At Kohaku's modest house, everyone invited was there.
Even members of Team Pakura came, as Maki was friends with Kohaku.
Only adults present were Takeshi, Reeku, and Miyako, Kohaku's mother.
Miyako wore a formal kimono, strands of her dark black hair clung to her temple.
She had a kind look, and having a mature air about her.
The others were Kohaku herself, Hiroshi, Ren, Kaiji, Saito, Pakura, Renji, Ryū, Sayo, and Shōko.
The last two were also Kohaku's friends from the academy.
Simple food and drinks were served.
Few of colorful paper lanterns were put up as simple decorations.
Everyone wished Kohaku a happy birthday.
Those who had gifts gave them to her.
Her father gave her a scroll for a C-rank Wind Ninjutsu, the Raging Hound Jutsu.
"Huh, really, Otō-san?" Her eyes shone brightly.
She was really happy and said, "A C-rank Ninjutsu scroll... From Otō-san? This is... unexpected generosity from you."
"What's with this reaction?" Takeshi asked, a slight twitch on his brows.
Kohaku shrugged and said, "Well, you never usually teach me any high-rank Jutsu, so it was a surprise."
Takeshi sighed when he heard this.
Everyone chuckled.
They knew that Takeshi, even as a Chūnin instructor, never taught Kohaku anything outside of the Academy lessons.
"Alright, kids, you can enjoy the food," her mother, Miyako, said, putting out the food and drinks.
"YES, AUNTY!" Everyone said, and began eating the free food.
All the Genin sat together, talking about their recent missions and general things.
Kohaku told about her team's mission.
Maki told about hers, followed by Shōko and Hiroshi.
Later, the Shinobi's talked among themselves, and the kunoichi's talked among themselves.
"Hey, Renji, you're definitely going to join the Chūnin exams, right?" Saito asked.
Everyone looked at Renji.
However, Renji shook his head and said, "No, and not just me, but Maki and Ryū also won't. Pakura-sensei hasn't given us permission and said we still need more experience."
Ryū also said, "She's right though. We've only been Genin for a couple of months and need to get stronger first."
Kaiji heard this and asked, "But Renji, you were top in our class. Your strength must have grown a lot, right?"
Renji nodded and said, "Well, I have indeed improved a lot. But Pakura-sensei said I should take part with my team, not alone. That would be much better."
Everyone nodded, understanding.
Renji then looked at Kaiji with interest and said, "You have also improved a lot. Your chakra among us classmates here is second only to mine. What kind of training have you been doing?"
"REALLY!"
Others were surprised by Renji's statement about Kaiji's strength.
Even Hiroshi and Ren were surprised.
They looked at Kaiji with curious gazes.
Hiroshi was more surprised and asked, "In the Genin Corps, no Jōnin like those from Genin squads taught us.
We mostly have to train by ourselves. So, how did your chakra grow this much, Kaiji?"
Ren also added, "Yeah, and they even have to do missions most of the time. Maybe Renji, you made a mistake.
Kaiji's chakra might have grown, but lower than only yours. That's hard to believe!"
Kaiji's eyes twitched a bit.
He could not think of what to say about his friends lack of trust in his strength.
After all, Kaiji had been doing physical training with weights and meditation.
Even on missions, he tried not to miss his training.
Also, the Jutsu he had been training in and had learned were high-level, whether it was the Seven Heavens Breathing Method or Rasengan.
Though Rasengan was on hold for now at the third stage.
He had already finished the second stage, the Rubber Ball, a couple of weeks ago.
Learning Rasengan completely would not be hard, as forming his chakra on his palm into a sphere was easy for him.
He had already learned a similar but D-rank Jutsu during ninja academy, but with wind chakra, Twister Shot.
The only reason he held off on Rasengan was that he understood his current chakra reserves were not enough for that A-rank Jutsu.
Even if he learned it, the size of the Rasengan would be like a tennis ball in his hands.
The so-called forbidden A-rank Jutsu would become C-rank or maybe even D-rank in his hands.
So he thought it was better to wait and increase his chakra reserves first.
Back to the talk, Renji shook his head and said, "I am not mistaken. His chakra is indeed quite high, just lower than mine among us here."
Ren was still doubtful of Renji and asked, "But how are you so sure?"
Ryū answered his question before Renji could and said, "Renji has been training with a sensor ninja. Pakura-sensei put him under her colleague, that Sensor Ninja."
"Oh, so that's the case..." Everyone nodded in understanding.
While they all didn't know how useful sensory skills actually could be, they at least understood that sensor ninjas were very versatile ninjas.
Kaiji thought, 'So he is training under a sensor ninja. No wonder he was so sure my chakra reserves have grown a lot.'
However, Kaiji himself was a little surprised and mused, 'But did my chakra reserves really increase that much?
I know Renji is very talented, and his chakra would obviously be quite high, maybe close to a Elite Genin level.
But does that mean my chakra reserves are also getting close to a Elite Genin's?'
He shrugged, putting these thoughts aside and spoke, "Well, thanks for telling me, it's good to know how much I've grown.
By the way, Ryū, during the graduation exam, I lost to you. How about we have a spar? I really want to see how much I've grown."
Hiroshi jumped up and said, "Yeah, Ryū, have a spar with him! I also want to see how much he's actually grown."
Ren and Saito also nodded and looked eagerly at Ryū for his answer.
Under their eager stares, Ryū chuckled softly and agreed.
Renji spoke, giving Kaiji a light warning, "His Body Flicker has improved a lot. Maybe he has talent for that Jutsu, so be on your guard, Kaiji."
Kaiji nodded and thought, 'Now that I think about it, I actually lost to him because of his speed in Body Flicker.
But then again, how much can it improve? It's not like he can master it to Shisui's level.'
Hiroshi then said, "Alright, then how about we have others join to watch as well?"
But Hiroshi did not wait for any answer.
He directly went straight to Kohaku and the others and told them that Ryū and Kaiji wanted to have a spar.
Takeshi, however, shook his head and was about to say no but before that Kohaku eagerly said, "Alright, let's go."
Seeing his daughter's enthusiasm, and remembering it was her birthday, he did not say anything, just sighed softly.
Reeku, Ren's team's Jōnin, said, "Then we should go to a training field for their spar..."
Everyone nodded.
They quickly moved toward the closest training field.
...
In the training field, Kaiji and Ryū stood in the center, facing each other.
All the others stood on the sides.
Only Kohaku's mother was not there, she stay at home.
Maki cheered for Ryū and said, "Ryū, make sure to win!"
Seeing this, Hiroshi and Ren cheered for Kaiji, "Kaiji, you have to win."
Hearing them, Kaiji sighed with a smile.
Maki looked at them and snorted, "You don't know, Ryū has improved a lot. He won't lose."
"Kohaku, whose side are you on?" Hiroshi asked Kohaku.
Kohaku said, "Obviously, I am on my friend, Maki's side."
Maki smiled and teased Hiroshi, who huffed and said, "Kohaku, how can you not be on my side, aren't we..."
Kohaku lightly tapped Hiroshi's arm and said, "Alright, alright, I am on your side, happy."
Watching them, Takeshi narrowed his eyes.
Reeku put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Stop being a daunting father, stop glaring at them. It's normal, they are young."
Takeshi then sighed and turned his attention to Kaiji and Ryū.
He asked, "So, what kind of spar do you want to have? Taijutsu or something specific?"
Kaiji smirked and said, "Nothing specific, Takeshi-sensei. I want to everything included, a proper ninja spar with all tools, Jutsu and such!"
•••