Even during the New Year season, when most families were gathering, eating well, and finally letting themselves relax, Might Guy was still putting his body through brutal training near his home.
For him, sweat and youth did not take holidays.
"Even during a rare New Year break, we absolutely must not slack off in our training!"
He threw a fierce punch into the cold air and muttered the words to himself with blazing conviction, as though reciting a sacred creed.
Still, reality gave him more trouble than usual.
Because of the holiday, the training grounds around the village that ninjas normally used had been occupied by laughing children running through the snow, throwing snowballs, and playing games. No matter how hot-blooded he was, Guy could not very well charge in and steal their space from them.
And as for his beloved extreme routines—things like running five hundred laps around Konoha on his hands—those were even less practical during the New Year period.
It was not only because the streets were more crowded than usual. Village security was also under greater strain during the holiday.
With merchants, travelers, and visitors constantly moving in and out during the festive season, this was one of the easiest times for spies from other villages to slip through the cracks.
Guy might have looked reckless on the surface, but as an experienced jonin, he understood that much perfectly well.
Konoha was the greatest ninja village in the world. Even during the holidays, caravans still came and went, and the burden on patrols and border checks only grew heavier.
At a time like this, if a jonin suddenly kept sprinting at high speed along the outer areas of the village as part of his daily routine, it could interfere with guard deployment—or worse, be mistaken for an abnormal situation and cause unnecessary alarm.
So in the end, Guy had no choice but to settle for second-best.
He stayed near his residence, practicing things like squats, push-ups, and taijutsu forms in a relatively quiet open area, turning even compromise into another battlefield for youth.
Naruto arrived at the doorway of Might Guy's modest home with a bouquet carefully cradled in his left hand and a cream cake in his right, both of them wrapped with surprising care.
The moment Guy caught sight of him from the corner of his eye while doing push-ups in the yard, his heart skipped violently.
He instantly blasted through the last several reps so fast that his body nearly turned into an afterimage, then hurriedly dug into his pocket, yanked out his trademark fake beard, and slapped it onto his face with a sharp smack.
Only then did he turn around, trying very hard to look composed as he greeted Naruto in a deliberately low, slightly hoarse voice. "Oh, Naruto."
"Happy birthday, Teacher Cheng Dai!"
Naruto stepped forward with a bright, sincere smile and held up the bouquet and cake in both hands, offering them to him without hesitation.
Faced with such an unexpected gift, Might Guy froze on the spot.
Even the fake beard on his face twitched faintly, as if it, too, had been shaken by surprise.
"H-how... how did you know it was my birthday?" he asked, his voice carrying a trace of disbelief that he could not quite hide.
Ever since his father, Might Duy, had died protecting him and his comrades, Guy had thrown nearly all of his free time into relentless training.
He had not truly celebrated a birthday in a very, very long time. In truth, he had almost forgotten that this day was supposed to belong to him at all.
Naruto looked up at him, blue eyes clear as winter sky, and answered honestly, "The Third Hokage told me."
So the Third Hokage already knew.
The moment he heard that answer, Guy understood everything. Since the Hokage knew and had tacitly allowed it, his clumsy little disguise had long since lost any meaning it ever had.
He slowly reached up and peeled the absurd fake beard off his face, revealing his true appearance beneath it.
And the instant that flimsy disguise came away, hot tears surged into the corners of his eyes without warning, then spilled down the strong face that had been shaped by years of brutal discipline and effort.
A student—a child still struggling to save every bit of money he had—had gone out of his way to buy flowers and a cake for his teacher's birthday.
That fact struck him harder than any punch.
"Th-this kind of path..." His throat tightened. His voice was choked with emotion, so full of gratitude he could barely force the words out. "It is too youthful!"
Naruto immediately widened his eyes in exaggerated shock, putting on the perfect expression of a child who had just stumbled onto a tremendous secret.
"What?! Teacher Cheng Dai... you're actually Uncle Might Guy?!"
Guy did not bother to explain.
He accepted the bouquet and cake with both hands as solemnly as if Naruto had entrusted him with some priceless treasure, then carefully placed them on the clean stone steps by the entrance.
The next instant, he spun around, spread his arms wide, and pulled Naruto into a crushing embrace that was so fierce it was nearly suffocating.
