Hatake training grounds in a newly constructed building/
The building was simple from the outside. Some plain wooden walls, a slanted roof, and a single door that looked like it belonged to a storage shed rather than anything important, but that was enough for what we will do inside this building from now on.
I stood in front of the door with my arms crossed, feeling the afternoon sun on my face. Beside me, Dai was shifting his weight, clearly confused about why I had dragged him out here at this hour when he usually has work to do.
"Master Garou, what is this place?" he asked, looking at the building with a furrowed brow. "I thought we were going to train today and burn with Youth, even though I am so busy with the security of Heaven's Feel and need to be at my job."
I just smiled, "Ignore everything else from now on. I am assigning you a much bigger job."
"What? I am not the captain to the security teams of Heaven's Feel anymore?" Dai was disheartened, thinking that maybe he messed up to now have a job change suddenly.
"Don't be sad about losing some little job Dai, because what awaits you is something much more significant. Not only for yourself, but the whole fire country." I said as I seriously looked at him.
"The whole fire country?!" Dai was shocked.
"Yes. You are going to train today, Dai. Just not the kind of training you're used to." I said.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside, gesturing for him to follow. The interior was dark, completely black except for a faint glow coming from somewhere in the center of the room.
I heard Dai stumble behind me, probably hitting his toe on something.
"Master Garou, why is it so dark in here? And what's that light? Is this some kind of secret training method? Is it the training related to being blind? I have read of such techniques in the scroll you gave me and seen you train like that." Dai's enthusiastic voice echoed in this dark room.
I didn't bother answering. I found the two chairs I had placed earlier and sat in one, patting the other.
Dai sat down hesitantly, and I could practically feel his confusion radiating off him.
"Today's subject is... education." I said.
"Education? What kind of education, Master Garou?"
"Stop talking Dai and just watch."
He fell silent, and I snapped my fingers.
*snap!*
In front of us, there was a stage with a big veil hidden what was behind it.
After my snap, the veil parted with a soft rustle and a single spotlight flickered to life, illuminating a figure lying on the stage with their back to us.
The person was wearing a loose kimono that was slightly disheveled, with one shoe lying far away from their body.
The kimono was a soft pink color with floral patterns, and it was draped over the figure's body in a way that suggested distress. At a glance, it was clear the person looked haggard and hurt, as if they had just been through some terrible time.
"Is that... a woman? Master Garou, why is there a woman on the stage? Is she hurt? Should I help her? My youth demands that I–"
"No man, don't be stupid. Just watch." I said my grin widening.
.
"Sob Sob Sob SOB SOB!!"
The figure on the stage began to cry.
It was a strange sound, like someone trying very hard to sound feminine but not quite succeeding.
The sobs were exaggerated and completely ridiculous, but for a simpleton like Dai, those sobs felt like a hammer to his innocent heart.
'Hehe, this is going to be good, but damn I forgot to bring a camera with me!' I thought with regret and amusement.
Then, the figure dramatically raised their head, revealing a face covered in heavy makeup.
The makeup was actually quite good, whoever had applied it clearly knew what they were doing. The eyeliner was sharp, the lipstick was a bold red, and the blush was perfectly placed to create a look of vulnerability and distress.
Though, there was a problem...
Our little damsel in distress is actually that stupid perverted guy, Yamanaka Ken.
Dai stared, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"Pffft!" I suppressed my laugh.
"Is that... is that Ken? Master Garou, why is Ken dressed like a woman? Is this some kind of training exercise or is he practicing infiltration by flirting and honey traps? Is he–"
I raised my hand and gestured for him to watch instead of talk.
Ken, in his female costume, began to shout desperately. "HiELP! HiELP ME! Someone stole my purse! Please, won't somebody HiELLLLP me?!"
His voice was high-pitched and frantic, and he was actually doing a decent job of sounding like a woman in distress.
Inwardly, Ken was actually having the time of his life. He has been waiting for an excuse to dress up like this hsi whole life.
He even bought a female underwear just to make this more canonically true to the story. Though Ken wouldn't tell Garou or anyone here that, least he wanted to get beat up.
