"Time to get up and eat breakfast, Anija." Kakashi pulled off Qiyun's blanket and said coolly.
Qiyun sleepily opened one eye, then rolled over. "Five more minutes~"
Without any mercy, Kakashi yanked the entire blanket off. "There are no five minutes left!"
In truth, Kakashi already spoiled Qiyun immensely. He had gone ahead and made breakfast, and only came to wake Qiyun up when there was genuinely no time left to spare.
"I know, I know~" Qiyun let out a yawn, the mist clearing from his blue eyes as they instantly brightened.
Lying in bed was just a hobby; he still understood the importance of being punctual.
After quickly finishing breakfast, the Hatake brothers arrived at the academy right on the dot.
Because they were a bit late, the front rows were already full, so Qiyun and Kakashi took seats in the back row by the window.
"We almost were late." Qiyun lazily slumped over his desk, trading a smile with Rin Nohara, who had turned around from the front row to greet them.
His exquisite face never failed to draw the attention of the girls, earning him jealous glares from the boys as well.
Qiyun couldn't help rolling his eyes. These ninja kids were far too precocious. At this age, he hadn't given opposite-sex relationships a single thought, yet here they were, already pining after girls at five or six.
Seeing that nearly all the students had arrived and class was about to begin, the Genin instructor stepped up to the podium and introduced himself. "Hello, children. I am your homeroom teacher, Yuji Yamamoto..."
*Bang!*
The classroom door was flung violently open.
"Hah... hah..." Supporting himself against the doorframe with one hand, Uchiha Obito panted heavily as he met everyone's gaze. His pale face instantly flushed crimson, and he bent over, speaking with a booming voice, "Sorry I'm late!"
Teacher Yamamoto's gaze swept briefly over the Uchiha clan crest on Obito's clothes. He didn't make a big deal of it, simply saying calmly, "Since it's the first day of school, I'll let it pass, but no more being late next time, Uchiha."
"Yeah!" Obito agreed readily, entirely unaware of the future that awaited him on life's path, where elderly women would constantly ambush him.
Teacher Yamamoto nodded. "Go take your seat."
There was only one empty seat left in the back row. Obito's eyes lit up when he spotted Qiyun, and he trotted over to sit beside him.
"Morning, Qiyun~" Obito greeted him with a grin.
"Morning, Obito." Qiyun didn't stint on his smile at all.
Kakashi merely glanced at Obito, then calmly looked away.
After this brief interlude with Obito, Teacher Yamamoto resumed his very formulaic opening speech. "...Over the next few years, everyone must help each other out!"
Next came the self-introductions to help everyone get acquainted. From the first row to the last, it was mostly just stating names, favorite things, and current dreams. Most of the kids dreamed of becoming great shinobi, but the Hatake brothers completely changed the tone.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like dogs and saury, and I hate useless dead weight. As for my dream..." Kakashi's peripheral vision calmly swept over the smiling Qiyun. He hoped to catch up to his older brother's pace, but there was no need to broadcast that to a crowd.
"I don't have one yet," he said.
"My name is Hatake Qiyun, Kakashi's older brother. My favorite thing in the world is my adorable younger brother, Kakashi, and I don't have anything I hate. My dream is to live a peaceful life." Despite his pretty face, Qiyun delivered a speech that practically screamed 'brother-con' and 'slacker.'
"Anija..." Facing everyone with such a direct declaration, Kakashi's face turned beet red beneath his mask. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but in the end, he said nothing.
Even though he was embarrassed, Kakashi was secretly thrilled, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.
With all their attention focused entirely on each other, the brothers completely missed the envious gaze directed at them from the side.
"It's my turn, it's my turn!" Obito leaped to his feet, his booming voice echoing across the entire classroom as he pointed a thumb at himself. "I'm Uchiha Obito, and I'm the man who's going to be Hokage! You'd better watch out!"
The boy wearing goggles smiled radiantly, his dark eyes curving into crescents on his round face.
Obito's grandiose declaration was met with a burst of laughter from the class. Faced with the mockery of his peers, Obito showed no sign of embarrassment whatsoever, instead maintaining a stubborn little expression.
Teacher Yamamoto gave a light cough to quiet the classroom, then offered encouraging words. "It's wonderful for Obito to have such an ambition."
