Obito suddenly twisted his neck toward the side of the forest.
Under the moonlight, a young girl slowly walked over while carrying a cloth bag in her hands. Her naturally curly black hair swayed gently as she moved.
It was Kurenai Yuhi.
After jogging over to Might Guy's side, she lowered her head slightly, her cheeks already red.
Then she nervously held out the cloth bag in her hands.
"I... my mom made too much food again."
"I couldn't finish it..."
Might Guy blinked once.
This line again.
He honestly could not remember how many times Kurenai had already used this exact excuse during the past month.
Every single time she brought food over, it was always because her mother had supposedly made too much.
Without standing on ceremony, Might Guy accepted the bag and opened it.
Inside were two rice balls, several slices of pickled radish, and two small dumplings.
A grin immediately spread across his face.
"Thanks."
Then he directly picked up one of the rice balls and took a large bite.
After training for so long, he was genuinely starving.
Meanwhile, Kurenai quietly stood beside him while watching him eat happily. The corners of her mouth unconsciously curled upward, and her wine-red eyes became noticeably brighter.
Recently, this had gradually become her favorite thing.
Watching Might Guy eat the bentos she brought him.
Meanwhile, Obito still lay sprawled on the ground nearby while staring blankly at the scene before him.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
"...Hey."
Neither of them paid him any attention.
"Hey!!"
Kurenai was startled and quickly turned around.
Only then did she notice that there was still a person lying on the ground nearby.
Obito propped himself upright while looking speechless.
"I've been lying here forever!"
"Did you two seriously not notice me?!"
Kurenai's face immediately became even redder as she hurriedly stepped backward awkwardly.
Obito climbed to his feet before leaning over curiously to look inside the cloth bag.
Then he subconsciously swallowed.
"...Is there any left?"
"Give me one."
Might Guy immediately pulled the bag slightly behind himself.
"If you want food, go home and get your own."
Obito instantly glared at him.
"I only want one rice ball!"
Might Guy continued chewing calmly.
"This was given to me."
After swallowing the food, he casually added:
"If you want one, then finish your own training tomorrow and ask your grandmother to make food for you too."
Obito became so angry that his teeth nearly started itching.
"You're so stingy!"
Kurenai watched the way Might Guy guarded the food protectively and nearly laughed out loud.
Then, almost without thinking, she suddenly spoke softly:
"Then... next time..."
"I can ask my mom to make some for you too..."
The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
Obito froze too.
Kurenai immediately realized what she had accidentally implied, and her entire face instantly turned red all the way to her ears.
"No! I mean..."
"Next time if my mom makes too much again..."
She waved both hands frantically while stumbling over her words, unable to explain herself clearly at all.
Meanwhile, Might Guy calmly finished the final bite of his rice ball before clapping the crumbs off his hands.
"Sure."
"Bring a little more next time so this guy can taste some too."
His tone sounded so natural that it was as though he were casually discussing today's weather.
Kurenai stared at him blankly for a moment.
Meanwhile, Might Guy had already stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants before turning toward Obito.
"It's already dark."
"Aren't you heading home yet?"
Only then did Obito finally recover from his daze.
He immediately clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving already."
Then he suddenly wrinkled his nose.
"But seriously, stay farther away from me."
"What is that smell on you?"
Might Guy lowered his head and sniffed himself.
There was the smell of sweat.
The smell of dirt.
And also the unpleasant fishy odor from the black impurities that had been expelled from his body during cultivation.
Honestly speaking...
It really did not smell very good.
However, before he could answer, Kurenai suddenly spoke seriously:
"That's the scent of a real man!"
Her expression was unexpectedly earnest.
Obito's mouth instantly fell wide open.
He stared at Kurenai.
Then stared at Might Guy.
Meanwhile, Kurenai finally realized what she had just said.
Her face instantly turned red again.
However, this time she did not lower her head in embarrassment.
She simply stood there stubbornly.
Obito slowly covered his cheek as though his teeth hurt.
"Fine, fine."
"Both of you are real men."
"I'm leaving first."
After speaking, he turned around and began walking away.
However, after taking two steps, he suddenly turned back around.
"Bushy Brows!"
"See you tomorrow at school!"
Then he immediately ran away and disappeared into the forest.
Might Guy watched him leave before turning back toward Kurenai.
"I'll walk you home."
Kurenai quickly shook her head.
"No need."
"I can go back myself."
Might Guy thought briefly before nodding.
"Alright then."
"I'm heading to the waterfall anyway."
"I still need to shower and continue training for a while."
Kurenai blinked in surprise.
"You're still training?"
"Yeah."
"I haven't completed today's goal yet."
As he spoke, Might Guy flexed his fingers slightly.
Kurenai subconsciously looked toward his hands.
His fingers were still swollen, and dried blood remained inside the cracks around his nails.
She wanted to say something.
But in the end, she quietly swallowed the words back down.
"...Then I'm leaving."
She carried the empty cloth bag before slowly turning around.
After taking several steps, she suddenly looked back again.
Might Guy still stood where he was while casually waving toward her.
Kurenai immediately waved back before jogging away and gradually disappearing deeper into the woods.
Only then did Might Guy turn toward the waterfall.
The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as he approached.
After arriving there, he removed his clothes and stepped directly beneath the waterfall.
Ice-cold water crashed down from above and poured across his body from head to toe.
Refreshing.
Inside his body, the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic circulated continuously as the icy waterfall collided against the burning hot currents flowing through his meridians.
His body felt as though it were simultaneously burning and freezing.
Might Guy lowered himself into a horse stance before repeatedly thrusting his fingers toward the massive rock before him.
Again and again.
Each strike landed heavily against the stone.
[Great Vajra Finger Proficiency: 493]
Might Guy exhaled slowly.
"Still seven thousand strikes left for today."
"Keep going."
...
The next morning, the atmosphere inside the Ninja Academy classroom felt strangely heavy.
The moment Might Guy pushed the classroom door open, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
Nobody was talking.
Even the students who usually gathered together noisily were sitting quietly in their seats.
Many students were secretly glancing toward Kakashi, who sat silently by the window.
Kakashi himself remained motionless while looking outside exactly as usual.
However, Might Guy immediately noticed that the exposed portion of his eyes looked slightly red.
His heart instantly sank.
Without saying anything, he quickly walked back toward his seat before poking Obito, who sat nearby.
"What happened?"
Obito immediately lowered his voice.
"You seriously haven't heard yet?"
"It's White Fang Senior..."
"Kakashi's father."
After pausing briefly, Obito's expression became complicated.
"...The mission failed."
Might Guy's mind instantly buzzed.
Obito continued speaking quietly:
"I heard it was an extremely important mission."
"Apparently White Fang Senior abandoned the mission midway in order to save his comrades."
As he spoke, his voice became even lower.
"Now the whole village is talking about it."
"They're saying he disgraced Konoha."
"They're saying someone like him doesn't deserve to be called a Ninja anymore..."
Might Guy remained silent.
His gaze slowly shifted toward Kakashi's back.
That small figure sat there motionlessly beneath the sunlight.
Might Guy slowly clenched his fists.
This was it.
The beginning of the White Fang Incident.
If things continued according to the original story, then before long...
Sakumo Hatake would choose suicide.
Might Guy silently stared at Kakashi's lonely back while tightening his fists harder and harder.
This time...
He absolutely had to do something.