A week later.
"Kakashi, over here!"
On a bustling street, a lively girl with short brown hair, deep hazel eyes, and purple markings on both cheeks waved energetically toward Kakashi. She looked full of spirit, with no trace of the weakness she'd shown just a week earlier.
The two stood on Street No. 1008 of the newly rebuilt Land of Whirlpools. At this point, the former site of Konoha had been completely transformed—nothing remained of the old village. The architecture, the streets, the entire cityscape had been remade from the ground up.
But such was the world of shinobi. With the aid of ninjutsu, the reconstruction of a nation took far less time than it would for ordinary people.
In the original timeline, when Pain destroyed Konoha with Shinra Tensei, rebuilding the village had taken only two months.
This time, with countless shinobi assisting—using Earth, Water, and Wind Release techniques—the work progressed even faster. Though the project was larger and more complex than rebuilding Konoha, since it was an entirely new nation rather than a single village, it had still only taken three months to complete.
And thanks to investment from the Maritime Shipping Company, the new Land of Whirlpools was even more prosperous than the Konoha of old.
"Rin!" Kakashi quickly made his way to her side.
"Hey, I want to go there too!" Rin exclaimed, clutching his arm and pointing toward a building ahead. Everything around her filled her with wonder.
Kakashi nodded. So long as Rin's requests weren't unreasonable, he would grant them. For the past few days, his entire mission had been the same: stay by Rin's side.
"By the way, Rin… you don't mind?" Kakashi asked cautiously, choosing his words with care.
Rin tilted her head, puzzled. "?"
Seeing her look at him like that, Kakashi grew awkward and turned his face away. "I mean… when you woke up, more than ten years had passed. Everything you knew had changed. Even the village is gone."
But Rin surprised him with how calm she was. She shook her head.
"Of course I mind a little. But…"
"Even if this isn't Konoha anymore, you're still here, Kakashi. And there are still people I know."
Then she turned her eyes to him, smiling. "I didn't expect you to be just as un-straightforward as ever, even after all these years."
"And besides… even though Konoha is gone, I kind of like this place. There are so many people smiling here. I'm sure that can't be wrong."
"Yeah. Naruto's done pretty well," Kakashi admitted.
The founding ideal of the Land of Whirlpools was simple, even crude: create a nation where people could eat their fill and stay warm.
"Right, Naruto is Lord Minato's son, isn't he? He's really amazing," Rin said. Then, as though struck by a funny memory, she burst into laughter.
Kakashi blinked at her, confused.
"When I first saw him, I was shocked," Rin explained through her giggles. "The cool, aloof little Kakashi I remembered had suddenly become a gloomy old man!"
"Rin…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, as Rin's cheerful smile and playful teasing made his face warm.
He regretted not changing clothes and tidying himself up before meeting her again.
But Rin, delighted, laughed even louder, as though she had discovered something new. "Hahaha! Kakashi, you actually get embarrassed too!"
The streets of the Land of Whirlpools rang with their laughter.
Seeing Rin so full of life and energy, Kakashi's lingering worries finally began to ease.
Meanwhile, in the Konoha Forest, Guy was training hard, sweat pouring from his body as he struck at a tree.
Lee, taking a break from his own training, happened to pass by and called out: "Guy-sensei! Why are you training alone today? Where's Kakashi-sensei? Aren't you usually training together?"
The words struck Guy like a hammer. He collapsed to the ground in an exaggerated orz pose, dark gloom radiating from him.
"Kakashi… Kakashi hasn't come to train for an entire week."
"An entire week! He's been with Rin every single day!"
Of course, Guy genuinely wanted to see Kakashi pull himself together again. He was happy, truly, to see Kakashi and Rin walking side by side, and sincerely blessed them both.
But that didn't stop him from feeling… resentful.
"Really?" Lee's eyes lit up. "Then from today, I'll be the one to train with you, Guy-sensei!"
"No!" Guy rejected him instantly, without even thinking.
Lee's stamina, bolstered by his yang-heavy chakra, far outstripped most people. His insane recovery speed and his fanatical training style were so intense that even Guy, the king of training maniacs, had trouble keeping up.
He still remembered their last joint training session. The next day, his legs were so weak he could barely walk. Anyone who saw him would've thought he'd… done something else the night before.
And now, Lee's current sparring partners weren't ordinary shinobi either—they were tailed beasts, or people as strong as tailed beasts, sometimes even full jinchūriki.
But Lee, ignoring Guy's refusal, carried on enthusiastically: "To face Guy-sensei's strength, I'll need to go all-out. That's why I prepared this."
From his tool pouch, he pulled out a small white bottle filled with some mysterious liquid.
"Lee… that wouldn't happen to be… that, would it?" Guy asked with dread.
"Yes, it's exactly that." Lee nodded proudly.
Guy paled and quickly tried to stop him. "No, Lee! You're still underage—you can't drink that!" He reached to snatch the bottle, but Lee dodged nimbly.
Inside was no ordinary liquid. It was alcohol. Strong liquor.
"Naruto-sensei told me this is my unique gift, and I have to master it. Gaara and the others all refuse to spar with me once I drink, but if it's Guy-sensei, there's no problem!"
Lee possessed a one-of-a-kind talent—the genius of the Drunken Fist.
In other words, when he was drunk, his power soared, and he instinctively unleashed the unpredictable style known as Drunken Fist.
But the problem was his terrible drinking habits—once intoxicated, he attacked friend and foe alike.
In the original story, Lee had accidentally downed some alcohol, and even with both Guy and Neji restraining him, he'd still managed to completely wreck a restaurant in seconds.
Small wonder Gaara and Fū refused to train with drunk Lee. His liquor tolerance was just too dangerous.
"Please take care of me, Guy-sensei," Lee said, bowing. Then he opened the bottle and took a quick swig.
Hic.
Just a sip, and his face instantly turned crimson. His body swayed unsteadily, staggering like a reed in the wind.
How strong was Lee's Drunken Fist? Guy's reaction said it all.
"Gate of View… OPEN!"
Green chakra surged around Guy's body as he stared grimly at Lee, whose aura was steadily growing stronger.
Looks like I'll have to go all-out today.
This is all your fault, Kakashi!
Please drop some power stones support me at my
PS: Access the complete/finished chapters/series at Patreon: NanamiTL