Though the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village was somewhat delicate, those weren't things a teacher needed to worry about. All he had to do was nurture a child's innocent dream.
Obito's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously. "Yeah!"
Watching Obito sit back down happily, Qiyun propped his chin in his hand and smiled. "Looks like our homeroom teacher is a good guy."
Qiyun smiled constantly; the slight upturn of his lips seemed to maintain a permanent upward curve, giving him a very approachable air. Yet only those close to him and truly perceptive could sense the lack of warmth behind that smile—just as right now, it completely dazed Obito, who was keeping a sideways glance on Qiyun the entire time.
"Alright, self-introductions are finished. Let's move on to the next segment." Teacher Yamamoto checked off the last name on his roster, snapped the clipboard shut, and traded his amiable expression for a serious one.
"To verify your basic aptitude, we are going to hold a test." Seeing the dumbfounded looks on the students' faces, Teacher Yamamoto relented slightly. "Don't worry, I know many of you haven't learned Ninjutsu yet, so we won't be testing Ninjutsu."
A chorus of sighs of relief rose immediately throughout the classroom.
Aside from those from prominent ninja clans, most students entering the academy were blank slates. Testing them on Ninjutsu would simply be too harsh on a bunch of little kids.
Teacher Yamamoto led the whole class out to the training ground.
"First off, run fifteen laps around the training ground."
"What?!"
"Fifteen laps?! Are you kidding me?"
"We can't possibly do that!"
The girls were the first to complain, and the boys' expressions didn't look good either, though they kept quiet out of pride. Among the crowd, however, three outliers stood out.
Might Guy blinked. "Just fifteen laps around the training ground?"
Clearly, for him, that volume of training was completely ordinary.
"Teacher Yamamoto, is today's lesson just these fifteen laps?" Qiyun raised his hand and asked.
"That's right." Teacher Yamamoto nodded. "You can only go home after you finish."
"Ehh~"
"No way!"
The complaints from the crowd grew louder instantly.
"Can we go home early if we finish?" Kakashi asked as well.
"Of course," Teacher Yamamoto answered affirmatively.
"I'm heading out first~" Hearing that, Qiyun instantly bolted forward.
"Anija, you're too sly!" Kakashi dashed right after him.
"Hahahaha, let us begin our youth's duel!" Might Guy laughed heartily as he followed close behind the two of them.
With those three taking the lead, the rest of the students couldn't afford to dawdle on the sidelines under the teacher's stern gaze, and they reluctantly started running laps under the blazing sun.
Qiyun moved like the wind, firmly securing the leading position. His fair cheeks showed no trace of fatigue; this level of training was mere child's play to him, making him stand out brilliantly among the flushed and red-faced kids.
Since he intended to become a shinobi, Qiyun had no intention of hiding his abilities. Only by being dazzlingly prominent could he draw everyone's attention, secure a disproportionate share of resources, and learn more advanced Ninjutsu.
Lap after lap, Qiyun maintained a terrifying pace, lapping his peers over and over again. Even Teacher Yamamoto watched the speeding figure on the training ground in utter shock, entirely unaware that the pen in his hand had dropped to the ground.
In terms of physical fitness, Obito was by no means the dead last, yet he still couldn't compare to the far-ahead Qiyun. His dark eyes were completely filled with that white figure.
*You're so strong, Qiyun. You're amazing!*
The final result went without saying. Qiyun was the first to finish the fifteen laps, Might Guy came in second, and Kakashi was third.
*Glug, glug, glug*
Qiyun tilted his head back to drink water, a stray droplet spilling from the corner of his lips and tracing down his neck to vanish into his collar. Standing beside him, Kakashi had flushed cheeks and stood with his hands on his hips, panting.
"This is truly youthful! Hahahaha..." Might Guy laughed boisterously as if it were nothing, then bounded up to Qiyun with shining eyes. "Qiyun! I bet on your youth, let's have a passionate duel!"
Casually crushing the plastic bottle in his hand, Qiyun accurately tossed it into a trash can dozens of paces away before turning to look at Might Guy.
"Sure. What do you want to challenge me in? Ninjutsu? Taijutsu? Genjutsu? Or shuriken throwing?"
Guy instantly froze, his finger unconsciously scratching his cheek. His father, Might Duy, was a Konoha Genin, so Guy had been exposed to relevant knowledge early on. Unfortunately, his talent for Ninjutsu was inherited straight from his old man: out of ten apertures for it, nine were blocked, and the tenth was completely shut.
