Practical Training and Minato's Lesson

In the forest.

Minato came to a stop with the two boys.

After carefully surveying their surroundings, he nodded in satisfaction.

"All right. We'll train here."

Kakashi and Obito exchanged a glance.

Excitement shone in both their eyes.

Minato formed Hand Seals again and called out,

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

In the blink of an eye,

Minatos appeared all around Obito and Kakashi, three layers deep on every side.

It was no exaggeration to say

the crowd filled the entire spacious forest clearing.

Obito felt his urge to score a freebie burning bright.

"Minato-sensei, that move is so cool! Can you teach me?"

Minato smiled and was about to answer,

but a Minato beside him spoke first.

"Sure. If you pass the practical training, I'll teach you the Shadow Clone Technique."

"Yes!"

The promise of a reward fired Obito up even more.

He pulled down his goggles and asked eagerly,

"So, Minato-sensei, what's the practical training?"

Minato spoke slowly.

"I'll throw Shuriken at you from the forest. If you can hold out against my attacks for half an hour, you pass."

Uh...

Obito looked at the dense crowd of Minatos and went numb all over.

"Minato-sensei, let's begin," Kakashi said gravely.

Minato nodded, looked at his two students, and warned them,

"If you can't keep going, tell me to stop immediately. Don't force yourselves. You could get hurt."

"Okay, Minato-sensei."

Once both boys nodded,

the Minatos scattered into the forest. His voice came from every direction.

"Then let the training... begin!"

Kakashi drew his short sword.

Obito pursed his lips and drew two Kunai.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!

The sounds of projectiles cutting through the air came one after another.

Shuriken flew out of the forest,

hurtling toward them from every tricky angle.

They covered nearly every direction the boys might dodge.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Metal struck metal, sending sparks flying.

The short sword in Kakashi's hand became a blur.

It formed an impenetrable defense

that blocked the overwhelming volley of Shuriken.

Obito refused to be outdone. The Kunai in his hands flashed just as quickly.

Shuriken fell before him one after another, soon littering the ground.

Hidden in the shadows, Minato nodded to himself.

He was quite pleased with both boys.

Kakashi's skill was what he had expected.

But Obito's performance was a delightful surprise.

"Looks like I'll have to make things a little harder for them," Minato murmured.

Twenty minutes later.

Obito muttered under his breath,

"Man, Minato-sensei's hands are insanely fast. Can his wife even handle that?"

More and more Shuriken flew out of the forest, faster with every volley.

Yet Minato seemed tireless, shortening the gap between attacks again and again!

Even the legendary hands that kept a rich lady happy couldn't beat this!

Obito shouted to Kakashi beside him,

"Hey, Kakashi! How long have we been at this?"

Kakashi's breathing was uneven when he answered. He was clearly running out of strength too.

"Over twenty minutes, I think. Ten more at most."

Obito immediately perked up.

"All right! We can do this!"

But that burst of energy lasted only a few minutes before he began to falter.

After blocking another three rounds of attacks, he felt close to his limit.

If he hadn't practiced swinging a blade every day, he probably wouldn't even have been able to lift his arms by now.

Seeing dozens more Shuriken coming, Obito planted both hands on the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A short wall carved with a dog's head rose at an angle, just high enough to shelter Obito.

Shuriken clattered against the earthen wall, making Obito's heart pound.

Beside him, Kakashi blocked another wave of attacks.

Then he turned and caught sight of the wall.

Utterly baffled, he asked,

"You've barely got any chakra left, and you still carved a dog's head into your Earth-Style Wall? Are you...?"

Out of your mind? Kakashi thought.

Obito clicked his tongue and ignored him.

You were running on fumes in your last life, but you still held up your Lightning Blade and talked to me for episode after episode.

And you've got the nerve to criticize me.

No way am I lending you my powers again in this life.

Let's see how you manage to fight everyone to a draw then!

Time slipped by.

Only half a minute remained until the time limit.

Obito let out a relieved breath.

Looks like we've got this training in the bag!

The moment that thought crossed his mind,

Minato appeared behind him and kicked him into the air.

"???"

Obito flew backward, his mind full of question marks.

Then he saw Kakashi flying toward him too.

That made him feel a lot better.

They hit the ground hard and climbed to their feet, grimacing.

Kakashi looked at Minato in confusion.

"Minato-sensei, you..."

Minato looked at the two boys.

Instead of his usual smile, he wore a stern expression.

"This is your first lesson in real combat: enemies will never follow so-called rules or act the way you expect."

"On the battlefield, they'll do everything they can to break convention, catch you by surprise, and leave you scrambling."

"If you aren't prepared for every possibility, you'll die."

Kakashi and Obito turned Minato's words over in their minds,

thinking them through, trying to understand.

After a while, Kakashi nodded.

"I understand, Minato-sensei."

Obito said, "Same here."

He looked a little dejected.

Guess I won't be getting the Shadow Clone Technique for free today.

This freeloader could cry!

Seeing that both students understood why he had done it,

Minato finally smiled again.

"I was very pleased with how you two performed. You pass."

He formed Hand Seals and created another shadow clone.

Minato's shadow clone said,

"Obito, come with me. I'll teach you the Shadow Clone Technique."

The original turned to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, stay here and spar with me. We'll keep honing your Taijutsu."

Kakashi and Obito answered together.

"Yes, Minato-sensei!"

Obito followed the shadow clone to an open space.

Minato explained the technique in detail.

"The Shadow Clone Technique is a B-rank ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage. It uses chakra to create a solid clone, like me."

"I have an independent mind and can take a certain amount of punishment. I can think and fight just like the original."

"When the Shadow Clone Technique ends, my memories and experience return to the original, and I wait for him to summon me again."

Obito nodded along.

Shadow clone brothers are so selfless.

They're willing to sacrifice themselves for the original.

I'm genuinely moved!