Surrender

"Soccer?"

Hearing Uchiha Chi's answer, Uchiha Obito's voice rose involuntarily.

Not long after Uchiha Chi entered the alley, sounds of punching and kicking came from inside.

Obito pondered for a while with his earth-shattering wisdom and decided that Uchiha Chi must have been getting beaten up, so he eagerly followed after him.

Then he discovered that Uchiha Chi was not the one getting beaten up.

He was the one doing the beating...

Just as he wanted to move closer and see who was being beaten, Uchiha Chi suddenly turned around and looked over!

Obito panicked instantly, turned around, and jogged away.

The moment he returned outside the alley, he saw a white afterimage shoot out of it at high speed, tracing a beautiful arc through the sky.

That was obviously the person Uchiha Chi had just beaten up.

And Uchiha Chi said it was a soccer ball?!

"That's right. It was a soccer ball."

Uchiha Chi said solemnly, "Don't you know soccer balls are white?"

"Of course I know!" Challenged, Obito immediately jumped up in rebuttal. "Soccer balls aren't pure white. They have other colors to set them off..."

He had heard Rin mention that many people in the Land of Fire's capital liked soccer.

So he had specifically gone to a bookstore to read related magazines. The next time the subject came up, he could show Rin how knowledgeable he was.

Uchiha Chi glanced at Obito and nodded in surprise. "I didn't expect you to be so well-informed."

Obito crossed his arms and raised his chin. "Of course."

He did not notice at all that he had already accepted that white afterimage, which was absolutely not a soccer ball, as one.

"Then, Obito," Uchiha Chi said with a shrug, spreading his hands, "is there anything else? If not, I'm going back to rest."

Uchiha Obito froze slightly.

He looked down at the slip of paper with his plan written on it and finally remembered what he had come for.

He was going to beat this ramen-head flat, make him apologize to Rin, and disappear from the two-person world he shared with Rin forever!

"I challenge you to a ninja duel!"

Once his emotions had sufficiently built up, Obito pointed at Uchiha Chi and said angrily.

"What if you win?" Rather than asking why, Uchiha Chi directly asked what this duel was for.

Without thinking, Obito said, "I want you to apologize to Rin and disappear from our world forever!"

"So that's what this is about." Uchiha Chi came to a realization.

So you waited around all this time for that?

Uchiha Chi silently gave Obito a thumbs-up.

You're the real deal!

When it comes to simping, I, Uchiha Chi, acknowledge you as the strongest!

"That's right." Obito closed his eyes and nodded. "You'd better surrender right away. Otherwise, heh heh..."

Just as he was imagining Uchiha Chi getting beaten to a pulp by him—

"I surrender."

"Huh?"

[Detected emotional fluctuations from Uchiha Obito!]

[Obtained 15 points. Damage Increase also rose by 3%!]

Looking at the azure text that had appeared, Uchiha Chi's lips curled up.

Ho ho ho, that's ridiculous. I can get points from this too.

"Surrender?" Obito came back to his senses and stared at Uchiha Chi with a face full of question marks.

Uchiha Chi said nothing, merely giving Obito a calm glance.

Obito had only graduated recently. He was merely at the level of an ordinary genin.

After mining him for some time, Uchiha Chi felt that Obito's mine had been mostly exhausted for now.

After all, he had already obtained the most useful spatial talent. At this point, the only thing remotely worthwhile Obito had left was probably his talent for awakening the Sharingan.

But awakening the Sharingan was destined to involve suffering, and it could also affect one's personality.

Uchiha Chi already had cheats and could directly use points to improve his Sharingan. Why would he endure that pain?

Of course, even a mosquito was still meat. Uchiha Chi would not let go of anything he could fleece from Obito.

However, compared to such a boring duel, some appropriate maneuvering after directly surrendering could turn mediocre gains into considerable ones.

"That's right." Uchiha Chi raised both hands over his head. "Tomorrow, I'll go apologize to Nohara Rin."

Obito was stunned and instinctively asked, "Why?"

"Because Rin really is this upset because of me," Uchiha Chi said. "No matter how much I deny it, that won't change."

As he spoke, he looked at Obito. "If you were the one who made Rin sad, would you apologize?"

"I-I would, of course."

Obito spoke quickly and urgently, as though he had already imagined this question in his heart more than once.

"If it were me, I would apologize right away, until Rin smiled!"

Uchiha Chi nodded.

"Although she rejected me, the feelings in my heart can't be erased in just a few days. Hearing that Rin is so upset now, I naturally feel sad as well."

"So," he looked at Obito seriously, "I will definitely go apologize, Obito."

Meeting Uchiha Chi's gaze, Obito awkwardly turned his head aside and stammered, "I-is that so..."

Uchiha Chi's gaze made him feel somewhat restrained, because aside from his grandmother and Rin, no one had ever looked at him with such sincere eyes.

Yet while he was at a loss, Obito's body gradually relaxed as well.

His Ninja Academy assessment scores had been somewhat better than Uchiha Chi's, so in theory, he should have been able to beat Uchiha Chi.

But after witnessing the terrifying aura Uchiha Chi had displayed while beating someone up in the alley, he had become a little unsure.

Though Obito had ultimately proposed the duel, it was entirely because of Rin.

To make Rin happy again, even if it cost him his life, he would make Uchiha Chi apologize to her!

He really had imagined Uchiha Chi surrendering immediately, after which Rin's eyes would hold only him, and the two of them would fall in love together.

But he had not expected that fantasy to actually come true...

Wait.

Uchiha Obito's expression froze as his brain suddenly began racing.

"Since the first half has already come true, doesn't that mean..."

The smile on Uchiha Obito's face could no longer be hidden, and the corners of his mouth shot upward wildly.

"The second half is also fated by destiny!"

"..."

Looking at Uchiha Obito's radiant smile, blooming like a chrysanthemum.

Uchiha Chi's cheek twitched slightly.

Why was he fantasizing again?

Did he have to be this pathetic?

But that was fine.

The more exquisite the house built from fantasies was, the more, when it finally collapsed, it would become heavy stone slabs that crushed the people inside into despair.

Uchiha Chi looked forward to that moment.

"Obito, although I've said it once already, I still want to say..."

He stepped forward, forcefully patted Obito on the arm, and sincerely wished him well. "You must make Rin happy!"

Obito clenched his fist and nodded heavily.

"Don't worry. I will definitely make Rin happy!"