"No need to test it," Akira Hane said calmly. "I think I've already learned it."
Kakashi's trademark dead-fish eye instantly widened into a perfect circle, his face looking like he'd just seen a ghost.
"You've already learned it?!"
Akira didn't have time to care about Kakashi's shock. His hands had already blurred into afterimages, his fingers flying through the hand seals.
Chakra compressed wildly in his throat as he let out a low shout:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A scorching blast of air erupted instantly, as if the atmosphere itself had ignited.
With a deafening roar, a massive fireball more than six meters in diameter burst forth.
Crimson flames carrying terrifying heat shot across dozens of meters in the blink of an eye and slammed straight into the waterfall opposite them.
The violent impact sent water splashing everywhere.
Fire and rushing water clashed fiercely, locked in a struggle for nearly three seconds before the flames were finally extinguished under the relentless torrent.
Above the cool pool, thick white steam instantly filled the air.
Kakashi stood frozen, staring at the smoking waterfall, his throat dry.
"This is… ridiculous…"
Akira slowly exhaled, casually brushing nonexistent dust from the corner of his mouth. A faint smile curved his lips.
"Not bad, I guess."
Looking at the destructive power—greater even than his own demonstration—Kakashi had to admit it.
"The power is undeniable."
Turning his head, he looked at the six-year-old boy before him with a complicated expression.
"You really are a monster. I only demonstrated it once, and you reproduced it perfectly. It's honestly chilling."
Akira's face remained calm, though inwardly he felt nothing unusual.
After all, even Itachi could learn techniques after seeing them once. If he couldn't do the same, that would be embarrassing.
His talent was absolutely no worse than that so-called genius Itachi.
Akira looked up at Kakashi, who was still stunned, and gave an innocent smile.
"Kakashi-sensei, does that mean today's lesson is finished?"
Kakashi snapped back to reality and nodded helplessly.
"I originally planned for you to spend at least a week mastering that jutsu. I didn't expect you to progress this absurdly fast."
In truth, Kakashi's estimate had included the basic training for tree climbing and water walking—about a week in total.
Even so, he had thought a genius like Akira would still need two days to learn the jutsu itself.
Who could have guessed he'd master it in one attempt?
Akira blinked and pressed his advantage.
"Then while it's still not dark, will you teach me anything else?"
Kakashi shook his head and waved dismissively.
"That's enough for today. Bite off more than you can chew and you'll choke. Spend some time getting familiar with the jutsu."
"I'm leaving the village tomorrow for a mission. I'll probably be gone for about a week."
After a pause, he added thoughtfully,
"If you want to train your taijutsu during that time, I can arrange a special instructor for you. He happens to be staying in Konoha while I'm away."
A green figure instantly flashed through Akira's mind.
"The one who treated you to ramen the other day?" he asked cautiously.
Kakashi nodded.
"That's right. Don't let his appearance fool you. He's a jōnin. In terms of taijutsu mastery, very few in the village can match him."
Akira, however, had absolutely no interest.
Training taijutsu with Might Guy held zero appeal for him—especially the extremely dangerous Eight Gates Jutsu.
That forbidden jutsu burned one's life force for momentary power. In his eyes, the cost-performance ratio was terrible.
Even if his unique body could survive opening the Eight Gates, what was the point?
His physique had no limits. As long as he trained steadily, becoming stronger was inevitable.
There was no need for such self-destructive shortcuts.
So Akira simply smiled and declined.
"I'll pass. My taijutsu foundation is decent enough. I don't want to split my focus."
To be honest, without the Eight Gates, Guy's taijutsu was roughly on par with Kakashi's.
There was no reason to seek him out just to suffer.
Kakashi clearly hadn't expected the refusal.
"You're sure? Opportunities like this don't come around often. Don't regret it later."
Akira's gaze was firm.
"I won't."
Kakashi sighed regretfully.
"He really is a powerhouse when it comes to taijutsu. You should at least give it a try."
Akira simply smiled politely without responding.
Seeing his calm yet immovable attitude, Kakashi understood the boy had a mind of his own.
He changed the subject, pointing at the waterfall.
"Your chakra reserves are pretty surprising, though. The Great Fireball is notorious for its chakra consumption."
"The one you just launched probably used more chakra than the total reserves of an average genin."
Akira smiled modestly.
"Maybe it's because of my unusual constitution. My chakra is just… a little thicker than most people's."
Kakashi glanced at the darkening sky and patted his stomach.
"Alright, it's already night. Let's head down the mountain and grab something to eat."
