Childhood Arc: Changes

The days that followed were fairly uneventful. Every morning, I got up early to train my physical fitness, followed by the cultivation of Battle Aura, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and swordsmanship.

At five years old, I had already reached the intermediate level in all three schools of swordsmanship. I had to admit, the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit was incredibly powerful. After greatly strengthening my body, it allowed me to undergo even more training.

That was also the main reason why I had progressed so rapidly, in a way completely unsuited to a child's body. However, I had truly reached a bottleneck lately. As expected, my current physical strength still wasn't enough.

"This year's term is about to end. This afternoon, we'll arrange one final practical combat test."

Just as the teacher said, another year was about to pass, and I would soon turn six.

At the same time, Hatake Shamate should graduate early and become a Genin this year, just like in the original story.

Then, two years later, Sakumo Hatake would commit suicide, and Sasori would kill the Third Kazekage, triggering the Third Shinobi World War.

If I steadily developed until I graduated at nine alongside Obito and the others, then built up experience through low-level missions beforehand, I would at least be able to protect myself once I went to war.

What I feared now was not being assigned to the same class as Rin. I was afraid that if something happened to them, I wouldn't make it there in time...

"Hey, Qingyue."

While I was lost in thought, Kakashi walked up to me with a very serious expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Fight me in this afternoon's test. All right?"

I hadn't fought Kakashi once in the entire year. Ever since I helped Rin with that first practice match, she and I had basically always been paired together.

Of course, there were occasional changes. When facing other people, I usually ended the battle in two or three moves, while Kakashi was always tied up fighting Obito.

I'd wondered why Kakashi hadn't come looking for revenge yet. Now it seemed he wanted to test whether he had what it took to become a ninja by fighting me.

Who would have thought that cold, brooding, handsome bastard who never took anything seriously had such a childish side?

[Teacher Hill, how do you think we should deal with Sakumo Hatake's situation?]

I had a general direction, but shamefully, I didn't understand familial affection deeply enough. I truly didn't know how I would persuade Kakashi and Sakumo when the time came.

Besides, Sakumo, who came from a samurai background, was also stubborn as a mule. There was no way he would listen to a word I said.

At first, I had wondered whether the suicide had only been a cover, and Danzo and the others had actually acted in secret. But after thinking it over carefully, given Sakumo Hatake's abilities, even if it had been murder, it would have ultimately been his own choice.

[It is suggested that Kakashi himself persuade him, making Sakumo realize that he still has a child to care for.]

Right, why hadn't I thought of that? Hill was right. The key was making Sakumo realize it.

In the original story, Kakashi became a Genin at five, then immediately became a Chunin the following year.

That made Sakumo believe Kakashi had inherited his legacy and become a ninja capable of standing on his own. That was why he committed suicide—he believed the village had abandoned him, his child had already grown up, and there was no longer any reason for him to live.

Then it was simple. In this afternoon's test, I needed to show some skill and completely shatter Kakashi's confidence. The war hadn't come yet, so even if I displayed great strength now, I wouldn't be forced to graduate early.

It was a shame to give up my peaceful life, but for Kakashi's sake, I could only reveal a little of my talent.

After the lunch break ended, I raised my hand before Kakashi could in the afternoon's practical combat test.

"Good. Today's match will be Qingyue versus Kakashi Hatake. Both of you are outstanding students in the class, so everyone else, watch carefully! Both sides, form the Seal of Confrontation!"

Standing across from Kakashi, I raised my right hand and held up two fingers. Battle Aura was already fully activated throughout my body.

"Come on, protagonist of Icha Icha Paradise. Let this arrogant fool see how vast the world is!"

"You're the arrogant one... And what kind of nickname is that?"

Huh? Was I? I thought I was pretty humble.

However, that was only a smokescreen Kakashi had thrown out. The next moment, he vanished from where he stood and appeared behind me, throwing a punch.

Why did I know it was a punch?

Observation Haki, of course. Unfortunately, perhaps because of my physical strength and willpower, I still hadn't unlocked Armament Haki. But I was already quite proficient in Observation Haki.

Sensing my surroundings while remaining calm was a very simple thing for me. It seemed I had quite a bit of talent myself.

After catching Kakashi's movements, I would have simply dodged if it had been anyone else, but...

Without turning around, I reached my left hand behind me to the right and easily caught Kakashi's right wrist. I wrapped Battle Aura around the muscles I used to exert force, flung him over, then concentrated it all around my arm in one burst.

Bang—

Kakashi slammed into the ground with a loud crash, and dust trembled into the air from the heavy impact. His stomach acid was probably churning right about now.

The scene stunned many of the girls who admired Kakashi, but none of them came to scold me.

There was no other reason. With Rudeus's face, I was no less popular than him. Thank you, reincarnation!

"Cough, cough... How could this be..."

Kakashi lay on the ground in a miserable state, muttering those words over and over. Against someone else, he might have caught the right opportunity to use the Substitution Jutsu and evade, but unfortunately for him, his opponent was me.

"This is the gap between us. At your level, don't even think about standing out and applying for early graduation. Stay in school and build up more experience."

Sorry, Kakashi, but this was for your own good. You didn't want to see your father commit suicide either, did you?

Seeing that something was wrong, the teacher immediately pulled us apart and sent Kakashi to the infirmary.

