Asuma wore a displeased look, "Rookie, what do you think you're doing?"
Kakashi, however, completely ignored his presence and focused on Seiki instead, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Kakashi Hatake."
Seiki smiled warmly, "I'm Seiki Shimaseki. Nice to meet you, please guide me."
Kakashi nodded, "Good, right now then."
Everyone looked confused—had they missed a piece of the conversation?
Even Seiki hesitated briefly, before chuckling softly. So he really doesn't get basic social interactions at all—an outright idiot when it comes to conversation? Well, perhaps with the arrogance typical of prodigies.
Asuma got it and asked coldly, "You're saying you want to challenge Seiki?"
Kakashi looked confused, "Didn't he just ask me to guide him?"
Asuma blinked, momentarily unable to tell whether this guy was arrogant or genuinely clueless.
Shaking his head slightly, Seiki said with a helpless smile, "I'd be happy to accept your guidance, but I've made plans with friends today. How about next time?"
"I see..." Kakashi nodded thoughtfully before adding rather smugly, "I'll try to finish our fight within one minute."
Asuma's gaze softened with pity. This kid really is an idiot after all.
The rest of the crowd reacted accordingly—
"Huh, didn't expect this white-haired brat to have such self-awareness."
"Nah, he actually thinks lasting one minute against Uchiha Shuunen means something. That's not self-awareness—that's arrogance!"
"Oh, that's how it is huh..."
"Jeez, are all this year's rookies this cocky?"
Kakashi felt an angry lump rise in his chest. Kakashi wasn't the type to show off. He challenged this opponent not just out of fighting spirit—but also to prove his father wrong.
But in their mouths, how had it become him claiming he would lose the fight within one minute?
Worse yet—could that even be called arrogance?
"Maybe," Kakashi mused bitterly, recalling those *nixi* (a term describing an underdog's triumphant counterattack) scenes from Jiraiya-sama's *Comeback Ninja Tale*, "this kind of scorned-by-the-crowd thing really does fuel the protagonist's growth." Thinking back to those scenes of underdogs making a comeback, even his normally indifferent heart started churning with unease and agitation.
"In that case, since you insist, I suppose I have no choice but to agree." Seiki chuckled lightly, unbothered by the other's impoliteness.
Seeing this, the betting crowd got excited again.
"Woo-hoo! Bets open, bets open..."
Obito crept up beside Rin with a sheepish grin, "Rin, what should I bet on this time?"
Before Rin could answer, Shuunen clucked his tongue disapprovingly beside them, "Don't you guys remember what I told you earlier? Even before awakening my Sharingan, I couldn't even resist him."
"Eh? What do you mean?" Obito asked, puzzled.
Sighing deeply, Shuunen cast a look full of sympathy toward Kakashi, "Let me put it this way—taijutsu is actually his weakest point."
Obito froze, then pointed at the battlefield that looked like a hurricane had torn through it, shouting, "This is called 'weakest'?
In the forest, Seiki gently brushed off the fallen leaves from his shoulder. "Kakashi, are you ready?"
Kakashi assumed an offensive stance. "Come at me."
The moment his words ended, the leaves suspended in midair began to swirl, dancing gracefully and capturing Kakashi's focus.
Seiki slowly approached and brushed past Kakashi. "Excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry. As an apology, let me give you a new beginning."
After speaking, Seiki walked away while Kakashi stood motionless on the spot, seemingly lost in thought.
Witnessing this situation, Obito snapped out of his daze and asked in confusion, "What the hell just happened? Is Kakashi asleep or something?"
"It's Genjutsu!" Shuunen exclaimed in admiration. "This is truly Seiki's real strength!"
"So amazing!" Obito was momentarily stunned before suddenly becoming excited. "Good thing for Rin! She probably intentionally dragged me into the Psychology Club just to get close to this senior and ask him about Genjutsu techniques!"
Just as Obito became immersed in another pleasant fantasy, cheers suddenly burst forth from all around them.
"Wah! Seiki-kun is so elegant! So refined!"
"That was too quick! Can't that new guy last any longer?"
"Yeah! I wanted to watch Seiki-kun fight a bit more!"
"This is painful. I think I've got a Seiki-withdrawal headache whenever I don't see him!"
"Ugh, I must be sick too. I'll have to go to the Psychology Club tomorrow to see the senior for treatment."
"Darn it! I was obviously the first one who got sick..."
Hearing those admiring voices, Obito grimaced unhappily. "Seems like getting the senior's attention might be harder than I thought!"
...
In Konoha's marketplace.
"These are Ruiga refined steel ingots from the Cloud Village's misty highlands in the Land of Lightning. They've been constantly exposed to lightning for years and possess excellent chakra conductivity for lightning attributes. Normally they cost no less than 100,000 ryo each, but we're offering special discount prices now..."
"Authentic top-grade wagyu beef from the Land of Lightning! Real cattle!"
"Our specialty Cloud Village sake 'Shitōzuka' (Four-Lid Barrel) - even the Raikage himself has praised it highly!"
"The Raikage himself said it's good?" Asuma stood in front of a stall, his eyes gleaming with interest as he craned his neck to smell what was inside.
"Get lost, kids! Don't come over here messing things up," the vendor clearly didn't believe two little children had any purchasing power, waving them away dismissively.
"Hmph! Like I'd want anything from you anyway!" Asuma's stubborn pride flared up, pretending to be uninterested as he turned his head away and started walking off.
Seiki followed behind him, occasionally scanning the crowd with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Ugh, this is so boring," Asuma muttered after a while. "Hey, Seiki, I noticed you've been looking around since earlier. Do you want to buy something? No worries, I'll treat you!"
At Asuma's ostentatious display, Seiki simply shook his head lightly. "It's not their goods that interest me, but rather... their eyes!"
Asuma shuddered slightly, lowering his voice. "Seiki, are you planning to dig out their eyes?"
Seiki couldn't help but smile wryly. "That's not what I meant at all."
"Then why did you just say..."
"What I meant was, the stuff you can tell just by looking into their eyes."
Asuma suddenly turned around, staring at an adult's eyes for a long time. When the person finally noticed and looked back, he excitedly said, "I see it! There's eye booger—bet he forgot to wash his face this morning!"
Seiki couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that *is* something eyes can tell you—but what I really care about is the real emotions they show."
Before Asuma could reply, Seiki went on, "I noticed it back at the Hospital—many adults like to wear masks."
Asuma asked puzzledly, "Masks? Like those things people wear?"
"A mask is a disguise that hides your true thoughts."
"Oh, I get it now. Like how some old geezer likes peeping at women bathing, but won't just go to the public bath—he sneaks peeks from home instead..."
[Cough.]
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