Chapter 27

Chapter 27

In the bathroom, the air was filled with mist.

Haneda lay in the bathtub, letting the warm water wash over his tired body.

"So relaxing..."

He closed his eyes, enjoying the soothing sensation of a bath.

Suddenly, he felt like someone was watching him. His eyes snapped open, and he looked out the window.

Hanging from a tree was a familiar, bright, bowl-shaped haircut.

When Guy saw Haneda notice him, he immediately gave a thumbs up and shouted, "Let's have a youthful showdown, Haneda!!"

Haneda's face turned dark with irritation. He quietly draped his towel over his modesty and then shut and locked the bathroom window.

Sigh "Peace at last."

Haneda reclined back in the tub, but the mood to relax had already faded. After another thirty seconds, he got up, grabbed a towel to dry himself off, and changed into his pajamas, ready for bed.

Just as he lay down and turned his head slightly, that familiar bowl haircut appeared again, framed by the moonlight outside his window.

"Come on, Haneda! Let's have a youthful duel!!"

"Get lost!!!"

Haneda couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped.

Who in the world would show up during dinner, in the middle of a bath, and even when someone was trying to sleep?

Even his usually good-tempered self had reached his limit.

But then, an idea struck him. He jumped out of bed and opened the window.

Guy, still hanging outside, beamed and gave him a thumbs up. "Alright! You're finally ready for a youthful showdown!!"

"No, Guy, I think your approach is all wrong."

Haneda barely suppressed his frustration and spoke calmly.

"To challenge a genius and improve yourself, you need to take things one step at a time. You can't aim too high all at once."

"Right now, you should be challenging Kakashi, not me. I'm on another level—Uchiha Haneda."

"Kakashi has already lost to me. We're practically at a 60-40 split, and he's the one closer to you. Only after you defeat him will you be qualified to challenge me."

Seeing how fired up Guy was becoming, Haneda patted his shoulder and smiled.

"Go ahead, Might Guy. Make defeating Kakashi your first step in this youthful journey, and then come face me!"

Imitating Guy, Haneda gave him a thumbs up. "Yes, Guy! That's the spirit of youth!"

Guy, moved by the declaration, nearly fell off the tree, but Haneda quickly grabbed him before he could tumble down.

"Exactly, Haneda! This is what youth is all about!! I'll make defeating Kakashi my first step and then challenge you again!"

Hearing this, Haneda could barely hide his grin.

This move sent Guy off to bother Kakashi and left him a way to keep his opportunity to learn the Eight Gates technique.

In a word: genius.

"Exactly! That's the spirit of youth! When you defeat Kakashi, I will accept your challenge!"

"Go, Might Guy! Take the first bold step toward youth!!"

After sending Might Guy on his way, Haneda couldn't help but giggle to himself when he imagined how the aloof Kakashi would handle Guy's fiery enthusiasm.

In short, as uncomfortable as Haneda had been, Kakashi was about to have it twice as bad.

'Forgive me, Kakashi, but I'm doing this for your own good. I've found you a lifelong rival to count on.'

"Heh heh heh..."

...

After passing the burden of Guy to Kakashi, Haneda's life returned to normal.

Skipping class or asking for permission to leave, he'd meet Fugaku to practice genjutsu in the mornings. In the afternoons, he'd train sword techniques with Kakashi, and at night, he'd work on Chidori and Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Three days passed like this...

At the Uchiha family training grounds, within a small forest, Haneda stood quietly on the grass, his eyes dazed.

At this moment, his pupils were blood-red, with a single black tomoe spinning slowly within each one. Facing him stood Fugaku, who had also activated his Sharingan.

They stared at each other, and as a leaf fell between them, Haneda moved.

But then, his face paled, and he stumbled back, one hand covering his right eye.

Seeing this, Fugaku quickly deactivated his Sharingan, rushing forward to support Haneda.

"What happened, Haneda? You were so close to breaking the Binding Illusion."

"My shadow clone at school got dispelled, and the sudden influx of memories disrupted my focus, causing a genjutsu backlash," Haneda replied weakly.

"Do you need to go back to the academy?" Fugaku asked.

"Of course," Haneda nodded. "If a teacher saw it, I'll need to explain."

With that, Haneda closed his eyes, already thinking of how to explain things to Obito and the others. After all, today's incident might even catch the attention of the Third Hokage and the shadowy figure pulling strings behind the scenes, Danzo.

...

Ten minutes earlier…

Haneda was at the training grounds, slacking off. He and Obito sat on the tiled ground, chatting lazily.

"Hey, Haneda, with Kakashi working so hard, aren't you worried he'll surpass you?" Obito asked, pointing toward Kakashi, who was practicing shuriken techniques.

"If he surpasses me, so what? That's his talent and hard work. We, the underdogs, rely on persistence and effort. It's not the same."

Haneda spoke nonchalantly.

In the world of shinobi, the truly powerful relied on bloodlines, science, or mentors. Effort alone only truly worked for someone like Might Guy, who had a unique technique like the Eight Gates.

If things followed the original story, Obito would one day encounter an "old man" named Madara and skyrocket to Six Paths-level power.

In short, true strength always found itself at either the top or bottom of the ranks.

"What's the difference between talent and effort?" Obito asked, confused.

Haneda just smiled and didn't explain further.

At that moment, Guy suddenly appeared above Haneda, dangling from a tree.

"Let's have a youthful showdown, Haneda!!" Guy shouted, his bright bowl haircut glistening in the sunlight.

Hearing the familiar voice, Haneda's smile froze.

If it were a normal day, he wouldn't mind. But today, it was a shadow clone that had been in class for half the day, and it couldn't handle a full-on fight.

That's why Haneda's clone had been slacking off with Obito in the first place.

Without hesitation, Haneda declined. "Guy, challenge Kakashi after you beat him again. You're still too weak to take me on."

"I've already beaten Kakashi, Haneda! Let's have our destined battle, full of youthful spirit!!" Guy declared excitedly.

"No way!" Haneda exclaimed.

If things were going as they should, there was no way Guy could defeat Kakashi—not unless he opened the Eight Gates, which he hadn't yet.

"Guy, I'm sure Kakashi let you win on purpose. With his strength, it would've been easy for him to beat you."

Haneda added this confidently.

He turned to check on Kakashi, who had been training with shuriken, but to his shock, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

'Crap!!'

Realization dawned on Haneda.

"Haneda! You can't run from our youthful promise, this is the destined battle between rivals!! You are my eternal opponent!!"

Guy grabbed Haneda's hand, looking at him with eyes full of passion.

Haneda's face darkened.

"Just tell me, what exactly did you and Kakashi compete in?"

***

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