Triumph Met with a Cold Reception?

Obito wiped the muddy water from his face and looked up at Qian Ye.

"Can horse stance make me stronger?"

Qian Ye shot him a sidelong glance.

"If you don't do horse stance, I'll slap you again right now."

Obito shrank his neck and dared not say another word, obediently running off to search the mud pile for loot.

Watching Obito's busy back, Minato shook his head helplessly, though there was satisfaction in his eyes.

"Qian Ye, you really have a knack for disciplining people."

Qian Ye found a clean rock to sit on, took two strips of jerky from his clothes, and tossed one to Minato.

"That Uchiha clan brat thinks too much. All that wild imagining every day makes it easy for him to go down the wrong path."

"Get beaten a few more times, toughen up his bones, and his head will naturally clear up."

Minato bit into the jerky, chewing the rich vitality contained within as he nodded thoughtfully.

Obito ran back and forth through the ruins. Though his cheeks were still swollen high, his movements had become much nimbler than before.

Qian Ye also casually gave him a few pointers on how to exert force.

How to push off the ground with his heels, and how to engage the strength of his waist and abdomen while running.

These rudimentary force-exertion techniques broken down from the Six Powers were practically an unheard-of new world to the current Obito.

As Obito followed Qian Ye's instructions, he discovered in surprise that his steps really had become much steadier than usual.

That urgent obsession was gradually replaced by the aching sensation of having his feet firmly on the ground.

Just as Obito returned carrying a huge bag of captured ninja tools.

A series of crisp notification chimes suddenly rang