Konoha's main gate.
By September, the heat in the village had begun to fade. Leaves heavy with sunlight glowed with a soft golden afterglow, as if the whole canopy had been brushed with dusk.
"Konoha, I am back!!!"
On the packed dirt road before the gate, a tall, powerfully built man threw his head back and howled at the sky.
He had a bedroll wrapped in black cloth slung over his shoulder, the long pole beneath it carrying a bundle of luggage at the back. He strode toward the village in huge, exuberant steps.
As the figure drew close, the details came into focus.
A green jumpsuit stretched tight over a body covered in wrinkles from constant training. An unnaturally shiny bowl-cut sat gleaming on his head.
His identity was impossible to mistake.
Konoha's Noble Beast, Might Guy.
Tap tap.
His sandals thudded against the reassuring firmness of the dirt road. Guy carried his luggage, thick eyebrows curving into an eight-shaped arc on his dark face as he stared at the huge green doors of Konoha growing larger ahead of him.
His heart surged.
The escort mission that had dragged on for more than a month was finally over, and it had worn him out.
No wonder the mission pay had been so generous. Of course there had been a reason.
He had thought it was an ordinary escort mission.
Who could have guessed that the "rich merchant's daughter" hidden in the caravan was actually the princess of a small country, and the destination was not the capital of the Land of Fire for trade at all, but a desperate journey to seek political aid.
As for the people chasing her, that went without saying.
Traitors and usurpers.
Rebels who had killed the king to seize power.
Even the princess's "maids" in the caravan had turned out to be enemy spies.
In the end, the unremarkable hired bodyguard had been forced to become a hero who carried the fallen princess forward and punched straight through the enemy nation.
That was right.
He had never made it to the capital of the Land of Fire.
Driven to irritation by the endless pursuit, Guy had simply opened the Eight Gates and beaten the rebel commander into the ground, then followed that up with a Morning Peacock that obliterated the rebel army.
If his looks had not been quite so rough, and if his ridiculous hairstyle and green bodysuit had not further shaved away whatever "heroic aura" he might have had, that princess might well have offered herself to him on the spot.
It was fine.
At least the mission pay was maxed out, and he had received an extra surprise.
Guy patted the long pole resting on his shoulder. The thick black cloth wrapped around it felt soft and smooth under his fingers, even more delicate than a beauty's skin.
It was a special material called Black Aobu.
A fabric woven through secret arts from rare local silkworm thread. Soft to the touch, but incredibly tough. Resistant to cuts, fireproof, waterproof, breathable and dust resistant.
The silkworms were rare and the technique time-consuming. Only a tiny bit could be produced each year.
Nobles and royalty from all over scrambled to purchase it for inner armor and undershirts, so almost none of it reached the open market.
On the black market, its price was slightly higher than the same weight in gold.
After Guy defeated the rebels, the grateful princess had gifted him the tribute she had originally intended for the daimyo of the Land of Fire in exchange for protection.
The Black Aobu cloth was already precious, but the long staff wrapped inside was rarer still.
The cloth, Guy had decided, would be a present for Konome and Kakashi.
The staff would be his own spoil of war.
When he pictured Konome's happy face when she touched the gift, the "young" Might Guy could not help but smile with the kindly warmth of an old father.
He was already prepared to regale his dear foster daughter with thrilling tales of his adventures abroad.
He was sure that Konome, bored out of her mind after being cooped up in the village, would look at him with eyes full of awe.
Even though she was blind.
He ran a quick hand over his bowl-cut, which sparkled like a signal beacon in the light.
Guy stepped through Konoha's gate, heart full of anticipation.
"You, out first."
The moment he came in, two sharp-eyed unfamiliar shinobi stepped forward and shoved him back out through the gate.
"Name, origin, reason for leaving the village and returning now."
Guy, now back on the dirt road again, stared at the two wary men. He felt a little dazed. He pointed at the forehead protector on his head.
"I am a Konoha shinobi."
"Apologies. The village is under lockdown recently. We have orders to strictly inspect everyone entering and exiting. We hope you understand."
Their expressions were solemn as they spoke.
Their legs were tensed, bodies already in ready stances.
Even someone as thick-headed as Guy could not miss it.
In the month he had been away, something serious had happened.
After a moment, he pulled out his travel pass and matched his identity with the records at the gate.
Only then did he ask about the lockdown.
And then he was stunned.
"What did you say? The Uchiha, who helped found Konoha, were wiped out?"
"The Hidden Cloud sent a squad to attack Konoha's main gate. Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were killed in action."
