During break the next day, Shin-chan was sprawled over his desk catching up on sleep when someone suddenly shook him awake.
"Shin-chan! Shin-chan!"
"Hm?"
Shin-chan opened his eyes groggily and saw that Guy looked unusually excited.
"What is it?" Shin-chan yawned. "Is it lunchtime already?"
"No." Guy clenched his fists. "I spent the whole night thinking about it. Kakashi is obviously so strong, and yet he still works so hard climbing cliffs and training himself."
Shin-chan blinked. "So... you want to climb cliffs too?"
"That's not what I mean. I want to... want to..." For once, Guy looked embarrassed and stumbled over his words.
"What do you want to do?" Shin-chan tilted his head.
Guy's face visibly turned red, and his voice dropped much lower. "I want to make him my rival. But I'm too embarrassed to go talk to him directly."
"Why are you embarrassed?"
"Because... because..." Guy lowered his head, his voice growing quieter and quieter. "He's so strong. He probably wouldn't even pay attention to me."
"So what are you planning to do?"
"I want to see how he trains. I want to see what he does every day, so I can learn from him and become stronger too."
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought for a moment. "So you want to stalk him?"
"It's not stalking." Guy panicked. "It's... it's observation. Right, observation. Will you come with me?"
"Eh, sounds like a pain." Shin-chan shook his head.
Kakashi wasn't a pretty big sister, so what was there to observe?
"You don't want to come?" Guy's mood instantly dropped. "Then after school, just go find my dad. I won't go for now."
"Hm?" Shin-chan caught the important part. "So you're not training this afternoon?"
"I just—"
Before Guy could finish explaining, Shin-chan cut him off. "Then I'll go with you!"
"Huh?" Guy froze, then happily threw his arms around him. "That's great, Shin-chan! You really are my best friend!"
"Let go... I can't breathe..."
The moment the dismissal bell rang, Guy packed up his schoolbag at lightning speed, dragged Shin-chan out of the classroom, and started lying in wait by the school gate.
Before long, that silver-haired figure appeared.
Kakashi, carrying a small bag on his back, headed calmly toward the east side of the village.
"He's moving. Quick, follow him."
The two of them immediately began sneaking after him.
They kept their distance, hid around corners, and used passing pedestrians as cover. Guy had clearly put some thought into this—his movements actually looked fairly convincing.
Shin-chan followed behind him, copying everything seriously.
The two of them trailed Kakashi through the streets, around the market, and into a residential area.
Kakashi walked ahead at the same unhurried pace, but in truth, he had already noticed the two sneaky little figures behind him long ago.
That red shirt in particular was especially obvious.
The corner of Kakashi's mouth lifted slightly, but he didn't turn around. He simply kept walking until he reached a fork in the road.
Ahead was a bustling marketplace filled with noise—vendors selling vegetables, fruit, and dango, with people coming and going everywhere.
Suddenly, Kakashi sped up and slipped into the crowd.
"Oh no!" Guy panicked. "He's gone!"
The two of them rushed into the marketplace and looked everywhere, but the silver-haired figure was nowhere to be seen.
Guy spun in circles anxiously, weaving through the crowd and standing on tiptoe, desperately searching. "What do we do? What do we do?"
Shin-chan stood beside him and scratched his head. "If he's gone, do we still have to keep looking?"
"Of course we do." Guy clenched his fists, his eyes full of determination.
"Okay then." Shin-chan casually pointed in one direction. "How about we try going that way?"
"Did you see where Kakashi went?" Guy asked excitedly.
Shin-chan shook his head. "No. Since we can't find him anyway, let's just pick a direction and see."
"Alright." Guy didn't have any better ideas, so he immediately dashed that way.
They passed through an alley, bypass a few old houses, and then an open clearing appeared in front of them.
At the edge of the clearing stood several large trees. Beneath the shade were a few wooden training posts, and in the center of the clearing stood a small silver-haired figure, just about to begin training.
Guy froze.
Kakashi froze too.
Looking at Guy and Shin-chan running over, panting for breath, a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes. He had clearly shaken them off, and had even deliberately taken a hidden route.
"You..." Kakashi paused, disbelief creeping into his voice. "How did you find this place?"
"This is the guidance of youth." Shin-chan copied Guy and gave a thumbs-up.
"How boring."
Kakashi turned around, intending to leave for somewhere else.
"Wait." Shin-chan shoved Guy forward. "Guy has something he wants to say to you."
"Shin-chan!" Guy hadn't expected it to happen so suddenly and immediately got flustered.
Shin-chan gave him another push and whispered, "Go for it!"
Guy hesitated twice, then, blushing furiously, walked up to Kakashi.
"Kakashi."
"What is it?" Kakashi looked at him.
"I... I..." Guy clenched his fists, but his voice only got louder and louder. "I want to challenge you!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Challenge me?"
Guy took a deep breath and assumed a taijutsu stance he had clearly practiced countless times. "Please."
"Just once." Kakashi sighed and also took up a stance.
Guy shouted and charged straight at him.
Then he flew back even faster than he'd charged in.
Kakashi's movements were so fast that Guy couldn't even see them clearly.
Guy lay on the ground, gasping for breath, but there was no discouragement in his eyes—only a strange excitement.
"You're amazing, Kakashi. You're really amazing!"
Kakashi glanced at him without saying anything, then turned toward Shin-chan.
Shin-chan was sitting on a nearby rock, resting his chin in his hands and happily watching the show. The moment he met Kakashi's eyes, he hurriedly waved both hands.
"Hey, hey, not me. I'm not challenging you. I'm just here to watch."
Kakashi ignored that completely and walked straight toward him.
"Hey, hey, hey—" Shin-chan jumped off the rock and tried to run.
But Kakashi was faster. He reached out and grabbed at him.
Shin-chan's body moved on instinct, slipping aside.
Kakashi's hand grabbed only air. He paused for the briefest moment, then reached again.
Shin-chan dodged again.
That wasn't a coincidence.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Both hands shot out in alternating strikes, each one fast as lightning.
But Shin-chan was like an eel. Every single time, he slipped away at the last possible moment—either stepping back, ducking, bending at the waist, or twisting sideways.
Kakashi's fingers were always just a hair's breadth away from touching him.
Off to the side, Guy stared with his mouth wide open. "Shin-chan is amazing too."
After another failed grab, Kakashi finally stopped. He stood where he was and looked at Shin-chan, and for the first time, there was a different kind of look in his eyes.
Shin-chan, on the other hand, let out a relieved breath and patted his chest. "That scared me. I thought you were going to hit me."
Kakashi looked at him without speaking, but a thought in his mind was becoming clearer and clearer.
This guy was definitely not simple.
"Splendid."
A tall figure stepped out from behind a tree—silver-haired, with the same hairstyle as Kakashi, but older and more mature.
~~~
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