The Senjutsu Quest Begins

On the training ground, two figures stood facing each other.

A cold wind swept past, sending their sleeves fluttering. Their gazes were frosty.

Obito handed his cup to the little girl beside him and said without looking back,

"Rin, could you get me some hot water? We'll drink it on the way back."

Once she had left,

Obito rolled up his sleeves and crooked a finger at Nagano Nami.

"Come on. Let's make it quick."

Nagano Nami snorted, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.

"Obito, I bet you think you've already won."

Obito nodded as if it were obvious.

But he was growing impatient.

If you want to fight, then fight. Why do you talk so much?

What are you stalling for?

Nagano Nami planted his hands on his hips with a smug grin.

"Hah! If that's what you think, you're dead wrong."

"To beat you, I worked ten, even a hundred times harder than anyone else over this break."

"I'm not the person I used to be. Now I'm—"

Before Nagano Nami could finish,

a fist suddenly filled his vision.

Boom!

Obito punched Nagano Nami in the face.

Stars burst before Nagano Nami's eyes.

He lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud.

Obito gave Nagano Nami a thorough beating.

"That's it? That's what you get for talking so much! Keep talking!"

Nagano Nami curled up on the ground, shielding his head as he cursed.

"You little punk! That was a sneak attack! You don't play fair!"

"You've got no skill! You didn't even dare face me head-on!"

Obito kicked a little harder.

"Oh, really? Welcome to a head-on fight!"

In just two or three minutes, Obito had easily finished the fight.

Or rather, the one-sided beating.

Meanwhile, the little girl came running back with the cup.

"Obito-kun, your cup."

Obito took it, his eyes curving into crescents.

"Thanks, Rin."

He glanced at Nagano Nami lying beneath him.

Then he raised the cup, his heart swelling with pride.

In days of old, Guan Yu slew Hua Xiong before his wine cooled. Today, I, Obito...

"Pfft!"

Obito took a sip but couldn't swallow it.

He sprayed it all over Nagano Nami's face.

"Aah!" Nagano Nami screamed.

Obito turned to Rin in bewilderment.

Rin blinked her big eyes and said,

"You asked for hot water, so I filled it with water that had just boiled."

Oh.

Obito pressed his palms together and bowed to Nagano Nami on the ground.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Let's go, Rin."

Obito took Rin's little hand and left the scene of the crime.

Behind them, Nagano Nami's wail rang across the entire school.

"Aah! Obito, I swear I'll get you for this!"

After walking Rin home, Obito trudged along with a troubled frown.

He had run into a serious problem.

The system hadn't given him a choice in almost ten days!

Over the past few days,

he had tried all sorts of strange poses, but the system hadn't reacted in the slightest.

After all, the system was the source of all his confidence.

Now that it had gone quiet, Obito was seriously panicking.

"System, you there? How about a quest?"

"Brother System?"

"Daddy System?"

"Grandpa System!"

System: "..."

Fed up with Obito's pestering, the system finally popped up a screen.

Obito stared in shock.

"Holy crap, that actually worked? But these choices..."

[Option 1: Soak in any kind of slime every day and practice blowing bubbles like a slug for half an hour. Keep it up for ten years. Reward: Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu.]

[Option 2: Practice croaking and hopping like a toad for half an hour every day. Keep it up for ten years. Reward: Mount Myōboku Senjutsu.]

[Option 3: Practice slithering like a snake for half an hour every day. Keep it up for ten years. Reward: Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu.]

Honestly, these were the most generous rewards Obito had ever seen.

Senjutsu!

One of the most powerful forms of strength in Naruto!

But what kind of ridiculous choices were these?

Was making me die of embarrassment once not enough?

Now you want me to do it for ten years?

Obito strongly suspected the system had it out for him.

(System: Ding! No need to suspect it. I absolutely do!)

"Which of these three should I pick?... Or rather, which one can I pick?"

This was the first time Obito had chosen based solely on the options, without considering the rewards.

"I can't stomach option one. With option two, all that croaking and hopping would make it easy for someone to spot me..."

Obito sighed and made his choice.

"Option three, then."

He was caught somewhere between agony and delight.

Only by coming within a hair's breadth of dying of embarrassment could he grasp the true meaning of power!

That evening,

the last glimmer of light faded from the sky, and pitch-black night covered the earth.

A figure peeked around cautiously before stepping out of his house.

He crept toward a small grove.

"Phew. It's so late. No way anyone's still in the woods."

The figure was Obito.

He had picked this time specifically to complete the option's requirements in the grove.

After checking repeatedly that no one was nearby,

Obito lay on the ground and awkwardly began slithering forward like a snake.

After a while, he felt rather pleased with himself.

"Damn, good thing I thought to pad Little Bird with a towel. Otherwise, the consequences would've been unthinkable."

On the other side of the grove,

a boy training with painstaking care slowly lowered the leg he had kicked out.

He looked into the distance, puzzled.

"Did I just hear... Obito-kun's voice?"

A thought seemed to strike him, and excitement crept onto his face.

"Could Obito-kun be training hard this late, just like me?"

"As expected of someone who understands the true meaning of Youth!"

"The sweat we shed is the glory of our Youth!"

The boy headed toward the source of the voice.

Before long, he spotted that familiar figure.

He scratched his head and muttered in confusion,

"It really is Obito-kun. But what's he doing?"

The boy stopped and carefully watched Obito's every move.

"Damn, it still hurts."

"I feel like my little iron rod's about to get ground down into a needle!"

Obito kept complaining as he wriggled along, eager to finish the task.

As he crawled,

he suddenly heard a strange noise.

He lifted his head and met someone else's eyes.

Obito: "..."

A person died twice in life: once physically and once socially.

And of the two, the latter was far more painful.

Obito's face twisted.

It's this late, and you're not home asleep. You're not even here with a girlfriend.

Why would you come to the grove alone... Guy?!

At that very moment, Guy asked the same question.

"Obito-kun, what are you doing?"

He had been watching for ages and still couldn't figure it out.

After a moment of silence, Obito slowly replied,

"I'm... doing the Dragon Spine Opener!"

"Combining the Dragon Spine Opener with Bionic Technique strengthens your core and loosens up stiff muscles."

Amazing!

Guy's eyes gradually lit up. He longed to try the training technique Obito had described.

"Obito-kun, can I join you?"

[I stayed up all night catching up on homework, then got up and posted this while I was still groggy.

Man, I wish I could be like Earth Boy and not have to do homework...]