Ken clutched his chest dramatically, his fingers splayed over his heart.
"Ohhhhhh, the PAIN! The injustice! My purse, my precious purse! It had everything in it! My money, my makeup!! Someone... please!!"
Dai turned to look at me with a deadpan expression. "Master Garou, I–"
"Shhhhh!" I silenced him with a glare.
*Woooshh!*
From the shadows, another figure emerged.
It was a man dressed in thief's clothing, with a black mask covering his face with only eyes visible.
He stepped into the light... slowly.
"Ha...ha...ha..." The thief laughed flatly, unenthusiastic, and completely devoid of any joy.
"Yes, I stole your purse. What are you going to do about it? Nothing, because I am a thief and I am evil and that is what thieves do bla bla bla." Yuji said his face was a mask of pure, unadulterated deadpan.
It was clear he had been forced into this role against his will. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world but here.
'Just kill me.' Yuji thought to himself while looking at the over dramatic Ken writhing around.
Then as part of the script, Yuji turned around, moving in slow motion as if he was about to run away, and it was the most pathetic escape attempt it was ever seen in history of robberies.
"WOE IS MEE!! Whatever shall I do?!! If only there were someone BRAVE enough, and strong enough, and DASHING enough to save me from this VILLAIN!!" Ken wailed like a banshee.
And as if on cue...
*BOOM! KRCH BAM BOOM!*
An explosion of bright, colorful fireworks erupted across the stage, filling the air with smoke and light.
Fireworks lit up the space which made us squint our eyes for some moments.
*SWOOOSH!!*
A figure appeared beside Ken with dramatic flair suddenly, standing tall with their hands on their hips. The smoke swirled around them, and the light from the fireworks cast their shadow across the stage like a beacon of hope.
The figure wore colorful clothes... bright reds, yellows, and blues that clashed in the most spectacular way possible.
A yellow mask covered only the upper half of their face, leaving their mouth and chin visible. Their skinny body was draped in a cape that billowed dramatically despite there being no wind.
"DONNNN'T WORRRRRYY!" the figure shouted with extreme excitement, their voice echoing through the room. "WHYYYYY?! Becauuuuuse I am HEEEEEERE!!"
Dai just stared. For a moment in his life, he maybe is seeing someone who might beat him in being more of an enthusiast.
The actor? You might not believe, but for this role, I couldn't get anyone more fitting for this.
He is the most un-Uchiha Uchiha.
Uchiha Ryo, the guy I saw being an over dramatic dumbass back when I was in the academy.
After all these years, he was still the same dumbass.
Ryo struck a pose, pointing dramatically at Yuji. "Feeeeear NOT, faiiiiiir maiiiiden! Fooooor I, the Heeeeeero of Jusssssstice shaaaall protttttect you froooom thiiiis dasssstardly villain! This viiiile, desPicable, absolutely reppppprehensible scoooooundreeel whooo daaares to steeeal from the innooocent!"
Yep, he is perfect. Heroes need to be cringe to survive.
But before Yuji could respond according to the script I gave them with his usual deadpan, Ryo did something unexpected.
'Oh no.'
He crouched down beside Ken, his cape pooling around him on the stage floor like a pool of colorful fabric. His movements were slow, gentle, as if he was approaching a wounded animal.
His yellow mask still covered his upper face, but his eyes, those visible, expressive eyes, were filled with something that looked remarkably like genuine concern.
"Myyyy deeeear, swwwweet maiiiiiden," Ryo said, his voice dropping to a tender whisper that was completely at odds with his earlier bombastic declarations.
"Yoooooou havvvvve suuuuffered soooo greeeeatly at theeee haaaands of thissss viiillain. Your purse and yourrrr dignity has beeeennn cruelly taaaaken from you"
Ken, still on the ground in his female costume and heavy makeup, looked up at Ryo with an awkward but hopeful smile as his eyes started to water at Ryo's speech.
Though, for some reason, Ken felt some weird emotions inside his chest. This part wasn't in the script they memorised. Ryo was improvising on the spot.
'Ryo is too close to my face. What should I do?!' Ken's mind raced.
