A New Term

Obito rubbed his hands together, his face full of anticipation.

"Uncle Chuan, I want to learn another jutsu."

Uchiha Chuan thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Obito, you need to understand that taking on too much at once won't do you any good."

"Master the Great Fireball Technique first, then come back and learn another jutsu from me."

That won't work!

If I come back next time... the system might not give me this quest again!

"Uncle Chuan, I just want to see more jutsu. You understand how eager I am to learn, right?"

"Even if you only tell me a little about one so I can get the gist of it, that's fine."

Preferably a forbidden jutsu or something!

Uchiha Chuan looked at his nephew's expectant face.

After a moment's thought, he nodded.

"All right, then. I'll teach you one more jutsu—the Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

The moment Uchiha Chuan said it, a notification sounded in Obito's head.

[Selection successful! Reward obtained: Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!]

"The key to this jutsu is—"

Obito cut Chuan off with a grin.

"That's enough for today, Uncle Chuan. Thanks!"

...???

Three question marks might as well have appeared on Uchiha Chuan's face.

Weren't you the one who wanted to learn it?

I've barely said its name, and you're done listening?

Obito had left him hanging, and it felt awful.

"Fine. Fine, then," Chuan said helplessly.

"Hehe. See you, Uncle Chuan."

Obito dashed home.

Time to get out of here and play with my precious sword.

"Seventy miles an hour, feeling so free~"

Obito hummed smugly to himself.

"Two jutsu mastered in half a day. That's me for you!"

"Hard work really is the only path to success. I'll have to work even harder from now on... at getting more choices to pop up!"

Once he got home, Obito searched his room.

Then he stood there, baffled. His sword was gone.

He shouted, "Grandmother, where's my sword?"

Grandmother's voice came from outside the room.

"I tidied your room today. Your sword's in the box under the bed."

"Oh!" Obito called back.

He pulled Shadow Elegance out from under the bed and went back to grinding his quest.

"Some creep's unzipping my pants!"

"Lion's Song! Thirty-Six Pound Phoenix!"

In the days that followed, Obito threw himself into training.

He barely noticed the time passing.

He had never found training dull.

He could use spectacular jutsu and pull off dazzling sword techniques.

He could even run along the high walls of the courtyard...

How many boys in his previous world had dreamed of doing things like that?

Of course,

it would be even better if the system rewarded him with the Telescope Technique...

Then he could give himself a little reward. (Dog-head emoji.)

With the system's help, he made tremendous progress.

He now knew four jutsu: the Great Fireball Technique, the Phoenix Flower Jutsu, the Dragon Fire Technique, and the Earth-Style Wall.

(That didn't include the basic Three Body Technique.)

After learning Iaijutsu, he had also picked up basic swordsmanship from White Fang.

As for Taijutsu, he reckoned he was somewhere between a Genin and a Chunin.

Genjutsu was still a weak spot.

But he was an Uchiha.

Once his eyes awakened, that problem would disappear.

"Mm, this vacation was pretty darn productive," Obito concluded.

"Not only did I get much stronger, but Rin and I are closer than before. And there's White Fang, too..."

The rumors in the village were growing worse by the day.

But as long as Sakumo still had something holding him back,

Obito believed he would make a different choice.

"I hope Kakashi gets to live a happy life this time. Sigh..."

Obito shook his head and lay down to rest.

A new term would begin tomorrow.

On the first day of school,

Kisuke Urahara summoned Obito to his office, as expected.

Kisuke sat behind his desk and looked at the dejected Obito across from him. He snorted.

"Obito, why didn't you do your homework again?"

Obito thought for a moment before answering.

"Mr. Kisuke, I think the things you teach are useless. They don't help with str—"

Before he could finish, Kisuke sighed.

"Obito, don't talk about yourself like that."

"You have plenty of good qualities in your teacher's eyes."

Obito: "...???"

"Sir, I meant the homework you assign doesn't do much to make us stronger."

Kisuke tapped on his desk and fell into thought.

He knew how flimsy the Ninja Academy's coursework could be.

For a lively child like Obito,

being too rigid might do more harm than good.

Adapting his teaching to each student was an essential skill for a teacher.

After thinking it over, he decided to make an exception.

"All right, Obito. If you can keep your grades steady, I'll let you skip the homework."

"But this stays between us. Don't tell anyone else."

Obito was delighted and agreed at once.

"No problem, Mr. Kisuke!"

Kisuke Urahara waved him away.

"All right, off you go. Get back to class before the next lesson starts."

Obito returned to the classroom in high spirits.

A freckle-faced boy blocked his path and said fiercely,

"Obito, duel me after school today!"

Obito pushed the boy aside, speechless.

Anyone who knows you knows you're Nagano Nami.

Anyone who doesn't would think you're Might Nami.

Like I want to duel you!

"You're no match for me," Obito said. "Give it up while you still can."

Nagano Nami gave a cold laugh.

"Give up? Those words aren't in my dictionary!"

"Uh..."

Obito scratched his head.

"Then you'd better find the bookseller. Sounds like he sold you a bootleg dictionary."

Nagano Nami: "..."

While he stood there at a loss for words,

Obito walked past him and sat down beside the petite girl.

He looked Rin over and said with a grin,

"Rin, it's only been a few days. How did you get even prettier?"

Rin's cheeks flushed.

"Obito-kun, you're teasing me again."

Obito put on a serious face.

"Not at all. Everyone knows Obito never lies."

Beside them, Nagano Nami snapped angrily,

"Bullshit! Last time, you tricked me into waiting for you all night in the freezing wind."

"Never trust a word out of Obito's mouth!"

Obito shot Nagano Nami a dangerous look.

Damn sparrow. Are you asking for a beating?

"Don't leave after school. I'll teach you a lesson on the training ground."

Nagano Nami scoffed.

"Whoever runs away is a puppy. I'm settling the score today!"

Only when the teacher entered the classroom

did Nagano Nami return to his seat.

The teacher began the lesson at the front of the room.

But Nagano Nami didn't take in a word.

Obito was all he could think about.

At last, class ended.

Nagano Nami sprang to his feet and grinned viciously at Obito.

"See you on the training ground. Don't chicken out."

Obito curled his lip.

"Tch. I've never seen someone so eager to get beaten up."