An Excellent Victory

The bell-snatching competition ended with Minato Namikaze conceding defeat.

"This meat is so succulent and tender, the texture is just... mmm, as expected of a bento made by Teacher Minato's wife." Holding a lunch box, Yang Xing picked up a piece of lean meat, his expression comically exaggerated.

Obito: "..."

Kakashi: "..."

"Ahem!" Glancing sternly at Yang Xing, Minato Namikaze looked at the dejected Obito and Kakashi, his face turning serious. "Kakashi, Obito, you both failed this trial. Do you understand?"

The most miserable one was naturally Obito; he had run around for half the day, only to find that the Fourth Hokage had vanished before the competition even ended.

He was extremely depressed, and his inner thoughts were written all over his face.

Even Kakashi was filled with confusion. Why did the worst of them, Yang Xing, win? It simply didn't make sense.

What kind of trick did this kid use to snatch the bell? Kakashi felt very unconvinced.

As a result, Yang Xing was being glared at by two people while he ate. Although it didn't affect him in the slightest, Rin Nohara, sitting to the side, felt a bit uncomfortable. It was obvious that she hadn't touched her own bento from start to finish.

"Um, Lord Fourth, actually we were just... we were only..." Rin Nohara hesitated, looking at Kakashi and Obito, and couldn't help but feel discouraged herself.

"No, this incident was indeed a misjudgment on the part of Obito and Kakashi." Minato Namikaze spoke with unusual firmness. He swept his gaze over the two, his brows furrowed. "First, Kakashi's recklessness completely ignored his teammates. And Obito, you were led by the nose by Kakashi, following behind him without assessing your own strength or the situation. Compared to you two, Yang Xing did quite well, which is why I consider him the winner."

"I don't accept that." Obito was clearly unconvinced. Even though it was the Fourth Hokage speaking, his dissatisfaction led him to point at the bento-eating Yang Xing. "This guy only won by playing some cheap tricks. He is not the winner."

Unfortunately, as soon as the words left his mouth, he was met with Minato Namikaze's low, stern voice: "Obito Uchiha! This is no longer the era of children, and the Great Ninja War is not a game for kids. On the battlefield, if someone uses a trick to kill you, do you intend to ask them for an explanation then?"

"This..." Stung by the rebuke, Obito could only look sullen.

"Lord Fourth."

"No need to call me Lord Fourth. From today on, I am your teacher, and it is my duty to teach you how to fight." Minato Namikaze's expression was grim, his voice turning somewhat dark toward the end. "And what follows will not be as easy as your time at the Academy."

Facing Minato Namikaze's reprimand, Obito and Kakashi could only lower their heads.

"Well, there are some things you will understand in the future." Seeing their repentant expressions, Minato Namikaze stopped scolding them. He placed his hands on their shoulders, his tone softening. "Kakashi, Obito, you must remember that you are a team. Yang Xing and Rin Nohara are essential parts of this unit. Only with all four of you can this team be complete, and with this team, you will be invincible."

"Yes!" Regardless of their inner thoughts, both responded.

"Good, that's the spirit. Remember, you are the pride of Konoha." Minato Namikaze nodded with a smile. As he turned to leave, he didn't forget to say to the gluttonous Yang Xing, "Actually, I have some things to attend to. Also, Yang Xing, I'll leave the bento to you. It's fine if you finish it all."

With a blink, he vanished from the plains in less than a few seconds.

Yang Xing: "..."

Traveling from here to Konoha would take half an hour, and given their current exhaustion, it would take even longer.

That meant for at least an hour, these two would have to go hungry. Minato Namikaze was well aware of this.

The Fourth Hokage was truly a devious one!

Grumble!

As Yang Xing pondered, a strange sound emanated from the stomachs of the two boys.

"Um, actually, I'm not very hungry..." Rin Nohara, kind-hearted as ever, proactively offered her unopened bento box.

Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't take it. He just glanced at it, shook his head, and fixed his gaze on Yang Xing. "No need. We lost this time. Yang Xing, although I don't agree with your methods, you did indeed snatch the bell. The Fourth is right; you won."

Obito followed up, looking equally sullen. "Well, although I don't want to admit it, I'll count this as your win."

Seeing that they weren't joking, Yang Xing stopped his chopsticks.

"Fine, my heart is just too soft for my own good." Muttering under his breath, Yang Xing picked up another lunch box from the side and tossed it over. "Take it. There are two pairs of chopsticks; Teacher Minato prepared them early on."

"What's that supposed to mean? Let me tell you..." Catching the box, Obito was annoyed by the charity.

Unfortunately, Yang Xing didn't even look at him. "If you don't want to starve to death here, just eat. You've been running for half a day; if you get taken out by a wild beast on the way back, I don't believe you two have the energy to use ninjutsu."

Obito and Kakashi: "..."

The two looked at each other, and eventually, they opened the boxes. Perhaps Yang Xing was right, or perhaps they were truly famished, but they began to wolf down the food with a ferocity that rivaled Yang Xing's.

Who would have thought that even Kakashi would eat so ungracefully when hungry? It was truly hard for him to keep up his cool act.

The bento was devoured in a flash, not a single grain of rice left behind.

After the meal, Obito wiped his mouth with his hand and struck a cocky pose. "Yang Xing, I'll begrudgingly admit you won this time, but this doesn't count toward our bet. Let me tell you, that wager... hic!"

"Hahaha!"

"Don't laugh! Kakashi, you were laughing too! You bastard, don't deny it, you clearly made a sound." Obito's face turned red, especially when faced with Rin Nohara's smile; he looked as flushed as a monkey's backside.

Inside Yang Xing's small, private room.

"Reward, my lovely reward." Sitting on his bed, Yang Xing pulled out his phone, unable to wait any longer.

Clearly, the button to claim the reward had appeared on the screen, along with the display of a major S-rank emergency mission and a 5-star perfect rating.

This made Yang Xing's heart race with excitement.

In the Land of Fire—no, in this world—one's fate was determined by the strength of their abilities.

Small tricks were, in the end, just small tricks. If nothing else, one only had to look at the way Rin Nohara gazed at Kakashi to understand that in a ninja world where strength was supreme, one could not achieve everything through cleverness alone.

The favor of a girl, the admiration of comrades, and the dream of building a grand harem all required strength as a foundation.

Today, he might have been able to use a few tricks to attract Rin Nohara's attention, but he understood all too well that compared to Kakashi, he was still far behind.

There was only one way to bridge that gap.