At this moment—
The village, which had been somewhat quiet earlier, gradually grew lively.
Pedestrians moved back and forth along the streets.
Large and small stalls lined both sides of the road, their owners shouting to attract customers.
Time was the most merciless force of all.
Eight years had passed.
Many civilians had gradually recovered from the nightmare that was the Night of the Nine-Tails.
That was, until—
A certain blond-haired child with three whisker-like marks on each cheek suddenly rushed out like a gust of wind, leaping mischievously across the merchants' stalls as he dashed past.
"Yoohoo—!"
"Naruto, it's you again!"
"Stop right there!"
"You brat! Don't run if you've got guts!"
"Haha! Try and catch me!"
Witnessing the scene by chance—
Akira Ren merely smiled faintly.
With a light push from his feet, he sprang into the air.
He began moving swiftly across the rooftops, leaping from one house to another.
At a steady pace, he headed toward the Ninja Academy.
Of course, he recognized who that child was.
The so-called Child of Destiny.
The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki.
The reincarnation of Ōtsutsuki Asura, the second son of the Sage of Six Paths.
One of the two future figures standing at the absolute pinnacle of the ninja world—
Uzumaki Naruto.
But Ren had no intention of deliberately going over to greet him.
Naruto's identity was simply too sensitive.
Just as Akira Ren arrived at the entrance of the academy—
A gray figure suddenly approached while running on his hands, spinning forward like a whirlwind.
"Yo! Morning, Ren!"
The sweaty figure flipped upright and landed on his feet.
Completely ignoring the strange and disdainful looks from the surrounding students, he enthusiastically waved toward Akira Ren.
He wore a gray training outfit.
He had a black bowl haircut and very thick eyebrows.
Altogether, his appearance looked rather comical.
"Lee."
Akira Ren smiled and nodded.
Among the students at the Ninja Academy—
Rock Lee was the person he admired the most.
Without question.
The level of relentless effort Lee put into training was something ordinary people simply couldn't replicate.
Honestly, Ren often wondered what kind of strange physique Lee possessed.
If anyone else trained like that, their body would probably have collapsed long ago.
"Haah… haah… Today is another beautiful day!"
Wiping sweat from his face, Lee gave Ren a thumbs-up, flashing a row of gleaming white teeth.
"I just ran ten full laps around Konoha!"
Because he lacked talent in chakra control, Lee was unable to learn any ninjutsu or genjutsu.
As a result, he was frequently mocked and looked down upon at the academy.
Many classmates even avoided him entirely.
But Akira Ren was the only exception.
Not only did he never laugh at Lee—
He repeatedly encouraged him.
He helped strengthen Lee's belief that even someone who could only use taijutsu could still become a great ninja.
Because of that, Lee considered Ren one of his very few true friends at the academy.
It was a pity, though.
Although Ren often trained alongside him—exercising, practicing taijutsu, and even treating the many injuries Lee accumulated during daily training—
Ren didn't share Lee's habit of running passionately around Konoha every morning to embrace youth.
This was something Lee found rather regrettable.
"Ten laps…"
Hearing that, Akira Ren couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Konoha wasn't small.
Even one lap around the village took quite a bit of time.
Not to mention—
After hearing one of Ren's casual suggestions in the past, Lee didn't just run normally.
He would often run entire laps while walking on his hands, using them in place of his feet.
Heaven only knew how early Lee woke up each day.
Doing this once or twice would be one thing.
But he trained like this every single day—and ran that many laps.
Yet nine-year-old Lee somehow managed to accomplish it.
That indomitable willpower was truly admirable.
"Hmph. Trash will always be trash. No amount of effort will change that."
A cold snort suddenly sounded.
A figure wearing traditional clothing arrived at the academy entrance.
He had long black hair tied back, a gray bandage wrapped around his forehead, and an expressionless face.
What stood out most was his pure white eyes.
"Morning, Neji."
Akira Ren greeted him with a smile.
Although Neji looked neat and well put together, his expression seemed somewhat tired.
His hands—wrapped in bandages just like Lee's—moved slightly stiffly.
Clearly, he had also undergone intense training.
"Neji! Next time we spar in taijutsu, I'll definitely defeat you!"
Lee wasn't discouraged in the slightest.
Instead, he stared at Hyūga Neji with blazing determination.
"I'll prove that even someone called a failure can surpass a genius through hard work!"
"I'll be waiting."
Neji's tone remained indifferent.
But when he looked at Akira Ren, his eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
"I'm looking forward to the day when you fight me with your full strength, Ren."
He always had the same feeling whenever they sparred.
Although Ren appeared to give it his all—
Neji could tell that he was holding something back.
That sense of pressure pushed Neji to train even harder in his daily practice.
"I already give it my full effort every time."
As if he hadn't heard the implication behind Neji's words, Akira Ren spoke seriously.
"There's nothing I can do about it. The Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist isn't like ordinary Strong Fist techniques."
"Fighting you at close range has too many limitations. I can't afford to be careless."
"And besides—"
He smiled slightly.
"I'm a medical ninja, after all."
"As long as I stay in the backline and let my teammates protect me, that's enough."
"When it comes to actual combat, it's not really my job."
After all—
He couldn't exactly say:
If I fought seriously, you wouldn't even survive one move.
If he said something like that, Neji—who was famously proud—would probably explode on the spot.
"Hmph."
Neji had heard this answer countless times before.
He was already used to it.
Unwilling to continue the conversation, he simply walked straight toward the classroom.
Still—
He had to admit something.
Akira Ren's chakra control was even more precise than that of a Hyūga clan member with the Byakugan.
He was indeed exceptionally suited for medical ninjutsu.
In fact, Ren had already declared long ago that he intended to follow the same path as his father—
Who had once been a medical squad jōnin before sacrificing his life to protect him years ago.
There was nothing Neji could say about that.
"I'll be waiting for that day, Ren."
…