Nara Kazuki turned his head in disbelief—and there he saw it:Kakashi, deadpan as always, playing a recording of Kazuki's earlier outburst.
Meanwhile, Uncle Suzaku's face had turned darker than a thundercloud.Man, he looked like he could kill with just a glare.
As for Minato Namikaze...
Minato had frozen for a second, then burst into hearty laughter —laughing so hard it looked like he might fall over.
And then he did something even more outrageous:Minato casually sat down at the table, dismissed Kakashi's Shadow Clone, learned the rules of Beat the Raikage in under a minute —and started playing cards with them like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Uncle Suzaku stood at the door, deathly silent.His eyes said: You're a dead man walking, Kazuki.Then, without a word, he closed the door behind him.
Kazuki felt a chill run down his spine.
This felt too damn familiar—like bombing an exam when relatives were visiting, and your parents didn't yell immediately —but you knew the storm was coming.
"Kakashi..."Kazuki narrowed his eyes.
He really hadn't expected this bastard to record him.
But thinking about it —wasn't this the same guy who invented One Thousand Years of Death, a prank Taijutsu that nobody dared even describe in polite society?
Of course Kakashi wasn't a good guy.
Kakashi said nothing, but behind the mask, Minato could tell —his student was genuinely happy for once.
Seeing that, Minato felt even more overjoyed.
In fact, he almost wanted to teach Kazuki one of his secret techniques —but Kazuki tactfully declined, knowing he had his hands full right now.
Besides, Minato's signature jutsu — Rasengan —while powerful, had a brutal learning curve.
Kazuki had different goals.
The real prize Kazuki had his eyes on was another legendary jutsu:Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
The sacred weapon of Konoha's top-tier workaholics.
If he could master that, Kazuki could treat 24 hours like 72 hours,training nonstop until he could punch Obito's face clean through his mask.
Minato was all smiles, but after a few rounds of cards, he politely excused himself.
"..."As soon as Minato left, Kazuki noticed the change in Kakashi's mood.A flicker of loneliness flashed through Kakashi's single visible eye.
"A good Hokage...and a good teacher,"Kazuki said calmly."But first and foremost, he's still the Hokage."
Kakashi's emotions steadied quickly.He didn't say anything, only reached into his pocket —and pressed play on the damn recording again.
"Beat the Hokage!"
Kazuki twitched.
He glanced at Kakashi.
This damn bastard.
Kakashi's eye crinkled smugly, like he was savoring some private victory.
Kazuki could practically see it:This secret's mine forever.
Kazuki knew he couldn't let Kakashi keep that blackmail material.Quietly, he activated his Shadow Possession Technique under the table, aiming for Kakashi's shadow—
But just as it was about to strike,Kakashi dodged effortlessly.
Kazuki's face twitched again.
Across from him, Kakashi sat proudly, his chest puffed up like a victorious rooster.
"Alright, fine."Kazuki shrugged casually."I guess I'll just spread a little rumor around...about a certain upstanding Jonin of Konoha...who's especially fond of older women."
Kakashi's visible eye widened in horror.
Pop!
Without hesitation, he crushed the recorder in his hand.
Kazuki smiled with deep satisfaction.
Checkmate.
Of course, Kazuki hadn't been bluffing.
That night at the barbecue with Jiraiya, when Kazuki had been "discussing literature,"he hadn't just been aiming for the old perv.He had been watching Kakashi, too.
Curious what exactly made Icha Icha Paradise so irresistible to this future bookworm.
And Kazuki had noticed —Kakashi's ears had burned red during the "older woman seduces younger man" trope.
Bingo.Turns out young Kakashi had a thing for elder sister types.
"Alright, alright!"Kazuki patted his chest heroically."This afternoon's meal is on me!"
He had no choice.Otherwise, Uncle Suzaku was waiting to haul him out and "educate" him the old-fashioned Nara way.
He couldn't afford that right now.
"Fine."Kakashi agreed, somewhat surprised Kazuki was actually offering to treat.
(And secretly, he began channeling chakra through his body to accelerate digestion.A neat ninja trick to make room for eating more.)
Kakashi vowed silently to eat Kazuki into bankruptcy.
After all, Kazuki had almost bankrupted him at Akimichi's grill house last time.
Later.
"You bastard — THIS is your treat?"Kakashi roared, grabbing Kazuki by the collar.
Kazuki looked away, a little guilty but still pretending to be righteous.
On the table:three-color dango.
That was it.
Three.Freaking.Skewers.
"Three-color dango IS food!"Kazuki said seriously."You're discriminating against dango! Apologize, you heartless brute!"
"Three-color dango?"Kakashi's eye twitched violently."If you're treating me, at least get ramen!"
As they bickered—a new voice interrupted.
"Actually... three-color dango is pretty good."
Kazuki and Kakashi froze —and slowly turned their heads.
Standing there was...a complete lunatic.