Hand Grip Exerciser, Turning the Tables

Three days passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, Red Yuhi's vacation for the Eighth Squad had come to an end.

Over those three days, Izayoi-kun and the Hyuga Sister Duo had visited nearly all of Hidden Leaf Village's famous sights.

All three of them had prepared photo albums, which were already filled with a large number of pictures.

Seeing the smiles on the two girls' faces, Izayoi-kun felt that buying that Camera had truly been the right choice.

After the vacation ended, Izayoi-kun began working his ass off with renewed motivation, leaving Red Yuhi and Shino Aburame rather astonished.

Hinata, however, seemed to remember something, and guilt filled her heart.

"Izayoi-kun, here's your payment."

After the Eighth Squad disbanded, Hinata handed Izayoi-kun an envelope filled with cash.

"No need. I'm not starving to death yet."

Izayoi-kun pushed the envelope back, pinched Hinata's little cheek, and smiled. "When I can't afford to eat anymore, I'll come ask you, Young Lady, to keep me."

"Mm."

This time, Hinata did not shyly lower her head, because her attention was elsewhere.

Seeing Izayoi-kun refuse, Hinata did not insist. Instead, she planned to use all of the payment to buy ingredients.

Only now did Hinata realize that Izayoi-kun had actually always wanted to buy a Camera, but simply could not afford one.

The reason was that her appetite was far too large.

Ever since she had brought Hanabi along to visit Izayoi-kun, the two of them had rarely gone out for cookouts. Izayoi-kun was always the one who went out to buy ingredients.

Having lived comfortably, Hinata had never noticed.

Only now did she realize that Izayoi-kun's circumstances could not compare to her family's at all.

Thinking of this, Hinata's eyes reddened slightly, and her heart filled with emotion.

She decided that she would work hard to earn money too, and help Izayoi-kun share the burden.

Izayoi-kun had no idea what Hinata was thinking, nor did he notice the change in her.

Because at that moment, his gaze had been drawn to someone.

The other person was neither a handsome man nor a beautiful woman, but an elderly man with weathered, dark skin.

A wooden box rested beside him, and he held a bottle of alcohol in his hand, yet he could not bear to drink freely, taking only tiny sips each time.

He sat on a bench, seemingly waiting for someone—or perhaps he simply had no money left to stay at an inn.

At a glance, he was clearly an outsider from another village.

Many such outsiders entered and left Hidden Leaf Village every day.

They might be locals from the Land of Fire, or foreigners from other countries.

Izayoi-kun had seen countless outsiders like this since childhood.

Yet none of them had ever drawn his attention the way this old man did.

At the sight of him, memories buried deep within Izayoi-kun's mind—so faded that he could barely recall them—gradually became clear.

Though it was his first time seeing the old man, Izayoi-kun could still say his name.

Tazuna!

The Bridge Builder of the Land of Waves.

The client for the Seventh Squad's first C-Rank Mission.

Important characters and iconic scenes from the first arc flashed through Izayoi-kun's mind like a slideshow.

"Izayoi-kun, what are you looking at?"

At that moment, Hinata's voice pulled Izayoi-kun back to his senses.

He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. I was just spacing out and remembered something."

"What was it?"

"In a little over a month, the village will be holding the Chunin Exams. Do you think we should participate?"

"Of course."

Hinata nodded vigorously and said seriously, "I want to become a Jonin as soon as possible."

"Oh? Why?" Izayoi-kun's attention was immediately caught, and he looked at Hinata with curiosity.

He had only meant to change the subject.

Yet he had not expected Hinata, who had always seemed to have no particular ambitions, to possess such a goal.

"Secret."

Hinata suddenly imitated Izayoi-kun, raising her index finger to her lips.

Izayoi-kun froze slightly.

"Hee-hee..."

Seeing Izayoi freeze up, Hinata laughed happily.

"Oh? So you've learned how to tease people now."

Izayoi came back to his senses and immediately reached out to knead Hinata's little cheeks. Putting on a ferocious expression, he said, "Believe it or not, I'll punish you by making you my hand grip exerciser!"

