"Takemi, where are you going?"
"To the hospital to visit my teacher. Speaking of which, why are you two following me? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
On the streets of Konoha, Takemi walked towards the hospital with his head lowered. Naruto and Sasuke were following behind him, which made him feel a bit depressed.
He had noticed something was wrong with his eyes early in the morning and was already considering getting colored contact lenses or something to disguise them.
He remembered that Kakashi used colored contact lenses to cover his Sharingan.
Of course, he was fine for now. Even upon closer inspection, only a faint shimmer could be seen, but he felt it was better to be prepared.
However, he still needed to go see Kakashi. But as soon as he stepped out, these two little guys latched onto him.
"It's a day off today, what class?"
Naruto rolled his eyes, but quickly became excited again.
"Takemi, can you help me train? I just realized you're so amazing!"
"Hmph, do you think anyone can go on missions outside the village?" Takemi snorted, then shook his head.
"But helping you train is out of the question. I'm a ninjaand am very busy. Besides, Jiraiya-sama is much stronger than me, he doesn't have much going on, and I've already taught you the method."
"Jiraiya? Method?"
Sasuke looked at Takemi in confusion, then quickly turned his gaze to Naruto, who froze for a moment, his face instantly filled with disgust.
Naruto complained, "Ugh, do I really have to use that perverted method?"
"You've pulled quite a few pranks yourself, haven't you?"
Takemi shrugged and said, "Anyway, in essence, it's just a prank, what are you afraid of?"
"Is that so?" Naruto nodded.
Although his mouth was full of disgust, his heart was full of interest.
"Did you really meet him? Also, how did you become so strong?" Naruto was easily distracted, but Sasuke wasn't so easily appeased.
When Takemi mentioned Itachi last night, it had severely stimulated his nerves. Just as he was about to ask more, he encountered another Uchiha.
And that guy was actually forced into a helpless situation by Takemi, even having his mask knocked off.
Sasuke seemed to have never met that person, but that wasn't important. He could tell that that person was very terrifying and could use some kind of spatial jutsu, yet Takemi was at ease.
He even gained the upper hand and stalled until Konoha's reinforcements arrived.
Sasuke couldn't understand. Takemi wasn't much older than him, and he himself was an Uchiha, so why...
"You mean Itachi?"
Takemi pretended to be confused, thinking for a moment before speaking, "I did encounter him, but unfortunately, I didn't fight him. As for how I became strong..."
"Actually, there's not much to it. I can only say I worked hard. Look at Itachi, at my age, he was already..."
Speaking of this, Takemi noticed that Sasuke's face was starting to turn dark, clearly realizing something.
He immediately changed his words. Originally, he wanted to say 'turned your whole family into bean paste'...
"Became an Anbu captain. Kakashi-sensei told me this. They were both in the Anbu before."
"Is that so?"
Sasuke lowered his head. He had always known Itachi had excellent talent. His father's praise for Itachi back then was overflowing.
How much effort does he need to put in to catch up to him?
"Keep up the good work, Sasuke."
Seeing this, Takemi walked over, patted Sasuke's shoulder, and said with a smile, "I had a teacher who was once known as a failure, but now he is an elite Jonin in Konoha, second only to Kakashi-sensei."
"It's because he worked extremely hard. He knew his talent couldn't compare to Kakashi-sensei's, but he firmly believed he could become a genius through effort."
"He put in the effort, and he achieved it. I believe you can too."
"A genius through effort, huh..."
Hearing these words, Sasuke couldn't help but murmur.
"I'm leaving now, and thank you for being willing to stay and look after Naruto last night."
Takemi shrugged and smiled, then turned his back to them, waved his hand, and prepared to leave.
At this moment, Sasuke suddenly asked, "Takemi-senpai, did you also rely on effort?"
"Me, huh..."
Takemi was startled, pretended to think for a moment, and then nodded.
"That's right, every step I've taken to get here is thanks to sweat and effort!"
And my cheat...
But speaking of it, did I not put in effort to complete those troublesome missions?
"Effort, huh?"
Sasuke watched Takemi wave and walk away, his gaze gradually becoming serious.
Although he felt he had worked very hard, the difference between himself and this senpai seemed truly vast. Perhaps, he should work even harder.
"Yosh! It's decided!"
Just as he was thinking, Naruto suddenly shouted.
"I'm going to start developing it right away! I want to see if this method is effective!"
Method?
Naruto's words immediately made Sasuke think of something. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head.
Should he learn from Naruto... that so-called 'method'?
.....
"Kakashi-sensei, sigh, Jiraiya-sama is here too?"
Inside the Konoha Hospital, Takemi walked into Kakashi's room with a fruit basket. He found that Jiraiya was also there.
"Hey, kid, isn't it normal for me to be here?"
Jiraiya looked at Takemi with some dissatisfaction, while Kakashi was lying on the hospital bed, reading his icha icha paradise.
Seeing Takemi arrive, he put down the book in his hand and said, "Takemi, you're here."
"Yeah, just checking on how you are recovering." Takemi put down the fruit basket and nodded.
He looked at Kakashi and said with a smile, "You seem to be recovering well. Maybe we can go on missions again soon."
"Please, we just got back to Konoha, it won't be that fast." Kakashi was a bit speechless.
He said, "But the situation is better than expected. Maybe it's because you acted quickly, so my condition wasn't so bad, otherwise I wouldn't have gone with you last night."
Takemi nodded. He could see that Itachi had probably gone easy on Kakashi.
After all, he still considered himself Konoha's spy. Additionally, his teammate was also preoccupied. So, if he didn't want to harm Konoha's people, he would naturally hold back.
But inside Konoha, it was different. Kisame was watching nearby, and Konoha's reinforcements could arrive at any time. It was normal to strike hard to escape.
"However, I didn't expect something like that to happen last night." Kakashi sighed helplessly.
He tilted his head and looked at Takemi. "It's a good thing you're okay, otherwise... Although you performed very well this time, I hope you won't be so impulsive next time."
"Alright, you should rest." Jiraiya shook his head.
He looked at Kakashi and said helplessly, "You shouldn't get too involved in this matter before you recover. Once you've recovered, you won't be able to escape it, but for now, don't think about these things."
Jiraiya already knew about Kakashi and Obito's situation, and he naturally understood this kind of pain.
After all, he was still chasing Orochimaru...
So he didn't want Kakashi to keep dwelling on this, as it wouldn't be good for Kakashi.
"Kid, you'll be with me during this time."
Turning his head, Jiraiya looked at Takemi, his face full of displeasure.
Last night, his teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze made him feel uneasy. Sure enough, after the meeting, he was kept behind.
And the purpose was simple: to have him fill in for Kakashi, which left Jiraiya truly speechless.
"Seriously, your teacher got injured, and I'm the one who's unlucky. It's infuriating."
"Huh?"
Takemi was surprised. He hadn't expected such a good thing.
Although Jiraiya wasn't the most reliable, he was definitely one of the best teachers in the Ninja World.
Almost none of the students he taught turned out to be bad.
"Alright, let's go. Don't disturb your teacher's rest anymore."
Jiraiya stood up. He walked over to Takemi, looked him up and down, and then grinned mischievously.
"But kid, you need to be mentally prepared, you know. After all, it's the old man's request, and what I'm going to teach you is very difficult..."