"I... yes?" Ken said, his feminine voice wavering before locking in again, "I have suffered very much! Ahhhhh, so much suffering!!!"
Ryo reached out and gently took Ken's hand in both of his own, cradling it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
The lights above started to focus on the scene with much more enthusiasm.
'Are Sushi and Sashimi-kun gonna kiss?!' Satoshi, the ever food lover thought with excitement as he focused every light on them above them.
Ryo's sparkling eyes gazed down at Ken with an expression of pure, heartfelt compassion!
"Youuuu neeeeed noooot sufffffer anyyy loooonger faaaair maiden," Ryo said softly. "Forrrr I aaam heeeere now. Aaaand I wiiiill nooot reeeest unnnntil juuuustice is seeeerved!
Ken's awkward smile grew even more genuine by the second as a blush started to appear on his face, "That's... that's really nice of you."
Ryo leaned forward more as he gazed at Ken's feminine eyes with appreciation.
'I think... I think it's that time. The kissing part! Wahh wahh wahh?!! I am gonna get kissed! By Ryo!! By a male!!' Ken's mind raced faster and faster as his blush intensified.
"Ahem, master Garou." Dai called me.
"Yes?" I replied while intently looking at this new scene I haven't written with my head resting on my intertwined fingers.
"Is it really appropriate to watch this?" Dai said as he looked at Ken closing his eyes and getting himself ready to get kissed.
"Huh?! What do you mean?" I asked with annoyance. Was this fucker telling him his meticulous script he wrote down yesterday was ass or much worse... porn?
"Well I mean, master Garou, I really appreciate your concerns and Youths with these young men, but I would like to keep my job as a head of the security team." Dai said with an absolutely serious and resolute face as if he wasn't going to change his mind.
"Huh?!!" I glanced at him with my eyes narrowed only to be met with an equally serious stare.
"Master Garou, my whole life, one of my biggest dreams is to have descendants and teach my blazing and...straight...Youth to them."
"..."
"But Master Garou... I know you are trying to give me a much bigger job to serve the land of fire much better, but I am not ready to sell my body and dignity for it. I would like to keep my honor." Dai said with unwavering resolution.
'Sorry Master Garou, but the life of a prostitute isn't for me no matter how much money you might give me. With all due respect to prostitutes out there though.' Dai thought with a wise hum to himself.
"Dai..." I called the absolute dumbfuck who was about to stand up and leave only to be pulled out of his wise thoughts.
"Yes?"
With veins visible on my neck, "Shut the fuck up and just fucking watch!" I said with gritted teeth, which made Dai immediately scared.
"Yes sir!"
Getting back to the stage...
Ken closed his eyes and tilted his head as he leaned forward, his mouth open disgustingly and his tongue out, ready to kiss Ryo.
Ryo smiled gently at the gesture. It was something normal for beautiful women like Ken to want to kiss him. But Ryo was a Hero and a man of honor who promised his dead wife to only have her in his heart.
"Sorrryyyy faiirryy maiiiden! Buuut myyy heaarrt isss already stooolen byyy someone I loooooooooveeee." Ryo lifted Ken's hand to his lips instead and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it. The gesture was so tender and so sincere.
Ken looked disappointed.
Then Ken snapped out of it a second later as he received glares and malice from me, 'Fuck! In my enthusiasm, I was about to kiss a man!'
"My hero," Ken said, his awkward smile now accompanied by a slight blush that was visible even through his heavy makeup as he glanced at Yuji who was looking at him with mountains of disgust. "Cough, maybe you could, you know, actually fight the bad guy now?"
Ryo's eyes widened as if he had just remembered the entire purpose of the scene, "Ahhhh! Yeeees! The viiiiillain! I neeeearly forrrrgot!"
He released Ken's hand and stood up in one fluid motion, his cape billowing dramatically behind him. He turned to face Yuji, who had been watching the entire exchange with an expression of profound disgust.
But a glare from Garou snapped him out of it too and Yuji then looked at Ryo with a deadpan expression, while inwardly thinking of never letting a Nara get near Ken and Ryo in the future. "Oh... no. The hero has arrived... woah... How will I ever recover from this tragedy, right? The horror, type shit."
