Chapter 77

"Teacher."

Uchiha Obito saw Haruki come out and quickly greeted him.

"Follow me."

Haruki reached out and grabbed his shoulder. With a teleportation jutsu, the two disappeared from the street.

"Where is this?"

Obito looked up and around. After a few seconds, he felt a bit familiar and hesitantly asked, "Kakashi's house?"

"That's right."

Haruki lightly tapped, and chakra enveloped them, hiding their presence.

He then took Obito and jumped onto the Hatake family's wall, giving them a clear view of the courtyard.

It was only then that Obito noticed under the moonlight two white-haired figures, one tall and one short, sparring with swords.

They were Kakashi and his father, Sakumo Hatake.

The two white short swords were exchanging blows fiercely.

"He's that skilled?" Obito felt his mouth go dry.

He rarely saw Kakashi's swordsmanship at school, but being the son of the White Fang of Konoha, it was impossible for him not to know swordsmanship.

In the original story, it was mostly due to the Sharingan.

In a way, the Sharingan significantly burdened Kakashi in the early to mid stages.

Of course, without that eye, he probably wouldn't have had such a significant role in the later stages.

However, in Haruki's view, even without the Sharingan, Kakashi's achievements wouldn't be much less than Minato Namikaze's under normal circumstances.

Aside from a few individuals, he could easily become the Hokage.

"Do you now understand why he's better than you?" Haruki asked.

"Because he has a father called the White Fang of Konoha," Obito thought for a moment and replied.

"Think again!"

Haruki's forehead showed a vein, and he directly punched Obito's head. He somewhat missed Minato, who could infer three times from one example.

"Huh?"

Obito held his head, looking confused, and asked, "Isn't that it? His swordsmanship was taught by his father."

"..."

Haruki was speechless. Well, it was indeed too much to ask a child. He said, "It's diligence. Think about what you do after school every day?"

"Diligence?" Obito was taken aback.

Yes, Kakashi always went straight home after school, even using shadow clones to skip classes, but he didn't play; he studied and practiced. And himself?

Thinking about his three days of fishing and two days of drying nets behavior, he couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed. At the same time, he understood that it was normal for him to be inferior to Kakashi.

"You and Kakashi have equal talent, but he's more diligent and hardworking, redeeming his talent early. If you don't change your current habits, unless you experience a major transformation one day, it will be hard to catch up to Kakashi."

Haruki glanced at him and withheld one sentence.

You possess one of the greatest cheat abilities, the Sharingan, destined to surpass Kakashi, as long as you don't give your eyes to him.

If the original story started with talking about the role of diligence, it later turned into a focus on bloodlines and eyes.

The only possible exception, Might Guy, was also sidelined, ending up disabled for life.

"I understand."

Obito exhaled deeply. He had always viewed Kakashi as a lifelong rival. Now that he knew Kakashi's extraordinary strength came from hard work, he realized he must put in equal effort to catch up.

"Starting tomorrow, go find Minato and Mikoto after school for special training."

"Huh?" Obito was a bit surprised. He thought it would be individual training, but he didn't expect Haruki to arrange two teachers for him.

"Not willing?" Haruki asked in return.

"Willing! Of course, I'm willing!"

Obito nodded quickly. If Kakashi was a school talent, then Minato and Mikoto were recognized as future top ninjas of Konoha, publically acknowledged in the ninja world.

"I plan to have Minato be your team leader when you graduate, so you can experience it in advance and see if he meets your expectations."

Haruki smiled and said, "By then, I'll also have Rin as your teammate."

"Really?"

Obito almost jumped up because he knew he couldn't decide the graduation assignments, and there was a chance he wouldn't be in the same team as Rin, but Haruki had the authority to decide.

"Would I deceive a child like you?"

"Thank you, Teacher!" Obito immediately showed a silly grin.

"Work hard." Haruki thought for a moment but didn't tell him that his other teammate would be Kakashi.

The teacher-student counseling session for the night ended.

Haruki first sent Obito back and then returned home.

"I'm back..."

Haruki cut off his words. When he opened the door, he saw Tsunade lying on the table, eyes closed.

He could roughly guess that she was waiting for him and fell asleep while waiting.

Haruki walked over and assessed her posture, reaching out to pick her up.

"You're back?"

Tsunade, with her eyes closed, groggily leaned into his arms like a cat, rubbing against him.

It made carrying her easier.

Haruki carried her princess-style to her room.

"Time to let go."

Haruki helplessly looked at her hands wrapped around his neck.

"No, not even in death."

Tsunade seemed to be talking in her sleep or was half-awake, losing her usual strong demeanor.

"What nonsense."

Haruki couldn't stand hearing her talk about death. He tried to pry her fingers off, but seeing they were tightly gripped, he directly withdrew his head, bypassing her arms' tight grip.

"Be good."

Haruki smoothed her furrowed brow and softly sang a song from his previous life.

"My baby, baby, let me give you a little sweetness so you can sleep well tonight. My little ghost, little ghost, let me tease your little face so you can enjoy the whole tomorrow..."

Tsunade's expression gradually calmed, and she smiled faintly.

Haruki kissed that smile.

He remembered that August 2nd was Tsunade's birthday.

He had already thought of a gift.

A diamond ring and an engagement ceremony.

Although engagement and marriage in Konoha didn't require rings, as a modern man from his previous life, he was accustomed to such rituals.

And he had fireworks to prepare.

The best birthday gift was love.

Haruki returned to his room.

The next day, the "Konoha Daily" began promoting the ninja school's basketball game.

Haruki planned to use this game as a gimmick to attract Konoha's many ninjas and civilians, and then hold a large-scale basketball tournament to make a small profit.

Naturally, it mentioned that Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi would participate in this basketball game as a parent.

With the Hokage participating, families supporting the Hokage faction would surely show up.

The only one feeling dissatisfied, of course, was Danzo Shimura.

He now fully understood the power of the "Konoha Daily" and was even wary of it.

"Hmph, nonsense about the Will of Fire. If Haruki ever rebels, this newspaper would be his first sword, killing without blood."

Danzo frowned. He said so, but he found he dared not deal with Haruki.

The implications were too vast, and there was no reason.

If people knew Haruki died at his hands, Konoha might fall apart.