"Waaaah! This is too touching! Too youthful!!!" he roared, his voice loud enough to shake the snow from the eaves.
As Naruto was held in that blazing embrace, his bones nearly creaking under the sheer force of Guy's passion while the deafening cry of "youth" rang in his ears, understanding dawned in his heart with perfect clarity.
It had worked.
All the groundwork he had laid, all the careful effort and steady approach, had paid off exactly as he had hoped in this moment.
This hug did not only mean that Guy was moved. It meant acceptance. Recognition. A wholehearted opening of the heart.
Naruto knew that the ultimate taijutsu he had always wanted—the Eight Gates, the forbidden path that could smash through every limit—was now finally within reach.
Guy released him at last, though excitement still blazed across his face like fire.
He wiped away his tears and snot with vigorous, unashamed swipes, then threw a warm arm around Naruto's shoulders and led him into the little house.
The room was sparsely furnished, with far more training tools than proper household decorations.
He placed the bouquet and cake Naruto had brought onto the only table with almost ceremonial care, as though arranging sacred offerings.
At this moment, those two simple gifts were more precious to him than anything else in the world.
"Naruto, I am truly moved!" Guy said, his voice still trembling with emotion.
Then, without warning, he began rummaging through the room.
A moment later he pulled out a thick stack of money—clearly worth far more than Naruto had spent—and thrust it toward him with complete seriousness.
"Your teacher has fully received your youthful spirit and your heartfelt sincerity!" he declared. "You have already understood the true meaning of youth!"
He took a deep breath, then added with solemn earnestness, "But you are still young. You do not have your own income yet. This gift was too expensive. When you become a real ninja and start earning money, then you can buy your teacher gifts again! By then, the celebration will burn even hotter!"
Naruto looked at the money in silence, but he did not reach out to take it.
Instead, he straightened his still-childish shoulders, lifted his gaze, and shook his head.
His voice was not loud when he answered, but it carried a firmness that could not be ignored.
"No, Teacher Guy. If I really understood the meaning of youth, then I absolutely couldn't accept that money."
He took a breath, then wove his own understanding of youth into the path he had already chosen for himself.
"A person's youth is full of choices, isn't it? And true youth means recognizing the path you've chosen, then moving forward without hesitation."
"Even if the wind and snow ahead are so fierce that every step is hard, and even if the road is so rough it feels impossible to keep walking, you still have to go all out and continue burning your way forward!"
As he spoke, his voice rose higher, and it seemed as though real flames had begun to burn inside those blue eyes.
"Just like my dream of becoming Hokage!"
"Even if the road ahead is full of danger, even if countless people doubt me and laugh at me, I will still do exactly what you taught me to do. I will burn with youth. I will strive with everything I have. I will keep running toward the seat of Hokage!"
"And the reason I want that power in the end is to protect people like you, Teacher Guy—the people who guide me. To protect the friends I treasure. To protect everyone in this village that I want to protect."
He looked straight at him and finished quietly, but with unwavering force: "Teacher Guy, this is my choice. Please don't refuse me anymore."
Might Guy stood there in complete silence.
The hand holding the stack of bills froze halfway in the air. The eyes that normally blazed with challenge and confidence were now filled instead with a profound shock, followed by admiration so deep it almost looked like reverence.
Slowly, he lowered the money and drew it back.
Then he looked at Naruto with a solemnity rare even for him.
"I understand," he said.
The four simple words were spoken without exaggeration, without flourish, without any of his usual theatricality. Precisely because of that, they carried enormous weight. They were his complete acknowledgment of Naruto's will.
And then, in the next breath, that overwhelming heat burst out again in full force.
He clenched both fists so hard his knuckles cracked, his entire body seeming to radiate a blazing aura as he roared in his signature thunderous voice, "Waaaahhh!!! What an unbearably youthful declaration, Naruto!"
Tears streamed down his face again, but this time they were tears of joy and pride.
"You have already run so far ahead on the path of youth that you may even have surpassed me! How can such a thing be allowed?! As your teacher, I must work harder—ten times harder, no, a hundred times harder! I absolutely cannot allow my youth to be left behind by my own student!"
In that instant, a fresh storm of fighting spirit erupted inside Might Guy's chest.
And Naruto, looking at the man burning like a torch before him, knew that one more door on the road to becoming stronger had finally opened.