Akira hesitated.
"But I—"
He instinctively wanted to refuse. He disliked noisy restaurants and preferred cooking for himself.
But Kakashi slapped him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.
"No buts. Your teacher's treating tonight!"
The moment he heard someone else was paying, the hesitation vanished from Akira's face.
"Well, since you insist, Kakashi-sensei, I won't refuse. I'm a poor student after all—I can't afford restaurants."
Kakashi chuckled, then suddenly smacked his forehead.
"Oh right! I almost forgot your reward for learning the Great Fireball."
Akira blinked as Kakashi pulled out his iconic frog wallet and counted three ten-thousand-ryō bills.
"Here. A bonus for your outstanding performance today."
Akira looked at the money, genuinely surprised.
He had assumed Kakashi's earlier promise was just empty talk.
Seeing him hesitate, Kakashi stuffed the cash straight into his pocket.
"Don't worry about the amount. You earned it."
Akira frowned slightly.
"I thought you were just joking to encourage a kid."
Kakashi shook his head, dropping his usual lazy demeanor.
"Ninja may specialize in deception, but I'm not the kind of person who lies to his own student."
"You mastered the Great Fireball faster than I ever imagined. Consider this an investment in the future."
Hearing that, Akira accepted the thirty thousand ryō without further fuss.
Now in a great mood, he grinned.
"In that case, I can't let my sensei spend money tonight. Come on—I'll treat you to Yakiniku."
Kakashi's eye lit up.
"Oh? Then I won't hold back. You'd better prepare for a big bill—I haven't had yakiniku in ages."
Akira only smiled.
His opinion of Kakashi had just risen another notch.
It wasn't just because of the thirty thousand ryō.
He could clearly feel that Kakashi was genuinely trying to nurture him.
In a dangerous world like this, growing stronger while relying on someone like Kakashi was undoubtedly a wise choice.
After all, this man would one day become the Sixth Hokage of Konoha—one of the village's pillars for years to come.
Maintaining a good relationship with him could only bring benefits.
The two of them strolled down from the back mountain and headed straight to the barbecue restaurant.
They ate until the moon was high in the sky before parting ways, fully satisfied.
---
The next morning, Akira headed to the Ninja Academy as usual, backpack slung over his shoulder.
While walking, he clearly felt the chakra flowing inside his body had grown noticeably richer than the day before.
Akira frowned thoughtfully.
"It must be because mastering the Great Fireball pushed my ninjutsu to the next level. That breakthrough boosted my chakra reserves—and my mental energy too."
"Right now, my chakra volume has probably crossed firmly into the upper tier of chūnin."
With that realization, Akira stepped through the academy gates in a good mood.
The classroom was as noisy as ever.
He quietly returned to his corner seat, blending into the room like a drop of water in the ocean.
In class, he was a complete nobody.
He never initiated conversations, responded indifferently when others spoke to him, and the moment class ended, he'd simply collapse onto his desk and nap.
Akira had no interest in joining the small social circle in class or playing childish "ninja games" with the others.
As soon as the bell rang, he habitually rested his head on the desk and closed his eyes to relax.
Suddenly, a faint fragrance drifted toward him. His senses sharpened immediately—someone was approaching cautiously.
His eyes snapped open. He straightened instinctively, alert.
When he saw who it was, however, he quietly relaxed.
Hinata stood there with her head lowered, her two index fingers nervously twisting together.
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"A-Akira-kun… are you… feeling okay? I brought some ointment from home. Yesterday… I'm really… really sorry."
Akira looked at the girl standing before him, whose head was lowered so much it seemed like she was trying to bury it in her chest.
The answer had already been obvious the moment she asked.
He couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.
"It's fine. It didn't hurt much."
Hinata cautiously lifted her head a little, her pale eyes full of worry.
"R-really?"
Akira nodded calmly.
"If it had actually hurt, I wouldn't be sitting here so comfortably."
Hearing that, Hinata finally relaxed a little.
She quickly took out a small porcelain bottle from her pocket and nervously placed it on Akira's desk.
"This… this is the ointment my family uses for bruises. It works very well."
Akira glanced at the bottle and smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
Hinata's cheeks instantly turned bright red.
"N-no! I should be the one apologizing…"
Before she could finish her sentence, footsteps suddenly sounded behind her.
A voice filled with obvious irritation followed.
"So this is where you ran off to."
The classroom instantly quieted.
Akira lifted his eyes slightly.
