Who are you calling Sasuke?

"Yo, Sasuke."

Uzumaki Hayashi raised a hand in greeting. The ice spikes beside him scattered into a puff of white mist with the motion and vanished with a soft pop.

"It's so late. Why are you still training?"

The training ground was deserted, the moon hanging directly overhead and bathing the entire field in pale light.

At the sound of his voice, Sasuke Uchiha's lips curled upward before he could stop them.

Only then did the way Linshi had addressed him register.

"...Who are you calling Sasuke?"

"It's a pet name, a pet name."

Uzumaki Hayashi walked over with a chuckle, raised his hand, and patted him twice on the shoulder. "Don't sweat the details."

Sasuke Uchiha's body visibly stiffened.

Had it been anyone else, he would have already sidestepped the touch. But for some reason, tonight he hesitated and ultimately didn't dodge, simply standing there without a word for a long while.

Finally, he gave an awkward cough, shifted half a step aside, and pointed out the wooden post to him, effectively changing the subject.

Uzumaki Hayashi knew nothing of what was going through his head. He was examining the post, riddled with kunai marks, fresh damage layered over old. Even the grass around it had been worn bare by footsteps.

"You really work hard," he remarked.

"Yeah, of course I do."

Sasuke Uchiha turned his face away, his tone stiff. "Unlike you, going out to have fun with other people."

Uzumaki Hayashi grinned.

"Oh? Getting jealous now?"

"Who's jealous?!"

Sasuke Uchiha immediately turned to glare at him, though his ears had gone red. "I'm just stating facts!"

"Sure, sure. Stating facts."

Uzumaki Hayashi waved a hand with a smile and didn't argue. He walked to the edge of the training ground, found a level patch of grass, and sat down cross-legged.

The training ground was quiet at night, crickets chirping merrily in the grass.

"Besides, tonight hardly counts as picking on you," he said with complete confidence. "You attacked me last time, and I attacked you this time. That makes us even, right?"

Sasuke Uchiha: "..."

So those ice spikes were all just for that?

Fine. That certainly seemed like his style.

Sasuke Uchiha walked closer, his gaze settling on Uzumaki Hayashi's hands.

"I'm pretty curious. What exactly are those ice spikes of yours?"

"I don't know either."

Uzumaki Hayashi spread his hands, sounding utterly convincing. "Something just appeared out of nowhere inside my body. How would I know what it is? I was planning to ask the Third in a couple of days."

"Appeared out of nowhere?"

Sasuke Uchiha's brows immediately drew together. "When did you discover it?"

"Just tonight."

"Tonight?!" Sasuke Uchiha's voice rose. "You only just discovered it, and you're not taking it seriously? What if something's wrong with you? You need to see a doctor tomorrow! No, go right now!"

"Is that really necessary?"

Uzumaki Hayashi laughed. "I don't feel any different from before."

"Plenty of things can be wrong without you feeling it," Sasuke Uchiha insisted. "By the time you notice, it'll be too late."

Oh, he actually knows how to care about someone.

Seeing how serious he was, Uzumaki Hayashi had an idea. He rose from the grass and brushed the clippings off his trousers.

"How about this?" He smiled. "Want to spar?"

"I'd like to see what you can do, too."

Sasuke Uchiha froze for a moment.

As if it weren't enough that the person before him had such a beautiful smile, every single thing he said was exactly what Sasuke wanted to hear.

That indescribable sense of approval in his heart grew a little stronger.

"All right."

Sasuke Uchiha loosened his wrists, his fighting spirit surging.

"You'd better be careful," he said. "I won't hold back."

"What a coincidence."

Uzumaki Hayashi smiled until his eyes narrowed. "That's exactly what I was going to say."

Actually, this fight wasn't just about having fun.

That long-term mission-save Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha from prolonged bullying and soothe their hearts-was still sitting on his panel.

For a love-starved kid like Naruto, a little coaxing counted as comfort. But for a relentless overachiever like Sasuke, what was the best way to soothe him?

First, acknowledge his hard work, then give him a fight.

Besides, he had just acquired Ice Release. The Ninja Academy's top student was the perfect person to test it on.

Two birds with one stone. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't lose.

The two took their positions at opposite ends of the training ground.

The evening breeze rustled the leaves along the edge of the field.

"Here I come."

Sasuke Uchiha gave the warning, but rather than charging straight at him as Uzumaki Hayashi had expected, he did something else.

He shifted his footing and veered off diagonally, circling around him without coming close.

Right, got it. After getting shocked by me that night, he learned his lesson. He knows getting close won't end well, so he's switched to ranged attacks.

Uzumaki Hayashi wasn't in any hurry to push him, either. It was only a spar. He couldn't even be bothered to activate Mind's Eye of the Kagura and simply stood there, watching to see how Sasuke would fight.

The next instant, Sasuke Uchiha flicked his wrist, sending three kunai slicing through the air in a triangular formation!

Uzumaki Hayashi didn't even raise a hand.

The moisture in the air around him chilled, and three ice crystals condensed out of thin air to meet the kunai. Three sharp clinks rang out as they knocked the weapons away one by one.

Shards of ice flew everywhere, glittering beneath the moonlight.

Well, look at that. He even knows to probe my defenses.

Uzumaki Hayashi was inwardly amused. The kid seemed much more tactical than last time.

Across from him, Sasuke Uchiha kept moving, throwing weapons as though they cost nothing-kunai and shuriken, wave after wave, from increasingly tricky angles. Some flew straight, others spun, cutting off both sides.

One kunai took a direct hit from an ice crystal, instantly became coated in white frost, and dropped to the ground with a clatter, frozen solid.

Uzumaki Hayashi simply brought both hands into play. The moisture beside him chilled, and an entire row of ice crystals formed at once, knocking every weapon down in a flurry of clinks and clangs.

Ice Release grew easier to use with every attempt. It formed quickly and dispersed just as fast, while barely making a dent in his chakra.

Rigged by that damn system or not, it really was useful.

Under the moonlight, shattered ice littered the ground, spreading out in a small, glittering ring.

Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha threw a few more weapons too high and wide. They sailed over Linshi's head and landed silently in the grass behind him.

Uzumaki Hayashi glanced at them and paid them little mind.

They missed. What else was there to look at?

After attacking for quite some time, Sasuke Uchiha suddenly stopped.

He stood where he was and gave a sudden chuckle.

"You fell for it."

Uzumaki Hayashi froze.

Only then did he spot it out of the corner of his eye-a kunai had somehow looped silently back from the edge of his vision and was heading straight for the center of his back!

A steel wire, so fine it was nearly invisible, stretched taut from the end of the kunai.

Sasuke Uchiha held the other end in his hand.