Might Guy's Childhood (Part 1)

After the first day of school, the same routine basically repeated every day.

I got up at four in the morning for physical training, then practiced swinging my sword, striking wooden posts, chopping rocks, and sparring with Shadow Clones.

After finishing all that, I ate breakfast, and then it was time for school.

"Sorry, Qingyue. Have you been waiting long?"

Rin was still dressed in her usual black V-neck long-sleeved shirt and apron skirt. She hurried out through the entrance and jogged over to my side.

"No, I only got here a little while ago too."

Rin was as cute as ever today. The more I looked at the two little purple markings on her cheeks, the more I liked them. Her beautiful eyes occasionally met mine before she shyly looked away.

"Here. I made a few new dishes for today's lunch, so it took me a little longer."

Warmth kept rising in my heart as I looked at the lunchbox Rin pulled out from behind her back.

In my previous life, I ate at the cafeteria when I was in school. At home, I often just made do by myself or bought cheap fast food. After I started working, I became a regular customer of group-order meals.

A lunch specially prepared by someone who cared about you enough to wake up early... turned out to make people this happy.

"Thank you, Rin."

Even after thinking for a long time, I couldn't come up with any sweet words to say at that moment. I could only voice what I wanted to express most.

"Didn't we agree? I'll protect Qingyue, and Qingyue will protect Konoha. Taking care of these little things for a future hero is part of protecting you too. I'll always be watching you."

"Yeah, watch me. I'll definitely bring peace to this world. One day, I'll put an end to all conflict."

After making that vow, Rin and I walked toward school shoulder to shoulder. Along the way, we ran into the cool little guy with his hands in his pockets and a mask over his face.

Though we made a token effort to invite him, as expected, Rin and I were the only ones who entered the classroom together in the end.

It wasn't until more than half the class had passed that Obito finally ran into the classroom, covered in dust and with something still in his mouth.

"Sorry, Sensei! I ran into an old grandma selling vegetables who had trouble moving. Someone took advantage of that to steal something from her stall, so I chased after them and ended up a little late..."

That was more than a little late. In a few more minutes, the first class would be over.

"Obito... stand there. Come to my office after class!"

The teacher was obviously angry, and that was understandable. Who showed up late to school by almost an entire class period?

After class, Rin and I stood by the classroom door and watched Obito's retreating back.

"Good luck, Obito. Go buy some oranges. I'll stand here and won't wander off."

Huh? Why did that feel strange somehow? No, wait!

On the way back to my seat, I was lowering my head and thinking about how to deal with Sakumo's situation. I didn't notice the classmate rushing toward me and accidentally bumped into him.

"Sorry, sorry. I was distracted."

Since I trained scientifically on a regular basis, I only took two steps back. The classmate who ran into me fell straight to the floor.

Looking closely, there was the iconic bowl cut and green jumpsuit, the exposed muscle lines, and skin covered in scars...

The representative of youth—the Crimson Beast, Might Guy!

"It's fine. Wherever you fall, that's where you stand back up. Thank you for giving me this setback... classmate!"

After getting up, Might Guy gave me a thumbs-up, winked one eye, and flashed a row of gleaming teeth before suddenly shuddering and running off.

Looks like he was in a hurry to use the bathroom. I felt a little sorry for him. But had he just forgotten my name?

Just as I was about to return to my seat, I looked down and saw a somewhat tattered little notebook lying on the ground.

"This is..."

Out of curiosity, I crouched down and picked it up. Flipping open a random page, I found densely packed notes written in rather ugly handwriting.

"Holy..."

Unlike Rin's orderly, neat notes, this notebook... basically recorded every single word the teacher said during class.

This seemed to be what Might Guy had dropped. He was actually this diligent. I didn't even know what to say.

Thinking back to the way Might Guy trained in the anime, he had been just like this—methodically and relentlessly punishing his own body.

Maybe I should find an opportunity to get in touch with him. If we had to deal with the Otsutsuki in the future, a taijutsu powerhouse like Guy would definitely be of great use.

On a personal level, Guy's never-say-die spirit of youth also moved me deeply. I still didn't want to see him sitting in a wheelchair.

"What's wrong, Qingyue?"

"Nothing. I just picked up Guy's notes. He's quite a serious person too. He'll definitely become one of Konoha's pillars in the future."

"Is that so? Then we should make friends with him. In the future, everyone will be comrades who entrust their backs to one another."

"Mm. Class is about to start. Let's go back to our seats."

During lunch break, Rin, Obito, and I once again squeezed around Kakashi's desk and took out our lunches to eat.

"You guys..."

The masked scarecrow seemed a little resistant, but we ignored his opinion and simply gathered together to form our little group.

"Sigh, I'm really unlucky today. After school, I have to clean the entire school..."

It seemed that was the teacher's punishment for Obito. After all, he had been late for an entire class, and school had only just started.

If the punishment had been too light, the children of major clans might have followed his example, and the class would have lost all discipline. At the same time, it showed the civilian students that the school treated everyone equally and would not give special treatment to students from big clans.

