[The large-scale instance, the Land of Waves Bridge Builder, will soon begin.]
[The Genin who answered questions correctly will travel together to a time more than ten years in the future to complete a mission. Upon completion, they can obtain substantial rewards.]
[Death in the instance is not real death. Each person has only one chance. The instance world is not virtual, but a parallel world more than ten years in the future.]
[This instance will last three days. After three days, all participants will return to the real world, whether the mission succeeds or fails.]
[The list follows.]
[Obito Uchiha, Yugito Nii, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Mei Terumi, Hozuki Mangetsu, Rin, Shu,]
The people of the Shinobi World were once again shocked by what the Inventory System had done. It could even send people into the future! Was there anything the Inventory System couldn't do?
But what kind of mission could these Genin possibly complete? Among them, only Yugito Nii, Mei Terumi, and Hozuki Mangetsu had reached Chunin level; they simply hadn't taken the Chunin Ninja Exams. As for the others, people hadn't even heard of someone like Might Guy.
The people from Konoha who knew him were too embarrassed to introduce him to others as their village's second-to-last student. Obito went without saying. If the top student in every class was an Uchiha, then Obito was no exception—except he ranked from the bottom.
Shu had also appeared in the original story. He had originally been a member of the Explosion Corps of Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. He possessed the Kekkei Genkai Explosion Release and was powerful. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kabuto revived him using Impure World Reincarnation. He retained his memories and consciousness, but his actions were controlled, forcing him to fight. He operated alongside Zabuza Momochi, Haku, and Pakura, clashing head-on with the squad led by Kakashi. Later, Itachi undid Impure World Reincarnation, and Shu's soul ascended to the afterlife.
Kurenai Yuhi, meanwhile, was a future female Jonin of Konohagakure, the daughter of Yūhi Shinku, and the leader and teacher of Team 8, consisting of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga. She was also in a relationship with the elite Jonin Asuma Sarutobi.
For now, however, none of them could match the elites of the other ninja villages. Konoha's star representative, Kakashi, had skipped grades too early; otherwise, Konoha could have gone toe-to-toe with the others.
Now that such a mission had been issued, the major ninja villages certainly weren't going to pass it up. They each arranged for elite Jonin to conduct special training. Meanwhile, intelligence on the Land of Waves kept arriving in the hands of the various Kage, but no matter how closely they looked, they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
When Obito Uchiha woke up the next day, Kakashi and Rin were already waiting beside him.
"Rin? Why did I suddenly pass out yesterday?" Obito still wasn't quite sure what had happened. He only remembered Rin wiping his eyes for him, and then he had suddenly fainted.
Kakashi said, "You suddenly awakened your Sharingan yesterday and then passed out."
"That's right. Everyone was so worried about you," Rin added.
He had awakened his Sharingan? Obito hurriedly found a mirror and looked. Sure enough, he had a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He was so excited he almost jumped up.
"Clan Head Fugaku came to see you yesterday. He said you fainted because you'd awakened three tomoe the first time your eyes opened, and your body couldn't keep up. He also praised you as one of the rare geniuses in the Uchiha Clan to awaken three tomoe right away." Rin told Obito what Fugaku had said yesterday.
"Rin, if you tell him that, he's going to get conceited again," Kakashi interjected.
Obito ignored Kakashi's sharp tongue. He had finally awakened his Sharingan, so he wouldn't stoop to arguing with him.
Just then, the hospital room door opened, and Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma walked in. Seeing that Obito was recovering well, Asuma said, "The instance is about to start. Obito, Rin, you'd better get ready too."
"Instance?" Obito looked bewildered. He had passed out fairly early yesterday and didn't really know what had happened afterward. This sudden talk of an instance left him thoroughly confused.
Rin explained the Inventory System's mission to him after he woke up.
After hearing her out, Obito could hardly believe it. "You're saying we're going more than ten years into the future to complete a mission?"
When Rin nodded, Obito wondered even more if he'd been unconscious for too long. How had the world become so bizarre in just one day? That meant he was going with Rin to carry out a mission more than ten years in the future. He might even meet his future self, Kakashi, and Rin.
