—BOOM!
"Run!!"
Whoosh!
"AAAAHH—!!"
A kunai was lodged directly between the left eye of a young man with pineapple-shaped hair.
No matter how hard he pressed his hand against it, the blood would not stop flowing.
"Ha!!"
"Mind Transfer—!"
"Move!! Ninjutsu: Partial Expansion Technique!"
Psshh—!
A two-meter puppet—crafted from wood, bamboo, and special composite materials—fired a sharp blade from its core.
The blade, coated in an unknown purple substance, pierced straight through a red-haired girl's right hand.
"AAAH!!"
Pain forced her to pull back instantly.
The blond teammate immediately abandoned the attack—
—but while retreating with his companions, a sudden spiraling wind blade infused with Wind Release chakra severed his left leg.
"Hah… hah… hah—!"
In a pitch-dark room, a bearded young man jolted awake from a nightmare.
Breathing slowed.
Eyes shifted from terror… to emptiness… to numbness.
The dream was over.
Reality was not.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke stared at his intact hands, then clenched his teeth.
Apologies to the parents.
Their forgiveness.
Their words saying it wasn't his fault.
"How can I accept that?!"
"The one who should be crippled… should be me!"
"Son of the Hokage… hahahaha…"
Shinnosuke knew the truth.
If he hadn't been the Hokage's son, they would never have forgiven his reckless command—charging an enemy jōnin head-on, dragging his team into an ambush far beyond their ability.
After venting his self-hatred, he stood, washed his face, and opened his door.
Leftover food—prepared by his mother, Biwako—sat untouched.
"Big brother…?"
Shinnosuke froze.
A three-year-old boy peeked from the next room.
Asuma.
"Are you okay?"
Shinnosuke said nothing and walked downstairs.
Then—
He heard a familiar voice.
Anger surged.
You came to laugh at me too?
Crash—!
The living room door flew open.
Inside were Biwako, Kaito, and… his three former students.
"Teacher!!" ×3
"Kaito…?" Shinnosuke froze.
Kaito coughed lightly.
"Sleeping in again, Shinnosuke?"
The three students stood before him:
Nara Ha, one eye covered with white bandages
Yamanaka Taiji, missing half a leg, sitting with a metal elbow-crutch
Akimichi Yumi, right arm amputated, left hand holding a gift box
Before coming, Kaito had asked them one question:
Do you blame your teacher?
None of them did.
They were relieved to be alive.
Shinnosuke had shielded them until reinforcements arrived.
"Teacher," Yumi said gently, placing the gift into his hands.
"Thank you… even if we can't be shinobi anymore."
"I— I don't deserve—!"
"Teacher," Ha interrupted calmly.
"We don't blame you. We simply weren't experienced enough."
"If we had trained more as chūnin… we would've seen the trap."
Taiji grinned.
"I may be missing a leg, but I've still got hands! We're opening a dessert shop—come visit!"
Then he glanced at Kaito.
"You can come too. But you pay."
"???"
"Why do I have to pay?!"
"Because I don't like you."
Jealousy was a powerful thing.
"…You really don't blame me?" Shinnosuke whispered.
"No," Yumi said softly.
"Our shop will be called Sweet Home. Please come."
"…I will. I promise."
Biwako wiped her tears.
After everyone left, she quietly thanked Kaito.
Shinnosuke heard everything.
"…Tch. Meddling idiot."
"But I'll remember this."
"One day, I'll repay it."
From that day on, Shinnosuke resolved to take on the hardest missions—
after attending the opening of Sweet Home.
Elsewhere—
Minato Namikaze graduated early.
Others would wait.
The village was still unstable.
Soon after, Hatake Sakumo was awarded the White Sleeve of Honor.
Young Kakashi watched proudly.
His mother, Hatake Mika, coughed.
"Mom… shouldn't you get checked?"
"I'm fine—cough cough—"
Kaito, nearby and clearly exhausted (due to being hunted by three women), spoke bluntly:
"Kakashi, you're going to lose your mother if she doesn't get checked."
"YOU—!!"
Mika raised a hand.
"…You're serious?"
"If you don't go, then yes."
"Tell them my name. Ask for Nonō or Inuzuka Umeko."
Then—
"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!"
He vanished.
Mika hesitated.
Maybe… I should go.
She did.
Diagnosis: Acute cellular degeneration.
If she had come later—she would have died.
Emergency surgery followed.
Successful.
Elsewhere—
Kaito was tied up.
Muscles severed.
Cornered.
Three women closed in.
"We're not your students anymore," Nonō smiled sweetly.
"And I'm off duty."
Uchiha Mikoto activated her three-tomoe Sharingan.
Genjutsu clash.
Mikoto won.
Then—
Poof.
Substitution jutsu.
Kaito escaped—again.
On the rooftop, he healed himself.
"…Women are terrifying when they grow up."
That night, he left a letter:
The world is big. I want to see it.
The next morning, Tsunade, Mikoto, Nonō, and Ryūun gathered.
"…He ran," Mikoto said.
"No 'probably'," Nonō corrected sweetly.
Tsunade sighed.
"I envy him."
Elsewhere—
Orochimaru misunderstood the reason Kaito fled.
Then realized—
"It was women?"
"…How foolish."
Kaito's journey began with an A-Rank solo mission:
Escort a military official's daughter to Fire Capital.
Reward: 1,000,000 ryō.
Easy money.
Perfect start.
The Shinobi World awaited.
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito