"Those first three hammer strikes earlier were actually my first attempt at forging."
Might Guy answered honestly without any hesitation.
Uchiha Taoye's mouth twitched slightly the moment he heard that answer.
First attempt?
This kid learned forging after only three strikes?
Taoye narrowed his eyes and carefully examined Guy again from head to toe. Those thick eyebrows still looked ridiculous. That green training suit still looked exactly as outrageous as before. Yet despite all that, the boy's eyes remained calm and steady without even the slightest trace of arrogance or showing off.
It was almost as though forging a proper kunai billet after only three attempts was something completely ordinary to him.
Uchiha Taoye suddenly remembered something Obito's mother once said during a family gathering.
"A true Genius isn't someone born knowing everything. They simply learn faster than everyone else."
His gaze slowly shifted toward the ten forged billets resting beside the anvil.
Every single one was better than the previous one.
Especially the final billet.
That final kunai blank was already cleaner and more refined than what many apprentice smiths could produce even after nearly a full year of practice.
Then Taoye looked back toward Guy once more.
This kid was only seven years old.
"Second Uncle?"
Obito cautiously leaned over from the side.
"Um... can he stay?"
Taoye completely ignored him and continued staring at Guy.
"You said you don't want wages. Just one meal?"
Guy nodded immediately.
"Yes."
Taoye crossed his arms.
"Any other requests?"
Guy quietly thought for a few seconds before raising three fingers.
"Three conditions."
Taoye slightly raised one eyebrow.
"Go on."
"First, I'll come here after school every day and eat dinner here."
Taoye nodded immediately.
"Fine."
"Second, after finishing my work, I want to use the remaining time here to practice my blade techniques."
Taoye froze briefly.
"Practice your blade?"
Guy nodded seriously.
"Yes. The discarded defective products are enough. Even broken blades or scrap metal are fine."
Taoye subconsciously glanced toward the pile of ruined iron scraps and damaged ninja tools stacked in the corner of the courtyard.
Those things were usually treated as worthless junk.
This kid actually wanted them?
After several seconds, Taoye shrugged casually.
"Fine. They're going to be thrown away anyway, so take whatever you want."
Guy nodded before continuing.
"Third, let's try this arrangement for one month first. If you think I can stay after one month, then I'll continue working here. If not, I'll leave on my own."
Taoye fell silent for several moments.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
It was not the mocking smile from earlier, nor the impatient expression he had shown before. This was a genuine smile that had not appeared on his face for a very long time.
"Alright. Deal."
He extended his rough, calloused hand outward.
Guy immediately reached out as well.
Clap.
One large hand and one small hand firmly clasped together.
Meanwhile, Obito suddenly remembered something and instinctively opened his mouth as though wanting to warn his second uncle about something important.
However, after glancing at Guy, he silently swallowed the words back down again.
Forget it.
It was only one month anyway.
At worst, his second uncle would merely lose a little money feeding him for one month.
...
That evening, Guy sat cross-legged in the corner of the forge with a large bowl placed in front of him.
The bowl was piled high with rice and topped with grilled fish, pickled vegetables, and thick miso soup.
Guy picked up his chopsticks.
Then he started eating.
Uchiha Taoye sat nearby while wiping sweat from his body and casually observing him.
The first bowl disappeared in less than thirty seconds.
The second bowl lasted slightly longer.
Then came the third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
The sixth.
Gradually, Taoye stopped wiping his sweat.
He slowly lowered the towel and stared blankly at the growing pile of empty bowls beside Guy.
Then he looked toward Guy's stomach.
It was still flat.
"Second Uncle..."
Obito awkwardly leaned closer from the side.
"Um... I forgot to mention something earlier."
Taoye slowly turned his head.
"What?"
Obito swallowed nervously.
"Guy... eats a lot."
Taoye blinked.
"I can already see that. That's normal, isn't it? After working hard all day, eating six bowls isn't strange..."
Before he could finish speaking—
Seventh bowl.
Eighth bowl.
Ninth bowl.
Guy calmly picked up the tenth bowl.
Taoye's mouth slowly fell open.
He stared at the mountain of empty bowls before looking back toward Guy's continuously moving chopsticks, and suddenly felt a painful sting deep inside his chest.
This kid...
Was he trying to eat enough food for three grown adults in one meal?
Finally, Guy finished the tenth bowl before placing his chopsticks down with complete satisfaction.
Then he looked up and noticed Taoye's stiff expression.
Guy immediately grinned brightly before raising a thumbs-up.
"Thanks for the meal!"
Taoye's mouth twitched violently.
He wanted to say something.
But after looking at Guy's sincere expression, he ultimately swallowed his words back down again.
Forget it.
He already promised one meal.
It was only a few extra bowls...
His gaze unconsciously drifted back toward the pile of ten empty bowls.
No.
This was definitely not "a few."
...
The next afternoon after school, Guy appeared at the forge precisely on time.
Then the third day passed.
Then the fourth.
Then the fifth.
Every single day, he came without fail.
After finishing his assigned work, he would sit alone in the backyard using discarded metal scraps and broken ninja tool fragments to repeatedly practice the moves of the Precept-Breaking Blade technique.
Sometimes he practiced until midnight.
Whenever Taoye finished work and prepared to head home, he could still hear the sharp sounds of blades cutting through the air from the backyard.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The sounds continued almost every night.
Just like that, another month quietly passed.
That evening, Obito casually wandered over after school before pushing open the forge gate.
The courtyard still looked mostly the same.
Blazing flames illuminated the forge brightly while loud metallic hammering sounds continuously echoed from inside.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Obito curiously poked his head inside.
Then his eyes widened immediately.
Guy stood shirtless before the anvil while continuously swinging a heavy hammer downward.
Compared to one month earlier, his originally lean body now displayed obvious muscular definition across his shoulders, back, and arms.
This was the result of finally receiving proper nutrition every day.
Sweat continuously streamed down his body before dripping onto the ground with sizzling sounds.
Meanwhile, the glowing iron billet beneath his hammer gradually transformed shape.
It was not a kunai billet this time.
Instead, it was the prototype of a short blade.
The blade edge remained perfectly even, the spine was straight, and even the rounded hilt had been polished smoothly.
Obito's mouth slowly opened.
This thing...
Guy forged it himself?
Clang!
The final hammer strike landed heavily.
Guy picked up the short blade using metal tongs before plunging it directly into water.
Hissss—
White steam exploded upward.
Afterward, he lifted the blade toward the firelight and carefully examined it before nodding in satisfaction.
Only then did he notice Obito standing nearby.
"Yo. You're here?"
Obito blinked several times.
"That blade... you forged it?"
Guy casually tossed the blade toward him.
"Just finished it. Check it out."
Obito hurriedly fumbled to catch it before lowering his head to carefully inspect the blade.
The surface was smooth.
The edge looked sharp.
Even the anti-slip wrapping around the hilt had been carved neatly.
Curiously, Obito lightly tested the blade edge using his finger.
"Hiss!"
A tiny cut instantly appeared on his fingertip.
Guy grinned.
"Careful. It hasn't even been sharpened yet."
Obito stared at the cut on his finger before slowly looking back toward Guy again.
One month.
Only one month.
This guy had gone from not understanding forging at all to producing blades like this?
"Where's my second uncle?" Obito asked blankly.
Guy pointed toward the backyard.
"Sorting scrap metal in the back."
Obito immediately walked around toward the rear courtyard.
The backyard was piled high with discarded ninja tools, ruined billets, deformed iron blocks, and all kinds of scrap metal.
Uchiha Taoye squatted nearby while repeatedly examining a ruined kunai in his hand.
"Second Uncle?"
Taoye looked up.
"Oh. Obito."
He slowly stood while brushing dust from his hands.
"You came to see your classmate?"
Obito nodded before pointing toward the forge.
"Um... how's he doing?"
Taoye fell silent for several seconds.
Then he slowly turned his gaze toward the front yard.
Through the gaps in the forge shed, Guy's figure could still be seen continuously hammering iron without stopping.
"This kid..." Taoye finally began.
Obito immediately perked up his ears.
"He definitely eats a lot."
Obito nodded repeatedly.
"Right! That's what I was trying to warn you about before."
"But..." Taoye calmly interrupted him.
"The things he forges are also genuinely impressive."
Obito froze.
Taoye handed the ruined kunai over.
Obito lowered his head and carefully inspected it.
The only flaw was a tiny chipped section along the blade edge.
Everything else was unbelievably neat.
"Do you know what he's forging now?" Taoye asked.
Obito shook his head.
