"A–Akira-kun… p-please go easy on me."
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
Akira nodded politely. "Likewise."
Hinata's shy personality was exactly as he remembered.
After forming the Seal of Opposition, he watched as she assumed the standard Gentle Fist stance. Her eyes instantly sharpened with focus.
Akira stopped worrying about his "acting" for the moment and took a steady breath.
"Come."
The instant he spoke, his gaze hardened. He pushed off the ground and rushed forward first.
Hinata didn't retreat—she met him head-on.
Bang!
Their forearms collided fiercely midair.
Hinata felt her arm go numb and was secretly startled.
Akira-kun's strength is incredible!
Akira was equally surprised.
She looks delicate, but her power is no joke. No wonder her appetite's so impressive.
Bang!
With neither gaining the advantage, Akira followed with a sweeping roundhouse kick. In response, Hinata activated her Byakugan, veins bulging around her eyes. Her palms shot forward, striking precisely toward his leg.
The force of their clash stirred up dust from the ground.
They separated, each stepping back once.
Hinata looked at him seriously. "Akira-kun… you're really strong."
Akira didn't reply, but mentally raised his assessment of her another level.
They engaged again.
As the fight progressed, Hinata gradually shed her timidity. Her movements grew smoother, more confident.
The heritage of the great Hyuga Clan was fully awakened.
After forcing Akira back with a palm strike, Hinata shifted her stance into the Gentle Fist's secret posture.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!"
With the Byakugan active, she clearly saw the massive chakra within Akira—surging like a river in flood. Though shocked, she said nothing.
Her palms, wrapped in blue chakra, descended upon him like a rainstorm.
Akira frowned.
If those land cleanly, even I'll suffer internal damage.
Hinata moved like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance. Her palms became afterimages as they struck in rapid succession.
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
Dull impacts exploded through the air.
Her attack speed was so fast the naked eye could barely follow.
The students watching were stunned.
Especially those who had once thought Hinata easy to bully—their jaws nearly hit the ground.
Naruto stared blankly. "Hinata's that strong?! She's so fast!"
Sasuke's expression turned serious.
"That girl... is strong."
Ino and Sakura were completely petrified.
"Is that really the timid Hinata?"
Even Iruka couldn't help but remark, "So she's been hiding her strength all along."
"But can Akira withstand a storm like that?"
Faced with the airtight barrage, Akira's brows knitted slightly.
No good. If I keep dodging like this, it'll look too easy. I need to take a hit.
The next moment—
Just as Hinata's palms were a hair's breadth from his chest, Akira's body twisted in a strange angle, narrowly avoiding his vital points.
But with the Byakugan's near-360-degree vision, Hinata adjusted instantly.
In less than a second, Akira seemed to dance on the edge of blades, evading over a dozen lethal strikes.
Until the final palm.
A flicker crossed his eyes.
He deliberately slowed by half a beat.
Hinata's chakra-infused palm struck squarely into his abdomen.
Bang!
"Ugh—!"
The force was tremendous. His stomach churned violently, and he nearly threw up.
Clutching his abdomen, his features twisted in pain as he staggered back several steps.
"I—I yield!"
Only when she heard him concede did Hinata snap out of her combat state.
"Ah! Akira-kun, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!"
She had been too immersed in the jutsu and forgot to hold back. Seeing his pained expression, tears welled in her eyes.
Akira gritted his teeth.
This time, it wasn't entirely acting.
That hurt.
Still, he waved weakly. "I'm fine. Won't die… You really didn't hold back. As expected of a Hyūga prodigy."
Internally, however:
If my physique weren't absurdly strong, that palm would've put me in bed for half a month. Hinata's hidden strength is terrifying. Energy conservation never lies—eat more, hit harder.
He walked off the field clutching his stomach, enduring the pain without complaint.
Iruka rushed over. "Akira! Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
Akira forced a smile uglier than crying. "It's fine, Iruka-sensei. Just knocked the wind out of me. I'll recover."
In truth, it wasn't serious.
The pain was real—but no internal organs were damaged.
Still, for the sake of the performance, he acted as though gravely injured.
Up in the tree, Kakashi watched everything, the corner of his mouth lifting.
"That reaction speed is astonishing. He clearly chose to take that last hit on purpose. Though… that palm packed enough force to make him suffer."
