Make Everybody Work Their Butts Off

The night was still, and only a few stars shone beside the bright moon.

A weary, melancholy voice sang a heartbreaking tune.

"If you'd peel back my homework, page by page, page by page~"

"You'd find, to your surprise~ This page is blank, that page is blank, they're all blank~"

An old woman's helpless voice came from outside.

"Obito, Grandmother had only just fallen asleep, and you woke me again."

Obito called out sheepishly.

"Sorry, Grandmother. Please get some rest. I'll be quiet."

Obito looked at the mountain of homework he could never finish and sighed.

"Man, I really overdid it. How's anyone supposed to finish this much?"

"I'd better watch my back whenever I'm alone at school. There are probably plenty of people who want to kill me now..."

After dawdling a little longer, Obito slapped the desk and stood up.

"I'm done. This'll have to do!"

He resolutely put his homework away and dove into his soft little bed.

No matter how much he'd written, handing it in at all was already showing Teacher Kisuke respect.

That was just how important Earth Boy was.

After lying in bed for a while, two options appeared before his eyes.

[Option One: Still awake? Then train. Completion reward: 0.01 Kaka Chakra.]

[Option Two: Go to sleep. Staying up late stunts your growth, and even a sparrow can dream of soaring. Completion reward: 0.01 Kaka Chakra.]

Half-asleep, Obito chose option two.

As he drifted off, he had the nagging feeling he'd forgotten something.

"Snore... snore... snore..."

The next morning.

Grandmother's voice came from outside.

"Obito, get up. Little Rin is waiting for you."

The moment he heard his sweetheart had arrived, Obito sprang out of bed.

"Just a second! I'm coming!"

Obito had woken up early today, so there was still plenty of time.

After the three of them ate breakfast together,

Obito took Rin's little hand, left the house, and headed for school.

They'd grown up together in Konoha without a care between them.

Rin and I are childhood sweethearts, aren't we? Obito thought.

Looking at Rin's innocent smile, he felt a stir of emotion.

If I could be with Rin every day and live a quiet life like this,

I'd be happy.

But Obito knew these good days wouldn't last much longer.

Somewhere in this world,

a crisis that would sweep across the entire Shinobi World was quietly brewing.

No one would escape it.

And he... would be the first to bear its brunt!

So even with the system, he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

When he reached the classroom,

Obito could feel hostile stares boring into his back. More than one person was glaring at him.

If looks could kill, he'd have died a dozen times over.

Obito hunched his shoulders and sat down.

"Huh? What's this?"

He suddenly noticed a small package in his desk drawer.

Curious, he took it out and opened it.

Inside were several cartons of milk and a tiny note.

The note said "Thank you," but it wasn't signed.

Obito thought for a moment, then sneered.

"You think a cheap trick like this can fool Earth Boy?"

"If I'm right, there's something wrong with this milk!"

He threw the package away, milk and all.

Then he returned to his seat, looking pleased with himself.

He never noticed

Kakashi a short distance away, his young face darkening.

Before long,

Kisuke Urahara walked into the classroom with a book tucked under his arm.

"All right, class. Let's begin."

Nagano Nami's loyal little sidekick, a chubby boy, raised his hand.

"Teacher, Nagano Nami isn't here yet."

Kisuke wrote on the blackboard as he replied.

"Nagano Nami has a cold. I've already excused his absence."

Realization dawned on Obito.

He knew what he'd forgotten last night.

He'd forgotten all about Nagano Nami!

Shaking his head, he began listening carefully to Kisuke's lesson.

Over the next few weeks,

everyone was stunned to discover

that Obito had actually started studying hard!

He sat straighter than anyone in class and answered questions faster than anyone.

Many found his rapid progress impossible to understand.

Obito, for his part, considered it nothing special.

He'd already been through compulsory education, after all.

The material Teacher Kisuke covered was child's play.

Could the Shinobi World's little bit of history be harder to memorize than thousands of years of Chinese history?

He'd watched the anime once and remembered it all clearly.

Never mind the history in the textbook. He even knew what wasn't in it.

Physics, chemistry, and biology barely warranted a mention, and the math was ridiculously easy.

The hardest problems were just systems of two quadratic equations.

As for Konoha's ideological education classes,

Obito could recite a passage from a textbook in his previous life that was more profound than anything the teacher taught.

The only thing he actually needed to learn was some basic Ninjutsu knowledge.

And honestly, how hard could that be?

Top Student A was rather alarmed by the situation.

"How's he improving so fast? He's about to catch up with me!"

Top Student B nodded in firm agreement.

"That kid's terrifying!"

The two exchanged a look and made up their minds at the same time.

Study. Study like their lives depended on it!

They couldn't let a Dead Last get ahead of them!

Plenty of others felt the same way.

The whole of Kisuke's class was suddenly fired up about studying.

And that was exactly what Obito had hoped for.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

That day,

dark clouds filled the sky, and a fine rain fell.

The bleak weather seemed to mirror the children's mood.

Because today was the annual exam!

Inside the classroom,

four Chunin teachers paced back and forth,

making sure no one tried anything they shouldn't.

The children looked miserable, scratching their heads in desperation.

People said desperation could drive someone to do anything.

But clearly, answering the questions on the exam wasn't one of those things.

Once Obito got his paper, he confidently set to work.

He finished it in no time.

"These questions aren't hard at all," he muttered.

After staring into space for a while out of boredom,

Obito considered handing in his paper early and leaving.

Wait!

A wicked grin spread across his face.

Leaving early would be boring. Messing with their heads would be much more fun.

He picked up his paper and began flipping it back and forth.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Quite a few students panicked.

I've only done two questions, and this many people are already turning their papers over?

Kisuke noticed what was happening.

Exasperated, he gave Obito a smack on the head.

"Quit causing trouble and check your work. Have you filled in your Answer Sheet?"

Obito froze.

"Answer Sheet? What Answer Sheet?"

"..."

Kisuke was speechless.

He took an Answer Sheet from the teacher's desk and handed it to Obito.

"You didn't even pick up an Answer Sheet, and you're sitting there showing off."

"If you come last again this time, you'll stand through every lesson from now on."

Laughter rippled through the classroom.

Obito scratched his head awkwardly.

"Teacher, I'm aiming for the top three this time."

The classroom erupted in even louder laughter.

Kisuke didn't know what to say.

Obito had been studying hard lately, but the top three? Surely that was asking too much of himself.

Nagano Nami burst out laughing.

"You? If you make the top three, I'll take your surname."

Obito pondered for a moment, then said slowly,

"But I don't care if you take my surname. How about... your son takes it instead?"

"You... bastard!"

When Nagano Nami realized what Obito meant,

he slammed his hands on the desk, grabbed his stool, and lunged at Obito.

"You're dead!"

Obito shrieked dramatically.

"Teacher Kisuke, help!"

The classroom descended into chaos, and the mood instantly brightened.