"Ninja tool blanks," Taoye answered calmly. "Kunai, shuriken, short blades. Fully completed blanks that can immediately be handed over to finishing smiths."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Before this, those jobs were handled by hired Genin. Two thousand Ryo per month each, including food and lodging. If they produced three hundred qualified blanks in one month, they were considered decent workers."
Obito blinked.
"What about Guy?"
Taoye looked directly at him.
"This kid forged eight hundred and twenty-four in one month."
Obito's jaw nearly hit the ground.
Eight hundred?
That was almost triple a Genin's production rate.
"And that's not even the most ridiculous part."
Taoye reached into his clothes before pulling out a folded sheet of paper covered in dense notes.
"Look."
Obito accepted it.
The paper recorded daily production numbers in careful handwriting.
Day 1: 27 (crooked)
Day 2: 35 (improved)
Day 3: 42 (qualified)
Day 4: 48
...
Day 27: 88
Day 28: 90
Day 29: 93
Day 30: 97
At the very bottom, a final line had been written in red ink.
[Total: 824. Qualification Rate: 97.3%]
Obito's hands trembled slightly.
A ninety-seven percent qualification rate?
That meant only around twenty of the eight hundred completed blanks were defective.
He slowly raised his head toward Taoye.
Meanwhile, Taoye continued silently staring toward the forge shed.
Guy's green figure remained visible through the firelight as he continuously picked up one iron billet after another, endlessly repeating the same exhausting work.
"What time does he leave every day?" Obito quietly asked.
Taoye remained silent briefly.
"Yesterday? Eleven at night."
"And he was still practicing his blade afterward."
Obito swallowed.
"What about the day before?"
"Midnight."
"And before that?"
"One in the morning."
Obito suddenly stopped asking questions.
He remembered his own thoughts from one month earlier.
"It's only for a month."
"At worst, he'll just lose money feeding him."
Now, after one month had passed, he slowly looked toward Taoye again.
"So... do you still want him here?"
Taoye did not answer immediately.
Instead, he turned around and walked back toward the forge.
Obito quickly followed behind him.
The two arrived beside the anvil just as Guy finished another completed billet.
He was already reaching for the next one.
"Might Guy."
Guy immediately stopped and turned around.
"Hm?"
Taoye stared at him for several seconds before finally speaking.
"Come back tomorrow."
Guy blinked.
"Huh? But didn't you say the trial period was only one month—"
"The trial is over," Taoye interrupted calmly. "You passed."
Guy froze briefly.
Then he suddenly grinned brightly before raising a thumbs-up.
"Thank you!"
Taoye waved dismissively.
"Less talking. This shipment is urgent."
Guy immediately nodded before turning back toward the anvil again.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of forging instantly resumed.
Taoye silently watched him for a while.
Then he reached into his clothes before pulling out a wrapped cloth bundle.
"Catch."
Guy instinctively caught it before opening the cloth.
Inside was a short blade.
Not a rough blank.
A real forged blade.
The steel reflected cold light beneath the forge flames while the handle was tightly wrapped with black hemp cord.
"This is..."
Guy looked up.
However, Taoye had already turned around and started walking away.
"It's a discarded defective product," he casually said without turning back. "Still usable, but not valuable enough to sell properly. Good enough for you to practice with."
He paused briefly near the doorway.
"At least now you can stop secretly practicing every morning and ruining my sleep."
Then he pushed the gate open and left.
Guy lowered his head toward the blade again.
There really was a dark flaw mark near the blade edge left behind during forging.
But compared to the scrap metal he previously used, this blade was far better.
He tightly gripped the hilt before swinging it once.
The weight felt perfect.
Obito leaned closer while staring at the blade.
"That definitely isn't a defective product, is it?"
Guy grinned brightly.
"I know."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
Guy immediately raised another thumbs-up.
"I can't waste Second Uncle's kindness!"
Then he turned back toward the anvil and resumed forging once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Obito quietly stood nearby while staring at Guy's back.
Then he glanced toward the direction Taoye had left earlier.
Suddenly, he felt a strange sense of envy.
This guy...
No matter where he went, someone eventually became willing to help him.
Then Obito remembered one month earlier, when Guy first insisted on working here.
He remembered Guy arriving every single day after school without missing once.
He remembered the forge lights still burning deep into the night.
Perhaps it wasn't simply that people were willing to help him.
Perhaps...
He was genuinely worth helping.