Yūhi Shinku turned and glared at the genin sitting under the trees.
"Why are you still sitting there?"
The genin froze.
"You can't even beat a five-year-old, and you still have the nerve to sit there and watch?" Yūhi Shinku's voice was stern. "All of you, get over here and train too."
The genin looked at each other. No one dared say a word. One by one, they stood up and shuffled over to the edge of the field.
Yūhi Shinku pointed at the tree. "Each of you, pick one leaf."
A few genin quickly plucked some leaves and handed them out to everyone.
"Stick the leaf to your forehead and hold it there with chakra. Don't let it fall." Yūhi Shinku took one himself. "Once you can do that, try climbing the tree."
Shin-chan slapped the leaf onto his forehead.
It wobbled, but didn't fall.
"That's it?" Shin-chan blinked.
Yūhi Shinku ignored him and turned to the genin. "Those of you who can't even climb trees properly, go practice on the side. Ask if you don't understand. Don't just stand there spacing out."
A few genin blushed and silently walked to the trees to start practicing.
Kakashi stuck the leaf to his forehead and stood there for a while.
"How is it?"
"I can keep it steady," Kakashi said. "But keeping the leaf from falling while climbing a tree makes it much harder. You have to divide your attention."
Shin-chan stood there with a leaf on his forehead. "Then I'll start."
He had only taken two steps up the tree when the leaf began tilting sideways and finally drifted down.
"It fell."
Yūhi Shinku looked at him. "Continue."
Shin-chan jumped down, picked up the leaf, and, unusually, thought for a moment.
"I get it."
"What do you get?"
"When I was walking just now, I was thinking about my feet and the leaf at the same time, so my brain split in half," Shin-chan said. "This time I'll only think about the leaf. My feet can walk by themselves."
The nearby genin heard him and looked completely baffled.
"His feet walk by themselves? How do feet walk by themselves?"
"What nonsense is he talking about—"
Shin-chan ignored them. He focused carefully on the leaf while his feet walked upward step by step, as if he didn't need to think at all about where to step or how much chakra to use.
After reaching the top of the tree, Shin-chan ran straight back down, the leaf still stuck to his forehead.
"Teacher, I'm amazing, right?"
Yūhi Shinku looked at him and was silent for two seconds.
"Amazing."
The genin nearby had no idea what to say anymore.
All of their faces clearly said, That works too?
Shiro ran over, circling around Shin-chan's feet, his tail wagging like crazy.
"Shiro." Shin-chan patted his head. "You want to play too?"
"Woof woof."
Shin-chan took the leaf off his own forehead and stuck it onto Shiro's head.
"Shiro, hold it with chakra."
The leaf stayed firmly stuck to Shiro's forehead.
Yūhi Shinku's eyes widened slightly.
This dog could do it too?
Shin-chan crouched down, checked, and nodded in satisfaction. "Next is climbing the tree."
Shiro looked at the big tree, kicked off with his hind legs, and shot straight up.
All four paws stepped steadily against the trunk, and the leaf stayed stuck to his forehead.
Halfway up, Shiro lifted both front paws off the tree and stood upright on the trunk with only his hind legs, continuing upward.
The leaf on his forehead still didn't move at all.
The training ground was silent for a full five seconds.
Then it exploded.
"That dog!!!"
"It can control chakra too?"
"And it's better than me?"
"It's climbing the tree on two legs!"
Yūhi Shinku watched the little white dog walking around the tree trunk on its hind legs, his expression very subtle.
The leaf on Kakashi's forehead fell off. He didn't pick it up. He just stared at Shiro in the tree, his expression complicated.
The genin nearby had already crouched on the ground and begun questioning their lives.
"Are we worse than a dog?"
"Stop talking—"
"Maybe I'm not cut out to be a ninja..."
Shiro circled around the tree once, then leaped into Shin-chan's arms, tail wagging like a propeller.
"Shiro is so amazing!"
"Woof!"
Yūhi Shinku looked at Shin-chan. "Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Here."
"Your training for today is complete."
Shin-chan blinked. "Then can I go home?"
Yūhi Shinku looked at him, then at the tail-wagging dog in his arms, and was silent for two seconds.
"Yes. From now on, as long as you complete your daily training goal, you may leave early."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then I'm leaving." Shin-chan turned to run.
Yūhi Shinku stopped him. "Wait."
Shin-chan turned back.
Yūhi Shinku handed him a leaf. "Try walking home with this leaf on your forehead."
Shin-chan looked down at the leaf in his hand, then stuck it back onto his forehead.
"Okay!"
He waved at Shiro. "Shiro, let's go."
Shiro followed at his feet. One boy and one dog, each with a leaf stuck to their forehead, walked out of the training ground one after the other.
After a few steps, Shin-chan turned back and waved at Kakashi and Toru.
"I'm leaving first!"
Uchiha Toru looked at him. His mouth moved like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only waved.
Kakashi gave a simple nod.
Shin-chan turned around and jogged away.
Yūhi Shinku shook his head and turned back to the remaining students.
"What are you looking at?" He swept his gaze over the stunned genin. "Something this simple, and you can't do it?"
The genin jolted and hurriedly went back to training.
The training ground became lively again.
One genin looked at the tree Shiro had climbed, then carefully took two steps on it.
Then he slipped down with a splat.
He landed flat on his back, arms and legs spread.
Lying under the tree, he stared up at the leaves overhead and muttered, "I can't even stand properly on the tree that dog walked on—"
"Don't overthink it," his teammate comforted him.
"I've simply realized a fact."
"What fact?"
"I'm trash."
"..."
Shin-chan ran all the way home, the leaf on his forehead fluttering in the wind.
After about two streets, the leaf finally couldn't hold on anymore. It floated down from his forehead and landed on the ground.
Shin-chan didn't notice. It wasn't until he reached the front door that he remembered and touched his forehead.
The leaf was gone.
"Oh well. I'm home anyway."
Shin-chan pushed open the door.
The living room was quiet. Misae was curled up on the sofa, one hand resting on her belly, eyes closed.
Shin-chan tiptoed over and leaned close to look at her.
She was asleep.
Shin-chan crouched down and watched her from beside the sofa for a while. Then he reached out and gently poked her cheek.
"Mom."
No reaction.
He poked her again.
Misae gave a vague hum, rolled over, and buried her face in a cushion.
"Mom, I'm back."
Misae finally opened her eyes a crack and looked at him blearily. It took several seconds before she came back to herself.
"Shin-chan?" She sat up, a mark from the cushion still pressed into her face. "Why are you back so early?"
"Teacher said I finished training, so he let me come home first."
Misae rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Finished training? What time is it?"