"What do you mean by that?"

  The kids who had been ganging up on Jiraiya immediately shifted their attention, now surrounding Kaya.

  "Get lost. This has nothing to do with you."

  One of them reached out, trying to shove him away.

  But Kaya didn’t hesitate for even a second. He made the first move—he knew better than to wait around and get jumped. These kids were older, and even with his new system, his base taijutsu might not outmatch theirs. Good thing he had a trump card.

  "Shadow Leaf Dance!"

  Whoosh—

  In a blur, Kaya vanished from sight.

  Bang!

  Before the boys could even process what had happened, Kaya’s fist smashed hard into the ringleader’s face, catching him clean on the right cheek.

  "Ugh..."

  The kid’s face rippled from the impact as he went flying, completely airborne.

  Bam! Bam! Wham!

  A flurry of follow-up attacks—Kaya unched into a fast-paced combo, sending each of the boys flying one after another. Then he crouched low, palms on the ground, and with a powerful upward kick, sent the first kid tumbling through the air again, his face taking the brunt of it.

  Moments ter, Kaya stood tall, arms folded across his chest, eyeing the boys sprawled on the ground like they were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

  "Next time I see you bullying someone... don’t expect to walk away so lucky."

  The words came out like something a model hero might say, but there was a flicker of amusement at the corner of Kaya’s mouth.

  He hadn't expected this to feel so good—turns out, smacking around a bunch of punk kids was surprisingly satisfying. From today on, he figured, he could finally hold his own in the local brat hierarchy.

  To be fair, these kids weren't weak. Some of them were probably even physically stronger than him. If they’d had the sense to charge in once his skill was on cooldown, Kaya would've had to kite them around just to avoid a beatdown. It wouldn’t have been an easy win.

  But in the end, they were just a bunch of kids. With their leader id out, the rest lost their nerve and gave up the fight.

  "Whoa, that was awesome!"

  Jiraiya looked up at him, a big snot bubble wobbling from his nose, awe written all over his face.

  But the very next second, his expression shifted, as if something just clicked.

  "Wait, why’d you hit my friends?! I—I..."

  He took a hesitant step forward, trying to puff himself up, but there was a nervous tremble in his voice as he stared at Kaya.

  Smack—

  Kaya reached out and firmly pnted a hand on Jiraiya’s forehead, sighing in mild exasperation.

  "Seriously? You couldn’t tell they were messing with you on purpose?"

  "I... I..."

  Jiraiya’s head dipped, his shoulders slumped. He didn’t argue—he knew Kaya was right. He just didn’t want to admit it.

  "Next time, don’t use dumb crap like that to make friends. That’s not how this works."

  "But..."

  He went quiet again.

  Somehow, Kaya could read him in that moment. He saw right through Jiraiya’s gaze, understood the unspoken truth. Even if it meant getting bullied or mocked, it was still better than being completely ignored.

  Kaya was speechless for a moment. So this was how rough things had been for little Jiraiya...

  But he got it. Kaya had known what it felt like to be at the bottom of the pile too. And in a world like this—where being a ninja meant everything—kids grew up fast. They knew how strong you were just by sparring a bit. If you were weak, and not particurly smart or socially skilled, it was only natural that you'd get pushed aside.

  If Kaya hadn’t had his dad’s old war buddies’ kids to hang out with—and if he hadn’t been retively mature for his age—he probably would've ended up just like Jiraiya.

  "Hey, Jiraiya, right? If nobody else wants to py with you, you can come find me."

  "For real? Really?!"

  Jiraiya’s eyes lit up like fireworks. He wrung his hands, pacing back and forth with excitement.

  "Why would I lie?"

  "So... so does that mean we’re friends now?"

  "Yeah."

  "Then... then let me treat you to something!"

  He fumbled out a few crumpled bills, his eyes darting around the street until they nded on a little roadside stand.

  "How about some grilled squid?"

  "Uh..."

  Kaya raised an eyebrow, gncing at the pathetic wad of bills in Jiraiya’s hand.

  "Don’t tell me... that’s all the money you’ve got?"

  "Uh..."

  Jiraiya went quiet again, clutching the bills tightly in his fist, his gaze fixed on the ground.

  Kaya didn’t know why, but something about it hit him.

  That really might be all the money the kid had left. Maybe even his food money for the next few days. Sure, the vilge did what it could for orphans, but it wasn’t like they handed out pocket change regurly. And any death benefits wouldn’t come until he was an adult.

  But right now, Jiraiya wasn’t thinking about any of that. He wasn’t thinking about how long it had taken him to save that money, or how he was going to eat ter. All he wanted was to use everything he had to treat his new friend.

  "You idiot," Kaya said, breaking into a bright grin.

  At first, maybe he only approached Jiraiya because he knew what the guy would become someday. But now... now he genuinely liked him. Anyone who’d offer up everything they had just to make a friend like this was the kind of person worth keeping around.

  "Jiraiya, friendship isn’t about money or fshy gestures. It’s about heart."

  Ctter—

  He reached into his pocket and proudly pulled out a thick stack of bills.

  "Besides, if anyone’s buying, it should be me."

  He slung an arm around Jiraiya’s shoulder, already leading him toward the food stand.

  "My treat today. Don’t be shy. I’ve got another friend who’s way richer than me—I’ll bring you along next time for a real feast. And hey, you’re always welcome at my pce. My mom’s a great cook..."

  "Really? I can really come over?"

  "Of course! We’re friends, aren’t we? Just an extra pair of chopsticks, that’s all."

  As the two boys walked off, chatting and ughing together, a lone figure stood watching them from around the corner.

  "What’s wrong, Orochimaru?"

  "...Nothing."

  The pale boy known as Orochimaru gave a small shake of his head, burying the strange, unfamiliar feeling rising up inside him.