Let's Improve Together, Kakashi!

"Hey, why the hell did you follow us again?!"

Obito was speechless. What was wrong with Kakashi today?!

"Just passing by." Kakashi lied with a perfectly calm expression.

Hideki merely smiled without saying anything. How could he fail to see through Kakashi's little thoughts?

It was like college dorms: no matter how much someone liked secretly studying on their own, they still couldn't resist the temptation of gaming with their roommates.

Kakashi had simply unlocked his secretly flirtatious nature ahead of schedule.

After all, didn't the future Kakashi stay up all night reading those little yellow books?

But seeing Kakashi like this...

Hideki suddenly remembered an idea he'd had before.

The reactions involved in Hydrogen Release were complicated. It needed Water Release enhanced by Yang Release, Lightning Release to electrolyze the Water Release, and an open flame to ignite it.

With how finely he could control his chakra, he could accomplish most of it alone.

But at the end of the day, this wasn't some Kekkei Genkai, nor was it Kekkei Tōta. There was no such thing as "Hydrogen Release Chakra."

At most, it was a combined ninjutsu.

The key was in the word "combined."

Hideki's heart began to itch.

Objectively speaking, the power of Hydrogen Release depended on the amount of chakra involved.

He could use it alone, but he would still have to put out at least three portions of chakra.

But if he worked with others...

He could handle combining Yang Release and Water Release, Kakashi could handle Lightning Release, and Obito could light the fire...

Forget anything else—the power would increase severalfold at the very least!

"Quit lying, bastard! From the training grounds all the way here, you expect Lord Obito to believe you were just passing by?!" Obito said as he moved to chase Kakashi away.

How could the secret base belonging to him and Hideki be infiltrated by a third person?

"..." Kakashi was left speechless. He had no idea how to explain himself, but fortunately, he saw the exceptionally friendly smile on Hideki's face.

How should he put it? Kakashi felt as though there were a price tag hanging over his head, while Hideki seemed to be calculating how best to sell him off!

"Obito, you're the one in the wrong here."

Hideki soothed Obito, then turned toward Kakashi under Obito's bewildered gaze.

"When friends come from... uh, Kakashi is our classmate at least. He even covered for the two of us during the day. How could you treat him like that?"

"It's true that we need to train hard, and it's true that we seek improvement. But there is strength in numbers. Kakashi joining us will only make our little group stronger."

"One chopstick can be snapped easily, but a bundle of chopsticks stands together firmly. Didn't the two of us beat Uchiha Beiying and his cousin all the way into the hospital through teamwork and cooperation?"

"Trust me, Obito." Hideki held Obito's hand in his left and Kakashi's hand in his right, his face shining with the radiance of a saint.

"Kakashi will definitely be a great companion for us, won't he?"

Obito: ?????

He really wanted to know whether Hideki had taken the wrong medicine or suffered some kind of shock.

Otherwise, why was he talking such nonsense?

Kakashi was equally bewildered.

Wait... when did I say I was joining you two?!

I... I won't pass by anymore, okay? I'll leave, okay? What's with this pyramid-scheme-master vibe?!

The two boys whose hands Hideki had forcibly grabbed were both beginning to question their lives.

It took Kakashi several full seconds to react. Only then did he pull his little hand free from Hideki's grasp.

Obito immediately dragged Hideki aside and whispered, "What's going on, Hideki? What the hell are you doing?"

"Are you brain-dead?!" Hideki's expression changed at once. "Where else are you going to find such a good sparring partner? Besides, do you know what work that old man will assign tomorrow? Wouldn't having another person to help be a good thing?"

Obito froze, but this time he quickly sorted through the logic. "Damn it! You should've said so earlier!"

The two immediately turned around, only to see Kakashi looking at them with utter disdain.

"You do know that I can hear you from this distance, right?"

Hideki's old face instantly reddened. He'd been exposed.

Still, he waved a hand as if nothing had happened and said, "Don't worry about those minor details, Kakashi."

