Meeting Minato

Obito Uchiha woke from his deep sleep, drool soaking into the pillow beneath his mouth.

Seeing Kato Osamu and Rin Nohara both looking at his face, Obito scratched his head. His usually awkward expression had taken on a rare flush, though it was hard to tell whether it was simply from having just woken up.

"Rin..."

"Yeah?"

"What was I going to say again... Oh, right..."

"Do you know what that giant octopus was? I feel like I've heard of it somewhere. It seemed like someone had told me about those things while I was half-asleep, but it was all really vague..."

As though inspiration had struck him, Obito changed the subject, breaking the faintly awkward atmosphere. While Rin was thinking, he swiftly flipped his pillow over.

"Obito... You slept through class again! The person who vaguely told you about it was Teacher Wada!

He taught us Shinobi World history and Konoha history for three years..."

Rin gave a soft snort, a hint of amusement at the corners of her lips. Obito's little move naturally hadn't escaped her notice, but she had no intention of exposing him. This version of Obito was rather cute.

"Back then, the First Hokage captured nine Tailed Beasts and gave them to several ninja villages. Now, among the Five Great Nations, Konoha has the Nine-Tails.

Cloud Shinobi has the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails, Iwagakure has the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, Kirigakure has the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, Takigakure has the Seven-Tails, and Sunagakure has the One-Tail..."

"Each Tailed Beast is sealed inside a person through Sealing Jutsu, and that person is called a Jinchuriki.

While using the Tailed Beasts as secret weapons, the villages also relied on their fearsome reputations to intimidate other ninja villages. That was why the identities of Jinchuriki were absolute secrets, while the ownership of the Tailed Beasts was widely known..."

"That's what you get for sleeping through class... You don't remember anything..."

Rin recited it as smoothly as if she were reading from a textbook, and even Kato Osamu could not help focusing on her.

"So that huge thing was a Tailed Beast called the Eight-Tails..."

Having never attended any Shinobi World culture classes, Kato Osamu was only now learning of the Tailed Beasts' existence through Rin's explanation.

"I never thought Osamu-kun didn't listen in class either..."

When Rin saw Kato Osamu looking at her, an unusual glimmer flashed through her eyes. She secretly pressed her lips together in a smile, while Obito glanced sideways at Kato Osamu with an expression that said he had known it all along.

"Osamu, haha, and you still won't admit it!

Rin, see? I told you. Even if this guy looks a tiny bit strong now, he definitely used to be a loser too. If I awaken the Sharingan, I'll definitely become even stronger than him!"

"Yes, yes... Obito will always be the strongest... If you weren't lying in a hospital bed right now, someone might actually believe you..."

Rin teased Obito with a smile. Obito gave a light snort, then flipped both hands over and pulled the goggles atop his head down over his eyes. Gripping both sides of the goggles, he looked at Rin as if using binoculars.

"Sharingan, reveal yourself already! Take me to the battlefield! Charge, charge, charge!"

"Hahaha..."

The sounds of Rin and Obito laughing and fooling around lingered beside Kato Osamu's ears. For some reason, he did not find them noisy at all. Instead, an inexplicable warmth rose in his heart.

Great flakes of snow drifted down from the sky like jade butterflies fluttering their wings, settling on the dead branches in the forest. The world of ice and snow was always so elegant and tranquil, soothing every troubled heart.

Listening to their laughter and chatter, he somehow felt his restless mind, which had kept him awake for nearly the whole night, suddenly calm down. Drowsiness washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep...

"You two are even taking turns sleeping..."

Obito had only just gotten up, and Osamu was already snoring away. Rin rolled her eyes helplessly.

"I wonder how Kakashi Hatake is doing..."

Obito idly swung his leg suspended high in the air. Lying in the hospital bed, he could not help thinking of Kakashi.

"When I went to see that guy last time, he didn't even say thank you... Hmph..."

"Kakashi's injuries were serious too, but he should be nearly recovered by now..."

"Maybe Kakashi will come see us tomorrow..."

Rin and Obito chatted casually. Most of the time, Obito did the talking while Rin quietly listened, responding now and then.

Their peaceful days slowly passed amid lazy, casual conversation.

After several days of sharing a hospital room, Obito and Rin seemed to have grown a little closer to Kato Osamu. Before, they had merely been comrades who could entrust their backs to one another—people they could trust with their lives, yet still felt somewhat distant from whenever there was nothing to do.

Now, however, their relationship seemed to be developing into something like friends who could talk about anything. Rin was especially like that, even more so than the carefree Obito.

The rough Obito and the cold Kakashi—Rin appeared to be the glue holding them together, but in truth, she had always been the one accommodating the two of them.

And now, there was one more person: Kato Osamu.

Yet compared with Obito and Kakashi, Rin always felt that Kato Osamu seemed to be thinking about things beyond their reach.

It was just like back at the Ninja Academy. While they were still fretting over who was closer to whom, who was more handsome, and who was prettier, others were already considering their future paths.

That feeling was even stronger around Kato Osamu, filling Rin with a constant curiosity to explore him. As a result, her days were no longer quite so boring...

On the first morning after Kato Osamu had fully recovered from his injuries, he received a summons from Minato Namikaze.

There was no surprise. Kato Osamu had already prepared himself to hand over his ninjutsu to the village. He had experienced such things far too many times in Root.

Although the scrolls he handed over were all impossible to cultivate successfully, at least there would be no problems with the first few steps.

Given the special nature of the Spirit Transformation Technique, no one in Root had dared to try it.

Fortunately, he had long since prepared a cultivation scroll for the giant spirit body—one that naturally could not be cultivated successfully.

But contrary to his expectations, when he first met Minato Namikaze, the smiling Minato did not ask him anything about ninjutsu. Instead, he handed him a scroll.

"Jonin Minato... What is this?"

There was no one else in Minato Namikaze's tent. Only he and Minato were present, so Kato Osamu had no choice but to remain cautious. He lightly held the scroll without opening it immediately.

"Osamu, open it and take a look... A little surprise..."

Minato Namikaze smiled. His gentle and modest manner did not make Kato Osamu sense any killing intent or other dark emotions.

Only then did he relax his guard slightly and slowly open the scroll.

Kato Osamu's vigilance naturally did not escape Minato Namikaze's notice, but Minato acted as though he had seen nothing.

At times, even he could not understand the young man before him. Osamu could entrust his life to Obito and Rin, fight until the very last moment, and even trust Minato at the most dangerous moment.

Why, then, had he become so guarded now?

Was he trying to warn me? Was he trying to tell me something?

Minato Namikaze gave Kato Osamu a deep look, yet he could not detect anything unusual.

"Do you like it, junior brother Osamu? You're the first of your kind... Promoted directly from Genin to Special Jonin..."

"Was this a joint recommendation from Jonin Minato and Lord Jiraiya? Kato Osamu is deeply grateful!"

Kato Osamu slowly bowed to Minato Namikaze in thanks. He now roughly understood Minato's intentions—Minato knew his identity and wanted to win him over.

A Special Jonin at the age of twelve might not sound as prodigious as Kakashi being directly promoted to Jonin, but for Konoha, it was already enough to make him a genius noticed by the upper ranks.

A twelve-year-old Special Jonin, a genius reputed to have been exceptionally promoted straight from Genin, combined with Kato Osamu's battle achievements—if there were enough people backing him, they could raise Kato Osamu's reputation to at least Kakashi's level.

But things that would count as a meteoric rise for an ordinary ninja did not seem particularly useful to Kato Osamu. From the very beginning, he had understood one truth.

In this world, strength decided everything...