Kakashi, you're already four years old. It's time you started taking responsibility. Soon enough, a great mission will fall upon your shoulders.
So to accomplish such tasks, you need to cherish every moment and train diligently... You should know, when your dad was your age, he was already five."
Kakashi developed quickly. After some time passed, he became even more mature and responsible. Considering development cycles, he could be considered an early bloomer—he'd be fully grown by the age of twelve.
The good news for four-year-old Kakashi was that he no longer splashed water all over Lord Haseo. However, there were trade-offs—he also stopped calling Haseo "Father" anymore.
"Lord Haseo, I'll do my best," young Kakashi said, his face filled with one hundred percent sincerity.
"Excellent. Then today's one hundred sword strikes must be completed properly. Your movements must follow the correct form—keep your waist straight, arms extended fully, and carefully experience the pain... Follow my methods, and in another ten years, you'll become the wildest berserker Konoha has ever seen."
I had a weak foundation as a kid. When your real dad was a kid, he suffered from chronic malnutrition, so our bodies were all rather frail. As tough guys, we lacked even a hint of thickness. It's really shameful... But I've long since given up hope of developing again, so this dream and expectation now rest entirely on you."
This wasn't entirely untrue. Haseo always preferred muscular men; they simply looked tougher and offered a greater sense of security... Yet ironically, he himself was a typical fast-speed ninja—his body proportioned but not overtly muscular.
"Lord Haseo, I definitely won't disappoint you or Daddy."
How adorable young Kakashi was—carrying forward the ideals of the previous generation, completing the goals his predecessors couldn't achieve, he viewed this as his "mission." Training with the blade since he was a kid—that was just his fate as Sakumo's son.
But let's be honest, Samehada was kind of brutal for a kid. Ninety-nine out of a hundred grown ninjas couldn't even handle this weapon. For young Kakashi, lifting it and performing standard slash techniques correctly had been absolutely impossible at first.
Now, however, he could complete these training exercises, though after each session ended, his little arms and legs practically felt broken. Let's face it, this training was extreme. But for Kakashi? Not particularly surprising.
He was an early bloomer, after all. At just five years old, he could already go onto the battlefield and kill people. More than that, he wasn't thrown into battle like cannon fodder—he was real combat power. At that age, he could truly kill. And yes, that was something even beyond what his real father could do.
Of course, considering children's physical limits, young Kakashi always received careful medical treatment from a Medical Ninja after each day's training.
Otherwise, what Haseo was doing wouldn't be called training—it'd be abuse. Even if his real dad agreed, his mom would've lost it.
In a few more days, young Kakashi's training routines and workload would soon get even heavier. Haseo had also planned to find an appropriate opportunity to start adding [Senju Secret Tonic Pills] to Kakashi's diet.
And just as Haseo was watching Kakashi train, Black Cat silently approached him.
"Something up?"
"Meow."
Something was definitely up.
Haseo beckoned an Uzumaki ninja and asked him to keep an eye on Kakashi's training, then turned and brought the cat into his office.
"What is it? Speak up."
Haseo sat down on his chair while the Black Cat leaped onto the table in front of him.
Next, the Black Cat began making gestures with all four paws. The motions were interspersed with paw taps on the desk, with the cat drawing patterns and letting out a series of meows… Anyway, by now, even though this cat couldn't actually speak directly to Haseo, it still knew how to get its message across effectively.
In fact, its message was quite clear because this cat didn't just randomly gesture—it wasn't fooling around; it was transmitting coded signals using its paws.
It wasn't very convenient, but it worked well enough.
"You can talk, right? Why didn't you just tell me straight out?"
The Black Cat immediately shook its head, indicating that its oral and throat structure made it physically impossible for it to use human speech.
"Fine. So what you're saying is, Kushina wants you to help her retrieve Flying Thunder God from the Secret Vaults?" Haseo immediately guessed Kushina's intentions, "Let me guess—so Minato can use it?"
Haseo gazed silently upward—at the ceiling. What a hopeless case. Hadn't he already warned her to watch out for blondes?
And yet she still hadn't learned from her last time in detention.
As for the Black Cat, although it had solemnly promised Kushina, as soon as it turned around, it betrayed her. This clearly showed that quadrupeds could be very cunning too.
Kushina should have thought about this: the S-ranked ninjutsu Flying Thunder God was sealed behind multiple barriers. With such high-level security, how did the Black Cat even think it could pull that off without getting noticed? Did she think the Kagenami secret vaults were like the Hokage's office?
Moreover, if they really stole this technique, the consequences wouldn't be as simple as being stuck to a wall for a few days.
Ever since Haseo's Senken Zesshou was "stolen," Uzumaki Shikou reorganized the secret vaults. Now even Haseo's forbidden techniques had been locked away… That technique wasn't as Haseo claimed—unlearnable by anyone else. If Kushina could learn it, who knew what other ways others might find to master it?
So forget the Flying Thunder God—if anything, even Haseo's own forbidden techniques were now inaccessible to the Black Cat.
Haseo mused briefly and thought that giving the Flying Thunder God directly to Minato Namikaze probably wouldn't matter much.
That jutsu was practically expendable to Haseo, but for Minato, it was his 'lifeline.' With the Flying Thunder God, Minato could become one of the top ninja.
But practicing space-time ninjutsu still carried considerable risks, so he couldn't let Minato practice recklessly—he'd need someone to supervise him.
Also, the original version of the Flying Thunder God absolutely couldn't be handed over directly—it had been gifted to him by Tsunade—so he'd have to make a copy instead.
Just as Haseo was thinking this through, the Black Cat provided some additional information.
"Oh, Kushina wants to introduce Minato to Sakumo Hatake?" Haseo smirked slightly. "Actually, if you're talking about messing with people, I've got more experience than that... involving Hatake isn't a bad idea, though Jiraiya might feel a bit sorry."
As it turned out, Kushina indeed understood Haseo rather well. To Haseo, "educating" someone had practically become synonymous with teasing them.
"There's ultimately a generation gap between kids and their parents. But Kushina seems to talk to you about anything..."
This comment made Black Cat puff itself up proudly. Of course Kushina was extremely close to Black Cat—it had practically grown up under its care. When she got ganged up on at the Ninja Academy, it was Black Cat who constantly protected her.
Back then, Black Cat changed the school's combat rules, turning every fight into one-on-one duels. From that point on, Kushina never lost again.
However, Haseo hadn't said that just to praise the cat. He changed his tone abruptly, continuing, "What exactly did Kushina offer you in exchange for doing such dangerous work? Don't tell me you're doing this purely out of kindness—I don't buy it even a little.
Whatever benefits you've received, I demand a fifty-fifty split. Otherwise, I'll let Kushina know you've been snitching on her, and show her just how fragile bonds between humans and animals can be."
"..."
Black Cat was flabbergasted. Had it just heard actual human speech?
It couldn't speak human language here—but could this guy even understand cat-speak at all?
But this was practically an ultimatum—a humiliating one at that. After much inner debate, Black Cat still had no choice but to agree to this raw deal.
Seeing the cat droop so miserably, Haseo finally burst into laughter. It was just hilarious seeing a cat wear such a humanlike expression.
So teasing his own pet could actually be quite enjoyable—Haseo finally understood the charm of raising a cat.
Though admittedly, the joy he found in it might be a bit different from what normal cat owners appreciate.
Shortly afterward, Haseo asked Shikou to duplicate another Flying Thunder God Technique Scroll. Then he let Black Cat know the goods were ready, adding that their upcoming transaction would strictly follow "payment upfront and no credit."
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