Two days later, Yuzuru and Kakashi finished their daily training as usual, and the two went out together for a rare, relaxing stroll.
"Why did you bring me along?"
Wearing his mask, Kakashi looked at Yuzuru in confusion.
"What good does staying cooped up at home every day do? Isn't it nice to get out and look around? Besides, we're only three! Three is the age to eat, play, and grow."
Hearing this, Kakashi said nothing and simply stared at Yuzuru.
The two stood by the roadside, staring each other down.
After a while, Kakashi looked away first and said slowly, "I've decided to enter the Ninja Academy at five. What about you?"
"Five?"
Yuzuru thought for a moment, then nodded as well.
"All right, I'll go with you."
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back to train."
Without giving Yuzuru time to react, Kakashi immediately ran home after saying that.
Watching Kakashi leave, Yuzuru shook his head. With both hands behind his head, he wandered the streets alone, then found a large tree near the training ground that was comfortable to lean against. He sat beneath it and narrowed his eyes.
"Naruto, huh? What a dangerous place. And the worst part is, I didn't even get a cheat. I'm filing a complaint against this Dayun truck driver. He must have embezzled my system bro!"
Just as Yuzuru was feeling gloomy, a girl with beautiful, ruby-like eyes suddenly appeared before him. The two little children stared at each other, taking turns blinking.
In the end, Yuzuru broke the strange silence first.
"Your eyes are beautiful, like rubies."
"Really? Hehe. Oh, right, who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."
"I've never seen you before either."
"Oh, right!"
The girl blinked in realization.
"Well, my name's Kurenai, Kurenai Yuhi. What's yours?"
"My name's Yuzuru, Minazuki Yuzuru!"
"By the way, Yuzuru, are you a boy or a girl?"
"???"
Looking at Kurenai Yuhi's curious expression, Yuzuru felt as though a few question marks should have appeared above his head.
"A boy, of course. Do I look that much like a girl?"
"Um, well, a little, actually."
Kurenai looked at Yuzuru and nodded without even blinking.
At that moment, he was utterly speechless.
Was it his fault he had fair skin? Was it his fault he had delicate features?
"I'm not talking to you anymore."
Yuzuru simply closed his eyes.
Faced with such a cute little girl saying things that upset him with such an innocent expression, Yuzuru could only pretend he could neither see nor hear her.
"Kurenai, it's time to go home."
Just as Kurenai was about to say something else, a middle-aged man walked over.
"Oh? Is this a new friend you just made?"
"Yes, Dad. His name's Yuzuru, Suigetsu Yuzuru."
Kurenai immediately took Yūhi Shinku's large hand and introduced him.
"It's Minazuki Yuzuru."
Yuzuru opened his eyes to correct her, then said to Yūhi Shinku before him, "Hello, mister."
"Minazuki Yuzuru? Oh, I remember now. You're from Sakumo's family."
Yūhi Shinku immediately remembered who Yuzuru was.
"Yes."
"Speaking of which, hasn't your father come home yet?"
"He came back two days ago and left yesterday."
"I see. Work hard. You'll definitely become an amazing ninja like your father someday."
Yūhi Shinku reached out and patted Yuzuru's head in encouragement.
"Mm, I hope so."
For now, Yuzuru could not escape an adult's evil hand and could only endure it passively.
However...
Seeing what her father was doing, Kurenai also reached out her little hand and rubbed his head, immediately earning a resentful look from Yuzuru.
"Hehe, it's not my fault. It's just that Yuzuru really is pretty."
Kurenai gave him a sweet, innocent smile.
Yuzuru was helpless, but there was nothing he could do. A cute, well-behaved little girl was always endearing, and she was indeed complimenting him, though her choice of words was very inappropriate.
After the father and daughter left, Yuzuru hurried home as well.
Seeing Kakashi still training, Yuzuru rolled his eyes at him irritably.
"Stop grinding. You're putting me under so much pressure."
"You don't understand. Being a ninja is a dangerous profession. If you don't work hard to get stronger, you might die on a mission one day."
Yuzuru: ...
Scratching his head in frustration, he picked up the wooden sword beside him. "Come on, then. I'll show you grinding. Spar with me!"
It wasn't that he actually wanted to grind, but Kakashi was right. Ninjas lived with their lives hanging by a thread!
At the thought, Yuzuru grew even more resentful toward the Dayun truck driver who had sent him flying. Now he could only turn that resentment into motivation. After all, he really didn't want to die!
Feeling Yuzuru's strength increasing, Kakashi's eyes filled with shock.
"Wait, Yuzuru, you-!"
Only when Yuzuru mercilessly knocked the wooden sword from his hand did Kakashi ignore the trembling pain in his hand and look at Yuzuru in surprise.
"How did you get stronger?"
"Did I?"
"You did."
Yuzuru tossed aside his wooden sword, sat on a large rock in the training ground, and closed his eyes to begin extracting chakra.
Seeing this, Kakashi rested for a while, then began extracting chakra too.
The two immersed themselves in their usual training once more.
A month later, Hatake Sakumo returned home again.
Yuzuru and Kakashi were still completing their daily training on schedule, while Sakumo quietly observed them.
"Hmm, should I say that's only to be expected of a Kekkei Genkai clan? Though they're about the same age, Yuzuru has considerably more chakra than Kakashi, even though Kakashi's chakra is already impressive. It looks like this child will most likely awaken Ice Release."
"It's just that... Konoha doesn't have any Ice Release ninjutsu either. Will I have to use a few special methods?"
At that moment, Hatake Sakumo was already considering Yuzuru's future development. After all, he had watched the child grow up. Even without blood ties, affection accumulated with time.
Fortunately, Ice Release was a Kekkei Genkai from Kirigakure. Any other ninja village would have been difficult to deal with, but Kirigakure...
Sakumo had once gone to the Land of Water on a mission and made some basic inquiries about Kirigakure. The relationship between Kirigakure's higher-ups and its Kekkei Genkai clans could not quite be called ice-cold, but it was close.
The Kekkei Genkai clans already held grudges against one another dating back to the Warring States Period. Coupled with the poverty of the Land of Water and Kirigakure, and the inadequate distribution of benefits, their conflicts grew more intense by the day.
Moreover, Kirigakure was spread across islands. Almost every clan was separated from the others, and no one knew what the other clans were up to.
Even the civilians and higher-ups lived apart. The conflicts there rivaled those of a women's college dormitory: scheming, lurking, and assassination. It was utter chaos.
At this thought, Sakumo had an idea.
"Once the war ends, I'll go take a look in the Land of Water."
Although infiltrating another country to steal a Kekkei Genkai clan's exclusive ninjutsu sounded impossible, the Land of Water was an exception. And most importantly, he was Hatake Sakumo.
When it came to strength, Sakumo had confidence in himself.
Then he walked up to the two and said with a smile, "I'm home."
"Dad!"
The two immediately came over to greet him, and Sakumo tousled one little head with each hand.
"It looks like you've both been working hard lately. Your chakra has increased too. Well, today we'll test your chakra natures."
"Chakra natures?"
The two watched quietly as Hatake Sakumo took two sheets of chakra paper from his ninja tool pouch.
"This is chakra paper. Channel your chakra into it, and you'll find out what your chakra natures are."