"That level of evasion surpasses many seasoned chūnin. For a six-year-old's body to react that fast…"
"It seems the strength you're hiding is deeper than I imagined."
After this battle, many classmates looked at Hinata differently—now with awe.
The soft-spoken girl who blushed at every word was, in truth, a tyrannosaurus in sheep's clothing.
With that barrage, most of them would've been beaten into swollen pigs.
Sasuke frowned.
"Akira... I never noticed anything special about him before."
"But losing to a girl? How embarrassing."
He saw only the result.
So did everyone else.
Including Iruka.
They had all been fooled by Akira's acting.
The students swarmed around Hinata with praise, while she alone kept glancing worriedly at Akira sitting in the corner.
Soon, attention shifted to the next match.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Hinata quietly approached him.
Head lowered, she poked her index fingers together nervously.
After a long pause, she spoke in a thread-thin voice.
"I'm sorry... Akira-kun. It's because I was clumsy that you got hurt."
Akira was still holding his stomach, though the pain had long faded thanks to his abnormal recovery speed.
He looked up at her guilty face and smiled gently.
"It's fine. Don't blame yourself. It's my fault for lacking skill. I just wasn't good enough."
Suddenly—
Hinata lifted her head sharply.
Her pale Byakugan eyes locked onto him.
"That's not true! Akira-kun is very strong! I could tell when we fought. You're not ordinary at all."
"I think... you're even stronger than me."
A faint tremor entered her voice.
"I have this feeling..."
"...that you were deliberately going easy on me."
Though she had no concrete proof, a woman's sixth sense told her that the final strike… he absolutely could have dodged it.
Akira's expression didn't change. He maintained that faint smile.
"You're overthinking it. Your Gentle Fist was like a machine gun—how could a normal person possibly react in time? You, on the other hand, need to work on your personality. When it's time to strike, strike decisively. Don't hesitate so much."
He looked at her gently.
He wasn't trying to flirt. He simply didn't want to linger on such a sensitive topic—if she exposed the truth, that would be troublesome.
Hinata's face flushed all the way to her neck. She nodded obediently.
"Mm... thank you, Akira-kun."
After that, silence fell between them.
Until the exams ended completely, Akira didn't say another word.
When the final results were announced, he once again secured an utterly unremarkable score—firmly anchoring himself in the middle tier of the class.
...
The dismissal bell rang.
As usual, Akira slung his bag over his shoulder and headed straight for the remote training ground.
He tossed his bag aside and sat on the grass, chin resting in his hands, staring blankly at the shinobi training in the distance.
But before he'd even warmed his seat, a figure appeared silently beside him.
The "ghost" who had followed him all day—
Kakashi Hatake.
"Not going home to do homework after school? What are you doing here?"
Akira had sensed him long ago. He didn't even turn his head.
"Of course I'm here to secretly learn from others. Seeing if there are any cool techniques worth picking up."
Kakashi blinked. "Secretly learn?"
Akira nodded seriously.
Intrigued, Kakashi asked, "What could you possibly learn here? Planning to copy their taijutsu movements?"
"Judging from the combat exam today, your skills already surpass your peers by quite a bit."
Since he'd already been noticed, Kakashi decided to drop the pretense.
Akira pointed at a ninja on the field forming hand seals.
"Not taijutsu. I'm waiting to see if anyone uses ninjutsu. Even the most basic, trash-tier techniques would be treasures to me. I want to learn them all."
Kakashi was momentarily stunned.
His curiosity about this precocious child deepened. His doubts continued to snowball, but he didn't press further.
Instead, he followed up casually. "So? Have you stolen any ninjutsu yet?"
"Hehe, of course! I've mastered the Three Basic Techniques—and Great Fireball Jutsu! Impressive, right?"
For the first time, Akira's tone carried a bit of childish pride.
Even well-traveled Kakashi was shaken.
"The Great Fireball Jutsu? That's a standard C-rank ninjutsu. It consumes a lot of chakra and requires complex hand seals. Many genin practice for years and still can't use it. You're sure you've truly mastered it?"
A six-year-old, with no teacher, learning the Great Fireball just by watching—
If that wasn't bragging, then it was monstrous genius.
Akira simply nodded.
