Time flowed like a river, fleeting and unrelenting.
At just over a year old, Gintoki could already communicate with his parents in this Naruto world using his childish, soft voice.
Though happy, Hatake Sakumo and his wife couldn't shake the feeling that their eldest son—barely a year old—radiated the aura of a middle-aged man.
Even his eyes increasingly resembled dead fish eyes.
Day after day, he'd do nothing but stare blankly at the sky, as if devoid of all thought.
Speak of the devil—there he was again, listlessly glaring at the ceiling with those lifeless eyes!
As for why he was referred to as the eldest son, the Hatake household was about to welcome another member!
The Hatake clan, long known for their single-line inheritance and dwindling numbers, was expecting a second child!
This news left Sakumo, who had only recently become a father, overwhelmed with excitement.
"Kakashi! Let's name him Kakashi! If it's a boy, Kakashi. If it's a girl, Kakashi too! What do you think?"
"Mmm..."
Lady Hatake responded with blissful contentment.
To think she could bear a second child, to become a mother of two... it was pure happiness!
"Gintoki, you're going to be a big brother. You must protect your little brother... or sister."
"Brother..." Gintoki muttered a single word.
"Or it could be a sister~" Sakumo chuckled.
"Wanna bet?" Gintoki struggled to sit up, casting a lazy, dead-fish-eyed glance at Sakumo.
"Deal."
"Buy me dango every day if you lose!"
"No way! Why do you like sweets so much? Too many sweets are bad for kids. Pick something else!"
Sakumo was also troubled by his eldest son's sweet tooth.
Ever since the boy could talk and communicate, he'd often force Sakumo to buy him sweets under the pretext of needing to replenish his blood sugar.
Absolutely not! If he keeps eating like this, he'll definitely become fat and get diabetes before he's thirty!
"How about ten years' worth?"
"Three sticks at most! And ten years is way too much!"
"Three hundred sticks."
"I've never seen such bargaining! Ten sticks maximum! And not all at once!"
"Deal!"
Watching his eldest son's performance, Sakumo realized he'd probably been tricked.
Having a genius son who was precociously intelligent should have been a happy thing, but this cleverness was never used properly.
There were no problems with reading and writing—he learned everything after being taught just once, and now he could read books on his own without instruction.
But...
Gintoki, how on earth did you dig out your father's private photo collection?
Even your mother couldn't find those!
Come to think of it, isn't a one-year-old being interested in that kind of book a bit too early?
Does precociousness include that kind of precociousness?
Isn't this too precocious?
Growing increasingly convinced that Gintoki might turn out crooked if this continued, Sakumo decided he couldn't let things go on like this.
Education had to start early!
After all, Gintoki had already effortlessly mastered speaking, reading, and walking.
Next, he couldn't be allowed to take it too easy!
He had the ability!
Sakumo had this much faith in his precocious eldest son, even believing that if his son put in the effort, he could definitely achieve things others couldn't!
A son who was a genius in precociousness would be the same in other areas!
In the future, he might even become someone like the Hokage!
*****
And so, six months later...
Just when Kakashi was five months old and could babble, the one-and-a-half-year-old Gintoki stood in the yard, staring at the Lake Toya in his hands, at a loss for how to react.
"Since you're still too young, we'll start with wooden sword training. This is a wooden sword I found during my last mission. Though it has an old curry stench, it's quite sturdy."
Looking at the Lake Toya in his hands, Gintoki knew without a doubt that this was the same Lake Toya he'd bought through TV shopping.
Not only had he often used it to cover instant noodles, but he'd also occasionally tied a plunger to it to unclog the toilet.
As for the curry smell, that was from accidentally spilling curry on it once.
Why did it end up in the Naruto world too?!
"Hey! Are you there?! Are you there?!" Gintoki yelled at the Lake Toya in his hands.
"Don't play dumb or pretend to sleep! I know you're there! What was your name again? Poke-the-wrong-hole Sage? Can't-find-the-hole Sage? Whatever, just send me back already! Hey!"
Startled by Gintoki's sudden outburst at the wooden sword, Hatake Sakumo quickly spoke up with a serious expression.
"Gintoki, what are you doing? Hurry up and start the training as I instructed!"
"I'm not even two years old yet! Aren't you afraid I'll report you to the Hokage for child abuse? Am I really your biological son? Did you pick me up somewhere? You must have picked me up! No real father would treat his son like this!"
"If you weren't my own, I wouldn't bother with you. Stop complaining and get to it! Since it's your first time holding a sword, just do two hundred swings. Miss one, and no sweets today. And they'd better be proper swings!"
"Have you no humanity?!"
Despite his complaints, Gintoki gritted his teeth and obediently began swinging the wooden sword again and again.
Watching Gintoki's performance, Sakumo inwardly applauded his own training method—luring the boy with the promise of sweets he couldn't resist was absolutely brilliant!
As he observed the small boy swinging the wooden sword with his tiny arms, Sakumo nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.
Though Gintoki's strength was still limited, it was clear he was putting everything he had into each swing.
The seemingly imperfect form was actually the best his small body could manage.
...
While Gintoki was being forced to train by Sakumo, in a dark underground cavern somewhere, Takasugi Shinsuke was doing something similar.
Reborn as a baby through the power of the Dragon Vein—which his teacher had sent into Earth at the last moment—he didn't know why he had ended up in this world.
But if he was here, then that guy must be here too!
He had that intuition!
Interesting.
Last time, he had lost, but this time, he would win. Gintoki!
Watching the small, stern-faced boy doing sit-ups one after another on the bed, Madara's expression remained cold, though inwardly, he was somewhat surprised.
Who would have thought that Sharingan would perfectly integrate with the boy's body?
And the Hashirama Cells he had fed him had also fused flawlessly!
This was nothing short of a miracle!
After all, this kid wasn't from the Uchiha or Senju clans!
For a non-Uchiha to be able to activate and deactivate the Sharingan at will... this little guy was anything but ordinary!
Though the Sharingan's true power could only be unleashed with both eyes, this single Mangekyo he had collected in the past was still strong!
He had to brainwash him early and turn him into a loyal subordinate and pawn.
It was fortunate he hadn't killed him—that would have been a waste!