Artwork

Obito had barely returned when he heard an explosion and saw an unidentified shinobi get blasted away.

Obito instantly realized what had happened...

Kakashi and Ying Shu had run into an enemy. A battle had broken out, and the enemy had been dealt with, but the two of them...

"Don't scare me..."

The little branches in Obito's arms fell to the ground one after another. His voice was already trembling with tears as he ran wildly, lips quivering, toward the center of the explosion.

But where was anyone?

Other than the scorched grass and the huge pits left behind by the two sneaky Shadow Clones' Headhunter Jutsu, the place was completely empty.

The pit had already collapsed. An airburst powerful enough to nearly blow an adult apart was no joke.

But Obito refused to believe it. Snot and tears streaming down his face, he rushed to the pit and began digging with his bare hands!

"Ying Shu! Kakashi! Don't scare me..."

"Come out, waaah!"

"..."

In the distance, Ying Shu and Kakashi fell silent as they watched.

Obito had clearly broken down. The explosion had been so violent, yet there was no sign of either of them. He probably thought they were dead for sure.

But precisely because of that, neither of them dared show themselves...

It was not out of some childish urge to mess with him. They simply wanted to preserve Obito's dignity.

Obito had always been so proud and stubborn. If he learned that this vulnerable moment of his had been broadcast live, they were genuinely afraid he might do something drastic...

"I never thought Obito was so... loyal," Kakashi finally said after sighing for a long while.

Ying Shu did not respond. Why had Madara chosen Obito? Wasn't this exactly why?

It had to be said that Madara had truly had a sharp eye. The whole world thought Obito was dead last, but only Madara had seen his potential.

The facts proved everything. His Two-Tomoe Sharingan had evolved into Kamui. On the very night he awakened it, he mastered the Wood Release innate to White Zetsu. With one eye's Kamui, he set off a war across the Shinobi World and threw the entire world into chaos.

Wait...

Ying Shu's expression suddenly changed. The Sharingan?

Five minutes later.

Ying Shu and Kakashi deliberately made some noise in the woods for Obito. Obito thought there were more enemies, and in an instant, he turned his grief and fury into strength. Picking up Kakashi's "relic," he charged over.

But when Obito saw Ying Shu and Kakashi supporting each other, instead of going blank and stunned as they had expected, he launched an attack!

"Who do you think you're trampling on?!"

Obito roared. The scarlet in his eyes was chillingly cold, filled with frenzied killing intent, as he raised Kakashi's short sword and slashed at them!

"Obito, calm down!" Ying Shu immediately stopped pretending to be weak and shouted.

His voice was strong and full. Besides having a massive chakra reserve, the Sage Body's recovery ability was also exceptional.

Not enough time had passed for him to recover even half of his strength, but moving normally was not a problem.

But Kakashi really was weak... He did not have a Sage Body. Watching Obito come at him with his own sword, he did not even have the strength to dodge!

In the end, Ying Shu yanked Kakashi away. Obito's short sword nearly sliced off Kakashi's mask, taking only a small tuft of white hair from his bangs.

"Calm down my ass! I'll chop you to death!" Obito refused to let up.

Though Ying Shu was anxious, he still calmly formed a Rasengan. This was his last bit of chakra. Its power was mediocre, and once he used it, he would have no ability to resist.

"Look carefully, Obito! It's me! I'm your Ying Shu!"

That Rasengan saved Ying Shu and Kakashi's lives. Obito froze on the spot, mouth hanging open and face blank. Then his eyes gradually reddened, and his lips began to tremble again.

"Obito..." Kakashi, still shaken, wore an increasingly complicated expression. Seeing Obito look as though he might burst into tears at any second, he was filled with guilt.

But the next second.

"I don't believe it!" Obito shouted through tears and charged at Kakashi again!

Ying Shu wanted to stop him, but when he saw that Obito had already thrown away the short sword, he understood and let out a sigh of relief before dropping onto the ground.

"Ying Shu, save me!" Kakashi cried for help while Obito straddled him, but the number he had dialed was switched off.

Obito pinned Kakashi down and gave him a thorough beating, as if venting every bit of emotion he had just felt.

The whole process lasted more than ten minutes.

Only when Obito was utterly exhausted and Kakashi had been beaten into a pig head did it finally stop.

The three boys lay sprawled out on the ground.

No one knew who laughed first, but then all three burst into wild laughter together.

"Kakashi, you pig head... Hahahahaha!"

"You really did it on purpose! Crybaby!"

"Damn! You all saw that?"

"Ying Shu, Kakashi, don't scare me..."

"Damn it! Ying Shu, you too! You bastards! Aahhh!!!"

The three rested for nearly half an hour before returning to the original battlefield.

There was no horror story about a "disappearing corpse." The Kumogakure shinobi lay motionless on the ground, looking just like a dead man.

If Ying Shu had not spent time at Konoha Hospital and checked him over to find a faint breath, he would have truly thought the man had been blown to death.

Even so, the three did not let down their guard.

First, they stripped the tattered clothes off the Kumogakure shinobi, ripped them into strips with a kunai, and tied him up tight.

Ying Shu was worried that the Kumogakure shinobi might wake up and somehow break free with a burst of superhuman strength, so he specifically soaked the cloth strips. The water filled the gaps between the fibers, increasing their toughness. It was all about attention to detail.

Do not ask why an arts student knew so much. Nine years of compulsory education treated everyone equally.

Even then, Ying Shu was still not satisfied. He wanted to bind every joint on the Kumogakure shinobi's body, then stuffed an Explosive Tag into the man's crotch.

"Is that really necessary...? I feel like he probably won't wake up anyway," Kakashi said with a baffled expression.

Ying Shu looked at the Kumogakure shinobi, whom he had nearly tied into a work of art, and raised an eyebrow.

"Who cares? This guy's life isn't worth anything. Besides, I heard the Interrogation Department only needs a head left behind to extract information..."

"Ying Shu, you really know a lot... Though I think I heard my dad say that it really does work that way."

"By the way..." Obito spoke hesitantly. "Are we sure this guy's brain wasn't blown up?"

"...Probably...?"

The three caught several fish by the river. The little branches Obito had picked up earlier finally came in handy. After roasting and eating a few fish, they headed back toward Konoha.

At dusk, the sun sank in the west.

The shadows of the three victorious boys stretched long behind them...