Kakashi watched his focused side profile, a complicated emotion rising in his chest.
He had investigated Akira's background.
A war orphan.
His parents had died during the Nine-Tails' attack.
Alone. Civilian-born. No formal lineage or mentor to pass down orthodox ninjutsu.
From start to finish, Akira hadn't even looked directly at him.
One standing. One sitting.
They watched the training field in silence until night fell and the shinobi dispersed.
Akira sighed in disappointment.
"Bad luck today. No one used ninjutsu."
He picked up his bag and prepared to leave.
Kakashi watched the lonely silhouette and felt something stir.
"Akira. Wait."
Akira turned, looking puzzled. "Something else?"
Kakashi seemed to have made up his mind.
"You said you learned the Great Fireball. Is that true?"
"Yeah. Why would I lie?"
There was nothing to hide. In truth, he'd copied several other low-level techniques too—he just didn't dare mention them.
Kakashi's expression grew serious.
"Do you know who I am?"
Akira rolled his eyes internally—Who in Konoha doesn't know Copy Ninja Kakashi?—but played dumb aloud.
"No. But judging by your outfit, you must be an important jōnin or something."
Kakashi chuckled. "Oh? And how can you tell?"
Akira pointed at his green flak jacket.
"Only chūnin and above can wear the standard-issue vest. That's common knowledge."
Kakashi glanced down and laughed softly. "Sharp observation."
"That's not sharp. It's in the Academy textbook."
Kakashi patted his shoulder.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I think you should—"
"Never heard of you," Akira interrupted bluntly.
Kakashi's smile froze.
Awkward.
Still, he quickly recovered.
"That's fine. Just know that I know thousands of ninjutsu."
At the word ninjutsu, Akira instantly activated full method acting mode.
His eyes sparkled like stars.
"Really? Thousands?"
Kakashi nodded modestly. "Many."
Akira gripped his bag strap, hopeful.
"Th-then... could you teach me?"
Even he was disgusted by his own performance—but this was how a child his age should react.
Kakashi wagged a finger mysteriously.
"No. The transmission of ninjutsu is serious business. There are rules. I can only teach my subordinates or students."
The light in Akira's eyes dimmed instantly.
"I see... Makes sense. Ninjutsu is precious. You wouldn't teach it to a stranger."
"Then I'll go. Goodbye, Kakashi-san."
The moment he finished speaking—
His figure blurred and vanished like a phantom.
Silence.
Kakashi's smile stiffened.
"...That was the Body Flicker Jutsu?"
"And that execution… that's my Body Flicker. When did he learn it? The ramen shop?"
He clearly remembered their only real interaction was yesterday at Ichiraku Ramen—when he'd used Body Flicker upon leaving.
"He mastered it after just one glance? In a single day? And that small body can handle the strain… This kid is a monster."
...
Several hundred meters away, on a deserted street—
Akira landed and immediately regretted everything.
He grabbed his hair in frustration.
"Idiot! I just wanted to leave quickly and forgot he was watching!"
"I'm completely exposed now. Next time I see him, I'm detouring. Way too dangerous."
"Why detour? Am I that scary?"
A lazy voice sounded behind him before he finished speaking.
Kakashi had appeared again, arms crossed, studying him with amusement.
Akira froze.
The embarrassment was so intense he could dig a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
"N-no... nothing."
"You're really fast, Kakashi-sama! Haha… already caught up. Well, I'll head home now."
He scratched his head awkwardly, eyes darting.
Kakashi's amusement deepened.
"Running away? Did I say I wouldn't teach you?"
Akira's heart skipped—but he persisted.
"I'm not running! I just remembered I might've forgotten to lock my door this morning. Afraid of burglars. So I'm rushing back to check..."
"Anyway, no time to chat. I'm leaving!"
His body blurred again, Body Flicker activating without restraint.
Since this perceptive jōnin had already seen through him, there was no point hiding it anymore.
Kakashi watched the direction he vanished, his lone visible eye gleaming.
"Interesting. This little brat is truly hard to read."
"With talent like that… letting it rot in mediocrity would be the real waste."
Murmuring to himself, Kakashi's figure flickered and disappeared.
Using the intelligence network he knew like the back of his hand—
He arrived at Akira's residence.
Even earlier than Akira himself.