Seeing the huge commotion caused by Hiyori and Alice, Iruka stood in the wind, utterly disheveled, completely trapped in self-doubt.
'Who was I to teach them?'
'These young girls, without even mastering Chakra, could easily split the training ground in two.'
'If I stepped up, I'd probably be chopped into mincemeat, right?
"Makoto-nii!"
Suddenly, Kokoro noticed Makoto standing at the school gate, cheered, dashed over, and threw herself into his arms.
The Nakano quintuplets, the Nakiri sisters, and the others also gathered around him affectionately, chattering noisily.
"Makoto, why are you here?"
"Did you come to watch us train?"
"I did pretty well just now, didn't I?"
Watching his good brother surrounded by so many girls, Lee's feelings were complicated.
'Brother, I'm happy you're doing well, but aren't you doing a little too well?'
But it wasn't just the girls.
Ace also walked over and bowed respectfully to Makoto.
He was currently also at the Ninja Academy, learning how to condense and use Chakra.
Seeing Ace, Makoto pondered briefly, then pulled Lee over to Ace and said, "After he recovers, try teaching him Haki."
Hearing this, Lee was full of question marks, having absolutely no idea what 'Haki' was.
But he still nodded firmly, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.
"Yes! I'll try my best to learn!"
Makoto didn't explain further, simply telling Ace to look after Lee afterward.
Ace glanced at the bowl-cut head in the green jumpsuit, 'What kind of taste was that?'
Thinking it was Makoto's request, he still nodded.
People from the One Piece World, because their bodies naturally lacked Chakra, couldn't learn Ninjutsu.
But whether people from the Naruto World could learn Haki was hard to say.
Although physiques in the Naruto World were noticeably more 'fragile' than in the One Piece World, Rock Lee was considered among the top tier of Taijutsu users in the Naruto World.
And Tashigi, the glasses-wearing girl who followed Smoker in the One Piece World, didn't seem to have a much stronger physique than Lee.
If she could learn Haki, there was no reason Lee couldn't.
Seeing Makoto introduce Lee to Ace, the girls couldn't help but discuss it.
Erina, who didn't know Lee, asked Ran, who had already been to the Naruto World: "Who's the guy with the thick eyebrows?"
It was rare to see their man being this 'nosy'.
Ran explained simply: "Back when we first traveled here, Makoto used to train with Lee often. He's probably the closest person to Makoto among the natives of this world."
Alice looked proud, 'As expected of my man, so popular in every world.'
Then, Ace began explaining the principles of the [Three Types of Haki] to Lee.
"Armament Haki can strengthen your own attack and defense, even allowing you to grasp the physical body of Logia users... oh, right, there aren't really any Logia users in this world, forget what I just said?"
"Observation Haki allows you to sense surrounding danger and enemy movements. Mastered to its peak, you can even foresee the future."
"Conqueror's Haki..."
Ace blinked, then continued,
"This one is innate. Anyway, for now, you should focus on learning Observation and Armament Haki."
Lee, the native Iruka, Konohamaru, and the others listened, completely baffled. They had never heard of this thing called 'Haki'.
'Is it a Kekkei Genkai?'
'But that couldn't be right. If it were a Kekkei Genkai, people not from the clan couldn't learn it.'
Iruka's mind was a chaotic mess.
His worldview was under assault.
After hearing the principles of Armament and Observation Haki—
Suddenly, among the elementary school children next to Konohamaru, a small hand shot up.
"Um... can I learn it?"
Everyone turned to look.
It was a little girl with shoulder-length hair and delicately carved features, looking about the same age as Kokoro and Nayuta.
Makoto recognized her immediately.
The second daughter of the Hyuga main family, Hyuga Hanabi.
To be honest, in the early part of Naruto, until the end of Shippuden, this girl had almost no presence.
It wasn't until the movie where Naruto and Hinata's relationship was confirmed, and the future unwatchable Boruto series, that the second young lady's popularity exploded.
After all, by that time she had grown into a young woman, and everyone realized that she was no less beautiful than her sister Hinata when grown up, with the added bonus of being the little sister-in-law.
Seeing Hanabi, Makoto remembered she was around Konohamaru's age.
He thought for a moment, then nodded. "You can learn from Hancock."
"Hancock?"
Hanabi tilted her head and looked at Hancock, who had an expression that suggested everyone owed her money, except when facing Makoto.
…
Over in the Land of Rain, Amegakure.
Beneath the gloomy sky, a continuous, light rain fell, raindrops hitting the steel jungle-like buildings with a 'drip, drip' sound.
In a dark room, Obito was conversing with Zetsu, the only one in the Akatsuki who knew his true identity.
"Itachi is pretty much useless now."
Obito said coldly.
After all, now that Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan had been dug out by Makoto, his strength was essentially cut in half.
Even though he had transplanted Shisui's left eye, his power had undoubtedly greatly diminished.
The genius who once made even him wary was now no more than a sickly, lingering cripple.
Before, Obito had tolerated Itachi, this 'spy', staying in the Akatsuki because he wanted to use his power to help capture the Tailed Beasts.
Although over the years, Obito didn't know what kind of spying Itachi had actually done... it felt like he hadn't sent back any useful information to Konoha.
But regardless, given his current physical condition, Obito doubted whether this disease-ridden weasel could defeat even the weakest of the nine Tailed Beasts. (T/N: In RAW, Itachi's name could also mean 'Weasel.)
However, White Zetsu gave an opposing opinion. "Regardless, Itachi still has one Mangekyo Sharingan."
"And you know that ability is the bane of the Tailed Beasts. We can have him use his Mangekyo for support later, with Kisame as the main attacker to capture the Tailed Beasts. He's not completely useless."
Obito was silent for a moment.
Finally, he nodded.
"Fine, we'll let him live for now."
But he also added, "Regardless, the Akatsuki's combat strength has been affected. We need to recruit new power."
After all, for one thing, both the One-Tail and the Nine-Tails were in Konoha, and in Makoto's hands.
Taking the Tailed Beasts from that man is not an easy task.
That freak had not only dug out Itachi's Mangekyo but also managed to kill both the old schemers, Danzo and the Third Hokage.
Just thinking about his face made Obito's fingers clench unconsciously.