The chaos from the previous day didn't seem to leave even a scratch on Konoha's routine.Under the scorching noon sun, vendors shouted prices, civilians haggled, and the occasional quarrel rolled down the street like background noise.
"Face me, Kakashi! A duel of youth!""No."
Hatake Kakashi, dead-fish eyes and all, shifted sideways to avoid Maito Gai's burning enthusiasm."Gai… I'm in the ANBU now. My hands get dirty every day. I'm not really in the mood to… duel."
"Then recover your mood! Recover the pure heart we started with!"
Kakashi tilted his head toward the sun, squinting.Recover the heart they started with?Back then, going to the bathroom meant finding Gai clinging to the wall. Bathing meant Gai rising like a demon from the bathtub. Sleeping meant hearing breathing under the bed.
He sighed."Fine. Rock–paper–scissors. Best of five."
"Kakashi, you're fooling Gai again."
The familiar voice behind them made Kakashi's expression fold into instant resignation.He stared at the ants on the ground as if they were far more interesting than the person approaching.
"Keeping your youthful spirit alive makes you popular," Tobika said.
Kakashi didn't look up."Being unpopular is fine."
Then his eyes narrowed.Because on Uchiha Tobika's back was a woman.Dust-covered, sweating, gasping through teeth clenched in pain.
A Suna forehead protector hung crooked across her brow.Her condition was miserable.
"…That's Yakura?" Kakashi muttered. "What happened to her?"
Tobika shifted her weight with a grunt, gripping her legs to keep her balanced."Ah. This idiot kicked me about fifteen meters when I wasn't paying attention. Then we fought in the forest. I won.She couldn't exactly stay lying there, but I also can't heal her fully without being stupid. So I'm hauling her to the hospital."
"D…despicable…" Yakura hissed between gasps, sweat dripping down Tobika's shoulder.
"What, you thought every Uchiha jonin specializes in combat? Your intelligence network is trash."
She wheezed even harder, the shift in posture compressing her ribs.
Kakashi's expression darkened."Tobika… your strength has reached this stage already?"
"Not really. She's overconfident. Doesn't even gather intel before fighting.I cut a few important muscles in her arms and legs. Also clipped her intercostals. Right now she can barely breathe, let alone fight."
Kakashi reflexively glanced at Gai.Big mistake.
"Gai," Tobika called, raising his voice as he walked away."Youth has no price. The Eight Gates must be opened in the present. Today's duel? You win."
Gai trembled like a nuclear reactor powering up."Kakashi! We must seize the fleeting flame of today's youth—now! Fight me!"
"No—"
Kakashi felt a large hand clamp his shoulder.
Then the world blurred.Then wind roared.
Every single time, Tobika left the scene and Gai's blood pressure did the rest.Kakashi swore internally.
Behind him, Yakura gave a ragged laugh."Your village… is full of freaks. That green freak in tights… my muscles hurt but now my eyes hurt too."
"Don't judge him by appearances."Tobika adjusted her on his back."That 'freak' is the ceiling of taijutsu. When everyone else collapses, he'll stand up and turn into the Red Beast. Completely absurd.Maybe you don't know him yet, but his father has quite a reputation.He took the first generation Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and… well… three crippled, four dead."
Yakura froze.
She had heard that story.Suna and Kirigakure had enough historical grudges that their intelligence networks kept close tabs on each other.The Seven Swordsmen being wiped out by one man? Almost unthinkable.
"…Maito Duy. The Eight Gates," she whispered.
"So you do know."
She fell silent.
Konoha really did feel like a village blessed by heaven.Whenever disaster loomed, some ridiculous monster of a ninja crawled out of nowhere.Suna… didn't have that luxury. Not militarily, not financially.
"Hey," Yakura murmured suddenly. "Tell me about Konoha."
Tobika paused mid-step."…What do you want to know?"
"I—I don't know," she admitted. Her voice was quiet, almost defeated."Start with you."
"Me? I'm nothing special."
"Don't lie. When we fought, you held back. A lot.Your clan's Sharingan can copy any jutsu. You should be able to copy the Eight Gates too."
"Oi oi. Uchiha aren't omnipotent.Copying has limits. The most I can open is the First Gate.And learning the rest requires four impossible conditions:
One: train like a lunatic, with no sleep.Two: wear a skintight jumpsuit without it bulging.Three: abandon shame and accept pure humiliation.Four: have a dad who actually knows the Eight Gates.
Miss one condition, and you're done."
Tobika sighed as the lavender scent of Yakura's hair drifted up.Truly, how did those isekai protagonists always choose Eight Gates as their cheat skill?It was practically impossible.
Night fell.
Tobika slipped once more into the Nara compound.
"How long until my son can be normal again?"Nara Ryoko's voice trembled with worry.
Tobika examined the sleeping child, running diagnostic chakra through him."Six more treatments. He'll function like any normal kid. After that, observe him.If Tsunade returns, you can spend money to have her do a final check."
Ryoko sighed."Tsunade-sama hasn't returned since my son was born."
"She will. That woman burns through money fast. Give it half a year."
Tobika's mouth twitched, remembering the letter he'd received.
The entire message had essentially been:You're nice, but my debt collectors are at the door. Bye.
The granddaughter of Senju Hashirama.Clan head of the Senju.One of the Legendary Sannin.Running from debt collectors like some back-alley gambler.
The entire shinobi world was insane.
Honestly… maybe Tobika should borrow money under the Uchiha name too.Senju's reputation was already in the gutter anyway.