Chapter 8

In the Konoha Village, at Training Ground 14.

Rin, Obito Uchiha, and Masako were playing a game of kick-the-can.

This was a simple and popular game where the person in charge of catching only needed to touch the other two to win, and the other two would win if anyone of them kicked over the can.

It was a clash between defense and destruction.

Obito thought that without Kakashi, who he considered a game bug, he would win easily.

Ideals are always beautiful, but reality is harsh.

He had already lost three times in a row, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop... Masako from kicking the can.

Speed, reaction, and movement—he was completely outclassed by this unremarkable girl in class.

Obito thought to himself, she is a game demon on par with... Kakashi, and she isn't even as pretty as Rin!

"What are you thinking, Obito?" Masako suddenly leaned close and whispered.

"Masako isn't as pretty as Rin..."

"Ah, no, why did I say that?"

Obito immediately snapped back to reality, staring warily at the smiling Masako. He had been momentarily distracted and blurted out his thoughts.

"Clang."

The can was kicked far away by Masako.

"Obito, you lost again." Rin said with a laugh, and Obito and Masako joined in, filling the training ground with a joyful atmosphere.

"Ah, I lost again!"

Happiness belonged to them... but not to Kakashi.

He never expected that his classmate, whom he had defined as a swordsmanship genius just a few hours ago, would have such poor learning ability.

"Remember to coordinate your steps, breathing, and techniques without any disorder. Let the sword follow your heart, not rigid form."

"Your steps are乱了, start over..."

"Your breathing is乱了, start over..."

"Wrong... the connection is problematic!"

After Yagura's fifth failure, Kakashi could only helplessly rub his forehead, his masked face filled with bitterness.

"This might be the process of cultivating the mind."

Just yesterday, he told his father that a classmate had been secretly watching him practice swordsmanship. He never expected that his father's greatest concern would be the classmate's character, not the fact that his swordsmanship had been stolen.

Kakashi told his father about Yagura's recent struggles and received a new assignment.

"Transmission should not be limited by sects; the most important thing to consider in a successor is their character."

These were the exact words of Sakumo Hatake.

The White Fang of Konoha, with a broad perspective...

"Teaching others swordsmanship to verify one's own learning and seek new breakthroughs is the homework my father left me... but I didn't expect it to be so difficult."

"When I was learning, my father just demonstrated it simply. Why can't he learn it?"

Kakashi felt a deep sense of frustration as he gazed at the distant forest, hoping a black bear would emerge to fight him.

"Kakashi, can you help me see where I'm wrong?"

Yagura's voice brought Kakashi back from his wandering thoughts. Not far in front of him, his so-called genius was performing the Hatake swordsmanship with extremely messy movements.

"Your breathing is乱了! Two strikes for one exhale, two strikes for one inhale."

Hearing this, Yagura immediately began to adjust his breathing frequency according to Kakashi's instructions.

After dozens of practices, Yagura's physical strength reached its limit, as did Kakashi's mental endurance.

"That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."

Kakashi could see that Yagura had reached his physical limit and said so.

"I just need a half-hour rest to recover my strength and can continue practicing for three more hours." Yagura replied, the sun had just set, and it was still early.

"Alright, I'll demonstrate a few more times. Pay attention."

This "student" might be a bit dull, but his hard work reminded Kakashi of his father's teachings.

"Never underestimate those who put in ten times the effort to make progress, even if they only improve a little each day, their future will be just as bright."

Drawing his short blade, Kakashi systematically demonstrated the techniques and footwork of the Hatake swordsmanship, deliberately slowing down to make it easier for Yagura to learn.

In no time, it was completely dark.

The day's training ended. Yagura initially planned to treat his friends to a meal but found that all the shops on the road were closed, so he gave up. The group parted ways and headed home.

"I didn't expect you to keep it up."

Several hours of continuous sword practice surprised Masako. The determined look on the boy's face as he practiced under the moonlight was hard to associate with his formerly timid and cowardly image.

"Maybe it's because I like it..."

"Like...?"

"Isn't it always the case that people are willing to strive for what they like?" Yagura looked at the moon and decided to continue practicing the basic sword techniques at home, as there were only two days left until the mission's completion.

Masako was silent for a moment, thinking that people also strive for those they like, not just things.

"Do you like practicing swordsmanship?"

"I like doing missions." Yagura answered honestly.

"Do you mean taking missions after becoming a ninja?" Masako continued, seeing Yagura willing to talk to her was a good sign.

"No."

...

Saturday evening, at the familiar training ground.

On one side, there was laughter and play, and on the other, a frowning Kakashi. Tonight, he proposed a new training method, focusing on footwork and breathing before integrating techniques.

Yagura's progress was now very evident; he could already guess his mistakes from the change in Kakashi's eyes.

After two hours, he finally mastered the coordination of breathing and footwork, and only needed to integrate the techniques to complete the basics of the Hatake swordsmanship.

Swing, step, breathe.

Thrust, step, breathe.

Yagura practiced the Hatake swordsmanship techniques at an extremely slow pace, but with perfect accuracy.

The thirteenth technique was correct.

The twentieth technique was correct.

The twenty-first technique was correct.

The twenty-fourth technique was correct.

Perfect. Yagura completed the entire Hatake swordsmanship, including techniques, steps, and breathing, at an extremely slow pace.

"Congratulations, from now on, you need to repeat countless times to make it instinctive and be able to use it freely in battle." Kakashi congratulated him immediately.

No one could understand the hard work he had put in over the past two days.

"I owe you a great favor." Yagura said solemnly.

"The Sharingan can perfectly replicate actions and mimic chakra flow, and the Byakugan can see through all the secrets of the Hatake swordsmanship. In other words, the method of practicing the Hatake swordsmanship is not a secret among the Konoha elite."

"It's not the Hatake swordsmanship that made the White Fang famous, but rather the White Fang that made the Hatake swordsmanship a secret technique. In fact, Obito also learned it for a while but gave up because it was too tiring..."

This was the first time Yagura had heard so many words from Kakashi, and he said so much to make Yagura not feel indebted for the teaching.