"Don't you want to become stronger? Don't you want to know how the two of us became so strong?"

As Hideki spoke, his expression suddenly turned mysterious. "It's a combined ninjutsu. According to my theory, under ideal conditions, it takes three people to maximize its power."

"We might usher in a new era! A new era after Konoha's White Fang, after Konoha's Three Ninja!"

"Are you... sure you don't want to try?"

Honestly, Hideki nearly moved himself with those words.

Sure, part of it was him trying to fool Kakashi, but Hydrogen Release truly had limitless potential!

As long as he had more chakra, mastered more ninjutsu, and found a faster reaction method...

Forming Hydrogen Release with a flick of his wrist and bringing nuclear peace to the Shinobi World with a snap of his fingers would no longer just be a slogan someday!

Kakashi's gaze shifted from disdain to suspicion, then gradually became conflicted.

Of course he didn't believe Hideki's nonsense. A new era? Ha! Even the lousy ghost stories his dad told were more convincing than that.

But then again, training together and becoming stronger together... didn't sound too bad?

The words "together" were even more appealing to Kakashi than that "combined ninjutsu."

Kakashi hesitated once more.

Someone valued by Dad and that person probably won't hold me back, right?

That was what Kakashi thought to himself.

In the end, beneath Hideki's "sincere," clear gaze, and while Obito pretended not to care even as he plotted how to trick Kakashi into becoming his lackey...

"Fine, but don't expect me to help you with chores. I want to become stronger, not dumber."

Kakashi spread his hands and spoke as though he didn't care.

But in truth, his little heart was already pounding faster.

So exciting!

Am I going to have companions too?

Would we fight together in the future? Skip class together?!

Inside every secretly flirtatious person lived a little monster.

Even children were no exception...

"Excellent! Then let's begin!" Hideki shouted, while Obito rolled up his sleeves.

Kakashi was left somewhat confused by the scene. He asked doubtfully, "How do we begin?"

"By sparring, obviously! Only battle can bring the fastest improvement. Why else do you think we're so strong?" Hideki replied as though it were only natural.

Was that... really how it worked?

Kakashi was skeptical, and somewhat disdainful as well.

Making fighting sound so refined—only you two could do that.

However, the two fists rushing toward him left Kakashi with no time to think.

"Damn it!" Kakashi hurriedly performed a series of backward flips to evade them, finally landing atop a large rock with a face full of shock!

"What are you two doing? Didn't you say we were sparring?!"

"Aren't we sparring right now?!" Obito formed hand seals with both hands. A moment later, he was ready. "Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Whoosh—!

Flames condensed into a massive fireball and shot straight toward Kakashi!

"That's going too far!" Kakashi was about to complain that he had lost his mind and joined a den of thieves when he formed hand seals, preparing to block the fireball with an Earth-Style Wall.

But the crafty Hideki had somehow already circled around to his side!

At some point, he had also formed a Rasengan in his hand!

"Let's improve together, Kakashi!" Hideki shouted, never forgetting his original intention.

Ten minutes later.

The panting Kakashi lay on the ground. His clothes were torn to rags, his face was bruised and swollen, and he looked utterly miserable!

Normally, defeating one Obito would have been effortless for Kakashi.

The training he had undergone since childhood was not something a half-baked fighter like Obito, who only knew how to brawl, could compare to.

But one had to remember that there was also Hideki, a tactical ninja who used Rasengan to refuse close combat at every turn.

With a brute in front and a sneaky bastard behind him, it was anything but easy for Kakashi to escape unscathed.

Still, to be fair, Kakashi felt pretty exhilarated inside.

After the two of them worked together to knock him down, they didn't follow up with another attack. Instead, they began fighting each other again.

It looked like they were targeting him, but actually...

Hiss—!

Kakashi touched the corner of his eye and grimaced in pain.

They really were targeting him, damn it!

But...

This feeling didn't seem too bad either?