"Hikari-senpai, the moment you showed up, you stole all my spotlight!"
Seeing how Hikari and Anko had drawn the attention of all their friends the moment they appeared, Naruto and Sasuke gradually lost interest in their battle and walked over to complain.
Hikari glanced at Naruto, his expression turning serious. "The strong walk alone, Naruto. Don't worry about what others think, and don't let their presence sway your actions. If you can maintain this mindset for decades, without wavering, then you will become a true powerhouse. And once you reach that point, you won't be far from becoming Hokage."
A Hokage must be someone acknowledged by the people—this statement wasn't wrong.
But there was a premise: only someone with overwhelming strength could earn everyone's acknowledgment.
Whether shinobi or ordinary villagers of Konoha, everyone sought a pillar to rely on—and the Hokage was the greatest pillar of Konoha.
If the Hokage wasn't strong, why would shinobi obey their orders? And when danger came, how could a weak Hokage protect Konoha?
Hearing Hikari's words, Naruto and Sasuke seemed to gain some insight.
Especially Sasuke. Upon hearing Hikari's words, his eyes instantly transformed into three tomoe.
To him, Hikari's words resonated deeply.
A strong shinobi walks alone. Only brats like Naruto would care about other people's gazes. He, Uchiha Sasuke, was destined to walk the lonely road of a true powerhouse.
As for Naruto... heh.
'Man, that actually makes a ton of sense!' Kiba scratched Akamaru's head, curiosity flashing in his eyes.
Neji reacted similarly, though the glow in his Byakugan was much less obvious.
Only Shikamaru muttered quietly, "Don't let Hikari-senpai fool you. He's super strong but he never trains seriously... Ow!"
For speaking the truth, Shikamaru once again suffered joy he shouldn't be experiencing at his age.
Hikari placed a hand on Shikamaru's head—
*Angry dog-head rubbing technique!*
"Hikari-senpai, I got it!" Naruto looked up with shining eyes. "I won't let you down!"
"Good kid. Naruto, I acknowledge you. You'll become Hokage one day!"
"Really?! Hikari-senpai, you're the best!"
Hikari looked at Naruto's dazzling smile and momentarily spaced out. In that moment, he saw Minato's silhouette overlap with the boy in front of him.
The current Naruto really did look like Minato. The only difference was... Naruto looked kinda stupid while doing it.
"Alright, I only came here to check on you all. Since you're all fine, I'll head back and get to work." Hikari turned around, preparing to leave.
But he didn't get far.
Because Naruto had already grabbed his clothes.
"Hikari-senpai! You said you came specifically to see us, right? Soooo... Could you train us?"
"Yeah!" Shikamaru grumbled. "Hikari-senpai, you're our Team 10 sensei. Showing up just to walk away... doesn't that feel kinda wrong?"
What was wrong with that?
Hikari thought about it seriously and concluded he had done nothing wrong.
But since these brats wanted to spar with him, as a proper senpai and proper instructor, of course he wouldn't refuse.
After all, how often would he get the chance to personally beat up Konoha's rookie generation?
"Fine. Since you want to fight, come at me together!"
"My time is precious—begin!"
As soon as Hikari's voice fell, the group of rookies surrounding him instantly scattered and formed a battle formation.
Taijutsu users Lee and Neji stood closest, launching attacks immediately.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Small but lethal moves right from the start.
Clearly, Lee and Neji had planned this from the moment he arrived.
"You brats have no morals at all. Don't you know to give your senpai a head start?" Hikari joked as he tapped his foot and reached out—grabbing Lee's incoming leg.
"Not bad. Quite some force."
Hearing Hikari's casual praise, Lee's face turned the same shade of green as his clothes.
In that split second, he felt like he had kicked into cotton, then suddenly—
*WHOOSH!*
—he was flying.
Literally.
Hikari swung Lee by the leg and flung him straight into Neji, the two of them clinging together in an explosive collision—a scene fujoshi would adore.
"Lee... You need to lose weight."
"Why didn't you dodge?!"
"You're crushing me!"
"Then you dodge!"
As their squabble escalated, Hikari intervened with a swift *chop*.
*Silence.*
"Human Bullet Tank!"
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
A giant rolling meatball barreled toward Hikari from behind, while Ino, who had been hiding at the side, activated her clan's secret technique.
"Ah, so you two were stalling for your teammates. My bad—I genuinely thought you'd switched teams in a different way," Hikari called apologetically toward the groaning pile that was Lee and Neji.
Mind Body Switch was a mental technique meant to control enemies' bodies, but its effect weakened significantly against strong opponents.
Ino wasn't expecting to control Hikari—only to interfere with his movements.
She only needed a moment of distraction for Chōji's Human Bullet Tank to flatten him.
But Hikari, who was very familiar with this technique, wasn't going to let her disrupt him.
Even though the jutsu was fast because it attacked mentally, "fast" still meant there was a brief gap.
With Hikari's level, he easily sensed the strange fluctuation in the air—and shifted instantly.
Ino's technique failed.
"Chidori!"
A chorus of screeching birds erupted and lightning exploded across the field as Sasuke's hand pierced straight through Hikari's chest.
Naruto bolted forward in panic.
"Hikari-senpai, are you okay?!"
"Sasuke, let go already!"
"Yeah, you went too far!"
The complaints from his companions did nothing to break Sasuke's concentration.
The three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly. The Hikari that others saw was, in his vision, empty space—not the real person at all.
"Move!"
Sasuke suddenly kicked Naruto away, then charged towards the real Hikari in the distance.
At that moment, Naruto, Ino, and the others finally saw Hikari's body dissolve into thin air.
Awkwardness filled their faces instantly.
So embarrassing. They fell for it without even understanding the situation.
Then embarrassment turned into fury.
They had to defeat Kamizuki Hikari—he couldn't look down on them forever!
This era belongs to the young!