Tempting Rewards

Obito straightened his small frame and launched into an elaborate explanation.

"Minato-sensei, I think we could do this... and then this..."

"Or we could do this... and then that..."

Obito rattled off several plans in a row.

Only then did he turn to Minato, still eager to say more.

"Minato-sensei, what do you think of my ideas?"

Minato fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"After hearing your analysis, I think we... need to analyze things some more."

Obito: "???"

Kakashi chimed in.

"If your ideas were even a little workable, they wouldn't be completely unworkable."

Obito: "?!!"

Come on, are you two even saying anything?!

Obito crouched back down, dejected.

Rin smiled and moved over beside him.

She patted his back and comforted him softly.

Minato sighed and turned to Kakashi.

"You take it from here, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded slightly.

After a moment's thought, he quickly proposed a thorough plan.

"We could... and then..."

Minato nodded in approval.

"Good. We'll do as Kakashi suggested."

"I'll cover you from here. Move out!"

Kakashi's plan went off without a hitch.

With the three youngsters working together,

they easily subdued the fugitive.

Feeling that he had lost face and been outdone by Kakashi,

Obito volunteered to handle the interrogation.

"Wait by the cave entrance, everyone. I'll be right back!"

With that,

Obito strode confidently into the cave.

He eyed the bound fugitive on the ground with ill intent.

"Heh heh heh..."

The fugitive clenched up under his gaze, terror filling his eyes.

"D-don't come any closer!"

"Heh heh heh. That's not up to you..."

Obito marched over and unleashed a flurry of punches on the fugitive.

"Are you going to talk or not?"

"I..."

"Still won't confess? Tough one, huh? Take this!"

"Aaah...!!!"

Outside the cave,

Rin heard the repeated screams and suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"Did Obito-kun ask him anything after going in?"

Kakashi and Minato exchanged a glance.

Wait...

She's right!

The three hurried into the cave.

One look at the fugitive on the ground told them enough.

He was foaming at the mouth and looked ready to keel over.

Rin hurriedly grabbed Obito.

"Obito-kun, stop hitting him!"

"Think about it. Did you forget to ask him for information?"

"=͟͟͞͞(꒪⌓꒪*) Uh..."

Obito scratched his head awkwardly.

Had he forgotten?

He had been so focused on outdoing Kakashi

that he seemed to have forgotten to ask...

The fugitive, swollen like a pig on the ground, was nearly in tears.

"You started hitting me the moment you came in! I wanted to talk... but you had to ask me something first!"

Flustered and furious, Obito kicked him again.

"If I didn't ask, why didn't you confess on your own? Couldn't you just volunteer an answer?"

"Do I have to ask before you'll say anything? What, are you my girlfriend?"

Obito's mood swings had terrified the fugitive.

He immediately spilled everything he knew.

He was afraid that if he waited any longer, he would never get another chance to speak.

"Uh..."

Minato's expression turned a little strange.

The process had been bizarre, but the result... wasn't bad?

"All right. Now we escort him to a prison in the Land of Fire, and this mission is complete."

At that, Obito hauled the fugitive up and spat disdainfully.

"Come on, you two-faced jerk. Hmph!"

The fugitive: "???"

You beat me for not talking, then insult me when I do?

Can you treat me like a person?

I'm only twenty. I just want to live. What did I do wrong?

Several months later,

outside Konoha's mission hall,

Kakashi thoughtfully touched his Forehead Protector.

"We seem to be taking on missions more and more often lately."

Obito and Rin both nodded gravely.

At first,

they had taken on a C-rank Mission roughly once every ten days.

But later,

the village began assigning missions more and more frequently.

Sometimes, they even received two C-rank Missions within ten days.

On the one hand,

Obito was making much faster progress through his missions.

But it was hardly a good sign.

It meant the Shinobi World was growing increasingly unstable.

While the three chatted outside,

inside the mission hall,

Minato finished submitting their latest mission.

[Choice completed! Reward obtained: Labor Is the Most Glorious BGM!]

The prompt sounded suddenly in Obito's mind.

Only then did he realize

that he had completed thirty C-rank Missions!

Minato emerged from the mission hall and asked Obito with a smile,

"Obito, are you planning to take part in this round of the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

Rin spoke up beside them, sounding a little wistful.

"Wow, time flies. It's already time for the Chunin Ninja Exams again."

Kakashi nodded, feeling much the same.

It felt as though the last Chunin Ninja Exams had been only two days ago.

"Hmm..."

Obito did not answer right away.

Because if all went as expected,

the wise, perceptive, and capable System-kun

would present him with a choice.

The system was speechless.

"...Does the Host think such a cheap trick will work on me?"

"Ding!"

[Option one: Take part in the Chunin Ninja Exams and become a Jonin. Completion reward: Double your Chakra (don't get your hopes up; this is just here for you to look at).]

[Option two: Take part in the Chunin Ninja Exams and become a Chunin. Completion reward: Kamui Limited Card.]

[Option three: Refuse to take the exam and remain a Genin. Completion reward: Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.]

[Kamui Limited Card: When you activate the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan will activate automatically.]

Obito glanced at option one, and his mouth twitched twice.

Right.

Nothing to discuss. Pass.

The rewards for options two and three were both good.

The Kamui Limited Card and Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.

Both were great!

When Lord Madara had shown off on the battlefield,

he had done it with a single Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.

Despite the elemental disadvantage, it had overwhelmed the Water Release of dozens of Allied Shinobi Forces members.

Still...

As tempting as Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame was,

Obito wanted that so-called Kamui Limited Card even more!

As everyone knew,

the abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan were tied to one's state of mind when it awakened.

Obito was genuinely worried

that all the nonsense rattling around in his head

would affect his Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities.

If he ended up awakening some ridiculous power,

he would cry himself senseless in a pretty girl's arms!

He did not want to become some Uchiha poop terrorist!

...Okay, he just wanted to start out with Double Kamui.

That was not too much to ask, right?

Susanoo paired with Kamui—now that was a promising young ninja!