Thus, Guy had no choice but to pour all his efforts into Taijutsu. But did he really have to pull out his best specialty right off the bat?
"Wait a second." Kakashi stepped in front of Qiyun with a dark face, his gloomy black eyes locked onto the bowl-cut boy in front of him. "Anija is stronger than me. You haven't even beaten me yet, and you want to challenge my Anija?"
"Huh?" Guy said blankly. "But I just beat you in the race."
Guy didn't mean anything by it; he was merely stating a simple fact, but it made Kakashi immensely irritated.
"You don't seriously think being a few seconds faster than me at running laps means you won, do you?"
Guy blinked, a sudden look of realization dawning on him. He slapped his own palm. "You mean I have to defeat you before I can challenge Qiyun?"
"Exactly!" Kakashi lifted his proud little chin, quietly adding endurance training to his mental todo list. He would never lose to this guy again.
Guy frowned. "How troublesome~"
His gaze shifted back to Qiyun. "Can't you just agree to duel me, Qiyun?"
"Sorry, my little brother calls the shots." Qiyun threw an innocent arm around Kakashi's shoulder. "Whatever event you beat Kakashi in, I'll compete with you in that same event. How about it?"
"Hmm... Alright!" Guy didn't hesitate long before agreeing.
Fighting spirit burned fiercely in Kakashi's eyes. "What are we competing in?"
Guy scratched his head. "Shuriken throwing?"
"Let's go, then."
The two of them walked toward the targets. Qiyun glanced at their retreating backs, then shifted his gaze to his peers, who were still miserably struggling through their laps.
Undeniably, measuring overall aptitude solely by endurance was flawed. Shinobi training encompassed many things: the basic Three Techniques, wilderness survival, reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and so on. Even so, an endurance test under the scorching sun still revealed a lot.
Qiyun's gaze didn't linger on those who had already given up and started walking; instead, he observed the ones who refused to stop moving. Those destined to stand out could be spotted at a glance.
Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, Shiranui Genma, Yamashiro Aoba, Namiashi Raido, Ebisu...
The little girl Rin Nohara came from a civilian background with no prior training, and her footing had grown unsteady after just a few laps. Yet she kept gritting her teeth and persevering, stubbornly trailing right behind the main group. Based on that sheer willpower alone, Qiyun figured her future wouldn't be bad at all.
However... the most unexpected one of all was undoubtedly...
Qiyun looked toward a certain dirt-smudged figure.
Uchiha Obito.
Midway through, the unlucky kid had tripped over a small rock and taken a nasty spill. His bare knees were bloodied, and his arms and face bore scrapes as well.
The severity of his injuries even prompted Teacher Yamamoto to suggest he pause the test, but Obito flatly refused, insisting on finishing. He marched behind the others on bleeding legs, a stubborn flame burning in the dark eyes behind his goggles.
*It hurts... It's so hot... I want to give up...*
Obito felt dark spots dancing before his eyes. Thick white mist steamed from his goggles due to the heat radiating off his skin, blurring his vision completely.
Under these conditions, Obito felt every discomfort magnified across his entire body: his exposed wounds soaked in sweat and swept by the hot wind, his heavy footstep, his aching, weak muscles...
Physiological tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.
Yet every time Obito thought about giving up, the image of that confident, powerful, effortlessly composed figure flashed in his mind.
*You're so amazing, Qiyun. Even though it's such tough work, you can make it look so effortless. That's why... that's why I can't give up here!*
*Because I want to catch up to you!*
When Obito staggered across the finish line, a pair of cool, strong hands caught him just as he was about to collapse onto the ground again.
Then, his sweat-slicked goggles were easily lifted up, and his mist-filled dark eyes locked unexpectedly into a pair of lake-like, azure blue eyes.
"O... Obito..."
"You did a great job, Obito."
The pretty blue eyes curved gently. Compared to the cold, evaluating gaze he'd worn earlier, there was now a sense of pure appreciation.
Obito saw his own reflection mirrored within those blue eyes.
He didn't know what it meant, but he felt inexplicably happy, subconsciously breaking into a wide, bright smile.
"Of course! I'm Uchiha Obito, the man who's going to be Hokage!"