Chapter 4: The Enthusiastic Minato Namikaze

"What insights do you have from today's lesson? What did you learn?" Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, naturally had a relatively quiet private room assigned to him, and Kenichi managed to tag along.

However, this joy was short-lived. Once Orochimaru defected, Kenichi would have to think about his next move. Staying in the village was an option, but it would make him an easy target for Danzo.

Leaving with Orochimaru also seemed to have its concerns. Defecting and then trying to return would not be easy. Although the Leaf Village seemed weak now, its foundations were still strong.

"Sensei, today I think we need to pay attention to the following points in our experiment," Kenichi honestly expressed his views and insights, not even glancing at the grilled meat flipping under Orochimaru's chopsticks.

Orochimaru listened calmly, his expression unchanged, which made Kenichi unsure whether his words were in line with Orochimaru's thoughts. Nevertheless, he spoke honestly.

After Kenichi finished speaking, Orochimaru also finished grilling the meat and put down his chopsticks.

"Let's eat first. After the meal, we can discuss on our way back." Hearing Orochimaru's words, Kenichi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had managed to pass this time, and it was good that he had paid close attention.

Moreover, based on some scientific knowledge from his previous life, he proposed some new theories that probably satisfied Orochimaru.

With his mind at ease, Kenichi began to enjoy the delicious grilled meat from the Akimichi family. It had to be said that the Akimichi family was very skilled in this area, and the food tasted great.

Especially their barbecue sauce, which Kenichi thought was the best he had ever tasted in his previous life.

After finishing the meal, Kenichi followed Orochimaru out of the restaurant.

As they left the barbecue restaurant, Kenichi noticed Minato Namikaze, with a warm smile on his face, entering with the red-haired Kushina Uzumaki and the silent white-haired boy, Kakashi.

Minato Namikaze greeted Orochimaru very politely, while Kenichi glanced at the downcast Kakashi.

This unfortunate child was probably still immersed in the 'death' of Obito and Rin's death at his own hands, his face stern, making it obvious that he was in a very bad mood.

"What a tragedy. A best friend is lured away to become a pawn, and then another girl, who might have had some feelings for him, is also manipulated by others, even making the best friend witness her being killed by his own hands, tsk tsk tsk," Kenichi sighed inwardly.

Kakashi was indeed an unlucky genius ninja.

As a child, he was the son of the White Fang of Konoha, and then his father died.

Finally becoming a genius ninja under Minato Namikaze, a direct line of the Hokage, his teammates experienced a fake death and a real death, leaving Kakashi feeling guilty for a long time.

It was only later that he found out his best friend was not dead but had become the main culprit in killing his teacher and the teacher's wife.

It seemed he also maintained a long single life, only able to get through the long nights by reading the first pervert of the ninja world, Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise. But there was nothing Kenichi could do about it.

After all, he couldn't possibly tell Kakashi that Obito wasn't dead but had become a major villain, right?

"Eh, is this little Amegakure?" While Kenichi was pondering, he felt himself being hugged, the warm body temperature making him a bit uncomfortable, and the scent that filled his nostrils made his face turn red.

It was Kushina Uzumaki, a woman who really had no sense of personal boundaries, but being hugged by her gave Kenichi some new ideas.

"Yes, this is my student, Kenichi, a fine student," Orochimaru pulled Kenichi out of Kushina's embrace.

This woman was very fond of children, and who knows, maybe she was planning to have one herself.

Orochimaru glanced at Kushina's belly.

"A student of Lord Orochimaru must be an excellent ninja. This is my student, Kakashi Hatake," Minato Namikaze said with a warm smile, enthusiastically introducing his student.

He even nudged Kakashi closer to Kenichi, who was somewhat speechless.

No wonder the teacher said he didn't get along well with Minato Namikaze; the guy was too enthusiastic, to the point that even Orochimaru couldn't handle it.

Kakashi looked at Kenichi with a deadpan expression, his face emotionless. Kenichi glanced at Kakashi's eyes, which held the Sharingan with three tomoe, a gift from Obito.

The Uchiha clan was said to have strong opinions about this.

Kenichi really wanted to leave; he truly couldn't get along with the always gloomy Kakashi.

But there was no helping it. Who knew what Minato was thinking, insisting on pushing Kakashi towards Kenichi, even warmly inviting Orochimaru, who had just had a meal, to continue dining with them.

Orochimaru was clearly overwhelmed by the overly enthusiastic pair, so in the end, Kenichi was pushed forward as a scapegoat to accompany Minato and the others for a meal.

Kenichi didn't really mind; he was in his growing phase, and a half-grown boy could easily eat his father out of house and home.

The only problem was Kakashi's expressionless face; the occasional words he uttered during the meal were 'hmm', 'ah', 'oh', almost completing the set of phrases commonly used by goddesses.

"Kenichi, do you have any friends you know in Konoha?" Big sister Kushina asked with concern, looking at Kenichi, who twitched the corner of his mouth and then shook his head.

He had some friends in the orphanage, but then Orochimaru took an interest in him, and he lost contact.

However, he suddenly had a bad premonition.

"If you don't mind, would you like to be friends with Kakashi?" Kushina asked softly, leaning in close to Kenichi without letting Kakashi hear.

Minato heard, but from his smile, Kenichi knew that the leader had the same idea.

Here it comes, the bad premonition comes true. Does Murphy's Law exist in this world?

To be honest, Kenichi was planning to refuse.

He couldn't just become friends with Kakashi because they said so, but considering that his teacher would defect in the future and he needed to plan his own exit strategy, he agreed.

After all, Kakashi would be going to the Anbu soon, and they wouldn't see each other for years, so it didn't really matter.

(End of Chapter)