Standing behind Hinata was a boy with long dark hair and pale eyes—the unmistakable features of the Hyūga clan.
It was Neji Hyuga.
His expression was cold as he looked at Hinata.
"Hinata-hime, the clan head is looking for you."
Hinata stiffened immediately.
"Y-yes…"
Neji's gaze then shifted toward Akira.
His sharp eyes lingered on him for a moment before he spoke indifferently.
"So you're the one."
Akira raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Am I supposed to know you?"
Neji didn't answer.
He simply looked at Akira with a faint hint of disdain.
"I just didn't expect the person Hinata-hime keeps mentioning… to be someone so ordinary."
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly became awkward.
Hinata panicked.
"N-Neji-niisan, please don't say that!"
Akira, however, didn't seem offended in the slightest.
Instead, he gave a small shrug.
"Ordinary is good. Ordinary people live longer."
Neji narrowed his eyes slightly.
Clearly, he hadn't expected such a response.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Neji turned away.
"Hinata-hime, we're leaving."
Hinata hesitated.
Before leaving, she glanced back at Akira.
"Akira-kun… I'll see you tomorrow."
Akira waved casually.
"See you."
After the two Hyūga clan members left, the classroom quickly returned to its noisy atmosphere.
Akira leaned back in his chair and lazily closed his eyes again.
But before he could relax for long—
a familiar lazy voice suddenly sounded from outside the window.
"Skipping class again, huh?"
Akira opened one eye.
Standing on the tree branch outside the classroom window was none other than Kakashi Hatake.
Akira sighed.
"You're supposed to be on a mission tomorrow. Shouldn't you be resting?"
Kakashi scratched his head.
"Relaxing a little before leaving isn't a bad thing."
He glanced inside the classroom and then looked back at Akira.
"Come out for a bit."
Akira stood up without much hesitation.
The two of them quickly left the academy grounds and headed toward the quiet forest behind Konoha.
Once they were deep in the woods, Kakashi finally spoke.
"About yesterday…"
Akira raised an eyebrow.
"You mean the part where I figured out you're currently serving in the ANBU?"
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly.
"So you did notice."
Akira shrugged.
"It wasn't that hard to guess."
"The chakra suppression technique, the way you move, and the faint scent of blood you carry around."
"All of that screams ANBU."
Kakashi was silent for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Yeah. I'm currently assigned to ANBU."
Akira's expression didn't change at all.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
"Do you actually enjoy that kind of life?"
"Living every day with death breathing down your neck?"
Kakashi didn't answer.
A trace of fatigue flickered through his half-lidded eye.
Enjoy it?
No one could possibly enjoy that kind of life.
Seeing his silence, Akira chuckled softly.
"I did some research."
"In my opinion, the atmosphere in ANBU is suffocating."
"It wouldn't suit me at all."
Kakashi looked at him thoughtfully.
After a long pause, he nodded.
"If that's how you feel… then I won't recommend you for ANBU."
"Instead, when the time comes, I'll find you a top-tier jōnin instructor—someone worthy of guiding a talent like yours."
Akira blinked in surprise.
He looked at the usually lazy silver-haired man in front of him.
He hadn't expected Kakashi to make such a serious promise.
Noticing the surprise in Akira's eyes, Kakashi laughed quietly.
"With talent like yours, it would be a waste if no one guided you properly."
Akira quickly regained his usual composure and grinned.
"So this counts as pulling strings for me?"
Kakashi chuckled.
"Maybe."
The heavy atmosphere instantly lightened.
The two of them talked under the night sky for over an hour.
Only when the moon climbed high did they finally part ways.
Akira didn't dwell on it and went back inside to rest.
However, not long after Kakashi left, a green figure appeared in the shadows at the street corner like a gate guardian.
It was Might Guy.
He had clearly been waiting there for quite some time.
Normally full of fiery enthusiasm, Guy's face now looked unusually serious as he demanded to know whether Kakashi had been hiding something lately.
After all, Guy's challenges to a duel had been rejected by Kakashi countless times recently.
That was completely out of character.
Facing his old friend's questioning, Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets and replied casually, as if discussing the weather.
"If you've been tailing me for this long, haven't you figured out what I've been busy with?"
He couldn't resist adding a sarcastic jab, pointing out how terrible Guy's tracking skills were.
But Guy didn't argue as usual.
Instead, he stared straight into Kakashi's eyes and asked with unusual seriousness whether that kid was really worth such enormous effort.
Kakashi sighed softly and looked up at the night sky.
