe in ourselves. Man can conquer fate! Being a genius for a while does not mean being one forever. There have been so many geniuses throughout history, but how many truly became famous? As long as we work hard and walk the right path, nothing can stop us!"

"Mm, Iwa, I believe you."

Guy grinned, and his two rows of white teeth seemed to shine brightly before his eyes...