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[— Manga Scene —]
"Sand Team, there is something I want to warn you about, if you don't mind…"
Maito Gai placed his hand on Rock Lee's shoulder before turning his gaze toward Gaara and Kankuro, who directed their attention toward them.
"This boy is strong. You would do well to prepare yourselves." Maito Gai said, gesturing toward his student, Rock Lee.
Red veins appeared in Gaara's eyes as he seemed to have been provoked.
"..." Meanwhile, Neji remained calm, for he knew his teacher was right.
"He chooses to pick a fight with the Sand Team… I don't want to fight anyone from them."
Kiba marveled at seeing Lee and his teacher openly challenging the Sand Team.
"They're amazing…" Hinata said shyly, gesturing toward Rock Lee and his team.
"Don't lose to those guys, Naruto!!!"
On the other side, Sakura shouted enthusiastically, she who had only just regained her composure from the previous battle.
"Sakura-chan… are you alright?" Naruto asked with concern.
"You should be worrying about yourself. If you lose here, how will you face Sasuke-kun?" she said sternly, but a smile of gratitude quickly appeared on her face;
"And also, thank you for what you did a moment ago. If you hadn't screamed like an idiot at that moment, I would have lost to Ino."
"Well, you're right…" Naruto said, unbothered by the emotional moment.
"Alright, hurry up! Next is—" Naruto wanted his next battle.
"I have a feeling it'll be me!" Rock Lee wanted the very same thing.
'Nara Shikamaru vs. Kin Tsuchi'
"Heh…"
"Damn."
[— End Scene —]
In a corner of the Art Store, where tables were crowded together, and the voices of readers mingled, Maito Dai sat in his usual green suit, which had recently become a symbol of fame with the manga's appearance… more specifically, with the appearance of Maito Gai in the manga.
The resemblance between them was uncanny.
Beside him sat his young son Gai, as always, who had not yet turned six.
Because they had arrived a little late for the release, they were forced to sit in a less popular, rather cramped spot. But they were fortunate enough that Sakumo and his young son Kakashi were sitting at the adjacent table, making conversation easy despite the noise.
"Oh! Look, Gai!" Dai cried enthusiastically, pointing to the pages of Volume Nine.
"Your future self still overflows with inexhaustible youth! Look how he challenges the Sand Team with such confidence! This is the very essence of strength!"
Young Gai, his eyes gleaming with admiration, clenched his small fist.
"Dad, will I truly become that strong? Will I be able to warn enemies of my students' power?"
Sakumo Hatake, who had been watching the scene with a quiet smile, joined the conversation.
"Dai-san, don't you think Gai in the manga is placing enormous pressure on his student? Warning the Sand Team, and Gaara specifically, may make Rock Lee's battle far more difficult. He drew the beast's attention to him before the match had even begun."
Dai turned toward Sakumo with sudden seriousness.
"Sakumo-san, you are a great shinobi, and you know that battles are not won with swords alone. Gai in the manga is not provoking them for the sake of showmanship. He is placing his student in a position where there is no choice but to win."
"When your teacher declares before the world that you are strong, your pride will not allow you to disappoint him. That kind of pressure is what turns coal into diamonds."
Young Kakashi, who, unusually, had removed his white mask and replaced it with a half-face black one, following in the footsteps of his future counterpart, remarked quietly: "But he exposed his student to danger. Gaara in the manga looks as though he shows no mercy. The provocation might make him kill Rock Lee rather than simply defeat him."
"That is the challenge, Kakashi!" Young Gai shouted enthusiastically, trying to imitate his father. "Danger is what sets youth ablaze!"
From the opposite table, Uchiha Minoru watched the exchange with a smile, while his son, young Obito, was trying his hardest to read through the events at a rapid pace, desperate to catch up with everyone else.
"I agree with Dai-san on one point," said Minoru. "In the shinobi world, reputation is half the battle. Gai in the manga is building a legend around his student. If Rock Lee enters the fight carrying the title of 'the boy whom Gai-sensei warned about,' his opponent will begin the match already doubting his own abilities."
Obito, wearing his large protective goggles, suddenly cried out: "But what about Gaara? Aren't his eyes terrifying? It seems the provocation worked perfectly on him."
Dai laughed loudly. "Young Obito, fear is the first step toward courage! Do you see Rock Lee? He doesn't look afraid at all, he looks thrilled for the battle ahead."
"And he is grateful to his teacher. That bond between master and student is what will make the miracle happen."
Sakumo looked at his son Kakashi, then at young Gai.
"Perhaps Dai is right. Sometimes, a shinobi needs a powerful push to bring out the best in himself. Gai in the manga knows Rock Lee's abilities well, and he trusts him so deeply that he dares to challenge everyone in his name."