'I just wanna go home.' Yuji thought with exhaustion.
Ryo, however, seemed completely oblivious to Yuji's lack of enthusiasm. "I wiiilll deefeat youuu viiiillain!"
*Swooshhh!*
He leaped forward, his cape billowing behind him, and engaged in an obviously choreographed fight with Yuji.
*Bam Qwuack bam paw bum!*
The two of them exchanged exaggerated punches and kicks, none of which actually connected, while Ken continued to lie on the ground and occasionally shout things like "Hiielp me!" and "Ohhhhhhh, the pain!" and "My heeero!"
Ryo dodged a slow, telegraphed punch from Yuji and responded with a spin that made his cape flare out like a flower blooming. "Yourrrrr eviiiil deedssss eeeend heeeere, viiiillain! For juuuuustice!!!"
Yuji threw another punch that missed by a full foot, "You don't say?"
"Yooookou areeeee indeeeeeed heeeelpless, fooooul missssscreant! Fooooor I ammmm thhhhe eeeembodiment of juuuussstice! Tttthe chhhhhampion of ttttthe innoooocent! Theeee proooootector of the weeeeak! The–"
"Stop," Yuji muttered.
"–theeeee deffffffender of the dowwwwwntrodden! Theee–"
"Seriously, please stop."
"–theee swwwworn eeeenemy of aaaall wwwwho wwwould dooo hhhharm too theee innocent! The–"
At this point, absolute despair was plastered across Yuji's face.
"–aaaand I sssssshall noooot rrrrest uuuuntil yyyyyou aaaare brrrrought to juuuuustice! Unnnntil the sssstreets aaare safe for aaall! Uuuuntil–"
*twitch twitch.*
"Ryo," I called with veins twitching from my forehead, "He gets the point!"
Dai beside me looked like his soul was about leave his body.
Ryo paused mid-pose, looking down at Garou with a raised eyebrow. "Buuut I haaave noooot yyyyet deeelivered myyyy fiiiinishing sssspeech! The ssspeech that will iiiinspire hooope in the heeeearts of all wwwho wiiiitness it!"
"Please, please no more! I feel like vomiting!" Dai said as tears of Youth was falling down his face.
I looked at the man who was feeling dizzy with his face becoming green.
"Sighhh, Just hit him already!" I said to Ryo with a sighh.
Ryo sighed back dramatically as if hurt, "Veeeery weeeell. I shaaall finnnnish thiiiis quiiiiickly, for the sssssake of the faaaair maaaaiden who has suuuuuffered so grrrrreatly!"
He turned back to Yuji, who was now laying down on the floor of the stage while hugging his kness. "Preeeeepare yoooourself, viiiiillain! Forrrrr theeeee fiiiinal bbbbbblow!
Tears fell down Yuji's eyes, "I am so scared, mom. I just want to go home already!"
Ryo charged forward, his fist raised high. "JUUUUUUUSTICE PUUUUUUUNCH!"
His fist connected the prune body of Yuji who for some reason actually felt pain instead of what it was supposed to happen from Garou's script!
It made him angry immediately! But he didn't lash out. He being the dramatic genius that he was, responded by flying backward as if he had been hit by an actual cannon.
"AGGGHHH!" Yuji screamed in the most unconvincing scream ever heard. "I am defeated! The hero has won! My evil ways are at an end! Fuck you! And good bye!!"
*PUFFFF!*
With puff of substitution technique, Yuji got himself replaced by the chair Dai was sitting on which made Dai fall down on the ground immediately and Shunshined away from this cursed place without a single bit of hesitation.
Ryo stood before Ken with his cape covering his vulnerable body, "Annnnd so, juuuustice preeeeevails! The innooooocents areeee prooootected! The viiiiiillain is deeeefeated! And the daaaaay is savvvved!"
*clap clap clap!*
Ken, still on the ground, began to clap. "Bravo! Bravo My hero–Kyahhhhhhh!!!"
*Bam!!*
One of the lights above which Satoshi was using hit the place Ken was sitting on like a princess who just got away just in time.
A moment later, the veil fell back on the stage and hid Ken and Ryo behind it.
