Two Big Shots Talk Late at Night

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

The ninja 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 charred black and was barely breathing, as if he had suffered some kind of attack.

He was Uchiha Beiying's cousin.

Obito was so frightened that he nearly froze in place.

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

"What could happen? If you'd managed to use your Great Fireball, they would've been even worse off. We were just defending ourselves. Even if the Hokage came, that fact wouldn't change," Hideki said indifferently.

Obito was still just a child, after all. He was even naturally kind-hearted, nothing like the masked man who would later bring chaos to the Shinobi World.

As for Hideki, although he was still somewhat influenced by the personality from his past life, he had already come to terms with it when Obito got beaten into a pigheaded mess.

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 have sounded a little exaggerated, but that was simply the truth. Hadn't his former self been beaten senseless before making it possible for him to transmigrate here?

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

The weak truly did not deserve to live.

But at the same time, Hideki was delighted.

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

Yang Release plus Water Release plus Lightning Release was viable, and the results were quite good.

Not only had its power not been reduced, but the reaction speed had increased considerably.

Hideki estimated that if he became more proficient, he could 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 the same time and reduce the casting time further.

"Ah!" 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 dejected. "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 was that technique called again?"

"It's called... That's not the point, Obito."

Hideki suddenly turned serious, and Obito was momentarily stunned by the abrupt change.

"We're too weak right now, both in ninjutsu and taijutsu. Our enemies will only get stronger in the future. If this keeps up, we'll be in danger."

What happened today had served as a warning for Hideki.

He had once believed in the path of ruling the world with a pen, but it seemed things were not that simple.

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

He decided it was time to begin a physical training plan.

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

"Indeed." Obito rarely got serious. What happened today had clearly affected him deeply.

"As far as I know, Uchiha Beiying has more than one cousin. His grandfather is an Uchiha elder, and his family has a great deal of influence within the clan! I'd guess he has more than ten cousins alone."

Hideki's face darkened at those words.

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

Still, as long as Obito had gotten serious, Hideki's goal had been achieved.

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

"The younger generation these days is truly remarkable. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, I would've thought it was the work of ninja from an enemy village."

"Isn't that so?"

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

Two of Konoha's big shots were talking in the living room, while a little white-haired boy pressed his ear against the side door and eavesdropped.

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

"Come to think of it, it was just a fight between children, and both sides had Uchiha clan members."

"They merely went a little too far..."

Orochimaru said with a smile. Sakumo, seated across from him, was both his senior and his friend, one of the few ninja Orochimaru truly admired.

"Went a little too far..." 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, wore a bitter smile.

"Do you know that half of those Uchiha children still haven't been discharged? Scrapes, broken bones, and the most serious case has second-degree burns and is still being treated. You..."

Hatake Sakumo opened his mouth to say more, but when he saw Orochimaru's faintly amused expression, he swallowed the words.

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

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

White Fang was displeased. "You make it sound simple. Uchiha Ruohuo is the descendant the Uchiha elder values most. He was beaten badly enough to be sent to the hospital. How could that be..."

Halfway through, 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. He has decent talent, though his temperament leaves much to be desired."

Orochimaru spoke slowly.

Sakumo immediately sucked in a breath.

Those two little brats had not even finished their first year, yet they had beaten a Genin into the hospital?

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

That was simply unbelievable...

Just as White Fang was puzzling over it, a strange noise from the living room's side door drew both men's attention.

The two big shots exchanged smiles.

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

Sure enough, Kakashi appeared the next moment. Even in pajamas, he had not forgotten to wear his mask. He bowed to the two men in the living room.

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

Orochimaru gave a slight nod.

Kakashi hurried upstairs, his eyes full of confusion.

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

Early the next morning.

On the road to the Ninja Academy.

The two boys stopped halfway there, and Obito looked nervous.

"Hideki, are we really going to be okay doing this...?"

"It's not a big problem. It's only 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.

His trips to Konoha Hospital had not been solely for learning the Mystical Palm Technique.

Nurse Kumi was beautiful and kind-hearted. After Nonō agreed to let him learn, she practically wanted to teach Hideki everything she knew.

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

As for Shadow Clones, according to Kumi, Konoha Hospital sometimes became 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 hand seal, two figures suddenly appeared beside him with a puff.

There were now three Hidekis on the road.

In Naruto's more peaceful era, that alone would have been enough for him to graduate immediately.

But Hideki was not done yet.

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

The clones walked over to the two boys respectively and said in identical voices, "Give me your schoolbags."

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

"I told you, I only learned it a few days ago. Master the Great Fireball first, 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 as long as he provided enough chakra.

He had tested it specifically last night. Two-tenths of his chakra could keep them going all night without the slightest problem.