Young Kakashi remained silent, but he was gazing at the image of Gai in the manga with a new kind of respect.
'Will I do the same for my students one day?' he thought to himself, before returning to read the upcoming confrontation between Shikamaru and Kin.
The conversation between the two groups continued amid the store's noise, as the experience of the adults blended with the curiosity of the children, creating a unique atmosphere of strategic and spiritual debate about the meaning of youth and challenge in the shinobi world.
…
On another side of the store, low barking and the grumbling of accompanying dogs mingled with cries of outrage coming from the Inuzuka clan's table.
Tsume Inuzuka, who sat rigidly with her dog Kuromaru beside her, was pounding the table with her fist as she read Kiba's comment in the manga about his reluctance to fight anyone from the Sand Team.
"Damn that boy!" Tsume shouted, her eyes blazing with fury.
"How dare someone who carries Inuzuka blood say he doesn't want to fight anyone? We are a clan that does not know retreat, and a dog that tucks its tail between its legs before danger deserves no place leading a pack!"
Beside her, Inuzuka Ren, a young clan member with sharp features, tried to ease the tension.
"Tsume-san, calm down a little. Gaara in the manga is not just some ordinary genin. Even the Hokage described them as dangerous. Kiba in the manga is showing logical caution, not blind fear."
But Inuzuka Kenta, a large man with a scar on his cheek, sided with Tsume.
"Caution is the mark of the weak, Ren! In our day, we attacked monsters before they could open their mouths. Seeing Kiba tremble like this before the Sand Team drags the clan's pride through the mud. Where is the predatory instinct we're known for?"
Ren replied coolly: "Instinct tells you when to attack and when to wait. Kiba has a powerful sense of smell, and perhaps he caught the scent of death from Gaara, something no ninja his age could face. Don't forget that earlier in the Forest of Death, he faced death literally when he saw how Gaara's sand tore his opponent apart into a bloody pulp."
"Supporting his caution is not weakness. It is the acknowledgment of a smart hunter who knows the size of his prey."
Tsume exhaled with irritation and gazed at Kiba's image in the manga with a strange feeling she could not explain, for she did not yet know that this boy was her future son.
"I only hope he shows some fangs in his next battle, or else I'll march up to the store owner and demand that Rubiro-sensei erase his name from these pages!"
…
In complete contrast to the Inuzuka's uproar, absolute silence reigned at the Nara clan's table.
Nara Shikaku sat with his hand beneath his chin, quietly watching the moment Nara Shikamaru's name appeared on the announcement board in the manga for the match against Kin Tsuchi.
"So, your turn has come, Shikamaru," Shikaku murmured with a faint smile.
"Let's see how you handle this troublesome situation, as you always call it."
Beside him sat a man in his fifties with carefully tied grey hair and sharp eyes carrying the wisdom of years. He was Nara Hikitsu, the current Nara clan head and Shikaku's father. Hikitsu turned the pages slowly, his eyes gleaming with pleasure and pride.
"Do you not see it, Shikaku?" Hikitsu said in a deep, confident voice.
"That look in his eyes, that grumbling about the tedium of fighting, even the way he scratches his head… he is a carbon copy of you at eleven. You used to complain that the wind blew harder than necessary, and here is my grandson doing the very same thing."
Shikaku laughed softly. "Oyaji, you're exaggerating. I wasn't that lazy… I think. And how did you figure out he was your grandson? Do you have another son besides me that Mother and I don't know about?"
Hikitsu's forehead twitched; he wanted to smack the scoundrel, but quickly restrained himself. "You wretch… if your mother were here, she'd slap us both!"
He swiftly recovered his composure and shook his head with a laugh. "You were worse! But the beauty of Shikamaru is not in his laziness; it's in the mind working behind that laziness. Look how he analyzes the situation even as he grumbles. This boy does not fight with his muscles. He fights with his shadows and his mind."
Hikitsu paused at the page where the referee announced the start of the match, and looked at Shikaku with gravity.
"This boy will become the greatest strategist Konoha has ever known. It doesn't matter that he hates fighting, what matters is that he knows how to end it with the least possible effort. This is without question my grandson, and he carries the Nara will in its purest form."
"He's not the son of my other son by another woman or anything like that, I believe he is your son in the future, you fool."
Hearing that, Shikaku felt as though he had been slapped.
That thought, why had it never even crossed his mind until now?
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 171: Shikamaru's Intelligence and Naruto's Battle!
Chapter 172: Uzumaki Naruto VS Inuzuka Kiba!
Chapter 173: No One Ever Tried to See the Real Naruto!
Chapter 174: The Main House and the Branch House!?
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