"It hurt..."
The sudden fall on level ground hurt Uchiha Obito so badly that he nearly cried.
The moment he remembered that Hyuga Bin was right ahead of him, Uchiha Obito hurriedly got to his feet, trying to act like nothing had happened. But his little face had already turned bright red.
What he had just done like an idiot was simply too embarrassing.
As a professional spectator, Hyuga Bin held back his laughter and walked back over to Uchiha Obito. "Do you want some mochi?"
"Huh?"
Uchiha Obito clearly hadn't expected Hyuga Bin's invitation.
"I'm going to buy some mochi. Want to come with me?" Hyuga Bin repeated.
"Uncle Pinggu's mochi?" Uchiha Obito dusted himself off and asked Hyuga Bin.
"Yeah." Hyuga Bin nodded.
Ten minutes later.
"So good."
Uchiha Obito popped a green mochi into his mouth, his face filled with a satisfied smile.
Pinggu's three-color mochi was one of his favorite snacks.
He especially loved the green vegetable-flavored ones.
However, Uchiha Obito's mochi-eating experience wasn't going very smoothly today.
Just after he finished his first skewer, three boys who looked five or six years old, dressed in the same billiard-ball-patterned clothes as Uchiha Obito, walked into the mochi shop and headed straight for him.
"Yo, Obito. You actually have money for mochi today?"
Clearly, these three boys were Uchiha Obito's "friends."
From the look of it, Uchiha Obito had been bullied by these three "friends" for quite some time.
"A friend treated me today." Uchiha Obito instinctively touched where his money pouch was, even though there was no money in it.
"Oh? A friend? Since when did you have friends?" The three clearly didn't believe him. They grabbed Uchiha Obito from both sides and dragged him to a corner by the shop entrance. "Hand over all your money."
"I... I don't have any money." Uchiha Obito sounded terribly aggrieved.
"What? No money? Then why are you eating mochi?" At the words "no money," the leader grabbed Uchiha Obito by the collar.
Seeing this, Hyuga Bin had just stood up to go find out what was happening when three options appeared in his mind:
[Option A: Charge in bravely and use words to mock the three children bullying Uchiha Obito. Completion reward: Beginner Gentle Fist (C-rank reward).] [Option B: Walk over calmly and ask what happened. Completion reward: One specially refined kunai (D-rank reward).] [Option C: Pretend not to see anything and sit down to keep eating mochi. Completion reward: Random Attribute Points +0.1.]
Had my cheat finally arrived?
After reading the three options, Hyuga Bin was ecstatic inside, though his expression remained perfectly calm.
From the options alone, he understood the relationship between Uchiha Obito and the others.
Hyuga Bin immediately chose Option A, because... as a righteous person, he couldn't just watch Uchiha Obito get bullied like that. (Option A had the best reward.)
Then Hyuga Bin rushed out of the mochi shop and cursed at the Uchiha Trio, "You pieces of trash, let Obito go."
"Kid, say that again?" The Uchiha Trio clearly hadn't expected Hyuga Bin to suddenly appear, but that didn't stop them from continuing their bullying. After all, Hyuga Bin looked even easier to bully than Uchiha Obito.
"Bullying children younger than yourselves makes you trash." Hyuga Bin stared directly at the three of them without the slightest fear.
"Fine, kid from the Hyuga Clan. I'll remember you. Just you wait." After glancing at the pedestrians coming and going around them, including some Hyuga Clan adults, the three chose not to make a move. After throwing out that threat, they left directly.
They liked bullying others, but they weren't stupid enough to start beating people in a crowded place.
At the same time, new information appeared in Hyuga Bin's mind.
[Option task completed.] [Follow-up task unlocked: Revenge from the three Uchiha bullies. Rewards will be issued upon task completion.] [Task completion requirement: Defeat the three Uchiha bullies.]
"Huh? Doesn't it give out the reward right away?"
Faced with this, Hyuga Bin froze for a moment before grumbling inwardly:
What kind of completion requirement is this?
You want an adorable three-and-a-half-year-old like me to beat three five- or six-year-old Uchiha brats in a fight? This is just making things difficult for me, Fat Tiger!
"Bin, thank you." Watching the three leave, Uchiha Obito thanked Hyuga Bin, who was still complaining inwardly.
He truly hadn't expected Hyuga Bin to stand up for him. After all, their relationship was only average—they just had the kind of friendship where Hyuga Bin had made him cry in one-on-one fights a few times.
Though touched, he was also worried about Hyuga Bin. "But be careful. You helped me, so they'll definitely come after you."
"It's fine. Let's keep eating mochi." Hyuga Bin waved it off, showing that he didn't mind.
Though he was complaining about the system internally, he wouldn't take his frustration out on Uchiha Obito.
Even if he had to fight the three Uchiha boys, he had chosen Option A himself. It had nothing to do with Uchiha Obito.
Besides, they were only three five- or six-year-old kids. What could they possibly do?
After parting ways with Uchiha Obito, Hyuga Bin walked alone along the road back to the clan grounds.
As he passed a park, Hyuga Bin first felt a chill before spotting Orochimaru sitting on a bench, deep in thought.
During his three and a half years in Konoha, Hyuga Bin had "run into" Orochimaru several times already, so he wasn't surprised and felt none of the excitement of meeting a celebrity.
After all, Konoha was tiny, and he went out every day. It would have been strange not to run into notable people from the village a few times.
Hyuga Bin continued toward home, but as he passed the contemplative Orochimaru, new options appeared in his mind:
[Option A: Take the initiative to discuss biological anatomy with Orochimaru, who is currently deep in thought. Completion reward: Thirty-two Chapters of the Eight Trigrams (B-rank reward).] [Option B: Walk over calmly and introduce yourself to Orochimaru. Completion reward: Thousand Years of Death Jutsu (D-rank reward).] [Option C: Pretend not to see Orochimaru and continue walking home. Completion reward: Random Attribute Points +0.1.]
Hyuga Bin couldn't help stopping, lost in thought.
First, Option A was definitely out, because he was worried Orochimaru would capture him and dissect him for research.
Option C's reward was negligible. The 0.1 random Attribute Points wouldn't improve him much.
That left only Option B. It was merely an introduction, and he could get a fairly "practical" jutsu out of it. It seemed like a pretty good choice.
After careful consideration, Hyuga Bin strode briskly past Orochimaru.
Before you continue