Ridiculous Choices

Mount Myōboku.

Inside a palace deep among towering mountains.

A colossal toad sat on an enormous throne carved with the character for "sage."

His body was orange. He wore a scholar's cap and a string of prayer beads around his neck.

At their center sat a violet-blue cat's-eye gem marked with the character for "oil."

The Great Toad Sage!

The Great Toad Sage had been asleep for years.

But today, he suddenly opened his eyes.

A flicker of shock flashed through his golden eyes.

Just moments ago.

He had sensed what seemed to be a new variable in the shinobi world.

Because of it, the prophecy he had made before had changed in some indescribable way.

It had been altered almost beyond recognition!

In his new vision, the future shinobi world seemed... a little absurd?

He pondered for a moment, then spoke.

"Fukasaku, Shima, summon little Jiraiya for me. Tell him I need to see him."

Two tiny toads hopped out.

Fukasaku asked in surprise.

"Have you made a new prophecy?"

The Great Toad Sage nodded and answered uncertainly.

"I suppose... you could call it that."

The next day.

Obito and the others gathered at their agreed meeting place.

After Minato assigned the three of them their mission.

He gave Obito a complicated look, then hurried away.

Rin said, puzzled.

"Does Minato-sensei look exhausted to you today?"

Obito propped up his chin and said with a touch of glee.

"Oh? I think he looks pretty happy."

Kakashi cast Obito a sidelong glance without letting it show.

He had a feeling Minato-sensei's hasty departure had something to do with that idiot, directly or otherwise!

As newly appointed Genin, Obito and Rin could only take D-rank Missions.

And as part of their team, Kakashi had to carry out D-rank Missions with them.

"Man, another day of petty chores," Obito said helplessly.

Kakashi and Rin nodded in agreement.

D-rank Missions were light assignments that involved no combat or danger to life.

They were usually full of tedious little tasks.

Finding pets, picking up trash, babysitting, investigating someone's conduct, helping dig up sweet potatoes...

"Let's go. The sooner we finish today's mission, the sooner we can start training this afternoon," Kakashi said.

"All right!"

Through days of missions and training.

The three youngsters slowly improved.

Obito finally mastered the Shadow Clone Technique he had been longing to learn.

After training ended and he returned home.

He chuckled and formed hand seals with both hands.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A figure identical to him appeared in an instant.

They looked each other over, both struck by how strange it felt.

"All right, train for me, buddy!" Obito said.

The Shadow Clone flopped lazily onto the bed, shook his head, and said.

"No."

The two stared at each other for a long while.

Obito sighed helplessly.

"Yeah, I should've seen that coming..."

If he was too lazy to train, why would a copy of him want to do it?

"That's my Shadow Clone, all right. He's exactly like me."

He clicked his tongue in admiration and raised a hand to dispel the Shadow Clone.

"Well, there goes my plan to train with Shadow Clones."

He glanced outside and saw that it was still early.

"Hmm. Maybe I'll go out and find someone to hang out with?"

"But... who should I visit?"

As Obito pondered, the system presented him with options.

[Option One: Visit Guy. Reward: White Snake Maiden skin ×1.]

[Option Two: Visit Rin. Reward: Balenciaga black stockings ×1.]

[Option Three: Visit Shikaba. Reward: An elephant and a chariot.]

[Option Four: Visit Ayako. Reward: Chakra Insect Eggs ×100.]

[Option Five: Visit Kakashi. Reward: Sexy Jutsu.]

"Hiss—"

There was so much to complain about that Obito didn't know where to start.

He could set aside ridiculous rewards like a White Snake Maiden skin and chess pieces.

At least they had some connection to the people he was supposed to visit.

But why would visiting Kakashi reward him with the Sexy Jutsu???

No way... Obito fell into thought.

After a long moment, he shook his head.

...I'm probably overthinking it.

Right. Time to choose.

"Options one and three are out. Hmm... might as well rule out four too. I'm not interested in playing with bugs."

"Option two's reward is tempting... but if I gave it to Rin now, wouldn't I just be giving everyone else a free show?"

He shook his head again.

No. I absolutely can't let that happen!

"Come to think of it... System, can I pick more than one?" Obito asked tentatively.

The system's icy voice echoed in his ear.

"Ding. Can this system choose a different Host?"

Obito was left speechless.

Fine. Forget I asked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

He formed hand seals with both hands and summoned his Shadow Clone again.

"Buddy, I'm going to complete a choice. Make another batch of fruit wine for me and take it to Minato-sensei."

To make sure Minato-sensei stayed hard at work every day.

Obito figured he ought to bring his teacher wine a few more times.

The Shadow Clone readily agreed.

"All right!"

As long as I don't have to train, I'll do anything!

After Obito hurried off.

The Shadow Clone carried a jar of fruit wine out of the kitchen.

"I think I added too much last time. Should I use a little less this time?"

After some thought, he pulled nine packets of medicine from a drawer.

"That should be much better..."

Obito dashed to Kakashi's house and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock!

"Who is it?"

Kakashi opened the door. Seeing Obito, he asked in confusion.

"Obito? What are you doing here?"

Obito grinned.

"Nothing. Just came to see you."

At the same time.

A system notification sounded in his mind.

[Choice completed! Reward obtained: Sexy Jutsu!]

Kakashi eyed Obito suspiciously, his thoughts impossible to read.

Obito scratched his head and said.

"Hey, aren't you going to invite me in?"

Kakashi shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

"Tch."

Obito curled his lip. Then his eyes lit up, and he gave Kakashi a wicked grin.

"Oh, right, Kakashi."

"I learned a new ninjutsu. Want to see it? It's big and impressive."

Kakashi showed little interest and refused coldly.

"No, I—"

His words caught in his throat.

His eyes widened as if he had been struck by lightning.

It was as though he had seen something impossible.

Obito had vanished before his eyes.

In his place stood a young woman with shoulder-length black hair.

Her eyes shone like stars, and her lovely face surpassed anything he had ever seen.

For a moment, Kakashi could only stare.

Ha!

Seeing Kakashi frozen in a daze, Obito laughed to himself.

When shaping the face, he had drawn on a few stunning beauties from his previous life.

For the figure, he had taken direct inspiration from the curvaceous pharmacy owner.

As for the one difference...

Well, he had been a little bolder with the outfit.

Kakashi felt a warm trickle from his nose.

He took the girl by the hand and led her into the house without giving her a chance to argue.

"It's windy out here. Let's talk inside."

The "girl" turned pale. "Kakashi, no!"

Bang!

The door slammed shut, cutting off the girl's voice.