The First Gift

Huff, huff.

Obito panted heavily, then handed the long box in his hand to Mu Yue and said,

"Mu Yue-sensei, I heard that you like calligraphy, so I thought I'd use the prize money from the tournament to buy you a brush."

Originally, Obito had wanted to buy Nohara Rin a gift, but after thinking it over, he felt that would not be right.

Sometimes he was stubborn with his words, but that did not mean he had no idea what was what. Without Mu Yue's dedicated teaching, did he have the strength to take first place? No, he did not.

It was not just taking first place in the tournament. Passing the theory exam for the first time, redeeming himself in the Practical Exam and shedding his dead-last reputation—every one of those changes had come from Mu Yue's teaching.

So after much thought, Obito decided to buy Mu Yue a gift.

Faced with the long box being offered to him, Mu Yue swallowed the lecture that had been on the tip of his tongue.

He accepted the box and opened it for a look. He nodded slightly, then closed it and held it in his left hand while using his right to help Obito catch his breath.

"I do like calligraphy, and I'm very pleased with your gift. Rest for a bit before getting ready to train."

His disciple had given him a gift, so he had to respond positively instead of lecturing him as originally planned.

Judging by Obito's state, this was probably why he had been late for class.

He had carefully prepared a gift for his teacher, only for his teacher to immediately give him an earful. No one would be happy about that.

Of course, he could also pull a reversal—apologize and thank him after training, saying that they were teacher and disciple during training but friends once it was over.

That way, the initial grievance and indignation would turn into positive feelings during the reversal, sharply increasing Obito's favorability.

But Mu Yue did not particularly want to use that method right now. At least, not today.

After all, today he had received the first gift he had ever gotten in this world.

"Hehe, as long as you like it, Sensei. I don't know anything about calligraphy either. I just thought the brush looked pretty good, so I bought it," Obito said with a silly grin.

Then Obito took several deep breaths, stood up, and said, "Mu Yue-sensei, I'm ready. Let's start today's training."

Seeing Obito's high spirits, Mu Yue nodded and gestured for Might Guy to come over.

"Next, we'll resume the training from three weeks ago. You haven't forgotten it, have you?" Mu Yue asked with a smile.

Obito's memories gradually returned to the days before the tournament Special Training.

"Do one extra question every time you get hit..." Obito's forehead broke out in a cold sweat as the memory struck him. He remembered now.

They had spent more than twenty days training Chakra Control and Nature Transformation, to the point that he had actually forgotten what kind of hellish training they had done before.

"I haven't forgotten. If I fail to land a hit even once, I do fifty questions. Every hit I land reduces that by one question, up to a maximum reduction of forty questions," Might Guy recalled.

He might not have been able to name all the people he had faced in the Practical Exam, but he still remembered the training plan.

"Obito can't use Ninjutsu in combat, and he does one question every time he gets hit." Might Guy gave Obito a thumbs-up and explained Obito's rules as well.

Obito looked like he wanted to cry as he stared at Might Guy's gleaming White Fang. Listen, I'm saying thank you...

"Sensei, I think I may have overestimated myself. How about I rest today instead?" Obito's legs went weak, and he sat on the ground as he spoke in complete seriousness.

Training to become stronger was great, but doing questions was too painful. He should leave it to tomorrow's Obito.

Mu Yue chuckled. "Rest? Of course you can rest. Since you can't train, then focus on doing questions. I have plenty of test papers here."

As he spoke, Mu Yue took a stack of test papers from a scroll.

Then a medical miracle occurred.

Obito sprang to his feet at incredible speed, his expression solemn. "What does a little discomfort amount to? Mu Yue-sensei, I think I can keep going. Let's start training."

Mu Yue smiled gently. "Don't force yourself. You should rest when you need to."

"Thank you for your concern, Mu Yue-sensei, but there's only one month until the Final Exam. I want revenge on Hyuga Hamon. I want to seize every moment to grow stronger." Obito's expression was resolute.

Mu Yue nodded in satisfaction. Still holding the brush case, he patted Might Guy's shoulder with his right hand and said,

"Guy, since Obito has such determination, make sure you help him improve his taijutsu."

Might Guy straightened up and flashed a brilliant smile.

"Don't worry, Mu Yue-sensei! I'll definitely bring out one hundred and twenty percent of my strength!"

Obito, hearing their conversation: ...

It seemed that today, either he or his brain had to die.

Might Guy's words were no empty boast. When he said he would go all out, he went all out.

While Obito had been undergoing Special Training for the tournament, Might Guy had continued honing his physique.

With the System Secret Medicine, Mu Yue had later increased the intensity of Might Guy's training.

More than twenty days of grueling exercise had brought Might Guy tangible physical improvements. He was faster and stronger.

Obito's Special Training results, meanwhile, had mainly been in Ninjutsu—and Ninjutsu was precisely what he was not allowed to use in this training.

With one side rising while the other fell, Obito was practically taking a one-sided beating.

Fortunately, Mu Yue's enhanced Water Walking training had also improved his footwork. Otherwise, it would have been even worse.

This near-crushing battle also made Obito clearly recognize his own strength.

Because he had taken first place in the Youth Ninjutsu Tournament, tied with Kakashi for first, Obito had gotten a little carried away.

But after fighting Might Guy, Obito realized that even if he returned to the time of the Practical Exam as he was now, he still would not be able to defeat Hyuga Hamon.

His Ninjutsu was more powerful, but against Hyuga Hamon's combination of Gentle Fist and Byakugan, his taijutsu was not strong enough to create an opportunity to use Ninjutsu.

With the Byakugan and Gentle Fist working together, as long as Hyuga Hamon gained even a slight advantage, Obito would collapse.

The Byakugan saw through Chakra points, and the Gentle Fist cut off Chakra. Once he fell into Hyuga Hamon's rhythm, it was almost the same as losing.

"But these questions are so hard..." Obito stared at the questions before him, pen in hand, feeling like he was about to break down.

He understood the principles, but doing questions was really too hard.

"Eat first." Mu Yue handed a lunchbox to Obito, then gave one each to Shisui and Might Guy.

The lifeless Obito instantly felt the beauty of the world again after tasting Mu Yue's cooking. It felt like he had come back to life.

You gifted your disciple Delicious Home-cooked Meal. Your disciple was extremely grateful. Reward critical hit obtained: Chakra +100

With a heartfelt gift having been praised, combined with the timing of the meal, the critical hit could only be called expected.

Because Obito had been hit too many times, Mu Yue allowed him to pay off the questions in installments so as not to affect the training results. He did not have to finish them all right away.

The next day.

To better improve Class 1-1's strength and obtain more rewards, Mu Yue began making his moves.

Mu Yue first used Ninjutsu class time to hold a Practical Exam in the classroom, then gave each student feedback and advice.