Childhood Arc: Birthday Continuation

"Here you go, Qingyue! This is a gift from Lord Obito Uchiha, the future first Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes, the Hokage who would single-handedly end the war and bring peace to Konoha Village!"

Wow! What a long self-introduction. No wonder he got along so well with Minato.

If he did not go dark, then maybe his future Kamui techniques would end up with names like "One Glare from a Hundred Meters Away Takes 3,000 Lives" or "Invincible Intangibility Technique That You Cannot React To."

Yeah, not impossible.

I accepted the gift box Obito handed me and opened it. As expected, it was a pair of goggles matching his. His were orange, while mine were white.

They were not exactly ugly, but they definitely could not be called good-looking. At the very least, my sense of style did not support wearing these.

Still, there might actually be special situations where goggles came in handy. I would keep them on me for now.

"Thank you, Obito. Since it is a gift from the future Hokage, I will definitely treasure it."

The moment I said that, Obito suddenly burst into tears? Wait, I was the one receiving the gift, right?

"Waaah, Qingyue! You are the first person who has truly called me the future Hokage! Waaah..."

Watching Obito come at me with snot and tears, clearly intending to throw himself onto me, I really wanted to refuse. But the mood had reached this point. I could not just kick him away, could I?

In the end, my rationality decided to dodge Obito's "hug of love," and I turned to Kakashi.

"Did you prepare a gift for me too, you dead-fish-eyed handsome bastard?"

"Do not call me that. Also, does your nickname for me not change every single time?"

Knowing he was a tsundere and teasing him without restraint felt just as satisfying as returning to childhood and crushing people my age with a dimensional advantage.

"As long as my inspiration does not run dry, you will have countless names, Kaka. Cool. Handsome. Shi!" I gave Kakashi the same thumbs-up used by the Might father and son.

Ignoring what I called him, Kakashi rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a simply wrapped rectangular package.

"Pfft, hahahaha! Kakashi, your wrapping is way too plain! Hahahaha..."

Before I could say anything, Obito beside me burst out laughing.

Compared to the others, Kakashi's packaging really was rather plain.

But the most important part of a gift was what lay inside. Pretty wrapping certainly raised expectations, but simple packaging had its own charm too.

"Shut up. Who wraps a gift like you only for it to be a pair of goggles?"

"Huh? What did you just say, bastard? What is wrong with goggles? Goggles are great! They are cool! You have no taste! Just wait until I become Hokage—everyone in the ninja world will wear goggles because they admire me!"

"That would be ugly... And you becoming Hokage? That is just a fool's dream."

"You bastard!"

While the two argued, I accepted the gift and unwrapped it. It was a short sword, with a very simple hilt and scabbard made from ordinary wood.

I drew the short sword. There was no imagined flash of bright silver, and the blade gave off no shine at all. It seemed to be a matte short sword specially made for ninja assassinations and surprise attacks.

Kakashi had actually put this much thought into a gift? The sword did not look like a high-end item, but for someone our age, it was already quite valuable.

I was about to thank Kakashi, but he kept arguing with Obito instead.

Normally, Kakashi would not even bother responding to him.

Ho ho, he must have been too embarrassed to receive my thanks, right? This brooding, tsundere, handsome guy had such a cute side too.

The gifts from the other children were much more reasonable—rare snacks, toys, manga, novels, and shuriken.

The only regret was that I had not met the other little powerhouses before entering school, such as Might Guy. Around this time, he was probably still running laps while doing handstands, right?

After everyone left following dinner, my heart suddenly felt empty. But Dad and Mom were both home today, and Rin stayed behind to help clean up.

"Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, Qingyue is already five years old and about to enter the Ninja Academy."

"Yeah. But Qingyue seems to have unexpectedly good relationships with people. It looks like we do not need to worry at all."

"Qingyue is talented too. His swordsmanship improves every day, and his chakra control is quite outstanding. There is probably not much left for him to learn at school."

