No matter what it took, Kazan wanted to get his hands on the Shadow Clone Technique and the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
After returning to the classroom, Kazan sat at his desk and listened to the lesson.
Life at the Ninja Academy was fairly easygoing.
A bunch of kids spent their days laughing and fooling around without a care in the world.
However, people in the Naruto world tended to mature early.
If Kazan hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to imagine that a group of children under ten had already begun competing for the attention of the opposite sex.
Kazan was actually quite popular with the girls in his class.
He didn’t have Kakashi’s halo of genius, but he was still handsome enough.
Asuma and the others thought Kazan ate like a starving dog fighting over scraps, but Kurenai Yūhi and some of the other girls saw it as bold and spirited.
Still, children really were simple.
Their methods of attracting girls were either to put down other boys to make themselves look better, or to play pranks on girls and annoy them just to get their attention.
Even if they got yelled at, simply managing to exchange a few words with the girl they liked was enough to keep them happy for half the day.
That’s right.
I’m talking about you, Uchiha Obito!
“Hmph! Kakashi’s only that impressive because he has a great father!”
“One day, I’m definitely going to surpass that guy!”
Obito was boasting shamelessly again.
He was speaking loudly, but his real target audience was Nohara Rin.
“Obito!”
Rin, who had been listening seriously at first, suddenly raised her voice.
“Don’t make jokes about Lord White Fang!”
“…”
She looked a little angry.
Obito seemed to realize that he had gone too far as well.
“Oh.”
Then, in a much quieter voice, he said, “Sorry.”
Rin immediately forgave him, and the two resumed chatting happily.
Kazan watched the entire exchange.
Honestly, it was hard to blame Obito for turning dark on the spot after witnessing Rin’s death.
When you’re the dead last and there’s always a cute girl beside you who cares about you, looks after you, and patiently listens to all your complaints…
Who could resist that?
Who wouldn’t fall for her?
If White Fang hadn’t committed suicide and Kakashi’s personality hadn’t changed so drastically afterward, perhaps even Kakashi might have fallen for Rin eventually.
Before long, the school day ended.
Many parents were waiting outside the Ninja Academy to pick up their children.
Kazan rolled his neck and had only just stood up when, not far away, the bowl-cut Might Guy was already staring at him with his trademark gleaming white teeth on full display.
“Let’s begin, Kazan! Together, we’ll burn our youth!”
I’ve already told you.
My youth isn’t meant to be burned.
Kazan changed into his training clothes and began sprinting around the Ninja Academy’s training field at full speed.
Lap after lap.
He wouldn’t stop until his body reached its limit.
This happened almost every day.
“Look, it’s those two kids again!”
“Yeah. I heard neither of them knows any ninjutsu, and their grades at the Academy are terrible.”
“They can’t use ninjutsu? Then why did the Academy even admit them?”
“Who knows? Maybe Lord Third is simply too kind.”
The parents whispered among themselves, occasionally warning their own children to stay away from those two strange boys.
Going to the Ninja Academy without learning ninjutsu was like watching porn without taking your pants off.
What was even the point?
Just then, two energetic voices rang out at the same time.
Might Duy and Might Guy, father and son, turned toward the parents with boundless enthusiasm, each planting one hand on his hip while thrusting the other into an enormous thumbs-up.
“ALL IN! ARIGATŌ!!!”
These two are seriously insane!
That was the thought running through every parent’s mind.
But Might Duy and Might Guy were already used to it.
They had heard similar things far too many times.
Unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu and possessing nothing but his fists, feet, and taijutsu, Might Duy was famous throughout Konoha as the Eternal Genin.
Cold stares.
Mockery.
Contempt…
Ever since Might Guy was old enough to remember, those things had always followed father and son.
Yet whenever they faced doubt and rejection, the two of them simply turned it into fuel that drove them forward.
That was what made their youth so different from everyone else’s.
The parents hurried away as though avoiding a plague, terrified they might somehow catch whatever the two had.
Only then did Might Duy bend down and instruct his son.
