Konoha Small Woods. This was the training spot Taiichi and his friends used after school before graduation.
When Taiichi arrived at the small woods, he was surprised to find Might Gai already training there. Gai was punching a large tree repeatedly. Each punch caused the tree to shake violently, and leaves fell ceaselessly with every tremor.
"Gai, if you keep hitting it, that tree is going to break. You'll need a thicker one," Taiichi shouted at Might Gai from a distance. Although it had only been a few months, seeing Gai again made Taiichi feel incredibly excited.
Hearing the voice, Gai turned his head sharply. When he saw it was Taiichi, he rubbed his eyes vigorously, as if afraid he was hallucinating.
"Taiichi! It's really you!" Gai rushed up to Taiichi. "Ah-haha! Youth truly doesn't disappoint me! Seeing you, my blood is boiling over!"
Looking at the agitated Gai, Taiichi still broke out in a cold sweat, even though he was well-acquainted with Gai's theories on youth.
"Alright, Gai. How have you been? Is everyone else in the class okay?" Taiichi quickly changed the subject. If he let Gai continue, a sparring match would inevitably follow.
But Taiichi had just consumed a massive amount of Chakra saving Sanae Shinkawa and hurried back to Konoha. He hadn't recovered much yet; where would he find the strength to spar?
"Everyone? They're all great! By the way, Taiichi, we're having a gathering tomorrow. Kakashi is coming too. We were sad that you wouldn't be there, but I didn't expect you to make it just in time!" Gai invited Taiichi happily, completely unaware that he had been sidetracked.
"Ah? No class tomorrow?" Taiichi was a bit surprised.
"Tomorrow is the weekend!" Now it was Gai's turn to be surprised.
Slap. Taiichi smacked his forehead. How long had he been out of school? He had already forgotten about weekends.
"I forgot today was a rest day. No problem, I'll definitely be there," Taiichi answered affirmatively. "Where do we meet tomorrow?"
"Outside the gate of the Forest of Death, 9:00 AM tomorrow." Without waiting for Taiichi's reply, Gai ran off as if flying.
"I'm going to tell everyone the good news! Let everyone be happy!" His voice drifted back from afar.
"Damn, are students these days that brave? The Forest of Death isn't a safe place. I hope they really mean outside the forest," Taiichi thought to himself. But thinking that Kakashi was also invited, it shouldn't be a big problem. Besides, he would be going along too!
Having cleared his mind, Taiichi stopped worrying about it and began practicing his Kenjutsu in the small woods, aiming to raise his Advanced Kenjutsu to Lv1—Jonin level—as soon as possible.
> [You practiced Advanced Kenjutsu. Your comprehension has improved.]
> [Your skill Advanced Kenjutsu has leveled up. Experience +1]
> [You focused on practicing Advanced Kenjutsu. Genin Class Experience +1]
Indeed, leveling up Advanced skills through training alone was too difficult. After all this time, he only got 1 experience point. Real combat or epiphanies were still the way to go!
...
Before the morning mist had fully dispersed the next day, sounds of frolicking could already be heard at the edge of the Forest of Death. Might Gai charged at the front carrying a bulging picnic cloth bag. Obito and Rin stumbled behind carrying a bamboo basket full of rice balls. Shizune held homemade desserts, and even the usually steady Shikaku had a pile of ingredients stuffed into his arms by Asuma. Tōtō Akimichi, despite being draped with bags, was stuffing potato chips into his mouth non-stop.
"Look! It's Taiichi and Kakashi!" Gai's voice rang out from a distance before he even arrived. Taiichi and Kakashi, who were chatting, stood up and looked in the direction everyone was coming from.
Taiichi had arrived early, fearing something might happen to the group near the Forest of Death. To his surprise, Kakashi was already there. The two exchanged a glance and smiled, understanding each other without words.
Following Gai's pointing finger, everyone saw Taiichi and Kakashi waiting under a tree. They were overjoyed and sped up to run toward the two.
It had been months since they'd seen each other, and a whole year for Kakashi. Although parting was normal for ninjas, they were all still children after all.
After catching up, everyone began setting up the picnic gear under Taiichi and Kakashi's direction.
Taiichi and Gai quickly set up the BBQ grill. Over there, the two rivals, Kakashi and Obito, worked together to pitch the tent, not forgetting to bicker along the way. By the river, Asuma was washing ingredients with Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin; Kurenai's giggles could be heard occasionally. At the edge of the forest, Nara, Tōtō, and Yamanaka were gathering dry branches for the fire.
With everyone contributing, everything was soon ready.
Obito volunteered to handle the BBQ. Everyone laughed and let him try. The result was predictable: a flustered Obito either knocked over the oil bottle or spilled the seasoning. Later, he created billows of black smoke. In the end, not only did no one get to eat, but a lot of ingredients were wasted.
"Hahaha! Obito, you look like a calico cat!"
Blushing furiously amidst everyone's laughter, Obito gave up his spot. Taiichi took over the grilling duties. After all, Taiichi's cooking skills were top-notch; quite a few present had tasted his cooking before.
He skillfully flipped the food on the grill, brushing on a layer of oil here, sprinkling seasoning there. In moments, a rich aroma wafted out, making everyone's mouths water.
Taiichi checked the ingredients. Since Obito had wasted quite a bit, they were running low.
"Obito, go catch some fish by the river. We don't have enough food."
Obito, face covered in soot, scratched his head sheepishly. Knowing it was his fault, he went to the river to catch fish without a word.
"We'll go too! Strength in numbers!" Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma called out to each other and went to help.
Rin and Shizune came to Taiichi's side, handing him raw ingredients and putting the cooked food into insulated boxes.
Tōtō Akimichi, lured by the scent of Taiichi's barbecue, couldn't walk anymore. He stood by the grill drooling. If Shikaku and Inoichi hadn't held him back, he would have grabbed the food with his bare hands.
Taiichi flipped the skewers deftly, chatting with Rin and Shizune about recent funny events. The sound of Tōtō gulping saliva came from the side occasionally. Every time that happened, Shikaku and Inoichi felt the urge to turn and leave—it was too embarrassing.
Splash!
A sound from the water attracted everyone's attention. Looking up, they saw Obito had fallen in.
"What's going on? Is Obito taking a bath?" Taiichi shouted to them with a smile.
"It's nothing, nothing! Obito is practicing water walking!" Asuma jeered. "He's just not very good at it yet!"
Everyone laughed again. It turned out Obito saw Kakashi and Asuma standing on the water to spear fish and got jealous. He tried to water walk and catch fish too.
The result was predictable. But Obito wasn't one to give up easily. He tried again and again, refusing to quit even though his clothes were soaked.
Soon, Kakashi, Asuma, and Gai returned to Taiichi with their catch, leaving only Obito stubbornly practicing water walking and fishing.
"You guys should help Obito," Rin chided gently upon seeing them return.
"Haha! Youth doesn't give up so easily! Obito is doing great!" Gai flashed his signature white teeth. "Besides... look at this!"
He pulled out several more fish from behind his back. They had already caught Obito's share.
"Hahaha!" Everyone looked at each other and laughed, feeling the warmth of friendship.
Everyone pitched in to clean the fish and hand them to Taiichi for grilling, chatting and laughing all the while.
"Obito! Stop fishing! Come eat BBQ! If you don't come now, Taiichi's grilled food will be all gone!"