Getting into Trouble Again

Kakashi was a little out of sorts today. He had not even heard the teacher call his name.

Sitting in the front row of the classroom, this was a rare occurrence.

What exactly did those two do?

How did they earn such lavish praise from Father and Lord Orochimaru?

Kakashi found it hard to imagine that those two dead last students, who had dared to use Explosive Tags in a fight, had actually earned the recognition of two major figures.

Yes, in Kakashi's eyes, Obito and Hideki were nothing if not dead last students.

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

The other was dead last in one subject, with perfect theory grades but unable to even throw a shuriken accurately.

People like them deserved Father's attention?

What Kakashi did not know was that he had heard certain things only because he was capable of hearing them.

Those words had been mixed with a bit of an old father's wicked sense of humor—something to motivate his proud, tsundere son.

As for what he had not heard... it would have only shocked him even more!

Kakashi secretly glanced at the seats behind him.

Something was off today. In the past, Obito would always be sleeping in the back, while that guy called Hideki would listen attentively.

But today...

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

Did Obito take the wrong medicine?

That thought immediately popped into Kakashi's head. Today's lesson was Shinobi World history. Forget Obito—if Kakashi did not zone out, he would be bored to sleep.

Yet Obito was sitting upright, and it even looked like he was taking notes!

"Hm?" Kakashi suddenly noticed something, and his eyes narrowed.

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

With Kakashi's powers of observation, he could still pick up on a few clues.

Their expressions and movements were somewhat alike today. Even "alike" was not 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 were quite a few people training that morning, but Hideki and Obito still found a quiet spot.

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

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

With a low shout, the shinobi pressed both hands to the ground, and a sizable earthen wall rose up.

Obito's blood surged at the sight.

"Earth Release... that's freaking awesome!"

His name had the character for "earth" in it, and more than once, he had fantasized about sweeping through the Ninja Academy with powerful Earth Release techniques.

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

"..." Hideki really wanted to make fun of him, but he did not 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, he probably would not think it was so cool when he saw those dog-head carvings while fighting Kakashi.

"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 to feel tired and unwell, making further training unsuitable.

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

There were some things he was not sure whether he should say. They might be brothers, but there were certain gaps that intelligence simply could not make up for!

Hm? Why did that feel a little off?

Obito immediately began circulating his chakra with great enthusiasm.

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

Come to think of it, Hideki was gradually realizing how different he was.

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

Even if Obito had earned his dead-last reputation by repeatedly challenging Kakashi and always losing.

His total chakra reserves were not absurd, but they were still greater than Obito's—about fifty percent greater.

Obito was not someone who lacked chakra. Although Uchiha bloodline did not have much to do with chakra reserves, it did provide some degree of bonus.

After all, had the other children not been unable to withstand even a single move from Kakashi?

Before Kakashi graduated, Obito had occasionally managed some impressive performances against him.

Then there was chakra control.

Hideki felt that he might have been overly pessimistic before. Not having a bloodline was not necessarily a bad thing.

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

To put it more plainly, he had mastered the Rasengan in less than two weeks.

Jiraiya had learned it in three days, but he was one of the Legendary Sannin. He had been to war, carried weapons, shed blood, and fought battles. Most of that was experience.

By that calculation, was his current degree of fine chakra control already one-quarter of Jiraiya's?

So Hideki was still very confident in himself.

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

But then...

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A scorching wave of flames interrupted Hideki's self-satisfaction. He froze, then turned to see Obito's smug expression.

"I told you yesterday."

"I was just not in good condition. Otherwise, those Uchiha guys wouldn't even be worth Lord Obito's notice."

Obito said this with bandages still stuck to the corner of his eye.

Hideki curled his lip. 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 should be mostly 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."

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 ground, froze. "What the hell! Hideki, you're cheating! You can use the Rasengan in a fight!?"

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

What he really wanted to teach Obito was that the Shinobi World was vast. It was not just 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 that Rasengan hits someone, it'll probably..." Obito hesitated. "We're just training. Isn't that a little too brutal?"

"Do you think those Uchiha guys 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 torso, its branches and leaves dense. With summer coming, it was a good place to cool off.

After hesitating for a moment, Hideki abruptly pressed the Rasengan in his hand against it.

The next moment.

Boom—crack!

A huge hole was blasted straight through the tree. Its fragile branches could not bear the weight, and the upper half toppled down!

"Damn it! Run!"

The two took off at full speed, narrowly avoiding the falling upper half of the tree.

Obito stared at the wreckage on the ground and swallowed hard...

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

Hideki nodded awkwardly. It was 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 charged over at incredible speed. He was probably the training ground administrator.

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

But neither of them was in the mood to be curious. They exchanged a glance, then took off running again without another word!

When it came to this sort of thing, their teamwork was astonishingly good.

However...

An old man was still an old man.

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

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

"Why aren't you two in school? What kind of nonsense are you up to?" The old man looked at the broken tree beside them, his eyes widening as it seemed strangely familiar.

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

And it looked familiar because...

"What a sin! My dear... I've let you down!!!"

The old man threw the two brats onto the ground, looked at his beloved tree, and burst into loud tears!

Hideki and Obito: ???????