Over the next few days, Mirai became noticeably sleepier during daytime classes.
He lay over his desk with heavy eyelids, head bobbing as he fought to stay awake.
Sometimes he didn’t even respond the first time Kishimoto called his name.
“Mirai!
Get up and answer the question!”
“…Huh?
Oh.
The core of the Will of Fire is bonds and protection.”
Mirai could recite the standard answer with his eyes closed.
Then he immediately put his head back down.
Kishimoto was so angry steam practically came out of his nose, but when he remembered the Hokage’s instructions – and then remembered Tsunade’s door-kicking style that day – he swallowed his temper.
Minato Namikaze sat near the front of the classroom.
He turned around and looked at Mirai, confusion filling his blue eyes.
“What’s wrong with Mirai lately?
He looks exhausted…
He had so much energy when he first transferred here.”
During the break, Minato walked to Mirai’s desk and lightly tapped the tabletop.
“Mirai, are you all right?
Have you not been sleeping well?”
“Mm…
I’ve been studying something.” Mirai yawned.
“Studying what?”
“Sealing techniques.”
“Sealing techniques?” Minato’s eyes lit up.
“That sounds amazing!
Can you teach me?”
Mirai finally lifted one eyelid and looked at him.
This little blond really was sincere.
His entire mind seemed devoted to getting stronger.
It was hard to dislike him.
“Maybe later.
Let me sleep first…”
Before he even finished speaking, Mirai’s head dropped back onto his desk.
Minato watched him, scratched his cheek, and then clenched his fist.
‘I can’t leave him like this.
Someone as amazing as Mirai can’t keep walking around half-dead!
I have to find a way to cheer him up!’
That afternoon came practical combat class.
Ichimei Toriyama led the class to the training field as usual.
Today’s lesson was taijutsu sparring.
After several rounds of basic drills, it was time for the usual free-challenge period.
Naori Uchiha was the first to step forward.
“Toriyama-sensei, I want to challenge Mirai Uzumaki.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but her tone carried an unquestionable determination.
The field went quiet for a heartbeat before whispers exploded everywhere.
“Naori again?
Didn’t she lose a month ago?”
“She’s been training every day, though.
I pass the training grounds after school sometimes and she’s always there.”
“The Uchiha are scary…”
Mirai was standing in line and yawning when he heard his name.
Slowly, he raised his head.
Naori stood in the center of the field, her long black hair drifting in the breeze.
Her expression was even colder than it had been a month ago.
She said nothing.
She simply stared straight at him, right hand clenched so tightly her fingertips had gone pale.
“Mirai,” Minato whispered beside him, giving him a little push.
His smile held both anticipation and concern.
“Good luck.
Don’t lose!”
Mirai looked at him.
So much for wanting to help him recover his energy.
The blond was clearly enjoying the show.
“Fine.”
Mirai rubbed his eyes and slowly walked onto the field.
Across from him, Naori’s gaze burned with fighting spirit.
For the past month, she had trained late into the night every single day.
Calluses had formed on her hands, her hand-seal speed had improved by almost twenty percent, and she had pestered the elders of her clan to teach her new taijutsu and ninjutsu techniques.
She was no longer the same girl Mirai had defeated a month ago.
Every day, she had imagined this rematch.
This time, she would definitely surprise him.
“I won’t lose again.”
Naori lowered herself into a fighting stance.
Mirai looked at the stubborn little black-haired girl, then sensed the faint Anbu presence hidden among the distant trees and sighed inwardly.
‘Great.
After this, I still have to go home and study the Four Symbols Seal.’
His days were almost too fulfilling.
…
Naori took a deep breath and stared at the red-haired boy opposite her, who was still yawning.
“Mirai Uzumaki, I’ve mastered a new jutsu this month.
This time, I will defeat you!”
Her voice was crisp and firm, carrying all the determination she had built through a month of relentless training.
Mirai lazily scratched his ear.
“Oh.”
He hadn’t really wanted to accept this challenge.
If he hadn’t promised Mikoto-senpai that he wouldn’t embarrass Naori too badly, he might have simply surrendered and gone home to sleep.
But Mikoto had also warned him not to deliberately lose.
With Naori’s personality, that would only hurt her more.
“Come on, then.
Let’s get this over with.
I still have sealing techniques to study after school.”
Naori’s brow twitched.
His casual attitude annoyed her even more.
“Begin!” Toriyama blew his whistle.
Naori moved first.
She pulled two wooden shuriken from her pouch and threw them from both hands.
At the same time, she lowered her body and rushed in, driving a wooden kunai toward Mirai’s ribs.
Mirai twisted aside from the two shuriken.
The kunai followed immediately, brushing past the edge of his clothes.
He stepped back half a pace, then swung his own wooden kunai horizontally toward her wrist.
Clack!
The two weapons struck with a sharp sound.
Naori gritted her teeth and held against his strength.
She twisted her wrist, trying to trap his weapon, but Mirai flicked his hand.
His kunai spun in a small circle and smoothly redirected her attack.
Their wooden weapons collided again and again in rapid succession.
Mirai deliberately held back, staying only half a beat faster than Naori and barely suppressing the rhythm of her attacks.
The watching students were dazzled.
“Mirai’s reactions are so fast!”
“Naori improved a lot too!
She can actually fight Mirai evenly now!”
“Are they really our age?
If I went up there, I don’t think I’d last one move…”
Minato stood among the crowd, watching every movement carefully with a slight frown.
He noticed something the others didn’t.
Mirai was holding back.
Several times, he clearly had an opportunity to knock Naori’s weapon away, but every strike missed by the tiniest margin.
“Is Mirai…
going easy on her?” Minato murmured.
On the field, Naori became more and more frustrated.
She could tell he wasn’t using his full strength, and that only made the fire inside her burn hotter.
After several exchanges, she suddenly leaped backward, creating distance, and rapidly formed hand seals.
“Ninja Art: Clone Jutsu!”
Three copies appeared beside her.
Four identical Naori Uchihas stood on the field and charged Mirai at once.
“Whoa!
Naori can use the Clone Jutsu now!”
“Four against one!
Mirai’s in trouble!”
Mirai swept them with the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura.
Three figures contained almost no chakra flow at all.
Only the real Naori had normal chakra density.
Distinguishing them couldn’t have been easier.
Still, Mirai decided to put on a little performance.
Naori had trained hard for a full month.
If he exposed her technique in one second, the girl might actually cry on the spot.
Mikoto-senpai had told him to go easy on her.
So he would at least make it look natural.