Over the next several days, Aoba Hayashi devoted nearly all of his energy to training the nature transformation of Wind Release chakra.
Sometimes, he would sit for an entire day with a single strand of hair, a book, or his palms pressed together, repeatedly trying to grasp the feeling.
Fortunately, Yugao Uzuki happened to be free from missions during this period and came to keep him company almost every day.
She would spend the entire day with him.
Hayashi often joked that Konoha’s chunin had it far too easy.
Otherwise, how could she have so much free time to keep coming over to his house?
Konoha was simply too prosperous.
If it were Sunagakure instead, the mission workload would probably be so scarce that not everyone would even get one.
Without work, people would literally starve.
Seeing that Yugao had effectively become Hayashi’s personal instructor, Hayato Hayashi stopped worrying about it.
There were still a few days before his next mission, so during his break, he went to train alone at the practice grounds.
His current strength simply wasn’t suitable for training inside their small courtyard.
A few sword swings, and the whole house would become rubble.
“It looks like Little Hayashi has finally grasped the basics of chakra nature transformation.”
“Much faster than I did back then.”
Looking at the strand of hair that had been cleanly split in Hayashi’s hand, Yugao couldn’t help smiling with genuine delight.
Hayashi stared at the two halves of the hair resting in his palm, and all the exhaustion he’d accumulated over the past few days instantly vanished.
Excitedly, he plucked several more strands and tried again.
One strand.
Two strands.
Three strands…
With every attempt, he became more proficient, and the cuts came faster and faster.
A few minutes later—
“Hm?”
Touching the corner of his forehead where his fingers met empty space, Hayashi finally realized how serious the situation had become.
“Pfft!”
Yugao couldn’t hold back her laughter at the sight of Hayashi frozen in disbelief.
Then she reached out with her slender, delicate hand and gently tidied his bangs, covering the noticeably thinning patch at his temple.
“It’s okay.
You can still hide it.”
Watching Yugao struggle to suppress her laughter, Hayashi’s face darkened.
Somewhat disgruntled, he asked,
“Now that I’ve mastered chakra nature transformation, can I move on to the next step?”
Yugao took a deep breath, composed herself, and nodded.
“Mm.
The next step is infusing Wind Release chakra into your sword.”
“But this is different from coating it with ordinary chakra.
Since wind chakra possesses a cutting property, it’s very easy to damage your own weapon during the process.”
She took out a bamboo sword she had prepared in advance and handed it to him.
“Practice with this bamboo sword for now.
Once you can coat it with wind chakra without leaving any cuts on the surface, you’ll have succeeded.”
Hayashi accepted the bamboo sword.
The moment he began channeling chakra into it—
Sure enough, a tiny cut immediately appeared on the bamboo.
He tried several more times.
Eventually, his chakra reserves began running low, forcing him to stop.
The poor bamboo sword had endured enough abuse.
Several fresh slash marks now covered its surface.
Seeing his expression, Yugao quickly comforted him.
“It’s perfectly normal to fail at first.
Just keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it.”
As she spoke, a mischievous glint flashed across her eyes.
“So, Little Hayashi , you’d better stay home and keep practicing for a while.”
“Don’t let other people distract you and slow down your training.”
“…”
“I understand.”
Hayashi let out a long breath and answered earnestly.
At the same time, he obediently opened his mouth and accepted the fruit Yugao held out to him.
The biggest problem was that he still had no way of making serious money.
To make money, he needed strength.
To gain strength quickly, he needed to draw cards.
To draw cards, he needed money.
A perfect deadlock.
So, for now, he decided to focus on improving his swordsmanship.
After all, Vacuum Sword was a powerful technique, and once his chakra reserves increased in the future, its strength would only grow.
While Hayashi immersed himself in training…
“Is Hayashi not coming again today?”
Tenten sat outside her family’s ninja tool shop, cupping her little face in both hands as she watched the crowds passing by.
“If you don’t show up today either, I’m never talking to you again!”
Although their relationship had started as employer and employee, she and Hayashi had become very close friends.
Because of her family background, Tenten had been studying ninja tools since childhood and hardly had any friends in the village.
Hayashi was practically her only friend.
And ever since they’d met, they’d never gone this long without seeing each other.
In short, Tenten simply felt restless.
Nothing felt right.
“Could it be because I got mad at him last time?
Is Hayashi angry with me?”
“But…
he was the one who was mean.
He actually liked money more than…
than me…”
Her cheeks turned bright red as countless thoughts ran through her head.
After thinking for a long time, she still couldn’t come up with an answer.
“He hasn’t been hanging out with Ino and Sakura instead…
has he?”
“…Forget it.
I’ll go find him myself!”
Unable to suppress her worry any longer, Tenten decided to take the initiative.
She sprang out of her chair in one swift motion.
After taking only a few steps, she suddenly stopped.
After thinking for a moment, she ran back behind the counter, grabbed several explosive tags, and called out,
“Dad!
I’m going to practice my throwing techniques!”
Then she dashed away in a cloud of dust.
Watching this unfold, Tenten’s father froze mid-polish, still holding a shuriken in his hand.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
Meanwhile…
“Is Hayashi not coming today either?”
Little Ino rested her chin on her hands behind the flower shop counter, looking utterly bored.
“Could that little rich girl Tenten have bribed Hayashi into not playing with us anymore?”
An inexplicable sense of crisis welled up inside her.
She glanced around the shop.
There weren’t many customers today.
Patting the dust off her clothes, Ino jumped to her feet.
“Mom!
There aren’t many customers today!
I’m going to play with Sakura!”
She shouted toward the back, where her mother was arranging flowers.
Without waiting for permission, she bolted out the door faster than a rabbit.
“Huh?
Sakura?!”
She had barely run a short distance when she ran into a pink-haired girl with a red ribbon tied around her head, revealing her smooth forehead.
“I-Ino?!”
Sakura was equally startled by the sudden encounter.
“Sakura, were you coming to see me?”
Ino noticed that Sakura had been walking toward her house.
“Uh…
um…
y-yeah…”
Sakura’s eyes darted around guiltily, unable to answer directly.
Ino immediately narrowed her eyes.
She grabbed Sakura’s cheeks with both hands and forced her to look straight at her.
“Sakura…
were you actually going to my house to see if Hayashi was there?”
“Mmph…
mmph…”
With both cheeks being squished, Sakura could only make muffled sounds.
Seeing the pitiful look on Sakura’s face, Ino sighed and finally let go.
“S-Sorry, Ino…”
Sakura lowered her head apologetically.
The next moment, Ino grabbed her hand and started running.
“Forget it.
Let’s go find Hayashi together.”