Qiyun took a stroll outside the school, bought some rice crackers and dumplings, and headed back. The exams were already over, and many children could be seen coming out with gloomy expressions.
"Big brother." Kakashi spotted Qiyun immediately and hurried over to his side.
"Here, bought these rice crackers for you. Salty and savory." Qiyun handed the bag to Kakashi. "Good job."
Kakashi shook his head and took the bag. "It was just a written test, hardly hard work."
"How is that not hard work!" Hearing Kakashi's casual flexing, Obito couldn't even manage his usual babbling. "I couldn't understand any of it!"
"You're actually saying that with such confidence, it's unbelievable."
"But if you don't understand, you just don't!"
"That's why I'm saying—mmph!"
With one hand, Qiyun shoved a rice cracker into Obito's mouth, and with the other, a dumpling into Kakashi's, perfectly shutting them both up.
"Alright, alright, that test really was a bit unusual."
Obito hurriedly chewed the soft, glutinous dumpling, swallowed, and said, "I knew it. No wonder I had no clue about anything."
...No, having no clue about *anything* is definitely your own fault.
Kakashi speechlessly looked away. "The questions on the second half of the exam felt just like the space-coordinate problems Big brother usually tests me with."
"Ah, very rudimentary calculations involving spatial coordinates," Qiyun supplied the answer.
Kakashi asked in puzzlement, "Why would an exam test something like that..." He suddenly caught on. "The Flying Thunder God?"
"Mm-hmm. Word is that a Jonin mastered this forbidden Ninjutsu, and the Hokage probably wants to screen for a batch of students who also possess the talent for the Flying Thunder God."
"That makes sense." Kakashi curved the corner of his mouth and looked at Qiyun. "Didn't Big brother show a lot of interest in the Flying Thunder God? You'll get your wish now."
"Ah."
"Um..." Obito looked left and right, pouting. He didn't like being ignored or feeling left out of the conversation, so he took the initiative to ask, "What is the Flying Thunder God?"
The Hatake brothers' gazes were indeed drawn to him, but both of their eyes were full of speechlessness.
Kakashi: "...Unbelievable."
"It's a forbidden Ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage." Qiyun did offer an explanation, but he had no intention of spoiling the kid either; instead, he smiled and placed a hand on Obito's head, shaking it back and forth.
"This isn't some advanced knowledge that goes beyond the syllabus. It's written quite clearly in the textbooks. Why couldn't even this stick in your head, Obito?"
"Yikes—I'm sorry!!!"
"Is 'sorry' going to cut it?!"
"I... I'll work harder!"
"That's more like it." Qiyun withdrew his hand with a satisfied expression, the smile still on his face. "Hey, Obito, if you're still the dead last on the next exam, I'm going to kill you."
"Eh?!!" Obito clutched his head and let out a wail. "Why are you saying that too, Qiyun?"
Qiyun dealt him a chop to the head. "Naturally because you can't even be bothered to properly remember the knowledge in the textbooks. It's something you could easily do if you just spent a little time on it."
"Hmph, should've done this sooner." Kakashi curved his lips. "Big brother has been too soft on Obito."
"Soft, my foot... Kakashi, you just love talking nonsense." Obito muttered, though his peripheral vision instinctively tracked Qiyun's expression.
Even though Qiyun was getting less and less polite with him, Obito didn't feel discouraged at all; in fact, he felt a faint trace of happiness, because he had finally touched upon a shred of genuine reality beneath that facade.
"Is that so?" Oblivious to Obito's little maneuver, Qiyun raised an eyebrow. "So Obito thinks I'm being strict now?"
"Not at all!" Obito hastily refuted. He scratched his head, wrestled with his thoughts for a few seconds, and said, "Qiyun, you said that to become Hokage, you need a comprehensive understanding of Konoha, to begin with, as well as formidable strength, but... my strength right now is just too weak, so I... I figured I'd focus on improving my strength first, and as for these academic subjects, I'll slowly catch up later..."
"Oh? Then what kind of strength do you think counts as passing?"
Obito quickly lifted his gaze and glanced at Qiyun. "Enough to stand by Qiyun's side, at least."
"The only one who can stand by Big brother's side is me." Kakashi let out a cold snort, emphasizing his status to Obito.
A vein throbbed on Obito's temple. That jerk Kakashi was simply pulling rank based on his identity as the younger brother—how utterly hateful!
He couldn't help gritting his teeth in accusation. "You repressed bro-con!"
"Ha? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you dead last?" The skin beneath Kakashi's mask flushed slightly as he immediately fired back.
"Repressed bro-con, repressed bro-con! I definitely didn't see it wrong!"
