Causing Trouble Again

Kakashi was a little out of sorts today. He hadn't even heard the teacher call his name.

Sitting in the front row of the classroom, something like this was rare.

What exactly did those two do?

What could make Father and Lord Orochimaru praise them so highly?

Kakashi found it hard to imagine that those two dead-last students who dared to use Explosive Tags in a fight had actually earned the approval of two big shots.

Yes, in Kakashi's eyes, weren't Obito and Hideki dead-last students?

One was dead last in two subjects and had never lasted more than ten moves in a match.

The other was dead last in one subject. He got perfect scores in theory, yet couldn't even throw a shuriken accurately.

People like that deserved Father's attention?

What Kakashi didn't know was that he had heard some things only because he was capable of hearing them.

Those words had been mixed with a little of an old father's wicked sense of humor—meant to encourage his prideful son and all that.

As for the things he hadn't heard... they would only have shocked him even more!

Kakashi secretly glanced at the seats behind him.

Something was off today. In the past, Obito would always sleep in the back, while that guy named Hideki listened attentively.

But today...

The two of them were actually listening to the lesson with complete concentration!

Did Obito take the wrong medicine?

The thought immediately popped into Kakashi's mind. Today's lesson was about the history of the Shinobi World. Forget Obito—if Kakashi didn't get distracted, he would be bored enough to fall asleep himself.

Yet Obito sat perfectly straight, and he even seemed to be taking notes!

"Hm?" Kakashi suddenly noticed something, his eyes narrowing.

"These two... something's wrong."

With Kakashi's powers of observation, he could still spot a few clues.

Their expressions and movements were a little similar today. Even "similar" wasn't quite the right word—their every action was practically synchronized!

They turned pages at the same time and picked up their pens to take notes at the same time. Kakashi watched closely and suspected that they might even be writing the exact same things!

Masaka!

Kakashi's eyes suddenly widened.

He seemed to know what those two were up to.

Konoha, Training Ground Three.

There weren't few people training in the morning, but Hideki and Obito still found a quiet spot.

Next to them was a shinobi in a green vest, around twenty years old, practicing Earth Release.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

The shinobi let out a low shout and pressed both hands to the ground. A sizable earthen wall rose up.

Obito's blood immediately began to race.

"Earth Release... that's fucking cool!"

His name had the character for "earth" in it, and more than once, he had imagined himself wielding powerful Earth Release techniques and dominating the Ninja Academy.

Of course, he would rather change his name to "Obito," because he thought the Great Fireball was cool too.

"..." Hideki really wanted to mock him, but he didn't even know where to begin.

Earth-Style Wall was merely one of the most common and basic Earth Release techniques, used for defense.

Once Obito mastered the Great Fireball and saw those dog-head carvings when fighting Kakashi, he probably wouldn't think it was so cool anymore.

"You should hurry up and practice your Great Fireball. I'll refine some chakra for a while, then we can spar."

Hideki laid out his plan.

Two Clone Techniques and one Transformation Technique had already used up half his chakra.

He was still young. Once he used around seventy percent of his chakra, he would start feeling tired and uncomfortable, making further training unsuitable.

"Sure!" Obito's eyes lit up, and then he looked at Hideki with ill intentions.

There were some things he didn't know whether he should say. They might be brothers, but some gaps couldn't be made up with intelligence alone!

Huh? Why did that feel wrong?

Obito immediately began eagerly circulating his chakra.

Meanwhile, Hideki sat cross-legged on the ground and began recovering.

Come to think of it, Hideki had gradually started to sense that he was different.

Using Obito as a benchmark, he was definitely a genius.

Even if Obito's dead-last reputation came from constantly challenging Kakashi and always losing.

His total chakra reserves weren't absurdly high, but they were still greater than Obito's—probably by about half again as much.

Obito wasn't some chakra-starved weakling. Although Uchiha bloodline didn't have much to do with total chakra reserves, it still gave some bonuses.

Hadn't the other kids been unable to last even one move against Kakashi?