His voice carried a faint trace of weariness.
"That kid… reminds me a lot of my younger self."
"But I don't want Konoha to produce another tragic Kakashi."
The weight of those words was heavy.
Guy instantly understood what he meant.
The so-called Blue Beast of Konoha fell silent for once.
Moonlight bathed the two men in pale light.
Pedestrians passed along the street without noticing the conversation between these two elite shinobi hidden in the corner.
Guy frowned deeply, his usual carefree grin gone.
Even after all these years, Kakashi was still trapped in the shadows of his past.
He wanted to say that what happened back then hadn't been Kakashi's fault.
Kakashi merely shrugged, clearly unwilling to revisit old memories.
Instead, he mentioned that he had once recommended Guy to Akira as a taijutsu instructor—only to be firmly rejected.
Guy froze.
Then his round eyes widened like bronze bells.
"What?!"
He roared in disbelief, completely unable to understand how anyone could reject the chance to sweat youthfully in training.
In truth, if Kakashi had sincerely asked, Guy would never have refused to accept the boy as a student.
Watching Guy flail around dramatically, Kakashi secretly felt relieved that Akira had declined.
If the boy ended up wearing a green jumpsuit with a bowl haircut, the mental image alone was horrifying.
He wanted Akira to grow into someone bright and spirited—but not that blinding.
Leaning against the cold brick wall, Kakashi's tone grew firm.
"One day, Akira will surpass me."
"He'll become someone on par with the Minato, the Fourth Hokage."
Above them, a full moon hung in the sky, its pale glow spreading across the streets.
Behind his mask, Kakashi's lips curved slightly upward.
It was as if he could already see that future.
Guy, however, still frowned deeply.
He simply couldn't understand why Kakashi placed such outrageous expectations on a six-year-old child.
To surpass the Copy Ninja and stand alongside the Yellow Flash—that was an almost absurd evaluation.
Kakashi didn't turn around.
His gaze remained fixed on the star-filled sky.
"It will happen," he said firmly.
Guy demanded a reason.
Kakashi chuckled softly and gave a mysterious answer.
"Intuition."
That explanation obviously didn't satisfy the straightforward Guy.
He refused to let it go.
Kakashi finally sighed and dropped a bombshell.
"That kid is only six years old."
"I've taught him three techniques—C-rank and even B-rank ones."
"And every single time, after hearing the explanation once, he performed them perfectly."
"Not only that," Kakashi continued, "his focus is incredible. He listens to dry theoretical lessons with genuine interest."
"Even you couldn't manage that back then."
Guy's face instantly turned red.
He remembered the embarrassing incident when he had begged Kakashi to teach him ninjutsu in his youth—only to fall asleep halfway through the explanation.
Kakashi ignored his embarrassment and continued.
"Not only can he learn a jutsu in one try, but the power of his execution is even stronger than mine."
"There's only one conclusion."
"That kid is a genuine genius."
Hearing this, Guy's eyes suddenly blazed with fighting spirit.
He desperately wanted to meet this legendary prodigy immediately.
He even began imagining that such talent might inherit his own taijutsu legacy.
But before he could finish speaking, Kakashi raised a hand and cut him off.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
"He's not interested in taijutsu."
"And honestly, his taijutsu fundamentals are already excellent. There's no need to spend years grinding away at that path."
After all, taijutsu was a road that required an entire lifetime of dedication.
That was Akira's choice—and Kakashi's judgment as his guide.
But people like Guy only became more excited when they heard something was "impossible."
To him, someone who could surpass their peers through pure self-training was practically born for taijutsu.
Not pursuing it would be a complete waste.
Guy clenched his fists in excitement.
He was convinced Akira simply hadn't witnessed the true power of taijutsu yet.
Once the boy saw his abilities, he would surely change his mind.
Kakashi glanced sideways at his friend and chuckled.
The look in his eye clearly said:
You're overthinking this.
But Guy had already entered his usual state of passionate self-motivation.
He swore he would drag Akira into the world of taijutsu—after all, his Eight Gates still needed a successor.
The moment he mentioned the Eight Gates, Guy practically trembled with excitement.
Kakashi felt utterly speechless about the whole thing. He himself understood a little about the Eight Gates, and precisely because of that, he knew how demanding it truly was. Once someone started training in it, they wouldn't have time for anything else.
So he tried to dissuade Guy again, making his stance clear: Akira's future path did not lie in taijutsu, and there was no way he would let the boy practice such a self-destructive forbidden jutsu.