At that thought, Obito asked excitedly, "When? Are we leaving now? I can't wait!"
Only then did Asuma say, "It looks like it's about to start. Everyone's waiting outside."
As soon as he heard that, Obito grabbed Kakashi and Rin and headed for the door, saying as he went, "Hurry up! Don't keep everyone waiting."
Before long, everyone had gathered. The people Konoha was sending this time were Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, Kurenai Yuhi, and Might Guy.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Third Hokage instructed them, "As ninja, you must gather as much intelligence as possible. Be sure to watch out for ninja from the other villages."
Shikaku Nara added, "Your advantage over the other villages is your numbers. If you appear together in the instance, stick together. Don't let the enemy pick you off one by one. If you appear separately, do your best to regroup."
"Of them all, you need to be especially careful of Yugito Nii from Kumogakure. At full strength, she can reach the level of an ordinary Jonin, so don't get into a conflict with her unless you absolutely have to," Minato Namikaze said. Having fought Kumogakure's Fourth Raikage before, he knew a fair amount about the village.
Rin took careful notes and asked questions from time to time, which Shikaku Nara patiently answered. Obito, on the other hand, thought Kakashi would be going with them, so he didn't pay much attention.
Kakashi saw what Obito was thinking and immediately said, "I'm afraid I didn't answer a question, so I can't go with you this time. But don't worry. I've already asked Might Guy to look after you."
At that point, Might Guy walked over and slung an arm around Obito's shoulders. "Don't worry, Kakashi. I'll take good care of him," he said. Then he turned to Obito and asked awkwardly,
"What was your name again?"
Obito was speechless. Kakashi, you're so good to me. You found someone who can't recognize faces to look after me. Aren't you afraid he'll mistake someone on the other side for me? No, wait—who needs you to look after me? I, Obito Uchiha, am a genius who awakened three tomoe. How could I possibly need anyone to look after me?
What Obito didn't know, however, was that Might Guy was extremely reliable at critical moments. In the original story, after Itachi stabbed Kakashi for three days and three nights in the reading, Kakashi had finally been able to relax when Guy arrived to support him.
At that moment, the Inventory System finally opened the passage to the large-scale instance.
[Land of Waves instance opened successfully.]
A vortex suddenly appeared. The bodies of Obito, Rin, Kurenai Yuhi, Might Guy, and the others gradually turned transparent before vanishing. It wasn't just them, either: Shu from Iwagakure, Hozuki Mangetsu and Mei Terumi from Kirigakure, and Yugito Nii from Kumogakure disappeared as well.
They first arrived in an enclosed space, where Obito saw the ninja from the other villages. According to the intelligence Lord Hokage had given him, the guy nearby with the wild hair seemed to be Shu from Iwagakure. Supposedly, he possessed the Kekkei Genkai Explosion Release and could concentrate Chakra in his fists, causing an explosion whenever he struck something. His strength was not to be underestimated.
The man and woman together were Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu from Kirigakure.
Mei Terumi had jade-green eyes, long, curly reddish-brown hair crossed over itself and covering her right eye, and fair, delicate skin. But her appearance was not to be taken lightly. Mei Terumi was highly skilled in Water Release Ninjutsu and possessed two Kekkei Genkai, Lava Release and Boil Release.
Even Madara Uchiha's "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame" had been extinguished by her Water Release.
Mei Terumi and Hozuki Mangetsu didn't seem to get along very well, though he didn't know why.
As Obito sized up the others, he had no idea they were sizing him up as well. The people from the various ninja villages were meeting for the first time, so naturally they would start by assessing the situation.
As soon as Mei Terumi entered the space, she noticed that the people from each village had been grouped together. She might have to carry out the mission with Hozuki Mangetsu later. She was confident in her own strength.
One of Konoha's brats, however, kept looking her way, and he seemed to be an Uchiha. Mei Terumi suddenly realized how powerful her charm was. Even an Uchiha from the clan known as Konoha's foremost ninja clan couldn't resist her.