"It's okay, Obito. I definitely won't stay behind and help you clean. Don't worry!"

Imitating Might Guy's expression, I gave Obito a thumbs-up as well. Unfortunately, my teeth didn't seem to sparkle.

"Thanks, Qingyue. You really are the one who cares about me... Huh?"

"What's wrong? This is the teacher giving you special treatment—a special kind of training!"

"How can you be so selfish, Qingyue?!"

What a joke. You had no idea what kind of torture awaited me after school. Compared to Hill's hellish training, cleaning an entire school was incredibly gentle.

Still... I should consider Obito's feelings a little. That way, even if the story of Kamui's tears still happened in the future, I would leave myself some room to maneuver.

"Obito, do you really think... the teacher was only punishing you for being late?"

After setting down my chopsticks, I put on a serious expression again. I interlaced my fingers on the desk and rested my chin on them.

"What are you talking about, Qingyue? Cleaning the entire school—what else could that be if not punishment?"

"Obito, Obito. Although you have the potential to become Hokage in the future, you're still too shallow at this stage. You can't even see the teacher's deeper meaning."

Hearing this, Obito put on a shocked expression. His big eyes stared at me as though eagerly awaiting what came next.

He took the bait.

"Actually, you're the one the teacher thinks most highly of. Making you stay after school to clean is really meant to temper your character, while also giving more teachers a chance to notice you. Think about it. After school, everyone goes home, but the teachers are still on campus. If other teachers who don't know the situation see you using your own rest time to clean the school alone, won't they look at you in a new light? Once you earn praise and approval from those teachers, won't that be preparation for your future path to becoming Hokage?"

I had swallowed plenty of corporate promises in my previous life. Tempering you, thinking of your future... as long as you gave someone a beautiful vision to look forward to, they would forget their current suffering.

Looking at plums might not truly quench thirst, but plums did look good.

"So that's how it is! I see... Sensei thinks so highly of me..."

To my surprise, Obito actually believed it, and even shed tears of regret.

"Pfft..."

No, no, I couldn't laugh yet. I had to wait until Obito left...

"Thank you, Qingyue. I almost misunderstood Sensei's good intentions. I never expected that the road to becoming Hokage had already begun here. I've decided! I'll use all my strength to clean up. I'll make sure every corner is spotless! None of you are allowed to help me, especially you, Kakashi! I'll accept the training Sensei has given me alone!"

Then Obito ran out of the classroom. It felt like he had gone to thank the teacher.

Just as I was about to burst out laughing, Rin turned to me and blinked innocently.

"Qingyue, was that really what Sensei was thinking?"

Even Rin believed it? Then Obito's innocence wasn't to blame. The power of empty promises from my previous life was simply too strong.

"Well... that depends on how Obito understands it."

What I said wasn't entirely false. Punishing Obito by making him clean was indeed part of tempering him, except the purpose was only to make sure he didn't show up late again.

Beside us, Kakashi turned his head and secretly smiled. This seemed to be the first time I had seen Kakashi smile since coming to this world.

If he could see through such empty promises, how had Kakashi later been brainwashed by the Will of Fire? Maybe he truly had no goal in life, so he made the village Rin wanted to protect his only goal.

The afternoon class was another practical combat session. Obito and Kakashi still opened the class, while Rin and I ended it with an instructional match.

After practical combat came basic tests such as shuriken throwing and ninjutsu practice. I kept every score right at the passing line.

Before a ninja from a civilian background had someone backing him, it was best not to stand out too much. Not everyone was a heaven-blessed prodigy like Minato, who built a good relationship at school with the Nine-Tails jinchuriki candidate, earned the favor of the Hokage faction, received personal guidance from Jiraiya, and even obtained ninjutsu from the Seal Scroll.

Most civilians still had to keep a low profile, wait until they earned merit on the battlefield and formed good relationships with important figures, and only then begin to emerge.

"I'll walk you this far, Rin. I need to go train today too."

"Okay. Sorry I can't train with you today. Mom isn't home, so I have to cook for Dad. Tomorrow, I can train with you."

"Then see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

After saying a simple goodbye to Rin, I headed to the hidden training ground and began my afternoon training.

It was roughly a repeat of the morning routine, except recently, besides Sword God Style swordsmanship, Hill had also begun teaching me some Water God Style secret techniques and North God Style moves.

Leaving aside the North God Style, in this Naruto world filled with ninjutsu and flying projectiles, the Water God Style was simply too useful.

By using a special method of exerting force to return an opponent's attack with soft power, it was useful not only in close combat, but against long-range attacks as well.

One of its secret techniques was [Flow], a move praised as the core of Water God Style swordsmanship. Its essence lay in redirecting and deflecting force.

As long as one mastered this move, one could dominate an area with Water God Style swordsmanship.

As for the Water God Style's other secret techniques... hmm, had the book not mentioned them, or had I forgotten?

Teacher Hill, the Water God Style should have five secret techniques in total, right? There's also the original creation of Water God Reida Lyria, which combines the two most difficult secret techniques: the Deprivation Sword Realm.

Yes. I also have records of the Water God Style's other four great secret techniques.