Two Big Shots Talk Late at Night

When Hideki and Obito left Konoha Hospital, they saw several shinobi, and both of them felt something was off.

The shinobi themselves were nothing unusual. The key was that every one of them was carrying an injured kid.

The most severely injured one had his upper body scorched black and was barely breathing, as though he had been attacked by something.

It was Uchiha Beiying's cousin.

Obito immediately panicked so badly that he could barely walk.

"Hideki, what we did... it'll be okay, right?"

"What could possibly happen? If you'd managed to use your Great Fireball, they would've been even worse off. We were just acting in self-defense. Even the Hokage couldn't change that fact." Hideki spoke unconcernedly.

Obito was still a child, after all. He was even kind by nature, completely unlike the masked man who would later throw the Shinobi World into chaos.

As for Hideki, although he was still somewhat influenced by the personality from his previous life, he had gotten over it when Obito was beaten into a pig's head.

This was Konoha. This was the Shinobi World.

It was fine to beat someone badly enough to send them to the hospital, but being weak could get you killed.

That might sound a little exaggerated, but that was the truth. Hadn't his predecessor been beaten to a pulp, allowing him to transmigrate here?

Not to mention that once they became shinobi, they would have to face shinobi from villages other than Konoha.

The weak truly did not deserve to live.

But Hideki was also very pleased.

His use of Hydrogen Release had broken through a new threshold and entered a new stage.

Yang Release + Water Release + Lightning Release was feasible, and the results were quite good.

Not only had its power not been reduced, but the reaction speed had become much faster.

Hideki estimated that if he became more proficient, he would be able to cast Hydrogen Release even faster in the future.

That was thanks to his Rasengan training.

Hideki was even considering whether he could run two techniques at once and reduce the time further.

"Hey!" Obito suddenly sighed, interrupting Hideki's thoughts.

"I actually succeeded at noon today, but when I was about to beat them up, it failed again."

Obito looked utterly melancholy. "Where exactly is the problem?"

"Probably not enough chakra." Hideki spread his hands. "I didn't have enough chakra today either. Otherwise, I could've formed the Rasengan."

"But you still used that technique, Hideki... By the way, what exactly was that technique called again?"

"It's called... That's not the important part, Obito."

Hideki suddenly became serious, and Obito was startled by the abrupt change.

"We're too weak right now, both in ninjutsu and taijutsu. Our future enemies will only become stronger. If we keep going like this, we'll be in danger."

What happened today had served as a reminder to Hideki.

He had once believed in the path of using a pen to bring peace to the world, but now it seemed things were not that simple.

Hydrogen Release was powerful, but if he did not even have the chakra to use it, then no matter how strong the ninjutsu was, it would be useless.

He decided it was time to begin a fitness plan.

It was also time to put the Eight Gates on the agenda.

"Indeed." Obito was unusually serious. Today's events had clearly left a deep impression on him.

"From what I know, Uchiha Beiying has more than one cousin. His grandfather is an Uchiha elder, and his family has a lot of influence in the clan! I'd guess he has more than ten cousins alone."

Hideki's face darkened at that.

All right, Obito's brain probably could not think that far ahead.

Still, since Obito had become serious, Hideki had achieved his goal.

"So we need to train harder, Obito." Hideki paused, his expression turning mysterious. "I have a plan..."

"The younger generation these days is really something. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, I would've thought it was sabotage by shinobi from an enemy village."

"Who wouldn't?"

It was late at night, inside the only residence in the Hatake Clan Compound.

Two of Konoha's big shots were talking in the living room, while a little white-haired boy listened intently by the side door.

He had no idea he had already been discovered, and he listened with great interest.

"Speaking of which, it was just a fight between children, and both sides had Uchiha clan members involved."

"They merely went a little overboard..."

Orochimaru said with a smile. Sakumo before him was both a senior and a friend, one of the few shinobi Orochimaru admired.

