Rin Nohara: No, Obito, You Don't Understand

The time for free practice passed quickly.

The Chunin instructor clapped his hands, signaling everyone to stop.

"Alright, now line up and come forward one by one for the test. Five shuriken and five kunai per person, for a total of ten throws."

"Hitting the bullseye counts for two points, hitting the target body counts for one point, and missing the target is zero."

He pointed to the row of brand-new wooden stake targets at the edge of the training ground.

"The maximum score is twenty points."

The first one called was Kakashi.

Kakashi quickly took five shuriken from the distributed ninja tool pouch.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

The five shuriken flew out almost simultaneously, the sound of them piercing the bullseye ringing out in a continuous stream.

Before the crowd could even react, Kakashi had already drawn the kunai with his left hand.

Five more dull thuds followed.

Every single ninja tool had struck the bullseye.

"Perfect score."

The Chunin instructor wrote the score on his clipboard, a look of satisfaction on his face.

The son of White Fang was truly strong.

Thinking of the heroic figure of Hatake Sakumo, the Chunin instructor felt that it was only natural for Kakashi to achieve such results.

"Well done, Kakashi."

Kakashi simply gave a slight nod and stepped aside.

"Next."

The Chunin instructor prepared to call the next name.

"Me, me! Let me go!"

Obito raised his hand impatiently, nearly jumping up.

He was always the most enthusiastic when it came to things where he could show off.

The Chunin instructor nodded, signaling him to step forward.

Obito puffed out his chest and deliberately glanced in the direction of Rin Nohara, only to find that she was turned to the side, seemingly talking to Qingyu.

His heart skipped a beat, but there was no time to dwell on it; the test had already begun.

Obito took a deep breath and drew five shuriken.

The first one hit the bullseye.

Yes!

Obito felt a surge of joy and sped up his movements.

Unfortunately, he missed the target entirely with the next four attempts.

Sweat began to bead on Obito's forehead.

The subsequent kunai throws were no better; only two out of the five kunai stuck into the target body, while the other three missed completely.

The Chunin instructor took a look at the target.

It was one bullseye hit and two hits on the target body.

He wrote a score on his clipboard.

"Four points. Not bad, student Obito, you've improved since yesterday."

Obito froze for a moment, then scratched the back of his head and let out a silly laugh.

"Of course! I am from the Uchiha clan, after all!"

He turned around triumphantly, ready to be bathed in the admiring gaze of Rin Nohara.

Then, he saw that Rin was still turned to the side, talking earnestly to Qingyu.

She hadn't been watching him at all.

Obito's smile stiffened on his face.

In that instant, he felt as if his most cherished possession had been secretly snatched away, leaving him staring at a scene of desolation.

In reality, Rin Nohara had indeed failed to notice Obito's spectacular performance.

She was busy talking to Qingyu.

"Student Qingyu, are you interested in medical ninjutsu?"

Qingyu was somewhat surprised by this question and tilted his head to look at her.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because Lady Tsunade is very famous."

Rin Nohara blinked, her tone filled with admiration.

"She is the top medical ninja in Konoha. Since you live with Lady Tsunade, you must have been influenced by her to some extent, right?"

Qingyu rubbed his chin, not answering immediately.

Top-tier, indeed.

That was likely how outsiders viewed Tsunade.

But as for being influenced...

What came to Qingyu's mind wasn't the image of Tsunade working miracles at a hospital bedside, but rather her lounging on the sofa with her legs propped up, betting slips and empty sake bottles scattered across the coffee table, while she occasionally bossed him and Shizune around.

If anything, the thing he had learned most from her was gambling.

In fact, Qingyu's gambling skills were quite good.

Perhaps seeing Tsunade's miserable track record at the casinos provided him with a cautionary tale, or perhaps luck was simply on his side; regardless, he picked it up quickly, even winning a significant amount once when he stood in for her.

Of course, he had no intention of telling Rin Nohara about that.

Another thought surfaced in his mind.

Although Rin Nohara appeared to be a civilian ninja, she possessed terrifying medical talent.

In the original plot, she had no Kekkei Genkai and no secret scrolls of clan-inherited ninjutsu. Relying solely on the basic education of the Ninja Academy and training at Konoha Hospital, she later mastered the A-rank medical ninjutsu, Mystical Palm Technique.

How significant was that?

For comparison, Haruno Sakura studied under Tsunade for three full years before mastering the Mystical Palm Technique.

And Sakura herself was already a ninja whom Tsunade had praised for having "extremely outstanding chakra control talent."

Rin Nohara's medical talent was, if anything, even stronger.

If Kakashi was an all-around prodigy, then Rin Nohara was undoubtedly a specialized prodigy in the field of medicine.

The "Prodigy" tag could perhaps be dropped from one of these two.

As for the others...

Qingyu glanced around. People like Uchiha Tekka, Hyūga Natsu, and Hyūga Tetsu were decent, but they were still a far cry from being true prodigies.

Thinking of this, Qingyu spoke up.

"Actually, I am indeed very interested in medical ninjutsu."

Qingyu said it with sincerity.

Because he was genuinely interested.

This stuff was a life-saving skill; in a crisis, you could even heal yourself.

In high-level matches, the ability to recover from injuries was almost a mandatory requirement for everyone.

Rin Nohara's eyes lit up.

"Because every war causes many ninjas to die. If possible, I want to save those who are injured on the battlefield. This is my dream."

Qingyu spoke.

These words were actually Rin Nohara's dream as recorded in the Book of Formations, but he had voiced them himself.

Hearing Qingyu's words, Rin Nohara felt as if she had found a kindred spirit.

Even Qingyu's handsome face seemed to look a few degrees more attractive to her.

Because among the people she knew, she was the only one who thought this way.

Neither Kakashi nor Obito had any interest in this regard, which left Rin Nohara with no one to discuss these things with.

Now, it seemed that Qingyu thought the same way.

In an instant, the feeling of loneliness was washed away.

"Then, Qingyu, have you already started learning medical ninjutsu?"

"Yes."

Qingyu nodded.

"That's amazing."

Rin Nohara exclaimed softly.

One had to know that medical ninjutsu was much more difficult than ordinary ninjutsu.

"If you're interested, Rin, we can exchange ideas."

Qingyu said.

The best way to get close to someone was to start with their interests.

Frequent contact with Rin Nohara, as well as helping her grasp more knowledge in advance, both carried the probability of triggering the drop of a talent-type player trait.

"That's wonderful, Qingyu."

Rin Nohara nodded.

"Next, Qingyu."

The chunin instructor's voice cut off Rin Nohara's words.

Qingyu stood up, gave her a slight nod, and then walked toward the testing area.

Obito stood to the side, watching Qingyu pass by him, the sour feeling in his heart growing even more intense.

"Rin, if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

Obito said.

Although he didn't know exactly what Rin and Qingyu were talking about, Obito still possessed that confidence; at worst, he would just go back and study more.

Leaning on a great clan like the Uchiha, Obito actually had plenty of resources.

"No, Obito, you don't understand."

Rin Nohara shook her head.

Obito's expression stiffened.