"Qingyue..." Rin looked at me with concern all over her face.

"It's nothing. That little silver-haired pretty boy has been getting a little too cocky lately. I was afraid he'd become too arrogant and make a wrong judgment during a mission in the future, so I hit him a little hard."

"I see. I thought you were in a bad mood today. As expected of Qingyue, you even considered so much for his sake." Rin had become increasingly skilled at praising me blindly lately.

I was a little worried. It felt like I could trick her into coming home with me someday just by giving her a piece of candy.

"That's right. I'm a very good person."

From then on, the class's most heated debate—whether Kakashi or I was stronger—came to an end. The answer was obvious: I had won overwhelmingly.

After school, Rin and I carefully hooked pinkies and walked out through the school gates together, looking for somewhere to sit for a while. Neither of our parents was home today, so we would probably have to sort out dinner ourselves.

Kakashi and Obito followed behind us as well.

The two of them rarely didn't argue today. Perhaps it was because Kakashi was feeling rather down.

"Qingyue, shouldn't we go comfort Kakashi?"

A genius would indeed be upset after suffering such a blow, but Kakashi could definitely pull himself through it on his own.

Still, if I was helping, I might as well see it through.

Since I was going to save his father anyway, helping improve his strength a little wouldn't hurt either.

If Rin ended up on the same team as him like in the original story, he would be better able to help me protect her if he were stronger.

"Mm, leave it to me."

Having made up my mind, I casually sent Obito away. Once this guy awakened his Mangekyo in the future, he would be a bug. He had no need for something as inconvenient as Battle Aura.

"Kakashi Loser, why are you so dejected after losing one match?"

He seemed to want to retort as usual, but Kakashi raised his head, opened his mouth, said nothing, and lowered his head again.

"Do you know why you're weaker than me? Kakashi Can't Win, it's because you've always lived in your comfort zone. There's no one around you who can truly match you, so it's hard for you to keep growing. And you've never thought about stepping outside that comfort zone."

Just as Kakashi was about to speak, I cut him off first.

"I know you want to apply for graduation and complete missions to improve yourself, but with your current ability, I could kill a whole group of you on the battlefield. So? Do you want to know why I'm so strong?"

At that, Kakashi finally raised his head and looked at me with expectant eyes.

Good, he took the bait. This should solve the problem. At the very least, he definitely wouldn't graduate early anymore, which meant I was halfway there.

"Come train with me in a little while. Let's see how long you can endure. Then you'll understand why the gap between us is so huge."

[So Lord Qingyue is willing to use even today's rest day for cultivation? How moving. Lord Qingyue has finally grown up and has begun cultivating voluntarily!]

Huh? Damn it! I forgot. Today was a rare day off—I wanted to spend a lovely evening with Rin!

Damn Kakashi Can't Win, this debt was going on your tab!

Helplessly, I gave Rin a brief farewell. She would bring us bento boxes later, though.

As for Obito, he made such a fuss about coming along that I had no choice but to bring him too. As for Might Guy, on rest days, he was like me now. It had taken a lot of persuading before I got him to properly rest.

Otherwise, if he trained every day like that, he would definitely wear down his body too much.

After arriving at the training ground where I usually cultivated, I took out all the special wooden stakes I had hidden away and lined them up one by one.

"These are..."

"My usual afternoon training. The first part is sensory training: I fight these stakes while blindfolded the entire time. I can only rely on my senses to respond, and it also trains my ability to take hits. After that comes chakra cultivation. Kakashi, curious why my strength is so great?"

Kakashi nodded upon hearing that.

"The technique I use is called Battle Aura. It's a method of using chakra. I wouldn't tell just anyone, but you two are exceptions."

Kakashi and Obito both revealed extremely shocked expressions upon hearing me.

After all, another method of using chakra was already a discovery shocking enough in a world where only a handful of people developed such things, let alone among five-year-old children.

Although Hill had told me this was possible, there had never been any precedent before. So theoretically, Hill and I had developed it together.

That wasn't bragging, either. Mm, I was just embellishing it a tiny little bit. No problem!

"Anyway, you two should try the wooden stakes first. Oh, right—no matter how badly you get beaten, these stakes won't stop. Unless you collapse completely. Good luck!"

After explaining that, I slipped away on my own. Since I was already here, I might as well do some cultivation myself.

Those stakes had originally been for training my Observation Haki, but by now, they no longer had any effect on me.

So I had set up several small devices in the forest that would automatically fire kunai. Once activated, those devices would launch them over a set period of time.

After setting them up, I put on a blindfold and spun around a few times to lose my sense of direction, then tried to evade the high-speed kunai flying at me.

It was fine if I couldn't dodge them. At most, they would leave shallow scratches when they hit my body covered in Battle Aura.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

[Congratulations, Lord Qingyue. You avoided one more kunai this time than last time.]

Sixty kunai in total, and I was still hit by two or three.

Still not enough. I was still far from mastering true Observation Haki.

Luffy, before fighting Katakuri two years later, could easily use Observation Haki to evade the lasers fired by Pacifistas. Observation Haki had to reach at least that level before it could truly become a qualified weapon.

Over in the field of wooden stakes, Kakashi and Obito lay there covered in wounds, completely spent.