Life at the Ninja Academy was mostly meaningless. At least, that was how it felt to Uchiha Jin.
Everything the Academy taught had been etched into his mind a long time ago. The "Will of Fire" had been tossed straight into the trash bin of his consciousness. As for combat experience, he trusted what you gained in real fights far more than anything you could learn here.
The noise of conversation around him woke Jin from his nap. He lifted his head and felt the late afternoon setting sun on his face. He also saw Inoue Satoru's face, dark with rage. Better to ignore him.
Namikaze Minato, who had been about to wake Jin, pulled his hand back awkwardly. Jin always woke up on time, with impressive punctuality. He never needed to be called.
"We're going to eat barbecue, Yakiniku. Want to come, Jin?"
Jin glanced at Kushina beside him, ears practically perked up as she waited for his answer, then at Minato's bright smile. Even though the two of them were still in that innocent, unspoken crush stage, Jin had no desire to go hold the candle for them.
But then he reconsidered. "You're paying?"
If someone else was paying, that changed everything. Minato visibly wilted. Cover the bill? With the finances of an ordinary civilian family, and with him as the only ninja in the household, it sounded impossible.
"I'll pay!"
Uzumaki Kushina slammed her hand on the desk. After all, she only had those two subordinates. Without realizing it, Jin had been promoted, or demoted, to "Subordinate Number Two" in Kushina's mind.
But the instant Kushina said she would pay, Jin had already vanished from his seat.
"Huh?!" Where did he go?
"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Jin appeared in the classroom doorway, waving at them. "Let's go. Barbecue time!"
Anyone who is slow when free food is on the line has something wrong in the head.
Namikaze Minato: (...)
Uzumaki Kushina: (...)
Why was he so experienced at this? And why was he so fast?
"Wait!" Hyūga Kiyoshi, with a gloomy expression, stepped in front of Minato. "I'm coming too."
Kiyoshi had been curious for a long time about Minato's explosive growth in strength, and he was determined to uncover the secret this time.
"I'm not paying your share," Kushina said, turning her face away. She had no closeness with Kiyoshi. To be exact, in the whole class, aside from Minato and Jin, nobody took the initiative to talk to her. She was not spending money on strangers.
Kiyoshi let out a cold laugh at Kushina and made a grand gesture with his hand. "I'm treating everyone."
The Hyūga clan was rich and powerful. Even as a member of the Branch House (Bunke), paying for a barbecue meal was nothing to him.
"How generous, you big shot!"
Jin slapped Kiyoshi on the shoulder, startling him so badly he almost activated Jūken on reflex. Wasn't this guy still at the door? When did he get here? He was like a ghost.
No. Kiyoshi stared deeply at Jin, who looked impatient to go eat. This guy isn't simple.
Inoue Satoru, his face darker than charcoal, watched the students walk out while completely ignoring him. He fell into a deep existential crisis. "Do I really have what it takes to be a teacher?"
Jin wasn't simple. Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina weren't ordinary children either.
At the Yakiniku restaurant.
Hyūga Kiyoshi stared at the mountain of empty plates stacked in front of him. His heart genuinely hurt. The amount those three ate was not human. He could practically hear his wallet screaming in agony.
"Sorry, wallet. I can't save you." Kiyoshi held a silent minute in his mind for his money. But a Hyūga keeps his word. A promise was a promise. Especially in front of that detestable Uchiha. The Hyūga clan is number one in Konoha!! His voice almost cracked.
"Boss, another round!" Jin raised his hand and called out.
Kiyoshi's face crumbled. Did people really have to be this stubborn?
Jin was now locked in a fierce battle with Kushina over the meat on the grill. Their eyes met, invisible sparks colliding in the air. Now this was a worthy opponent.
Chopsticks flew frantically, like swords on a battlefield, harvesting grilled meat at an unbelievable speed. Minato cast Kiyoshi an apologetic look and hurriedly fished out a piece of meat amid the shockwaves of the other two's fight. Ever since he started practicing Basic Internal Energy, his appetite had grown along with his strength. He couldn't compare to the two monsters beside him, but he was clearly turning into a glutton himself.
Kiyoshi watched the plates with pain in his heart. Those were his savings evaporating. But he hadn't understood one fundamental truth.
The dinner table is a battlefield.
When he finally tried to grab a piece of meat and bring it to his mouth, he bit into nothing. "Where's my meat?!"
The three culprits all looked away, cheeks puffed with food, chewing vigorously with no intention of stopping to explain. Fine. So this was how they wanted to play?
"Byakugan! KAI!"
Hyūga Kiyoshi joined the war.
His chopsticks, guided by the precision of Jūken, forcibly stabbed into the battlefield. He finally understood the meaning of war at the dinner table. If you can't grab meat, you only deserve plain white rice.
When Jin finally finished eating and sat there satisfied, picking his teeth, Kushina glared at Kiyoshi. "You cheated!"
Who uses a Kekkei Genkai and Taijutsu to eat?! That's not fair!!!
Kiyoshi glanced at the mountain of plates, then turned to Kushina. Tears filled his eyes. "Do you have any objections?"