"Miss Sawada Fuka was a Kumo spy?"
"What did you say? Konome killed who?"
Guy stood there, questions tumbling out of him, only to be bowled over by the answers.
Every single sentence was clear enough, yet taken together it all felt like some kind of genjutsu.
One of the two founding clans of Konoha, the proud Uchiha, had been annihilated by their own clansman.
Kumo shinobi had assaulted Konoha's main gate and dispatched a specialist squad to attack Konoha Academy students, attempting to spark a Fourth Great Ninja War.
Konome had defeated a veteran Kumo elite jonin and become a genius surpassing Kakashi, a prodigy on par with the First Hokage, hailed as Konoha's strongest talent.
How did any of that make sense together?
After his entry was finally logged, Guy said goodbye to the new gate guards, still muttering to each other, and walked into Konoha in a daze, burden slung over his shoulder.
When the Eight Gates opened, both chakra and life force erupted beyond his control.
Logically speaking, chakra that even he could barely manage could not fall under enemy illusion.
If this was not genjutsu, then could everything the gate guards said really be true?
Carrying his bundle, Guy walked down the main street, eyes darting left and right.
The people of Konoha were as calm and peaceful as ever. Children played ball by the roadside.
It looked just like it had a month ago.
Yet to him, that familiar scene felt strange.
He had only been gone a little over a month, but it felt like years.
"Hey, is that you, Guy? What a coincidence."
A teacher with an unfortunately sparse head of hair, Mitsuda-sensei, had his hands clasped behind his back as he strolled along the street.
He blinked when he saw Guy looking around like he was entering the village for the first time, then gave him a once-over, noting the dust and exhaustion.
"You just got back from a mission?"
Guy had not expected to run into someone he knew on the street, much less a former instructor from the Academy.
Muscle memory kicked in and he straightened up at once.
"Yes, just now. Sensei, why aren't you at the Academy teaching?"
"Today is the weekend."
Mitsuda looked at Guy's blank face and clicked his tongue with undisguised envy.
Back then, Guy's chakra refinement speed had not met the basic standard, and he had not even qualified to enroll.
Only through sheer willpower had he caught the eye of the Third Hokage and been admitted as a special case, even prompting changes to the Academy's rules.
His grades at the Academy had been abysmal.
Yet a few years later he had muscled his way to jonin on taijutsu alone.
And now he had casually adopted a girl in the village who had turned out to be a once-in-a-century super prodigy.
How did all the good fortune fall on idiots?
Mitsuda grumbled inwardly, but the expression he showed was one of clear admiration.
"You picked up quite the daughter."
Guy did not bask in the praise.
His face was actually tight with worry.
Mitsuda's words confirmed the gate guards' story.
Konome really had been attacked by a Kumo jonin.
"Konome. Was she hurt? How badly?"
Guy clenched his fists. A hint of panic crept over his sharp features.
He knew exactly how strong a Kumo elite jonin was from the war.
Even if Konome had managed to win, the price would not have been small.
He cared far more about whether she was safe than about any "number one genius in Konoha" title.
Mitsuda saw that Guy was not lost in pride over his foster daughter's achievements and was instead worried about her safety.
He silently nodded to himself.
So it was not that fools had lucky lives.
It was that good people reap good karma.
With a man like this, it was hard to feel nothing but envy.
"I do not know all the details. I heard she has already been discharged and her life is not in danger. She has not been to class these past few days, so I assume her wounds are not fully healed and she is resting at home."
That was all Guy needed to hear.
He thanked Mitsuda in a rush and sprinted off toward the Hatake compound, luggage bouncing behind him.
Behind him, Mitsuda chuckled and shook his head, clasped his hands behind his back once more and continued his stroll.
Every now and then he would lower his head to scan both sides of the street, as if hoping he might somehow repeat Guy's miracle and stumble across another hidden prodigy.
Hatake compound.
"Cheers!"
"Cheers."
Clink.
Two glasses filled with orange-yellow juice tapped lightly together and then settled onto the pale tatami.
Kakashi and Konome sat cross-legged at a low, dark wood table between them, the tabletop crowded with dishes.
Downing her juice in one go, Konome inhaled the rich aroma of the food and felt her fingers itch.
That day she had eaten twenty-four bowls of ramen in one sitting.
Ever since then, Kakashi had refused to take her out to eat.
Every dish on the table had been cooked by him.
Living alone since he was young, he had developed exceptional cooking skills.
Konome, who had never liked being gawked at like a zoo animal, had sampled his cooking, found it decent, and accepted his suggestion that they eat at home instead.
