In the faint morning light, Ajino Takumi in the western part of the village had already grown lively.
The shop owner, Fujiwara, a capable middle-aged man, stood at the entrance with a glowing face, directing several quick-handed employees as they hurried about.
"Quick, quick! Set the flagpole firmly! A little higher on the left! Yes, just like that!" He craned his neck upward, his voice unusually loud.
Brand-new congratulatory flags were raised one after another, lined neatly along both sides of the shop entrance. Red background, white characters, snapping sharply in the wind. The largest banners at the very front read:
[Congratulations: Higashino Shinichi — Winner of the Land of Fire No.1 Gourmet Competition!]
[Commemoration of Receiving the Special-Class Chef Title!]
[Ajino Takumi — Lifetime Honorary Culinary Master!]
At the end of the line of banners hung a series of slightly smaller ones:
[With Gratitude: All Items Half Price for Three Days.]
"Not just our shop!" Boss Fujiwara waved his hand spiritedly, pointing to both sides of the street. "Every neighboring shop I've already spoken with—hang out congratulatory flags as well! And put flags at both ends of the street too! I want every passerby to know that the champion came from our street—from our Ajino Takumi!"
Under his energetic arrangements, the entire small commercial street was soon draped in banners. Rows of shop-front flags stood like a forest, and when the wind blew, a rustling wave of sound filled the air, brimming with a festive atmosphere.
Passersby stopped to watch, discussing it animatedly. Quite a few regular customers even smiled as they congratulated Boss Fujiwara.
Team Ten had not yet returned to the village after completing their mission, yet the name Higashino Shinichi had already, in another unexpected way, once again swept through the streets and alleys of Konohagakure.
That afternoon, after completing another D-rank mission, Team Seven happened to pass through this banner-filled, festively decorated street while heading back to the Hokage Tower to report their mission.
"Wow, it's so lively?" Obito was the first to be drawn by the forest of banners and the bustling crowd. He looked around curiously, and his gaze quickly locked onto the tallest and largest congratulatory flags in front of Ajino Takumi.
He squinted his eyes and slowly read aloud: "Congratulations… Higashino Shinichi… Land of Fire No.1 Gourmet Competition… win…"
Halfway through reading, he suddenly stopped, blinked, and an expression of extreme confusion appeared on his face. He abruptly turned his head to look at Kakashi, who stood beside him with an indifferent expression.
"Huh? Kakashi! This culinary master Higashino Shinichi who won the cooking competition—how does he have exactly the same name as that guy Shinichi?"
Kakashi could not even be bothered to lift his eyelids. With both hands in his pockets, he spat out a word: "Idiot."
"What did you say?! You bastard, Kakashi!" Obito instantly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, waving his fists.
"It should be the same person, Obito." Nohara Rin's gentle voice sounded just in time, easing the everyday quarrel that was about to break out. She smiled at Obito and reminded him, "Did you forget? When Shinichi graduated early last year, didn't he hold a big thank-you banquet here at Ajino Takumi and invite a lot of people? We came together back then, and during his speech, Boss Fujiwara proudly said that Shinichi was the best chef in their shop."
"Ah! Right!" With Rin's reminder, Obito suddenly slapped his forehead, immediately understanding. But the next moment, an even stronger disbelief replaced the look on his face. "B-but that's cooking! A nationwide gourmet competition! Isn't Shinichi that guy a ninja? It'd be one thing if he were just that strong, but he actually went and entered the competition—and even won first place? A Special-Class Chef?"
He looked at the fluttering banners, then at the lively scene inside and outside the shop. His mouth opened and closed, and in the end he forced out one sentence: "This is way too unfair!"
Beside them, Minato listened to his students' conversation with that signature warm smile always on his face. He looked at the eye-catching congratulatory flags around them, then at his three students, each wearing a different expression, and said with a smile: "As expected of Shinichi. Not only is he improving at an astonishing pace on the shinobi path, but even his cooking has reached this level, enough to win a national championship."
Then he clapped his hands and proposed, "Just in time—we still haven't had a proper meal together since Team Seven was formed. After we turn in the mission, this is a rare opportunity. Sensei will treat you, and we'll have a good meal at Ajino Takumi. We can also take it as a way to celebrate for Shinichi."
"Wow! That's great! Minato-sensei is the best!"
Obito immediately raised both hands in support, his eyes shining as if he could already smell the aroma of delicious food.
"Is that really okay? Thank you, Minato-sensei!" Rin also revealed a happy smile and thanked him politely.
Both of them reacted enthusiastically. Yet amid the cheerful atmosphere, Kakashi still stood silently where he was, both hands in his pockets, head slightly lowered, staring at the ground.
"Kakashi?" Minato keenly noticed the abnormality in his student and asked gently, "Come along with us?"
Kakashi remained silent for a moment before slowly raising his head. His gaze passed over the eager Obito and Rin, and finally met Minato's gentle blue eyes.
He quickly looked away, shook his head, and said in a somewhat muffled voice: "No, Minato-sensei. I still have some training plans I haven't completed. You all go ahead."
"What's with you, Kakashi!" Obito immediately protested in dissatisfaction and moved in front of him. "You're such a buzzkill! Why are you thinking about training all day long? When can't you train? Minato-sensei rarely treats us, and it's a good thing that Shinichi won the championship. Let's all celebrate together! Don't always be so unsociable!"
Rin also gently tugged at Obito's sleeve, signaling him not to get too worked up. Then she looked at Kakashi with concern. "Kakashi, are you really not going? You already work very hard every day. It's okay to relax once in a while."
Minato quietly looked at Kakashi, and a trace of worry flashed deep within his eyes.
Training, training, still training.
Ever since Kakashi had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Shinichi, and even the White Fang short blade—symbol of his family's legacy and his father's honor—had been cut in two, some noticeable change had occurred in the boy.
Those sharp words from Shinichi, as cutting as knives and aimed directly at the core, perhaps truly had been like a strong medicine. They had pierced through part of the knot in Kakashi's heart—where he had long numbed himself with the supremacy of rules and remained trapped in the shadow of his father's death—forcing him to confront questions he had always avoided.
However, once the old obsession had been forcibly pried loose, a new obsession—more intense and even more singular—swept through his entire mind like a wildfire.
To become stronger!
To become stronger at all costs!
Over this past month, as the jōnin instructor of Team Seven, Minato had seen everything clearly.
Kakashi remained efficient and calm while carrying out missions, leaving no mistakes to be found. But whenever there was even a single minute of free time between missions, he would immediately throw himself into various forms of physical conditioning, chakra control, or sword training, like a tightly wound machine that never knew fatigue.
It was a kind of nearly obsessive, self-punishing pursuit.
As if he wanted to use the extreme exhaustion of his body and the rapid improvement of his skills to fill the enormous hollow within his heart—one carved open by Shinichi's words and the sound of the broken blade—a hollow called weakness and confusion.
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