The performance coming to an end.
Dai watched the entire performance in silence, his expression shifting from confusion to disbelief. And right now, he looked like he has been running around the whole village 1000 times.
"Master Garou," Dai called me.
My expression? Dark.
"Hmm." I hummed for him to continue.
Dai started to cry, "Do you hate me?"
"..."
"Why? Why did you make me watch that?! Just why?!"
"...."
"Are you trying to drain my Youth away?!"
"...."
Honestly, I didn't blame the guy. I thought something actually good will come out of this, but I underestimated the stupidity of my friends.
It was like being forced watching the last of us series with Bella Ramsey as MC and Snow White with Rachel Zegler as MC on loop.
"I am sorry." I said and Dai's sobs became louder.
"SOB SOB SOB!" Dai cried but a moment later he stopped crying and became serious.
"Master Garou," he said slowly, his voice becoming lower, "What exactly do you want?"
I leaned back in my chair tiredly, "Sighhhh, this was supposed to an educational performance in what it means to be a real Hero."
Dai looked at the stage, then back at me. "That was... the most morally questionable and illegal thing I have ever seen! Please don't do this again. Even though I respect you so much, but I think watching something like this one more time and I would lose my Youth permanently."
"Welp, I guess I need to review your training program then. Don't worry, this time I will try to be more serious in this." I said and Dai nodded gratefully but he was still skeptical.
"For now just learn this lesson. As you have seen, that's what a real hero does. Heroes don't fight for glory or money or because they were ordered to, they fight because someone needs help and you have the power to help, so you do." I said while rubbing my forehead as I looked at the messy stage.
"But... why are you telling me this? Does this have to do with that scroll you gave me? The one about me becoming famous and become an icon?" Dai asked.
*pat.*
I put a hand on his shoulder, "Yes, because I plan to create an organisation with the sole focus to produce morally upright and honorable people that will become icons and who will help innocents who are suffering under these various genocidal regimes. You and many others will become hope, and people that kids and everyone will look up to and wish to be like you."
Dai became surprised as he heard that.
"But... is that possible? It feels like a dream Master Garou." Dai said in a sad tone because the idea and the intent behind it was great but trying to make it a reality was a different thing.
What Garou was saying looked... childish, even according to Dai.
"Nothing is impossible, with enough money and my connections, it will be a piece of cake. People may laugh at first at the naivety of it, but the children will soak it up, and when those kids grow up hearing about your heroism and morals, the next generation will produce a much more open minded society than this backwards one where literal villains run everything but advertise themselves as saints to me and to you. Wouldn't it be better for actually good people that kids should look up to than some Hokage who has definitely committed genocides?"
"..."
"And you will be the center of it all." I added.
Dai's eyes widened. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You're already a hero in every way that matters in my eyes. You protect people, help your friends and those in need even when you face ridicule, and never give up no matter how hard things get. The only thing you need is a little... polish." I replied with a grin at the dumbfounded Dai, his eyes slightly becoming hopeful.
*Swoosh!*
Ryo suddenly appeared beside us, his cape still billowing despite the lack of wind. "Annnnnd that'ssss wwwwwhere I coooome in! Garou-chan askedddd meeee to teeeeach youuuu the aaaart of dramatic heeeeroism, and I, the moooost faaaabulous nnnninja in Koooonoha, shaaaall notttt dissssappoint!"
The hope that appeared on Dai's eyes? Instantly Died.
*pat pat.*
I patted Dai, "Two weeks later, I will visit you again to see your progress. Don't worry about money and your other job, because from now on, just treat yourself being a millionaire with infinite money. Good bye." I said with a pity smile and without wasting another second, I used every kind of movement techniques in my arsenal to run away from here.
Now, it was only Ken, Ryo, Satoshi, and Dai remained in the big room.
"Shall we start our next training program?" Dai immediately hit the floor and began crying as Ken with his messed up make up ran towards them and said that.
The End.
[Literally 200 hundred people read this shit, and if each one gave me one power stone everyday which takes less than a single second of your fucking time, now I would be at the top of this whole site looking down at every other authors like peasants!!]