"Teacher, you will definitely regret this."

Obito lifted his shirt, pointing to a scar on his chest. "See this? I got this fighting enemies on the battlefield."

Lifting his own wasn't enough; he went to lift Kakashi's as well. It just goes to show that artificial intelligence can never replace humans—Kakashi had guarded against Obito trying to pull off his mask, but he never saw the day he'd fail to guard against Obito lifting his shirt.

Kakashi's body was clean, devoid of any scars.

Like Obito, both of them had visible muscle definition.

"Your turn." Obito shook his head with a laugh. In the end, it seemed he was the only one with battle honors. He stepped forward and lifted Zhengyi's shirt. With that lift, holy mother of—

He fell silent.

"Ah, Obito, what are you doing?" Rin also fell silent, then immediately covered her face, her small cheeks hidden behind her hands turning bright red.

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

His latissimus dorsi muscles were smooth, firm, and powerful.

Overall, he didn't have exaggerated bulk, but every inch exuded a sense of strength gained from long-term training. Zhengyi didn't train for bloated muscles, as that would only decrease his agility; instead, he worked hard toward an efficient physique.

The two "white-cut chickens" exchanged a glance and tacitly pulled their shirts back down.

Damn it, why was it Obito doing all the singing and dancing, yet he was the one feeling embarrassed? Kakashi's toes curled in his shoes from the awkwardness.

"Why bother? Why bother?" Zhengyi teased Obito with a provocative smirk.

He was, after all, a little "hexagonal warrior."

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

In his childhood, he might not have been the strongest in any single category, but he was the type who developed in a balanced way with no blind spots.

The Obito before his corruption couldn't compare to him in the slightest.

Obito was truly going crazy. He had clearly improved so much since graduating from the Ninja Academy, so why was he still unable to beat Zhengyi?

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

At the dinner table, Zhengyi placed food into Obito's bowl; he was trying to mend their relationship.

There was one thing few people knew: Zhengyi had lived with Obito when they were children. He was an orphan, sometimes without money for food, and his house leaked when it rained. It was Obito who had taken him home to live for a few months, helping him through his most difficult period.

That was why, no matter what Obito did, Zhengyi could always find it in himself to forgive him.

In any case, he wouldn't allow anyone to make fun of Obito.

Why?! Why did they have to fall for the same girl when they were in school?

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

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

After finishing the meal, Zhengyi went off early to help Orochimaru.

"Little Rin, don't let Zhengyi's serious appearance fool you. Let me tell you, he was so embarrassing when he was a kid..." Obito and Zhengyi both held plenty of each other's dark history, and Obito didn't hold back when talking to Rin.

But every time Obito told her, Rin just found it funny, laughing at how cute Zhengyi was as a child.

Today, she didn't laugh.

Her mind was filled with the sexual tension of that man, Zhengyi.

Kakashi's half-hidden, mysterious look behind his mask was a form of male sexual tension.

But Zhengyi's eight-pack abs were an even greater display of it.

Zhengyi's physique seemed unable to leave her mind; she hadn't even heard what Obito was saying.

"Rin-chan, are you running a fever? Why is your face so red?"

"Ah?" Rin shook her head. How could that be? She wasn't a shallow woman who only looked at appearances; otherwise, she would have agreed when Zhengyi confessed to her back at the Ninja Academy.

Half a month passed.

Orochimaru hadn't been doing any experimental research lately; instead, he was being kept busy by Hiruzen Sarutobi handling paperwork.

The two advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, were also pleased with Orochimaru's work efficiency, often hinting in public that they favored Orochimaru for the position of Fourth Hokage.

At first, Zhengyi's words had had some effect, and Orochimaru felt a bit uneasy.

But now, with the signals sent by the two advisors, Orochimaru immediately set his heart at ease.

In the Hokage office building, Hiruzen Sarutobi had specially approved an office for Orochimaru to work in. From a frontline commander at Kumogakure, Orochimaru had leaped to become one of the top five officials in the village.

"How about it, Zhengyi-kun? I've made it big, haven't I?"

That day, Orochimaru called Zhengyi into his office, partly to show off and partly to reassure him.

He also hoped Zhengyi would set his mind at ease.

As his student, what was the point of being suspicious all day long?

Look at Anko; she was so calm regardless of favor or humiliation.

"Teacher..." Zhengyi felt that Orochimaru at this moment was just a child being fooled by Hiruzen Sarutobi with two pieces of candy.

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

Orochimaru furrowed his brows; he had guessed what Zhengyi was likely about to say and wanted to make him shut up, but Zhengyi had already begun to speak.

"So, in a distant land, there was a great Daimyo who appointed his eight-year-old eldest son as the Crown Prince early on, forbidding his other sons from ever laying a finger on the throne."

"The great Daimyo valued this eldest son highly, finding him the best teachers, providing him with the best resources, and holding him to the highest expectations."

"..."

"Later, the Daimyo's youngest son gradually grew into the image of what he liked best. The Daimyo always felt that by giving the crown to the eldest, he had shortchanged the younger one, so he let the younger son live in the finest palace and granted him the most fertile lands..."

"He did not realize that what he mistook for compensation was actually favoritism; this so-called debt was merely an excuse he invented to indulge his own doting."

At the end of the story, the eldest son went mad; he could not accept that his father, under the guise of compensation, had given the best things in the world to his "little brother."

"You mean to say this great Daimyo is the teacher, and the eldest son is me?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"Yes." Zhengyi met Orochimaru's gaze with a firm look.

After a moment.

"Are you trying to sow discord between me and my teacher?" Orochimaru suppressed his rage, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. Had anyone else chattered in his ear day after day about how the teacher was this or that, he would have long since thrown them to the snakes.

Yet, the one saying this was his most gifted disciple.

"It is not discord, but the truth."

If he were not standing from a god's-eye view, Zhengyi might have also assumed Orochimaru would be the final winner.

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

Everything the teacher did could not withstand deep scrutiny; unless he became the Hokage, the teacher's actions would never be rationalized by the people.

Otherwise, the human experiments the teacher conducted were nothing but evil.

Zhengyi was the type of person who could be incredibly serious when the situation called for it, and incredibly unserious when it didn't.

People only like to hear what they want to hear, and Orochimaru was no exception.

"Enough. This is not the truth. Zhengyi, you are my most valued student; I do not wish to speak harshly to you. Go home and calm down."

"Teacher, you will surely regret this." Zhengyi took one long, deep look at Orochimaru.

"I am your teacher! It is I who should be educating you!" Orochimaru pointed toward the door.

Bang!