Seeing that the two of them were about to start bickering again, Qiyun delivered a head flick to each of them without a hint of politeness. "Can't even food plug up both your mouths?"
Knowing full well that Qiyun disliked it when they bickered, Kakashi and Obito shook their heads in unison, signaling that they would stop fighting.
"Honestly, you two always argue like this. What are you going to do if you end up assigned to the same squad in the future?" Qiyun said speechlessly.
"Big brother will definitely be with me," Kakashi stated with certainty.
"I... I too..." Obito wanted to sound as confident as Kakashi, but he also knew his own strength was lacking. Under the three-person squad system, could he really end up assigned with Qiyun?
"That's not necessarily true." Recalling today's exam paper, Qiyun said slowly, "I might graduate early, for all I know."
"Eh? Qiyun is going to graduate early?" Obito said in shock.
"Big brother still dislikes school just as much." Kakashi, on the other hand, had anticipated it.
"After all, what they teach right now is just a waste of time." Qiyun rested the back of his head in his crossed hands.
"Pretty much the same for me." Kakashi nodded in agreement. "As expected, graduating early is better."
"Huh?" Only Obito dropped his jaw, looking like he'd taken too heavy a blow. "You guys... you're both graduating early? Leaving me all by myself?"
"That's only because we actually have the ability to do so, dead last." Kakashi let out a cold snort.
Qiyun turned his head sideways, his expression growing much more detached. "Obito, you were the one who said you wanted to catch up to me. Don't go dreaming that I'm going to stand still and wait for you."
Obito opened his eyes slightly. Although Qiyun's tone was cold, he, being sensitive to emotions, still felt the affirmation in it. After all, as the dead last, no one truly believed he could catch up to Qiyun the genius; yet Qiyun had just told him he wouldn't stop and wait... This was precisely proof that he believed Obito would catch up.
Obito couldn't control the corners of his mouth from curling upward, suppressing his surging excitement. "I don't need you to wait for me! It won't be long before I catch up!"
By this point, the three of them had reached the intersection where they usually parted ways.
"Ah, do your best." Qiyun draped an arm over Kakashi's shoulder and gave a carefree wave.
"Yeah!" Clenching both fists, Obito stood at the intersection and watched Qiyun and Kakashi's receding figures until they faded into the distance, then turned around and walked resolutely toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Not enough... Still not enough... I'm not working hard enough!
"Yo, Qiyun, Kakashi, welcome back~" Hearing the door open, Sakumo, who had been busy in the kitchen, poked his head out with a smile.
"Dad?"
Qiyun's attention, however, was entirely focused on the stranger sitting in the living room. "You... I saw you at school today."
"Hello." Minato's eyes curved into crescent moons.
Sakumo brought out the dishes and asked in surprise, "Eh? Have you two met already?"
"Ah, well, I was really eager to see what my future disciple looks like."
Kakashi looked at Minato, then back at Qiyun, who was raising an eyebrow as he appraised Minato. He couldn't help asking, "Dad, what's going on here?"
Wiping his hands with a towel, Sakumo replied, "Let me introduce you. This is my junior, Jonin Namikaze Minato, and also the only ninja currently mastering the Flying Thunder God."
"I have Teacher Jiraiya to thank for that, really." Minato said modestly.
"Oh, come on, don't be so modest." Sakumo waved a hand. He was of the same generation as Jiraiya and knew perfectly well what the man was worth.
"Teaching you summoning jutsu was one thing, but Jiraiya couldn't possibly have helped with something like the Flying Thunder God. That peeping tom—don't you go letting him teach you any bad habits, Minato."
"Ahahaha..." Minato gave an awkward laugh. Jiraiya truly hadn't helped him much with the training for the Flying Thunder God, but Minato still respected his teacher deeply and wasn't about to badmouth him behind his back.
"So, the old man invited you here to teach me the Flying Thunder God?" Qiyun walked up to Minato and fixed his gaze on him.
Two pairs of blue eyes locked onto one another—one filled with a thorough appraisal, while the other held a gentle, accommodating smile.
"That's right." Minato didn't look down on Qiyun because of his age; instead, he looked right back at him with absolute seriousness. "May I call you Qiyun?"
Qiyun blinked and nodded indifferently.
"Then Qiyun, would you be willing to become my disciple?"
He looks to be only in his teens, doesn't he? Am I supposed to call a kid like this "teacher"? As for mastery over spatial abilities... No, I shouldn't think like that. This isn't my original world anymore; my abilities aren't Ninjutsu. I need to understand and adapt to this world.
It took only a single breath for Qiyun to make up his mind.
He reached out a hand, his eyes curving. "Then I'll be in your care, Teacher Minato."
