Obito blinked. "I don't know. Know what?"
"You two talk."
Kakashi rose from his seat and walked toward Raizen.
"Raizen, do you have time to spar today?"
"Yes," Raizen replied.
"Kakashi! Raizen already agreed to spar with me today!"
Kurenai Yuhi spun around, cheeks puffed, eyes wide.
She had been training hard.....she wanted to defeat Raizen so badly she even practiced after going home.
"It'll be quick," Raizen said lightly.
Running two ATMs at once wasn't a problem. Sword sparring would be short. Kurenai's training could be delayed slightly.
"Kakashi…"
Rin bit her lip as she watched him approach Raizen.
"I must… I must do something for Kakashi."
Her gaze settled on Raizen.
Since Kakashi was willing to speak with Raizen, they must get along well.
If anyone could comfort Kakashi… it would be Raizen.
The afternoon session began with a test.
The Chunin instructor stepped forward and announced the rules.
The rules were simple: hit thirty puppets scattered across the field with shuriken in the shortest time possible.
"Next, Uchiha Raizen,"
the Chunin instructor called out.
Raizen stepped forward, raised his hand, and a shuriken shot out, embedding itself in a puppet.
He had spent months polishing his shuriken technique.
Even without officially obtaining the skill entry, Raizen's mastery had already reached eighty-eight percent.
What others could barely see as a tiny black dot, Raizen could clearly distinguish—boosting his accuracy to a different level.
Thud! Thud! Thud…
After striking a puppet, he immediately rushed forward.
Each target was placed far apart, forcing the ninja to run and throw at the same time to save every possible second.
Before long, Raizen felt slightly out of breath.
"Nine points!"
The Chunin instructor announced Raizen's score out of ten.
"You've improved very quickly, Raizen."
As he recorded the score, the instructor couldn't help but remark.
Was there only one student more talented than Raizen.....Kakashi?
What if Raizen had enrolled a bit earlier?
And he even possessed the Sharingan.
After a brief moment of thought, the instructor shook his head.
The border had been unstable lately, and many comrades who took missions were returning injured.
Raizen nodded lightly and returned to his seat.
"Raizen-kun, you've improved so fast!"
"Raizen-kun, do you have some kind of secret?"
Having been at the Academy for months, his classmates had grown familiar with him and would sometimes strike up conversations.
But Raizen hated wasting time; if he could, he would split his time in half just to train more.
"It's just effort. If everyone works hard, we can improve quickly,"
Raizen replied with a polite smile.
Next up was Kakashi.
Expressionless, Kakashi threw his shuriken and completed the test in an incredibly short time.
While Raizen was studying Kakashi's movements, hoping to glean something useful, a gentle voice sounded beside him.
"Raizen-kun, can I talk to you?"
Nohara Rin asked.
The purple markings on her cheeks were striking under the sunlight.
Raizen glanced up calmly and nodded.
"Raizen-kun, we've known Kakashi for much longer… so why did he choose to talk to you?"
Rin asked directly, hoping Raizen held the answer she sought.
Raizen thought for a moment and replied,
"That's because Kakashi needs something to vent his emotions… a way to escape the gossip in the village. Rin-san, you don't know swordsmanship, right?"
"No…"
Rin lowered her gaze.
Her grades were among the best in the Academy, and she excelled in the basic medical ninjutsu the school offered.
The medical-ninjutsu instructor had even recommended her for advanced training upon graduation.
But swordsmanship.....combat....was not her strength.
"Besides, if we didn't help, Kakashi might get into trouble."
"Get into trouble? What do you mean?"
Rin blinked in confusion; she couldn't understand Raizen's words at all.
"Who knows?"
Raizen didn't elaborate. He simply turned and walked away.
It was clearly a psychological issue.
This was the darker side of Konoha.
The Will of Fire sounded righteous, but if someone abandoned a mission to save a comrade, the entire village would condemn them.
If the higher-ups had praised Hatake Sakumo for saving his comrades and then punished him for failing the mission....
balancing reward and discipline..
why would Sakumo have chosen to end his own life?
No one spoke up for him.
Even the comrades he saved criticized him.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen had said a word, Raizen didn't believe anyone would have dared to condemn Sakumo.
The Third Hokage was known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" and the "Strongest Hokage"...titles given by those who had never seen the First Hokage fight.
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