Zhengyi: "Teacher, you'll regret this."

Obito lifted his shirt and pointed to a scar on his chest. "See this? I got it fighting an enemy on the battlefield."

Lifting his own shirt wasn't enough. He also went to lift Kakashi's. That was why artificial intelligence could never replace humans: Kakashi had guarded against Obito trying to pull off his mask, but until the day he died, he never thought to guard against Obito lifting his shirt.

Kakashi's body was spotless, without a single scar.

Like Obito, he had some clearly defined muscles.

"Your turn." Obito shook his head with a laugh. In the end, it seemed he was the only one with battle scars. He stepped forward and lifted Zhengyi's shirt. The moment he did, he blurted, "Well, I'll be damned."

He fell silent.

"Obito, what are you doing?" Rin fell silent too, then hurriedly covered her face. Her little face was bright red beneath her hands.

Eight symmetrical abs rose and fell slightly with Zhengyi's breathing.

His lats were smoothly defined, firm and powerful.

He wasn't bulky, but every inch of him radiated the strength that came from years of training. Zhengyi hadn't built up oversized muscles, which would only slow him down. Instead, he had worked hard to develop an efficient physique.

The two scrawny guys exchanged a glance, then tacitly pulled his shirt back down.

Damn it, why was Obito the one singing and dancing, while he was the one being humiliated? Kakashi's toes curled in embarrassment.

"What was the point of that? Really, what was the point?" Zhengyi taunted Obito, looking insufferably smug.

He was a well-rounded fighter, after all.

He could fight, handle diplomacy, and manage political affairs...

As a child, he might not have been the strongest in any one area, but he was the well-balanced type, with no weaknesses.

Obito before he turned rogue couldn't compare to him at all.

Obito was about to lose his mind. He had clearly improved so much since graduating from the Ninja Academy, so why was he still no match for Zhengyi?

"Little Obito, you should eat more meat. You've gotten too skinny."

At the dinner table, Zhengyi put some food on Obito's plate. He did want to mend their relationship.

Few people knew that Zhengyi had lived with Obito when they were young. Zhengyi was an orphan, and sometimes he had no money for food. His house even leaked when it rained. Obito had taken him in for several months, helping him through the hardest time of his life.

So no matter what Obito did, Zhengyi could forgive him.

Anyway, he wouldn't let anyone make fun of Obito.

Why?! Why had the two brothers both fallen for the same girl back in school?

"I don't want to talk to you."

Hate lasted longer than love... Obito would never forget how Zhengyi had stabbed him in the back.

After dinner, Zhengyi left early to help Orochimaru.

"Rin, you might think Zhengyi seems serious, but let me tell you, he was so embarrassing when he was little..." Obito and Zhengyi knew plenty of each other's embarrassing secrets, and Obito had told Rin more than a few of them.

But every time Obito told her one, Rin thought it was funny. She laughed at how adorable little Zhengyi had been.

Today, she didn't laugh.

Her mind was filled with the sheer sensuality of that man, Zhengyi.

Kakashi's air of mystery, with his face half-hidden behind his mask, was what made him so alluring.

And Zhengyi's eight-pack was just as alluring.

His physique seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her mind. She couldn't even hear what Obito was saying.

"Rin, do you have a fever? Why's your face so red?"

"Huh?" Rin shook her head. How could she? She wasn't some shallow woman who cared only about looks. Otherwise, she would have accepted Zhengyi when he confessed to her at the Ninja Academy.

Half a month passed.

Orochimaru hadn't conducted any experiments or research lately. Instead, Hiruzen Sarutobi had him handling paperwork.

The two advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, were also pleased with Orochimaru's efficiency. They often hinted in public that they supported him as the Fourth Hokage.

At first, Zhengyi's words had made Orochimaru feel a little uneasy.

But now, after receiving those signals from the two advisors, Orochimaru put his worries to rest.

In the Hokage's office building, Hiruzen Sarutobi had specially assigned Orochimaru an office. Orochimaru had gone from commander on the Kumogakure front to one of the village's top five officials in a single leap.

"What do you think, Zhengyi? I've made quite a comeback, haven't I?"

That day, Orochimaru called Zhengyi into his office, looking as though he wanted to show off and reassure him at the same time.

He hoped Zhengyi would put his worries to rest, too.

What kind of look was it for his student to be suspicious of everything all day?

Just look at Anko. She knew how to take both praise and setbacks in stride.

"Teacher..." Zhengyi felt that at that moment, Orochimaru was like a child whom Hiruzen Sarutobi had placated with a couple of pieces of candy.

"Teacher, I want to tell you a story."

Orochimaru furrowed his brow. He guessed what Zhengyi was about to say and wanted him to stop, but Zhengyi had already started.

"Once upon a time, in a distant land, there was an old Feudal Lord. He had made his eldest son, who was only eight years old, the Crown Prince early on, forbidding his other sons from laying claim to the throne."

"The old Feudal Lord thought highly of his eldest son. He found him the best teachers, gave him the best resources, and held him to the highest expectations."

"..."

"Later, the old Feudal Lord's younger son gradually grew into exactly the kind of person he liked best. The old Feudal Lord always felt that, by giving the Crown Prince title to his eldest son, he had shortchanged his younger son. So he let the boy live in the finest palace and granted him the richest lands..."

"He didn't realize that what he thought was making up for his younger son's loss was actually favoritism. That supposed debt was just an excuse to spoil him."

In the end, the eldest son went mad. He couldn't accept that his father was giving "his younger brother" the best things in the world, all under the pretext of making up for what he lacked.

"You're saying the old Feudal Lord is my teacher, and the eldest son is me?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"Yes." Zhengyi met Orochimaru's gaze without wavering.

After a while...

"Are you trying to drive a wedge between me and my teacher?" Orochimaru restrained his anger, his expression darkening. If anyone else had spent every day chattering in his ear about how bad his teacher was, he would have fed them to his snakes long ago.

But the one saying this was his most perceptive student.

"I'm not driving a wedge between you. I'm telling you the truth."

Without the benefit of hindsight, Zhengyi might have thought Orochimaru would be the one to win in the end.

Everything he said was to save his teacher—and himself.

Nothing his teacher did could withstand close scrutiny. Only if he became Hokage could people find a way to justify his actions.

Otherwise, his teacher's human experiments were evil.

That was just how Zhengyi was. When he was serious, he was very serious. When he wasn't, he was anything but.

People only liked hearing what they wanted to hear. Orochimaru was no different.

"That's enough. This isn't the truth, Zhengyi. You're the student I value most, and I don't want to speak harshly to you. Go home and clear your head."

"Teacher, you'll regret this." Zhengyi gave Orochimaru a long look.

"I'm your teacher! I'm the one who should be teaching you!" Orochimaru pointed toward the door.

Bang!