He had spent so much money. He couldn't leave without eating. Kushina gave an awkward smile and turned away.
"I have some money here." Minato pulled out the few coins he had as allowance.
Kiyoshi looked at the hundred ryō in Minato's hand and was moved to tears. Worthy of Namikaze Minato, number one in popularity. Reaching out a hand at his greatest time of need.
But just as Kiyoshi's trembling hand was about to take it, his expression abruptly changed. Namikaze Minato is my eternal rival! How could I let myself be bought by him?!
"I will never fall for your trap," Kiyoshi refused with difficulty.
"Huh?" Minato scratched his head, completely lost about what was going on in Kiyoshi's mind.
"Hurry up, it's time to pay." Jin shamelessly kept picking his teeth while pushing them along. "After that, we're going to the training field. I'll teach you a few things."
He had a new trump card now. The Four Forms, partial Rokushiki, could be taught. Those four forms had paths for later evolution. Unfortunately, he was limited by his Goldfinger.
Kiyoshi was confused, but he went to pay. Under the restaurant owner's gaze, one that could barely hide a grin, Kiyoshi emptied his wallet. The owner's smile was so blatant that no ninjutsu could have masked it. It was obvious how much money Kiyoshi had just left there.
With only a few one ryō coins left in his hand, Kiyoshi felt physically and mentally drained. "I don't know if my cousin can take me in for a few months..." That was several months of budget, gone in one meal. What kind of stomachs did those three have?
When he stepped outside, he saw the three of them chatting and silently clenched his fists. He felt like an idiot who had been exploited. As he walked closer, he heard Jin say, "There are fewer and fewer people on the street."
Even though it was a commercial street, there were barely any pedestrians. Add the four of them together and it still didn't make two hands' worth. Kiyoshi remembered what he had heard at the clan and said, "I heard ninja from the Stone, Iwagakure, and the Sand, Sunagakure, tried to invade the Land of Fire. The village's ninja have all been sent out for reconnaissance and defense."
Minato sighed too. "People in the village are afraid enemy ninja will attack, so they don't dare go out."
Kushina stayed silent. Out of the four, only she truly understood the cruelty of war. Her home and her clan had been destroyed by it. Everyone could smell war in the air.
"Use this time to get stronger. The year we graduate, we'll probably end up on the battlefield." Jin spoke in a vague tone, but he was absolutely certain they would be dragged into war.
"Then what are you going to teach us?" Kiyoshi asked, curious.
Jin glanced sideways at him, put his hands behind his head, and leaned back as he walked. "Come with me and you'll see."
Kiyoshi saw that Minato and Kushina showed no suspicion, so he followed Jin, still half confused. They crossed several streets, moving into more and more remote areas, until they entered the forest.
"Why did we come somewhere this secluded?" Minato asked. Last time it was by the stream, and now it was deep in the woods?
Jin chuckled. "I found a secret base. We can train here in the future, just the four of us." When he said "the four of us," his eyes subtly swept the bushes around them.
Kushina and Minato noticed the small gesture. Both fell silent. Ever since they started practicing Basic Internal Energy, their perception had become far sharper. They had already detected the Anbu members who had been following Kushina for a long time. Kushina knew what was going on and pretended not to. Minato, even if he didn't understand the reason, knew it wasn't something an Academy student should interfere with.
In an abandoned training ground deep in the forest, Minato, Kushina, and Kiyoshi sat on the ground. Jin stood on top of a tree stump, hands clasped behind his back.
"Starting today, I'm going to teach you four forms of Taijutsu."
"Taijutsu?" Kiyoshi showed disdain. He had thought it would be something special.
"You don't look convinced. Want to try?" Jin looked at Kiyoshi with a smile in his eyes.
Kiyoshi, who never easily agreed with Minato, sprang up and took a fighting stance. "You asked for it..."
Before he could finish, Jin was already face to face with him, wearing that irritating smile. "One of the Four Forms: Soru."
Kiyoshi didn't hesitate and immediately launched Jūken. His hands moved rapidly, leaving afterimages. But Jin slipped through the Gentle Fist attacks like a leaf of paper, and Kiyoshi couldn't land a hit at all.
The more he missed, the more irritated Kiyoshi became, and the faster his attacks came. "One of the Four Forms: Kami-e."
After demonstrating Kami-e, Jin suddenly stopped and tensed his body, giving Kiyoshi an opening. Kiyoshi attacked with hands and feet, striking chakra points, tenketsu, across Jin's body. Every hit landed on the meridians, but Jin stayed standing without the slightest sign of injury. He even winked at Kiyoshi.
This guy is even more irritating than Namikaze Minato!!
But then Kiyoshi stopped and took two steps back, hiding his swollen, reddened hands behind his back. Why was this guy so tough?
Jin said calmly, "One of the Four Forms: Tekkai."
Then he raised a single finger and pressed it into a nearby tree branch. When he pulled his finger back, a deep hole was left in the wood.
"One of the Four Forms: Shigan."
"These are the four Taijutsu forms I'll be teaching you."