"Kakashi, what are you standing there frozen for?" Sakumo watched this scene with a gratified expression, then gave Kakashi's shoulder a gentle nudge.
"Eh? Is this about me too?"
Qiyun curved his lips and took hold of Kakashi's hand. "Of course. We're brothers, after all."
"But..."
Minato nodded in agreement. "Taking on one is taking on one, taking on two is taking on two. Besides, you two are twins and have better chemistry than most people. There's no one better suited to be in the same squad."
"But Big brother and I haven't received our forehead protectors yet." Kakashi said hesitatingly.
"Haha, Kakashi, since when did you start worrying about trivia like that?" Sakumo's large hand came down to pat the top of the brothers' heads. "You two have always had minds of your own. Let me guess, you've already made up your minds to graduate early, haven't you?"
"That's right." Qiyun didn't deny it either. Are you kidding? Playing house at school with a bunch of brats for a whole year was already his limit.
However, there was still one thing Qiyun cared about.
"I recall that Konoha squads generally have three members. Who is going to be our teammate?"
Hearing this question, Minato wore a troubled smile. "Well, actually... this year's batch doesn't have any students whose abilities match yours. For the time being, it might just be the two of you."
Minato looked at the brothers holding hands tightly. Truth be told, leaving aside this year's batch, even among already graduated Genin, there was no one with the capability to join their squad. But assigning a Chunin would completely violate protocol.
He sighed inwardly. *So be it; at worst, I'll just look after them a bit more.*
The next day, Qiyun and Kakashi applied for early graduation, taking the assessment alongside the sixth-year students. Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to care quite a bit about this year's exam, actually showing up to observe the proceedings in person.
Under the gaze of the Hokage, quite a few candidates couldn't contain the agitation in their hearts and ended up messing up their hand seals, resulting in failure.
Thus, waiting outside the exam hall, the two brothers watched many dejected sixth-graders filing out.
"Big brother, today's assessment seems a bit out of the ordinary," Kakashi noted.
Qiyun observed the expressions on the examinees' faces—vexation mixed with a hint of self-blame, not quite despair, looking more like the mental strain of failing to perform under pressure.
Under circumstances like this...
"No, looks like we have a VIP observing the assessment this time," he said. "The higher-ups are probably eager to see what the White Fang's sons are really made of."
"Is that so..." Kakashi's fighting spirit instantly flared up. "I won't shame our father!"
When Qiyun saw Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting up front, he finally understood why the upperclassmen had possessed that kind of mindset.
Still, Qiyun held no such pilgrimage-like mentality toward the Hokage. Through years of practice, he had already overcome his weakness of slow hand seals. Even under Sarutobi Hiruzen's watchful gaze, he completed the Three-Body Jutsu assessment swiftly and steadily, successfully earning his forehead protector.
"Congratulations. You are officially Konoha ninja now." Minato, who had come specifically to watch their assessment, rested a hand on each of their heads and said gently.
"Yeah." Because the assessment had been far too simple, Kakashi's mood was exceptionally calm as he steadily tied his forehead protector around his brow.
Qiyun lowered his gaze to the Konoha symbol on the forehead protector, then casually tied it around his arm.
"Ah, looks like your friend has arrived." Minato sensed something and said with a smile.
"Friend?" Kakashi looked somewhat puzzled.
"Hah... hah..." Obito leaned against the door frame, panting heavily, his face flushed red. Once he caught his breath, he accused them indignantly, "You two... you didn't even tell me you were testing today!"
"What was there to tell? Isn't it a matter of course? How could Big brother and I possibly fail the assessment?" Kakashi wore a deadpan expression.
Obito hopped in place. "I... I knew you'd be fine, of course! It's... it's just—"
His vocabulary failed him, leaving him momentarily at a loss for how to describe his feelings.
"It's about the thought behind it, right?" Qiyun took over the conversation.
"That's right!" Obito's spirits instantly rebounded. "We're friends, after all. For something this important, I naturally had to be here to witness it firsthand!"
"How... tedious." Kakashi turned his face away.
"Ha? What did you say, Kakashi?!"
"Well~ Although it's just a small exam, thanks for running all the way here, Obito." Qiyun said once more.
"Hehe, it's nothing at all." Obito stared with bright eyes at the forehead protectors on the two of them. "It's so cool. You're real ninja now."
"Hmph, do your best, dead last."
"You don't need to tell me that, Kakashi!"
Qiyun rolled his eyes, draped an arm around each of their necks, and said, "Alright, how about we go grab some barbecue in a bit?"
With that, he looked back at Minato, who was watching their horseplay with a cheerful expression. "Does Teacher Minato have any other plans?"
Minato shook his head. "You go ahead. Oh, and see you at Training Ground Two tomorrow afternoon."
"No problem."