"W-what... is a hand grip exerciser?"

With her cheeks being kneaded, Hinata's voice came out muffled.

"Want to know? I'll tell you when we get home."

A mischievous grin appeared on Izayoi's face as he prepared to drag Hinata home for a workout.

Just then, a greeting rang out as it drew nearer.

"Yo... Izayoi, Hinata. Long time no see."

Following the voice, one tall figure and three shorter ones immediately came into Izayoi and Hinata's view.

A silver-haired dead-fish-eyed man, a blond fox-faced boy, a cool little handsome guy, and a cheongsam-wearing lovestruck girl... it was Seventh Squad.

Seeing Naruto Uzumaki walking toward them while waving, Izayoi raised his hand in return and smiled. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, long time no see."

Unknowingly, two months had already passed since graduation.

For Izayoi and the others, it truly had been a long time.

After all, the Ninja Academy had three terms a year, and only the summer break was somewhat longer.

"Are you two on a date?"

Sasuke Uchiha's very first words upon approaching made Hinata's cheeks flush red.

Sakura Haruno looked at Hinata with envy in her eyes.

They were both on the same team as the popular figures in their class and the people they liked. When would her relationship with Sasuke become like Hinata and Izayoi's?

Rather than answering, Izayoi asked, "Are you going to do a mission?"

"We're going to pick up a mission."

Naruto Uzumaki pointed at Kakashi Hatake, who was openly reading a little yellow book on the street as he walked, and said, "He's Kakashi-sensei, our Guidance Jonin."

"Kakashi Jonin."

Izayoi and Hinata immediately greeted him politely.

"Yo, hello there."

Hearing them mention him, Kakashi Hatake put down the Make-Out Paradise in his hand and raised a hand to greet Izayoi and Hinata.

Then, after sizing up the two, whose height and physiques utterly outclassed Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake could tell even without lifting his forehead protector that their Chakra reserves absolutely surpassed Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno's.

So he looked at Izayoi and deliberately stirred things up. "So you're the Top Student? Not bad, not bad. As expected, you're not someone the genius and dead last in our class can compare to."

Kakashi Hatake had expected Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha to look displeased, but he found that neither cared in the slightest.

Even Sakura Haruno and Hinata felt that Kakashi Hatake had said nothing wrong.

Seeing this, Kakashi Hatake immediately gave Izayoi an extremely high evaluation in his heart.

Even Sasuke Uchiha, who had awakened the Sharingan and evolved it to the Two-Tomoe stage, and could easily use the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique and Great Dragon Fire Technique, felt it was only natural to lose to him?

It seemed this generation also had a dazzling civilian genius.

"Kakashi Jonin, you're flattering me. Naruto and Sasuke are both outstanding ninjas, and Sakura is also an excellent student who has consistently ranked in the top three in academic classes. I was merely fortunate enough to be a little ahead of them in overall results." Izayoi first smiled modestly, then praised him in return. "Kakashi Jonin is the famous Copy Ninja of the Ninja World, the Konoha Technician who copied over a thousand ninjutsu, the Fourth Hokage's direct disciple, and a Lightning Style expert legendary for cutting through lightning itself. With Sasuke and the others training by your side, it won't take more than a few months for them to master a great number of ninjutsu and surpass me completely."

"..."

Kakashi Hatake's dead-fish eyes instantly narrowed, and cold sweat began to trickle down his back.

Sure enough, he immediately saw Seventh Squad staring at him with wide eyes, and his heart sank.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're actually this amazing!"

Pointing at Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki shouted, "You're the Fourth Hokage's disciple, and you've mastered over a thousand ninjutsu, yet you still won't teach us any ninjutsu?"

"Kakashi-sensei, that's too much," Sakura Haruno chimed in with an accusation.

Sasuke Uchiha said nothing, but his gaze toward Kakashi Hatake was filled with burning intensity.

At the same time, there was also the faintest trace of... contempt.

Kakashi Hatake knew that from now on, he would no longer be able to slack off.

As for Izayoi, the culprit behind it all, he had already slipped away with Hinata.