Unlocking the Senjutsu Quest

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

A cold wind swept past, whipping their sleeves as they traded icy stares.

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

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

Once the little girl had left,

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

"Come on. Let's get this over with."

Nagano Nami snorted, a mocking smile curling his lips.

"Obito, you probably think you've already won."

Obito nodded as if that were obvious.

Inside, though, he was growing impatient.

If you're going to fight, then fight. Why do you talk so much?

What are you stalling for?

Nagano Nami planted his hands on his hips and said smugly,

"Ha! If you really think that, you couldn't be more wrong."

"To beat you, I trained ten times—no, a hundred times—harder than most people over the break."

"I'm not the person I was back then. Now, I—"

Before Nagano Nami could finish,

a fist suddenly filled his vision.

Boom!

Obito punched Nagano Nami square in the face.

Stars burst before Nagano Nami's eyes.

He lost his balance and hit the ground with a thud.

Obito gave him a thorough beating.

"That's it? This is why you should shut up! Shut up!"

Nagano Nami covered his head on the ground and cursed.

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

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

Obito kicked him even harder.

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

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

Well, it was more of a 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, Lin-chan."

He glanced at Nagano Nami, who lay sprawled beneath him.

Raising the cup, he felt a surge of heroic pride.

In days of old, Guan Yu warmed his wine before slaying Hua Xiong. And today, I, Obito...

Pfft!

Obito took a sip but couldn't swallow it.

He sprayed it straight onto Nagano Nami's face.

"Aah!" Nagano Nami screamed.

Obito turned to Rin in alarm.

Rin blinked her big eyes and said,

"You asked for hot water, so I got water that had just boiled."

Oh.

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

"Sorry about that. Really sorry."

"Let's go, Lin-chan."

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

Behind them, Nagano Nami's shrill cry rang across the entire campus.

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

After taking Rin home, Obito walked down the road with a troubled frown.

He had run into a serious problem.

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

Over the past few days,

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

The system was the source of all his confidence.

Now that it had gone silent, Obito was panicking.

"System, you there? Give me a quest?"

"Big Brother System."

"System Dad?"

"Grandpa System!"

The system: "..."

Driven to distraction by Obito, the system finally displayed a screen of light.

Obito was stunned.

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

[Option One: Soak in any kind of slime every day and spend half an hour learning to blow bubbles like Katsuyu. Keep it up for ten years. Completion reward: Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu.]

[Option Two: Spend half an hour every day croaking and jumping like a toad. Keep it up for ten years. Completion reward: Mount Myōboku Senjutsu.]

[Option Three: Spend half an hour every day crawling like a snake. Keep it up for ten years. Completion reward: Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu.]

To be fair, these were by far the best rewards Obito had ever seen on a choice question.

Senjutsu!

One of the highest forms of power in Naruto!

But what kind of ridiculous options were these?

Was humiliating me once not enough?

Now you want me to humiliate myself for ten years?!

Obito strongly suspected the system had it in for him.

(The system: Ding! Don't just suspect it. I do have it in for you!)

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

For the first time, Obito chose based on the options alone, without considering the rewards.

"I couldn't stand Option One with my fear of germs. With Option Two, someone might catch me jumping around and croaking..."

Obito sighed and made his choice.

"Option Three it is."

Right now, he was probably both miserable and delighted.

Only by coming this close to social death could he grasp the true meaning of power!

That evening.

As the last light faded from the sky, a pitch-black curtain of night fell over the land.

A figure poked his head out of his house and looked around before stepping outside.

He crept toward the Small Grove.

"Whew. It's so late, there can't still be anyone in the grove."

The figure was Obito.

He had deliberately chosen this hour to complete the option's requirements in the Small Grove.

After checking several times that no one was nearby,

Obito lay on the ground and began crawling slowly forward, awkwardly imitating a snake.

After a while, he felt rather glad.

"Crap, good thing I was smart enough to put a towel under Little Bird first. Otherwise, I don't even want to think about it."

On the other side of the Small Grove,

a boy practicing with painstaking focus slowly drew back the leg he had kicked out.

He looked into the distance, puzzled.

"Was that... Obito-kun's voice I heard?"

A thought seemed to strike him, and his expression brightened.

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

"No wonder he understands the true meaning of Youth!"

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

The boy headed toward the source of the voice.

Soon, he spotted the familiar figure.

He scratched his head in confusion and muttered,

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

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

"Crap, it still hurts so much."

"I feel like my little iron rod's almost been ground down to a needle!"

Obito grumbled as he kept wriggling forward, trying to finish the task as quickly as possible.

As he crawled,

he suddenly heard a strange noise.

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

Obito: "..."

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

And of the two, social death was far more painful.

Obito's face twisted.

It's this late. You're not home asleep, and you didn't bring a girlfriend.

What are you doing in the Small Grove all alone... Guy?!

At that very moment, Guy asked the same question.

"Obito-kun, what are you doing?"

He had watched 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 the Bionic Technique strengthens the muscles in your abdomen and lower back and loosens up stiff muscle groups."

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 still feeling dizzy.

Sigh. I wish I could be like Earth Boy and not do homework...]