"A little overboard..." Sakumo, who wore the Hokage's half-sleeved uniform and served as the commander of Konoha's ANBU, known throughout the Shinobi World as Konoha's White Fang, could only smile bitterly.

"Do you know that half of those Uchiha children still haven't been discharged? Scrapes, fractures, and the worst case has second-degree burns and is still being treated in emergency care. You..."

Sakumo Hatake opened his mouth to say more, but when he saw Orochimaru's half-smiling expression, he swallowed his words.

He gave a bitter smile. "Right. You were the one who sent them to the hospital. You were the first to discover them."

"Don't worry too much, Sakumo." Orochimaru waved his hand. "Those injuries are nothing to Tsunade."

White Fang was displeased. "Easy for you to say. Uchiha Ruohuo is the Uchiha elder's most favored junior. He was sent to the hospital after being beaten up. How could that be..."

Halfway through his sentence, White Fang suddenly remembered something. "By the way, what exactly happened at the scene? If I remember correctly, Uchiha Ruohuo is already a Genin, isn't he?"

"Not only is he a Genin, he was also the top student of the previous Ninja Academy class. His talent is decent, though his temperament leaves something to be desired."

Orochimaru spoke slowly.

Sakumo sucked in a sharp breath.

Two little kids who had not even finished their first year had sent a Genin to the hospital?

And they had used the Uchiha clan's specialty, Fire Release!?

That was simply too unbelievable...

But just as White Fang was puzzling over it, an unusual sound from the living room's side door caught both their attention.

The two big shots exchanged smiles.

"Kakashi, you should be asleep at this hour." White Fang's gaze softened as he spoke indulgently.

Sure enough, in the next moment, Kakashi appeared, wearing pajamas but still not forgetting to wear his mask. He bowed to the two men in the living room.

"Yes, Father. Good evening, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru nodded slightly.

Kakashi hurried upstairs in a flash, his eyes filled with confusion.

Father and Lord Orochimaru weren't talking about those two guys, were they...?

Early the next morning.

On the small road leading to the Ninja Academy.

The two boys stopped halfway there, Obito looking rather nervous.

"Hideki, doing this... will it really be okay?"

"It won't be a problem. It's just Shadow Clones. I'm already very familiar with them."

"But the teacher hasn't taught us that yet. We haven't even learned the Three-Body Technique. When did you learn Shadow Clones?"

"I learned it from Nurse Kumi at Konoha Hospital a few days ago. Stop talking, Obito. I need to concentrate!"

Hideki wore a solemn expression.

He had not gone to Konoha Hospital merely to learn the Mystical Palm Technique.

Miss Kumi was pretty and kind-hearted. After Nonō agreed to let him study, she practically wanted to teach Hideki everything she knew.

The price was that his standard little-boy hairstyle had to be turned into a bird's nest every day.

As for Shadow Clones, according to Kumi, Konoha Hospital sometimes got extremely busy. To avoid missing the window for treatment, every nurse used Shadow Clones to work at full capacity.

Hideki held his breath and focused. After forming a simple set of hand seals, two figures suddenly appeared beside him with a poof.

There were now three Hidekis on the road.

If this were Naruto's peaceful era, that move alone would have been enough for graduation.

But Hideki was not finished.

One of the "Hideki clones" formed hand seals again. With another poof, there were suddenly two Obitos and two Hidekis on the road.

The clones walked toward the two boys and spoke in identical voices. "Hand me your schoolbags."

"Damn!" Obito was stunned. He handed his schoolbag to "himself," then looked at Hideki. "When did you even learn this!? Teach me already!"

"I told you, I only learned it a few days ago. Master the Great Fireball first, and then I'll teach you."

Hideki rolled his eyes.

He had not put much effort into learning the Three-Body Technique, so it was still imperfect.

He could not imitate Obito's voice, but fortunately, the clones seemed able to last quite a while. He only needed to give them enough chakra.

He had specifically tested it last night. Twenty percent of his chakra was enough to keep them going all night without the slightest problem.