“Go, Guy! Kazan is already five laps ahead of you. That means your youth is a full five laps behind his!”
“OSS! I’ll definitely catch up to Kazan! Once I’ve erased that five-lap gap, I’ll challenge Kakashi!”
The moment Guy finished speaking, he charged onto the track and sprinted after Kazan.
Might Duy stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes blazing with energy.
“Keep it up, Guy. Kazan hasn’t let any of those rumors and insults bother him in the slightest.”
Might Duy was very fond of Kazan.
He still remembered the time his son had heard people mocking him and angrily stepped forward to argue on his behalf, only to get beaten up badly.
Might Duy had been deeply moved at the time.
His son had only stepped forward because he wanted to defend his father’s honor.
“But Guy… true victory isn’t as simple as defeating someone strong.”
The young Might Guy naturally had no idea what his father truly meant by “youth.”
Right now, all he could see was Kazan, who was always running ahead of him.
“I’ll definitely surpass you, Kazan!”
He desperately encouraged himself, pushing with everything he had to catch up.
At the same time…
Kurenai Yūhi and Nohara Rin had finished cleaning the classroom and were preparing to head home.
The two girls walked together, chatting and laughing.
When they reached a window overlooking the training field, the spot with the clearest view, Kurenai suddenly stopped.
Down below, Kazan was running with everything he had.
The sight was almost exactly like Hero Emiya practicing the high jump.
Rin stopped as well and followed Kurenai’s gaze.
“Kazan really is persistent.”
“Mm.”
Kurenai gave a quiet response, her red eyes fixed on him without blinking.
Kazan’s talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu was thoroughly average.
So without the slightest hesitation, he had thrown himself into taijutsu instead.
That kind of determination—the refusal to give up even when faced with setbacks—was something Kurenai found very attractive.
“So… that’s why you like Kazan?”
“Mm… Huh?!”
Kurenai had answered instinctively before suddenly realizing what Rin had said.
She immediately began waving both hands.
“No! Rin, what are you talking about? That’s not true!”
She denied it with all her might.
But when she saw Rin’s smile growing wider and wider, Kurenai finally let her hands fall in surrender.
Fine.
She really did like Kazan.
Seeing that expression, Rin looked as triumphant as if she’d just won a battle.
“Come to think of it, how did you and Kazan meet? I remember that on our very first day of school, you kept glancing over at him. You already knew him back then, didn’t you?”
When had they first met?
Kurenai sank into her memories.
It had probably been on a snowy day much like the one when Naruto and Hinata first met.
Back then, she had been four years old, not quite five, and hadn’t yet enrolled in the Ninja Academy.
That day, as usual, she had played with the other children at the park until it grew dark before finally heading home.
But on the way back, a vicious dog appeared.
She had been terrified.
Kurenai still remembered the dog lunging toward her.
Despite being the daughter of Shinku Yūhi, she had been so frightened that she froze in place, her legs trembling uncontrollably.
And that was when Kazan descended beside her like the God of Shinobi from some storybook.
Bang!
Even now, she could still remember the sound.
It was the loudest punch Kurenai had ever heard in her life.
By the time she opened her eyes, Kazan was still holding the posture of his punch, while the dog had already been sent flying into a snowdrift.
At the time, Kazan hadn’t even spared her a glance.
He simply walked over, picked up the unconscious dog, and carried it away.
She vaguely remembered him muttering something like—
“Looks like dinner’s taken care of.”
No.
That couldn’t be right.
She must have misheard him.
Surely Kazan had said he was going to help the dog find its owner.
“Ohhh… I never knew something like that happened between you and Kazan.”
Rin sounded a little envious.
It felt so romantic.
She couldn’t help imagining that perhaps one day Kakashi would descend from the heavens to save her in exactly the same way.
Still…
Rin had a feeling Kurenai probably hadn’t misheard him.
Considering Kazan’s personality—the kind of person who would happily shovel even the most horrifying mystery food into his mouth—
Barring some miracle, that dog had probably ended up in Kazan’s stomach that very night…