"S-Senpai Shimizu… I… I…"
Obito suddenly began stammering, unable to get a full sentence out.
After listening to Shimizu's earnest lecture, the guilty expression on his face made it clear—Obito had realized how much he'd slacked off in the past.
And that was a good sign.
A person capable of feeling shame wasn't beyond saving.
Shimizu was quite satisfied with that reaction.
Teaching these kids a few techniques was nothing more than a small favor. And frankly, he didn't believe that casually explaining things like this would truly allow them to master the skills he specialized in.
But teaching them how to become real shinobi—
That, in Shimizu's eyes, was what truly mattered.
Someone who spent all day dreaming about suddenly rising to greatness just by relying on a pair of special eyes…
Such a lazy person would never understand the suffering of those who trained day after day, year after year.
Nor would they ever develop the resilience that came with it.
However…
Obito suddenly raised a hand to shield his mouth as if whispering a secret.
"Kakashi… what do you think Senpai meant with what he said at the end?"
"???"
A strange wave of irritation surged up inside Shimizu, though he had nowhere to vent it.
Without even looking up, Kakashi replied flatly, "How should I know? That was directed at you."
"Don't bother me—I'm thinking about Lightning Release right now…"
Obito immediately turned to Rin and whispered again.
"Rin, you heard what Senpai said earlier, right? What did he mean?"
Rin blinked her bright eyes and whispered back even more softly,
"I was actually wondering if I should ask Senpai to teach me Water Release… I hesitated for so long that I didn't say anything. Now I regret it…"
Obito stared at the two of them with a look of utter disappointment.
Then he raised both hands dramatically and pointed at them.
"You two… your vision is way too narrow!"
"With attitudes like yours… I… I refuse to tell you the true meaning of Senpai Shimizu's guidance!"
"…I'll figure it out myself!"
"Huh?! Where did Senpai go?!"
...
Shimizu had already sprinted back toward Rakuyō City at full speed.
As he ran, he muttered under his breath,
"Kids will always be kids…"
In the original timeline of this world, perhaps in the distant future these three would grow into figures capable of influencing the fate of the entire world.
But right now?
They were just naive children dreaming about a bright future.
Shimizu simply didn't have the spare energy to deal with them. Too many secrets that could suffocate him were weighing on his heart... secrets he could tell no one, and that no one could share.
He walked alone.
In the deep sky dotted with stars, the Milky Way cut across the heavens. Shimizu's gaze followed this silver waterfall as it descended toward the earth. At the end of that silver light, he saw a young girl standing solitary beneath the tranquil night sky.
A breeze stirred.
Her long dark hair swayed gently in the wind.
For a moment, Shimizu's mind blurred, as if time itself had seized his rigid body and dragged him back into the past.
Once upon a time, he often stood silently atop the Hokage Rock, gazing into the distance from the highest point in Konoha.
People who knew him were familiar with the habit.
But no one ever understood why he did it.
He remembered a night much like this one—stars scattered across the sky.
When he arrived at Hokage Rock as usual…
He found Natsue standing there alone, in the very place he always stood, looking out toward the horizon.
In his memory—
The cool night breeze brushed through her dark hair.
The two figures slowly overlapped.
"Natsu—"
Shimizu's voice stopped abruptly.
The cold of the winter night stabbed into the harsh reality before him, freezing the word in his throat.
The girl turned.
Then she smiled softly.
"Oh… it's you, Senpai Uzuki."
After a long moment of numb silence, the world slowly seemed to regain a trace of warmth. In a slightly hoarse voice, he replied,
"…You can call me Shimizu."
The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"…Alright."
"It's pretty late. Aren't you going to rest?"
"I can't sleep… though you're not resting either. Looks like you went out to train?"
Shimizu quickly regained his usual calm. He took a deep breath before speaking slowly.
"…Yeah. I suddenly had an idea and wanted to try something out."
"Training so hard… No wonder you're so strong."
"Your strength is impressive too…" He paused, carefully choosing his words before continuing. "You've just run into a bit of a setback right now. Once you get through it, the world will open up again."
"…Honestly, just being alive in this world is already a luxury." She lowered her gaze slightly. "As for whether I'll ever become a ninja again… I don't really care that much."
Shimizu blinked in surprise. That answer was completely different from what he had expected.
For a moment, the two overlapping silhouettes in his mind slowly drifted apart.
Natsue had come from the same background as him—an orphan. Born at the very bottom of society, people like them had no choice but to keep pushing forward, grinding their teeth and struggling toward a distant, almost illusory future.
But the girl before him, Hyuga Satomi, was different.
Her strength surpassed Natsue's. Logically, she should have had an even stronger drive pushing her forward to earn the title of jonin at such a young age.
Yet reality seemed to be the opposite.
Satomi didn't seem to cherish everything she had gained… because she didn't mind losing her life as a ninja.
"After all, no matter how hard you try, you can't escape the curse of the clan…" she said. Then she showed a faint smile that looked strangely relieved. "If I could really become an ordinary person, that wouldn't be so bad."
A cage called fate had already drained the future of hope.
Without hope, disappointment had no meaning.
No matter how strong she became, the Caged Bird seal etched deep into her soul would bind her for life.
A dim, hopeless life.
"If the future feels that far out of reach… then what drove you to become a jonin in the first place?"
Only those who had walked the path themselves could truly understand the effort required to become a real jonin.
"…"
Satomi fell silent.
"So it's not quite that hopeless, is it?" Shimizu gently patted the girl on the shoulder and smiled. "There's always something you're holding onto inside."
"There's no obstacle you can't overcome."
"Even this?" Satomi lifted the strands of hair covering her forehead.
The dark green mark there—vicious and ominous—stood out painfully against her pale skin.
"Yes," Shimizu answered without hesitation.
"'Fate' is just a story people tell themselves to feel better. The path under your feet is something you walk on your own. The moment you give up, you become what others call a prisoner of fate."
"But if you keep moving forward… who knows what kind of future you might carve out?"
"…Have you always been this… resolute?" Satomi asked, clearly surprised by the conviction in the man before her.
"Not before," Shimizu said.
He gazed up at the Milky Way stretching across the sky, dividing the heavens into two seas of stars.
The dim, empty night on the left reminded him of his previous life—an ordinary, colorless modern existence, numb and uneventful.
The brilliant cluster of stars on the right felt like his life now—full of determination, full of possibilities in this new world of ninja.
"But I won't lose my way anymore."
…
...
......