Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
Early the next morning, before breakfast had even been served, Hayato Hayashi had already dragged Aoba out for morning training.
The two stood in the small courtyard behind their house, each holding a bamboo practice sword as they exchanged blows.
Calling it a spar was generous.
From beginning to end, Aoba was the only one attacking, while Hayashi calmly blocked every strike.
Although they were only bamboo swords, each collision produced a loud crack.
Aoba held nothing back.
Every swing was swift, precise, and ruthless.
His attacks came from tricky angles, and every strike carried considerable force.
After only a few dozen exchanges, a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.
He was still just a child.
If not for the fact that the chakra within him already rivaled that of most genin, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.
As he defended, Hayashi couldn’t hide the satisfaction in his eyes.
The speed of Aoba’s strikes…
The power behind them…
Even the timing of each attack…
Everything proved that the boy hadn’t neglected his swordsmanship despite spending so much time around those girls.
At the same time, Hayashi could clearly sense the terrifying talent hidden within him.
In the ninja world, the most direct indicator of a person’s potential was their chakra reserves.
Aside from a handful of exceptions, nearly every famous shinobi possessed an enormous amount of chakra.
Yet Aoba was only five years old.
Even now, his chakra far surpassed that of children his age.
The sight inevitably reminded Hayashi of another prodigy.
Kakashi Hatake.
Both were child geniuses.
Both excelled at swordsmanship from a young age.
Both—
…
Never mind.
Let’s not continue making that comparison.
After several more exchanges, Hayashi stepped backward, creating some distance.
He raised a hand, signaling Aoba to stop.
“Very good.”
“It looks like you haven’t neglected your sword training.”
“The next step…”
“We’ll begin learning how to combine swordsmanship with chakra.”
Hayashi nodded in satisfaction.
Aoba’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Does that mean…”
“I’ll be able to swing my sword and send out sword energy?”
Thwack!
“Ow!”
Aoba clutched his head in pain.
Hayashi withdrew the hand he’d used to smack him.
His expression became serious.
“The greatest mistake in training is aiming too high.”
“You have to progress one step at a time.”
“You haven’t even learned how to walk properly yet, and you’re already trying to fly?”
“I didn’t know…”
Aoba rubbed the sore spot on his head.
Seeing how honestly the boy accepted the lesson, Hayashi’s stern expression softened slightly.
A faint smile flickered across his face.
After putting away the bamboo swords, he said,
“I’ll go make breakfast.”
“You wash up first.”
Of course…
When Hayashi said make breakfast, he wasn’t actually cooking.
Back when he’d lived alone, he barely stayed in one place.
Most of his time had been spent on missions or training.
His meals usually consisted of military ration pills.
Only during holidays would he stay at his older brother’s house for a few days.
After Aoba’s parents died on a mission, Hayashi bought this house so he could properly take care of his nephew.
So his version of breakfast…
Was two cups of instant ramen.
Plus eggs.
Milk.
And some fruit.
Simple.
But nutritionally complete.
Aoba had no complaints whatsoever.
Honestly…
Compared to a traditional Japanese breakfast, he preferred instant noodles anyway.
“Oh, right.”
While eating, Hayashi suddenly put down his chopsticks.
“For the next few days…”
“Don’t go looking for those girls.”
Aoba looked up from his bowl.
“…Why?”
Hayashi calmly continued eating as he answered.
“What I’m going to teach you next…”
“Isn’t simple.”
“My leave won’t last very long.”
“So we’ll be short on time.”
“I doubt going a few days without seeing them…”
“…will hurt the relationship between you and your little girlfriends.”
“…”
Aoba was speechless.
His uncle had sounded so serious…
Why did he always have to sneak in a tease at the end?
Hayashi maintained an utterly straight face as he asked,
“By the way…”
“Among Tenten, Ino, and Sakura…”
“Which one do you like the most?”
For once, Hayashi couldn’t suppress his curiosity.
He was usually a serious man.
But this concerned the future of the Hayashi family.
He had every right to be a little nosy.
Aoba might still be too young to understand.
But Hayashi certainly wasn’t.
He needed to prepare an escape route in advance.
“I don’t think about those things.”
Aoba bit down on his chopsticks.
He certainly couldn’t admit that he wanted all of them.
“I see.”
“Then who do you enjoy spending time with the most?”
Hayashi pressed further.
“I like spending time with everyone.”
A flawless answer.
To Aoba, he treated all three equally.
Although he spent slightly more time with Tenten because of their tutoring arrangement…
He never neglected Ino or Sakura.
As someone from a civilian family, he deeply understood the value of making connections.
The more friends, the more paths available.
Besides…
These girls would all become important figures in Konoha one day.
The only thing he hadn’t expected…
Was for all three relationships to progress this quickly.
“Is that so…”
Hayashi looked at him with a strangely meaningful expression.
The gaze left Aoba completely bewildered.
Just as he was about to ask what it meant—
Hayashi had already picked up the dishes and headed toward the kitchen.
As he walked away, he left one final instruction behind.
“Hurry up and eat.”
“Take a short break.”
“Then training resumes.”
Hayashi himself wasn’t particularly skilled in a wide variety of flashy ninjutsu.
His reputation rested on only two techniques.
The first…
Vacuum Sword.
The second…
Konoha Body Flicker Technique.
Vacuum Sword infused chakra into the blade before releasing powerful wind blades through sword swings.
It could be used for both offense and defense.
As for the Konoha Body Flicker Technique…
The user dispersed into countless leaves to evade enemy attacks.
Since the Body Flicker Technique was significantly more difficult…
Aoba would first begin learning Vacuum Sword.
And the very first step…
Was learning how to coat a blade with chakra.
If he possessed a sword forged from chakra-conductive metal, this would have been relatively easy.
But using an ordinary steel sword…
Was much harder.
That meant before mastering Vacuum Sword…
He first needed to learn a technique similar to Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.
“Aoba.”
“Your chakra nature is Wind.”
“And Wind is the most suitable affinity for practicing Vacuum Sword.”
Standing in the courtyard, Hayashi patiently explained the fundamentals.
Seeing the puzzled expression on Aoba’s face, he continued.
“The defining characteristic of Wind chakra…”
“…is cutting.”
“Like this.”
Hayashi casually picked up a fallen tree branch from the ground.
Buzz.
A faint hum echoed through the air.
Pale blue chakra immediately wrapped around the branch.
Aoba’s eyes widened slightly.
Because from that ordinary branch…
He could distinctly sense something.
Sharpness.
An edge so keen that it felt capable of cutting through anything.