"Little Rin, just leave the washed dishes there. Auntie can handle the rest."

"Okay, Auntie. Then I will go keep Qingyue company."

"Thank you, Little Rin. We even made you help us clean up. Please look after Qingyue more in the future too. That child is actually very lonely inside, so make sure you stay by his side."

"I will! Qingyue and I made a promise. I will protect him, and he will protect Konoha."

"Is that so? That is wonderful! Come play often whenever Uncle and Auntie are home. You are always welcome here."

"Okay!"

It seemed Dad and Mom thought highly of Rin. Good, that was great. But Rin actually said that embarrassing promise out loud?

So embarrassing. I wanted to find a hole and crawl into it immediately. Though for children, that was actually pretty normal, right?

After I walked Rin home, Dad awkwardly called me over to the dining table. Mom sat there too, scratching her cheek with some embarrassment.

From the looks of it, they were going to give me a gift. They probably felt awkward because they had been too busy to care much for me normally.

I got it, I got it. If I had to put it bluntly, Dad and I were not even that far apart in age.

But Dad was far more successful than I was. At the same age, I had been a useless, timid office worker doing an ordinary job.

Dad, on the other hand, was a swordsmanship expert and a jonin—a jonin the village could rely on.

And Dad had married such a beautiful wife as Mom and had such a handsome son as me. In my previous life, I had only dated once, and I had even been toyed with...

No, no. I could not keep thinking about my previous life!

I was a handsome guy with a cheat ability now, and Rin was by my side. I had a happy, complete family, many companions, and a bright future ahead!

"Ahem, Qingyue, I am sorry!" Dad suddenly spoke, even lowering his head to me. "We have been too busy to give you the companionship you deserved. We do not even know what you like. Whenever we have time, we do not know how to talk to you. All we know is how to teach you the skills to become a ninja..."

Oh? I did not expect Dad to be so straightforward. Wait, no—why did the corners of my eyes feel uncomfortable? My eyes felt itchy.

"But Qingyue, your mother and I love you. At the same time, we also love the village, which is why we are always busy. We hope you can become an outstanding ninja and protect the village with us. But if possible, I actually do not want you to become a nin—"

Ah, yes.

This was difficult. They were both ninja, and in this era, children had practically no choice. There was only the Ninja Academy; otherwise, they could only help their families with work.

So if my parents were ninja, then I could only become a ninja too. But this was a ninja world to begin with, so I did not mind at all.

Yet when I wanted to tell them that, it felt as if something had lodged in my throat. I only wanted to say that I loved them, but it was as though my vocal cords had suddenly stopped working, and no words would come out.

"All right, it is your birthday today, so let us be happy! Honey, hurry and bring out the gifts!"

In the end, Dad's forced cheerful smile broke the somewhat sorrowful mood, and he took out his gift.

It was a ninja sword that I probably would not be able to wield skillfully until my teens. The scabbard was made of fine wood, and the patterns on the blade were as beautiful as ghostly blue flames burning across it.

It must have cost quite a lot.

Mom, meanwhile, took out several scrolls. Written on them were all the ninjutsu she knew. With so many, she had probably written down every ninjutsu in her possession.

What reckless parents.

"Qingyue, your parents are ninja. We are clumsy and do not know what to give a child. These two gifts—the scrolls contain the ninjutsu training methods your mother wrote with all her effort in her spare time between missions, while I had the ninja sword forged through my connections. I am sorry we could not give you something you might actually like."

At that moment, I could no longer hold back my tears. Seriously, in my previous life, I had been an old corporate slave who had struggled in society for years, yet now I was staring at my parents' gifts with tears streaming down my face...

"Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom."

And so, the birthday party came to an end. I received a ninja sword that would accompany me for a long time, as well as ninjutsu I could use for the rest of my life.

For the first time, my parents in this world and I wept and embraced one another.