The training field shone brightly under the sunlight.
Shin-chan stood in the center of the field, his red shirt especially eye-catching against the green grass.
"Who wants to go first?"
"Me!"
"Pick me, senpai!"
"I raised my hand first!"
Shin-chan scratched his head, a little troubled.
There were too many people.
His gaze swept over the excited faces one by one, then suddenly stopped.
At the back of the crowd, Hima had not raised her hand, had not shouted, and was even avoiding his gaze.
The corners of Shin-chan's mouth slowly curled upward.
Hima knew that smile far too well. Every time her brother was about to trick her, he wore that exact expression.
"Little sis—ah, no, that student over there." Shin-chan pointed toward the back of the crowd. "Do you want to come out and try?"
Hima's body stiffened.
Everyone's gaze turned at once, landing neatly on her.
Suzune pushed her from beside her. "Go, go! senpai picked you!"
Hima was still hesitating over whether to go up.
"senpai." A black-haired boy stepped forward. "Uchiha Shisui. I would like to ask senpai for guidance."
Hima took the chance to step back two paces, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
"Shisui?" Shin-chan thought about it. "Toru told me about you."
Shisui froze. "Uchiha Toru-senpai?"
"He said you're really strong."
Shisui lowered his head. "Toru-senpai is the true genius of the clan. I'm still far from his level."
"Come on, then. You attack first."
"Please guide me." Shisui bowed slightly.
The students at the edge of the field had not even reacted yet, but in the next second, he was already in front of Shin-chan.
Shisui's fist shot straight toward Shin-chan's face. Shin-chan tilted his head, and the wind from the punch brushed past his ear. Shisui did not withdraw his fist. His other hand followed up, slicing toward Shin-chan's waist with a palm strike. Shin-chan flashed aside and once again dodged at just the right moment.
Shisui's attacks came one after another without pause.
Shin-chan kept dodging, slipping left and right, taking half a step back, turning sideways to avoid each blow. Every time, the attack missed by only a tiny bit.
The students around the field were stunned.
"So fast."
"Shisui really is strong."
"Why does senpai Nohara keep dodging?"
When Shisui's leg swept past in front of him, Shin-chan tapped Shisui on the shoulder, leaving a mark behind, then jumped backward to open up some distance.
Shisui stopped, fine sweat appearing on his forehead. "senpai, why didn't you attack?"
"I was watching your movements."
"What did you see?"
"Your reactions are fast," Shin-chan said. "But your body can't keep up with your reactions."
Shisui stood in place and lowered his head to look at his own hands. "senpai, I'd like to try again—"
Before he finished speaking, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Shisui froze in place, then slowly turned his head and looked at his own shoulder.
In clan training, in academy sparring, no one's movements had ever been so fast that he couldn't see them clearly. But that tap just now—he had not felt any warning at all.
The surrounding children froze too.
"When did he get there?"
"I didn't see it."
"I saw it clearly. He disappeared for a moment, then appeared beside Shisui."
"You call 'disappeared for a moment' seeing it clearly?"
"S-senpai..." Shisui's voice was a little dry. "What was that?"
"The Flying Thunder God Technique." Shin-chan withdrew his hand. "A kind of space-time ninjutsu."
Shisui's pupils widened slightly.
"Space-time ninjutsu... Is it a forbidden technique?"
"How should I put it?" Shin-chan scratched his head. "It's just a little troublesome to learn."
At the side of the field, Suzune's mouth hung open. "As expected of Nohara-senpai."
Hima stood beside her and said nothing.
The brother in front of her right now seemed like a completely different person from the one in her memories who stuffed smelly socks under the sofa cushions.
"You're already really strong," Shin-chan said. "When I was seven, my taijutsu wasn't as good as yours."
Shisui raised his head, his lips moving slightly.
"The reason you can't keep up with your reactions right now is probably because your body hasn't fully grown yet."
Shisui bent down and bowed deeply. "Thank you, senpai."
"You're welcome." Shin-chan turned and walked back to the center of the field.
At some point, more than a dozen people had gathered at the edge of the training field. They were a head taller than Hima and the others—the graduating class students.
"Shin-chan!" Guy saw the red figure in the center of the field from far away. "Why are you here?"
"I came to show them a few things." Shin-chan pointed at the juniors by the field.
"Your youth has advanced even further!" Guy rushed over and grabbed his shoulders. "But I will not give up! I will work twice as hard and catch up to your footsteps!"
Shin-chan was shaken dizzy by him. "I get it, let go first."
"Youth is about constantly surpassing and being surpassed! Between surpassing and being surpassed, you find your true self!!!"
At the edge of the field, the juniors looked at this senpai in a green bodysuit, shouting while wiping tears, and had no idea what was going on.
"Who's that person in green?"
"He has so much energy."
"He's crying."
"That is not crying. That is the symbol of youth." Guy turned back, raised his thumb, and his teeth flashed in the sunlight.
Hima looked at the senpai in the green bodysuit, then at her brother, and suddenly felt that all of her brother's friends seemed pretty strange.
"Shin-chan!"
Another voice came from the side of the field.
Hima turned her head and saw a girl with short brown hair running over, followed by a black-haired girl.
It was Big Sister Shizune and Big Sister Rin.
Hima knew them. They occasionally came to their house to look for her brother.
Big Sister Rin always brought snacks whenever she came and even helped Hima tie her hair.
"You were called back to guide the juniors?"
"Teacher Ibuki invited me." Shin-chan puffed out his chest. "No way around it. I'm just too popular."
"Give me a break." Rin laughed. "Teacher Ibuki definitely only came to you because someone else rejected him."
"How did you know?"
"Kakashi and Toru are both out on missions."
The students at the edge of the field began whispering among themselves.
"Who are those people?"
"They look like senpais from the graduating class."
Suzune's Byakugan were wide open, and she was frantically writing something in her notebook.
Hima glanced at it and saw that Suzune had drawn several circles on the paper. Different senpais' names were written inside each circle, and lines connected them together.
"What are you drawing?"
"A relationship chart." Suzune did not lift her head. "senpai Nohara, senpai Kakashi, and senpai Toru were all classmates from the same year."
She connected several circles with lines. "Their year produced so many amazing ninja."
Hima looked at the chart. In the big circle in the middle, Suzune had written the word "genius" in large letters.
Obito stood under a large tree at the edge of the training field and did not go over.
He watched the red figure in the middle of the crowd. He watched Rin and Shizune run over to talk to Shin-chan. He watched Guy shouting and yelling beside him.
"Damn it." Obito scratched his hair. "Why couldn't I graduate earlier?"
He looked at the lively scene over there, unable to describe what he was feeling.
It wasn't jealousy, and it wasn't unwillingness to admit defeat.
It just felt...
A little far away.
They had clearly been classmates. He was working hard too. So why was the gap so big?