Two weeks had passed quickly.
That very morning, one of Kakashi's shadow clones had dispelled and brought word that the mission was over.
Konome had guessed that Hiruzen Sarutobi had confirmed her identity.
To celebrate the mission's end, Kakashi had prepared a lavish lunch to share with her.
Konome had readily agreed.
Thanks to Kakashi's good cooking and their shared love of reading, their time together had been mostly peaceful.
"Mostly" being the key word.
Hiruzen's little assignment meant Kakashi had to "protect" Konome twenty-four hours a day.
In other words, he was the school beauty's personal bodyguard.
Aside from when she bathed and used the toilet, Kakashi was practically glued to her side.
In the half month since she left the hospital, Konome had yet to find a good opportunity to secretly test the new state of her Shikotsumyaku.
That had indeed put her in a foul mood.
Of course, she had not been idle.
The yin and yang ninjutsu scrolls her friends had gifted her were nearly worn-through from being opened and closed.
To say she had gained more than expected was putting it mildly.
The mysterious veil around Yin Release and Yang Release had finally lifted a little.
Yin Release used spiritual energy, which governed dreams and imagination, as its source to create form from nothing.
Yang Release used physical energy, which governed life itself, as its source to breathe life into form.
In the original history Konome remembered, these were summed up in two short lines.
Grand, vague concepts that almost no one truly understood.
The scrolls in her hands, in contrast, were detailed.
They finally let her glimpse a sliver of chakra's ultimate nature.
First.
Every person in the shinobi world carried within them a power called life.
Invisible, intangible, yet it decided how far a person could go.
Talent, lifespan, the amount of chakra one could hold, the speed of recovery, the body's ability to heal and resist disease, every aspect of human existence was bound by this force.
Yin and Yang Release were unique types of chakra nature change created so that shinobi could break through the chains of this life force.
Within the theory of yin and yang, "life force" was only a catch-all term.
It was composed of two great aspects: yin power and yang power.
Yin-aligned life force resided in the soul.
Yang-aligned life force resided in the flesh.
The so-called Pure Land was a place that gathered the dead whose bodies had died or whose yang force was spent, yet whose yin power still lingered and kept their souls from fully dispersing.
Connecting this with what she had learned at the Academy about chakra, the picture grew clearer.
In essence, chakra was formed by drawing out spiritual and physical energy, feeding the chakra seed within, which in turn produced more chakra for the body.
Physical and spiritual energy themselves came from the body and soul processing nutrients.
Smart shinobi had distilled this into a formula for human energy.
Life divided into yin and yang.
Where that life originally came from was still unknown.
The soul relied on yin power to continue existing and, in turn, produced spiritual energy.
The body relied on yang power and produced physical energy.
A strong life force would let the soul and body produce more energy than usual.
In turn, they would have more strength to grow, and chakra would be much richer in such a person.
It was all linked in one chain.
Once they traced things back to the root, ancient shinobi naturally began trying to think their way out.
If human lifespan and chakra reserves were limited by life force, then if someone could find a way to control or replenish that force, would that not solve everything?
Since chakra itself was a universal power, some shinobi came up with a wild idea.
If chakra could mimic wind, water, fire and other natural elements, why could it not mimic life force?
It had been a moment of genius.
From that flash of inspiration, Yin Release and Yang Release had been born.
Chakra mimicked yin and yang life power.
The result of that change was yin-aligned and yang-aligned chakra.
Of course, chakra's ability to mimic was not perfect.
Just like the water made from Water Release chakra was not true water, chakra altered through Yin or Yang Release was not true yin or yang power either.
The shinobi who had tried to break the limits of life ultimately failed in that goal.
But the secret arts born from their research had spread throughout the shinobi world.
They had given rise to countless families of hidden arts.
The Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi and Aburame clans were all examples.
Because they had used yin and yang chakra for so many generations, even the chakra seeds they passed down began to carry traces of those powers.
Passed down from one generation to the next, their secret techniques and physical constitutions had almost fused into something like kekkei genkai.
Give it a few more decades or centuries and shinobi might start being born who could manipulate shadows or enter other people's minds without even forming hand seals.
Beyond that general overview of Yin and Yang Release, the scrolls also recorded numerous ways to condense yin and yang chakra.
Each of the five scrolls had its own unique methods, yet they ultimately shared the same principles.
Perhaps because their training methods too easily exposed core family secrets, many critical steps had been deliberately left incomplete.
Konome was still sorting through them.
Tap tap.
While Konome chewed her food and turned over the training methods in her mind, a flurry of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
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