Before Kakashi graduated, Obito could occasionally still put on an impressive performance.

Then there was chakra control.

Hideki felt that he might have been overly pessimistic before. Having no bloodline wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Controlling balls with both hands, then controlling them with the back of his hand—Hideki had never seen anything like that in the anime.

More directly, it had taken him less than two weeks to master the Rasengan.

Jiraiya had learned it in three days, but he was one of the Legendary Sannin. He had been on battlefields, carried weapons, bled, and fought wars. Much of that was experience.

By that calculation, did his current finesse in chakra control already amount to one-quarter of Jiraiya's?

So Hideki was still quite confident in himself.

Konoha's little genius—wasn't that him?

But then—

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A scorching wave of fire interrupted Hideki's self-satisfaction. He froze for a moment, then turned to see Obito wearing a smug expression.

"I told you yesterday."

"I was only in poor condition. Otherwise, Lord Obito wouldn't have even put those Uchiha in his eyes."

Obito said this with bandages still stuck beside his eye.

Hideki curled his lips. Kumi really should have treated Obito in three separate sessions too. This was a classic case of forgetting the pain once the wound healed.

"I still have more than half my chakra left, and your chakra has probably recovered too... Now we can have a fair fight, right?" Obito raised an eyebrow smugly.

"..." Hideki fell silent for a moment before standing up. "All right, then."

Obito immediately took up a fighting stance.

Hideki, meanwhile, formed a Rasengan in one hand. "Come on."

Obito, who had been considering how to grind Hideki into the dirt, immediately froze. "Fuck! You're cheating, Hideki! Who uses a Rasengan in a fight!?"

"Do you think those Uchiha will reason with you?" Hideki said calmly.

What he actually wanted to teach Obito was that the Shinobi World was vast. It didn't only contain Konoha and the Uchiha.

The world outside was more exciting, but also more dangerous. Especially that other reclusive Uchiha old man—he had probably already set his sights on him.

"But if I get hit by that Rasengan even once, I'm afraid..." Obito hesitated. "We're just training. Isn't that a bit too ruthless?"

"Do you think those Uchiha will... You're right. I should test its power first."

Hideki also felt that something was off. He wanted Obito to become stronger, not crippled.

The two immediately went over to a large tree. It was as thick as an adult's waist and thick with branches and leaves. With summer arriving, it was a good spot to cool off.

After hesitating for a moment, Hideki suddenly slammed the Rasengan in his hand forward.

The next moment—

Boom—crack!

A massive hole was blasted straight through the tree. Its fragile branches could no longer bear the strain, and the upper half came crashing down!

"Fuck! Run!"

The two took off running, narrowly dodging the falling upper half of the tree.

Obito looked at the mess on the ground and swallowed with difficulty...

"Hideki... this is the technique that shinobi taught us?"

Hideki nodded blankly. It was also his first time using it. After his last training session, he had gone straight to Konoha Hospital.

"Hey! You brats over there! What are you doing!?"

At that moment, an old man rushed over at incredible speed. He was probably the training ground's administrator.

Judging by that speed and his booming shout, he must have had plenty of stories in his younger days.

But neither boy was in the mood to be curious. They exchanged a look and, without another word, ran again!

When it came to this sort of thing, their coordination was astonishingly high.

However...

An old man was still an old man.

With just one Body Flicker, he caught up to the two boys. He grabbed one in each hand, and the two youngsters who had just been brimming with heroic spirit instantly shut down.

Damn it, I have to master that Body Flicker Technique! I absolutely can't let an enemy carry me around by the head! Hideki roared inwardly.

"Why aren't you two in school? What the hell are you doing?" The old man glanced at the broken tree beside them, surprise flashing through his eyes as he found it strangely familiar.

He was surprised because two little brats had actually managed to break such a large tree?

And it looked familiar because...

"What a sin! My old woman... I'm sorry!!!"

The old man threw the two brats to the ground, then looked at his beloved tree and burst into loud sobs!

Hideki and Obito: ???????