Hatake Kaede Yoru's movements had not gone unnoticed by Obito.
When Obito saw Kaede Yoru close his eyes, seemingly uninterested, and his eyelids twitch slightly as if in deliberate mockery, his fists clenched tightly.
"Damn it... what is he so smug about..."
"The guy who was left behind by his own brother..."
Obito gritted his teeth in frustration.
Kakashi was an arrogant bastard too. He graduated early, barely spending half a year in the Academy. The Hatake brothers were both infuriating in different ways.
"I heard Kakashi completed an A-rank mission with a jounin recently."
"As much as I hate to admit it, that guy is strong. Promoted to chuunin last year. He might even become a jounin soon..."
Someone nearby had overheard Obito and decided to egg him on. There wasn't much ground to mock Kaede Yoru directly—he was consistently among the top students, sometimes even taking first place. But comparing him to Kakashi? That hit the mark.
Kakashi had graduated at five and become a chuunin at six. Kaede Yoru, despite his talents, paled in comparison. Kakashi's brilliance overshadowed his entirely.
The nearby students picked up the cue and glanced toward Kaede Yoru.
"Even though I don't want to admit it, Kakashi really is a genius. Makes some people look less qualified to be called his brother."
Wham!
Before Kaede Yoru could react, a girl sitting in front of him—Yamanaka Ika—stood up and turned to glare at Inuzuka Kiba, the one who had spoken.
"Hey! What did you just say?!"
Inuzuka Kiba furrowed his brow. "What? Am I wrong?"
Yamanaka Ika was furious but couldn't find the right words to rebut.
Kaede Yoru opened his eyes, looked at her, and gave a light smile.
"That guy Kakashi really is a genius. It's tough for ordinary people to compete with him..."
Yamanaka Ika nodded. "Yeah, Kaede, you don't have to care what they say. Your brother's one-of-a-kind. No one else needs to compete with him."
Yuhi Kurenai nodded in agreement. Compared to Kakashi, who was practically a prodigy freak, Kaede Yoru was still one of the brightest stars in their class—no question.
Kaede Yoru shrugged, clearly unbothered, and smiled at Kurenai. He didn't care to argue.
Seeing Kaede Yoru staying silent, Inuzuka Kiba could only grumble and look away. The girls seemed united in his defense, and there was no winning against that.
Kurenai looked at Kaede Yoru, her large expressive eyes flickering slightly.
"Having a brother like Kakashi... doesn't that put a lot of pressure on you?"
"Not really."
Kaede Yoru smiled. "Why would it? The stronger my brother is, the better. It's not like we're from the Hyuga clan or something."
"What about the Hyuga clan?" Kurenai blinked in confusion.
"Oh, you don't know."
Kaede Yoru briefly explained the structure of the Hyuga clan—the split between the main and branch families. Kurenai was visibly surprised.
She glanced at the back corner of the classroom. "I didn't think a noble family like that would be so... harsh."
Sitting in that corner was Hinata Kamon, nephew of Hyuga Hiashi and a member of the branch family. He had the pride of his bloodline and looked down on Kaede Yoru, who was often surrounded by girls. Kaede Yoru's only real academic rival was Kakashi.
He had the skills to graduate early but had been told by his family elders to stay put and follow the conventional path.
...
Though he couldn't hear everything Kaede Yoru said about the Hyuga, Kamon caught enough to sense something. He frowned and narrowed his eyes.
"Arrogant brat..."
Being popular with girls was whatever—but talking casually about the Hyuga clan? That was different.
Maybe it was time for a little 'correction' after class.
After all, Kaede Yoru was no Kakashi. Kamon believed only Kakashi could challenge him seriously among their peers.
As Kamon stewed, the last student completed their clone technique test. The chuunin teacher marked the score and spoke up.
"That's it for today's test."
"Those who failed—Uchiha Obito, Aburame Daisuke, and a few others—you need to practice harder in the next few classes."
"We'll have a mock exam tomorrow. And in four days, the real entrance exams begin. Fail that, and you'll be stuck here through winter break until you can pass!"
A wave of relief swept through the room. No one wanted to give up their vacation time for remedial training.
Obito and the other failures looked grim. No one liked being called out. And no one wanted to be the one stuck doing make-up classes during vacation.
"That's all for today. You can leave early."
The chuunin teacher collected the report sheets, filed them, and nodded.
The students stood up, bowed to the teacher, and filed out.
Kaede Yoru used the excuse of having something to do and quickly left, avoiding the girls—Yamanaka Ika, Kurenai, and the rest.
It was amusing to watch a bunch of precocious eight- and nine-year-old girls engage in petty rivalries and jealous games, but Kaede Yoru had more important priorities. He needed to adjust to his new triple-speed state.
Triple speed was only a modest improvement over double, but every increment counted.
After a simple dinner, Kaede Yoru retreated to the backyard, activated triple speed, and began training, throwing precise punches at the specially designed wooden posts.
To accelerate physical growth, he didn't just train at double speed—he slept in double speed too. His cell regeneration and metabolism worked faster. One day for others was two for him.
Though he was chronologically eight, his body had the physical development of a nine-year-old due to nearly two years of enhanced training.
Staying in double speed mode constantly would grow his body even faster, but it was mentally exhausting. Listening to lectures in that state felt like watching a video at 0.5x speed. Every syllable from the teacher dragged on endlessly.
Worse, to appear normal, he had to deliberately slow his speech and movements, which was tedious.
So, during school hours, Kaede Yoru stuck to normal speed. It was just simpler that way.