My dear martial nephew, ambushing your martial uncle is not a good habit

"Sōkyū, what's this?" Ayame struggled to stand up from her chair and happened to spot Pikachu in Sōkyū Hatake's arms.

"This is my summoning beast. His name is Pikachu," Sōkyū Hatake said gently.

"Pika pika~" Pikachu stretched out his little paw and waved hello.

"So cute!!!" The moment Ayame saw Pikachu, she could no longer tear her eyes away. To her, Pikachu's appearance struck straight at her heart.

As she spoke, Ayame jumped down from behind the counter and dashed over to Sōkyū Hatake, staring fixedly at Pikachu.

"Can I... pet him?" Ayame asked longingly, looking at Pikachu in Sōkyū Hatake's arms.

"You'll have to ask him." Sōkyū Hatake did not agree outright, instead looking down at Pikachu in his arms.

"Pika pi~" Pikachu avoided Sōkyū Hatake's gaze and scurried up onto his shoulder.

Clearly, Pikachu did not want Ayame to touch him.

Still as aloof as ever.

"It's okay, I can just look at him!" Ayame sat down beside Sōkyū Hatake, her big eyes fixed on Pikachu.

"Your tonkotsu ramen is here~" Just then, Uncle Teuchi came over with a bowl of tonkotsu ramen. After glancing at Ayame and Pikachu, he turned and went back into the kitchen.

Sōkyū picked up some noodles, blew on them to cool them down, and slurped them into his mouth. Delicious! His eyes lit up. Ichiraku Ramen certainly lived up to its reputation.

Soon, as Sōkyū Hatake began digging in, Uncle Teuchi came over to him again with a small bowl.

"Uncle Teuchi, what's this?" Sōkyū Hatake, who was busy tackling his noodles, raised his head and looked at the small bowl before him.

"This isn't for you. It's for him," Uncle Teuchi said, pointing at Pikachu on Sōkyū Hatake's shoulder.

"Pikachu!!!" Upon hearing that, Pikachu jumped straight down from Sōkyū Hatake's shoulder, went over to the little bowl, and began eating alongside him.

At the sight, Ayame perked right up. She walked behind Pikachu and watched him eat with a face full of curiosity.

"Thanks for the meal! Here's the money." Before long, Sōkyū Hatake and Pikachu finished eating. He took out some money, placed it on the counter, and prepared to leave.

"Wait, I said this meal was on me." Uncle Teuchi pushed the money back toward Sōkyū Hatake.

"Even better. I'll be back." Sōkyū Hatake did not stand on ceremony. Otsutsuki Ichiraku himself was treating me, so what was there to hesitate about?

Meanwhile, Ayame gazed at Pikachu reluctantly, her little face full of unwillingness to part.

"I'll be back, Ayame." Without quite knowing why, Sōkyū Hatake reached out and patted Ayame's hair. Mm, it felt pretty nice.

"Mm-hmm! Bring Pikachu with you~" Ayame said softly.

"No problem."

After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Sōkyū headed straight for the ninja tool shop. He needed to buy some Chakra Paper to determine his chakra natures so he could plan for the future.

"Shopkeeper, two sheets of Chakra Paper." Sōkyū looked around. This might have been the ninja tool shop owned by Tenten's parents; its decor was fairly close to a Chinese style.

"Sure, just a moment." The shopkeeper turned, took two sheets of Chakra Paper from the cabinet behind him, and handed them to Sōkyū. "That'll be 2,000 yen. Thank you for your business."

"Give me a discount, shopkeeper. I'm a regular."

"Like I'd believe that. I've never seen you before." The shopkeeper did not fall for Sōkyū's line, however, so Sōkyū could only take out his wallet and pay.

When he returned home, Kakashi and the others had already gone out. Sōkyū hurriedly took out the Chakra Paper he had just bought and carefully fed chakra into it. This was a major matter that would determine the direction of his future training, so he could not afford to be careless.

Suddenly, the chakra split into three sections: one section wrinkled, another grew damp, and the remaining section crumbled. (Chakra Paper could detect a ninja's chakra natures. Fire-type would make it burn, Water-type would make it wet, wind-type would split it, Earth Release would make it crumble, and Lightning Release would make it wrinkle.)

To be safe, Sōkyū used the second sheet of Chakra Paper to ensure accuracy, looking at the paper in his hand, which showed the same results as the first.

"Water, earth, lightning? Looks like they're the same natures Kakashi is good at. I can get ninjutsu scrolls from him without having to ask anyone else," Sōkyū Hatake said.

"I have an Earth-Style Wall. Want it?"

"Yes. Huh? Who's talking?" Sōkyū Hatake responded instinctively.

Thump! Kakashi, who had sneaked in, rapped Sōkyū on the head with his knuckles.

"Holy shit, Kakashi, do you walk without making a sound? I'll take you on!" Sōkyū roared and lunged at Kakashi.

Kakashi jumped up, dodging Sōkyū's surprise attack and giving him a second rap on the head in passing.

This time, however, Kakashi had miscalculated.

Now that Sōkyū was ready, he would not let Kakashi catch him by surprise again so easily.

With a Soru, he appeared behind Kakashi and copied him, delivering a rap straight to his head.

"My dear martial nephew, ambushing your martial uncle is not a good habit," Sōkyū Hatake said cheerfully. Whatever else, his standing in their martial lineage was now higher than Kakashi's.

At Sōkyū Hatake's words, a vein bulged on Kakashi's forehead.

"Martial uncle, is it? Then this martial nephew will see just how capable his martial uncle is today." Kakashi's voice turned icy. The next second, he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Sōkyū Hatake.

"A sneak attack?!" Sōkyū Hatake had been watching Kakashi all along. The instant Kakashi disappeared, he was already prepared.

With a Soru, he moved straight into the living room.

Next, Kakashi and Sōkyū Hatake played a game of chase...

Of course, it ended with Kakashi pinning Sōkyū Hatake to the floor and thrashing him.

After all, Kakashi was a Chunin now. Sōkyū Hatake was certainly no match for him yet; the gap between them in both chakra and stamina was still considerable.

"Martial uncle, huh? Martial nephew, huh? Getting pretty full of yourself, aren't you?" Kakashi spoke as he beat him. What he did not notice, however, was that the gloom that had long lingered in his heart seemed to have begun dissipating...

In fact, beneath his mask, Kakashi was now... smiling.