Obito Stays True to His Original Aspiration

Minato had never expected it.

Obito looked so guileless, yet he could be this ruthless.

"...That's right. We can place a seal on an enemy to restrict their chakra."

As he spoke,

Minato channeled several strands of chakra into his five fingers and slammed them against Inosuke's lower abdomen.

Inosuke grunted and slowly opened his eyes.

"Minato Namikaze!"

The moment he saw Minato's face, he gave up any thought of resisting.

Having come from Konoha himself, he knew just how terrifying the man before him was.

Inosuke gave a bitter smile.

"I didn't think the village valued me so highly that they'd send you."

Obito shook his head theatrically in front of Inosuke.

"No! No! No!"

"Don't flatter yourself. You got caught by three kids who just graduated from school, okay?"

A vein throbbed on Inosuke's forehead. He wanted nothing more than to strangle the brat in front of him.

Seeing the look on Inosuke's face, Obito planted his hands on his hips and glared.

"What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll smack you!"

"Ugh..."

Perhaps Minato had already grown used to Obito's personality.

Like Rin and Kakashi, he simply stood to one side and sighed.

On the way back,

Inosuke and Obito traded insults the whole way.

In his previous life, Obito had been a master of vicious online trash talk.

He left a hardened criminal like Inosuke too intimidated to say another word.

Minato could only marvel at the sight.

Once again, he had to rethink what he knew about his student.

"Minato-sensei, here's what happened..."

Walking beside Minato, Kakashi and Rin told him the whole story of how they had captured Inosuke.

When Minato heard that Obito had come up with every part of the plan,

he glanced at him in surprise.

I never thought Obito could come up with such a clever plan...

Rather than follow convention, he had done the opposite.

He had deliberately revealed their location to lower the target's guard.

Then he had exploited the man's weakness and created an opening for his teammates.

Hmm.

That shameless Sexy Jutsu does sound exactly like something Obito would come up with.

To Minato, Obito was a diamond in the rough.

He needed to find a way to bring out the boy's potential.

He couldn't let him stray any further down the wrong path...

The five of them returned to the village.

Minato turned to his three students.

"I still have some things to take care of. You don't need to train today, so go home and get some rest."

The three answered obediently.

"Okay, Minato-sensei!"

After Minato took Inosuke away,

Rin blinked her large eyes and looked at the two boys beside her.

"Kakashi, Obito, what are you going to do now?"

Kakashi was about to say he planned to train.

But Obito spoke before he could.

"Why don't we all go eat at Kakashi's place? His cooking is amazing!"

Rin's eyes lit up, and she looked at Kakashi expectantly.

"Can we, Kakashi?"

Kakashi felt a little put out and discreetly gave Obito a jab.

"O-of course we can."

Rin's eyes curved with delight as she rubbed her hands together.

"Yay! I can't wait!"

Obito took Rin by the hand and threw his other arm around Kakashi's shoulders.

"Come on, let's go. We can talk when we get to his place."

"We've been running around on this mission for so long, I feel like I'm falling apart!"

Meanwhile,

after Minato handed Inosuke over to the Anbu,

he made his way to the Hokage's office at an unhurried pace.

He waited for the Anbu Ninja guarding the door to announce him before going in.

"Oh, Minato. Have a seat," the Third Hokage said with a smile.

Minato smiled modestly and sat down across from him.

"Then I'll take you up on that, Lord Third."

The Third Hokage took out his pipe.

After enjoying a couple of puffs, he said with a smile,

"I hear you caught a village deserter while taking your students out to gather intelligence. No wonder I rely on you."

Minato rubbed his nose awkwardly.

"Lord Third, that's actually what I came to speak to you about."

Oh?

A flicker of curiosity crossed the Third Hokage's eyes, and he sat up a little straighter.

Was it not what I thought?

Minato said, "In fact, the three kids were the ones who found a way to catch Inosuke. I didn't do much."

It was a little embarrassing to admit.

Still, Minato recounted the mission to the Third Hokage exactly as it had happened.

"..."

Sexy Jutsu?

That sounds like a very interesting jutsu...

The Third Hokage made a mental note without letting it show.

He planned to use the Telescope Technique to check in on Obito sometime when he had a spare moment...

Minato didn't notice the change in the Third Hokage's expression and continued his account.

The Third Hokage nodded repeatedly, then said with heartfelt satisfaction,

"Konoha's future is in good hands. Minato, make sure you guide this team well."

"I have a feeling Kakashi and Obito will become pillars of Konoha one day."

Minato nodded solemnly.

"Rest assured, Lord Third. I'll teach them with all the care I can."

The Third Hokage thought for a moment, then asked,

"How have the three been doing lately? Especially young Kakashi. Has he...?"

Minato smiled again.

"Kakashi seems to have come out of his shell. He genuinely sees Obito and Rin as his comrades now."

"They may not realize it yet, but the three of them have already formed a deep bond."

The Third Hokage smiled as he puffed on his pipe.

"That's good. That's very good."

The mission Obito and the others had taken when they set out was only to gather intelligence.

So even though they had done far more than the mission required, their pay stayed the same.

But at Minato's special request,

the Hokage's office set aside some funds

and gave each of the three kids a substantial bonus.

"Thank you, Minato-sensei!"

After collecting his money, Obito ran off happily.

Where was the first place a man went when he had money?

To refuel, of course!

Obito skipped into the pharmacy he had visited before.

He planned to buy Minato-sensei some more tonics as a proper reward for his hard work.

Got it from Minato, spending it on Minato, Obito thought with a grin.

"Hm?"

The beautiful woman behind the counter gave a soft hum of surprise.

Narrowing her alluring eyes, she looked at Obito in puzzlement.

"You're the little brat who kept staring at my chest last time. What brings you back?"

Obito looked deeply aggrieved.

"Hey, don't go making things up! When did I keep staring at your chest?!"

...I looked at your butt and thighs too, Obito muttered inwardly.

The woman rolled her eyes.

"My name isn't 'Hey.' It's Yuki. You can call me Big Sis Yuki."

Seriously?

What, is your name Chu Yuxun? Did you travel here from Alistun Business School?

Obito was utterly speechless.

I'm just here to buy medicine. Do I really need to know your name?