Three Idiots

"Hello! Bi... big brother, I want a bowl of chashu ramen!"

Outside Ichiraku Ramen, Obito lifted the noren curtain, brought Kurenai Yuhi to the counter, and sat down.

Obito instinctively wanted to call him uncle, but he realized that Teuchi was still a young guy, so he quickly changed his address.

Teuchi was at most under thirty.

His daughter Ayame was only six years old, which made her three years younger than both Obito and Kurenai.

"I'll have a bowl of dhal soup noodles." Kurenai Yuhi sat down beside Obito.

"Coming right up! Please wait a moment!" Teuchi greeted them with a smiling face and enthusiastic hospitality.

Ayame was also very diligent, starting to help set out bowls and arrange condiments.

"By the way, Kurenai, how did you suddenly think of coming to train with me?"

Out of curiosity, Obito couldn't help himself and voiced the doubts in his heart.

Obito had wanted to ask this morning, but there were too many people in the classroom at the time, so he hadn't felt comfortable bringing it up.

"Actually, it was my father who asked me to get in touch with you more, so I..."

Kurenai Yuhi's pretty face was flushed, and she didn't choose to hide it.

Obito wore a puzzled look. "Your father? Does he know me?"

Kurenai Yuhi shook her head. "No. After I went home yesterday, I talked to my father about the match between you and classmate Baoguo, so that's why he asked me to spend more time with you."

"Oh, I see." Obito nodded thoughtfully.

It seemed he had become famous again because he had awakened the three tomoe.

Kurenai Yuhi's father was probably like Danzo, having taken a fancy to Obito's potential.

"However, Obito, don't get the wrong idea, oh. My father didn't mean that I should try to cozy up to you."

As if afraid that Obito might misunderstand her meaning, Kurenai Yuhi quickly waved her small hands in explanation.

Obito chuckled. "It's fine. No matter the reason, being able to train with you makes me quite happy."

What Obito said was his true feeling.

Dual-cultivating with a pretty girl like Kurenai, wasn't that much better than bitter solo training?

Who cared whether her old man had any intentions of cozying up to him or not.

Even if there were such intentions, that just meant I, Big Brother Tobi, have the strength.

However, Kurenai Yuhi still went on to explain in detail the conversation she had had with Shinku Yuhi.

Shinku Yuhi naturally sighed over Obito's extraordinary talent, remarking that his future achievements would be boundless.

And although the Yūhi Clan could be considered a major clan, talents had withered in recent years, and they had gradually declined.

Because of this, the Yūhi Clan had also been squeezed out from the forefront of Konoha's clans down to a minor one.

According to Shinku Yuhi's intentions, he wanted Kurenai to interact more with Obito.

Perhaps it would improve and help Kurenai with her Genjutsu cultivation.

After all, the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan excelled at Genjutsu, and the Yūhi Clan was likewise skilled in Genjutsu.

Obito and Kurenai were already classmates, so increasing exchanges to strengthen both sides' power naturally had its benefits.

Thus, that scene this morning where Kurenai proposed training together with Obito came to be...

Outside the ramen shop.

At the corner of a neighborhood alley, three men wearing gray kimonos were whispering and discussing as they looked toward the ramen shop.

"The Uchiha Obito that Young Master Baoguo told us to teach a lesson should be that brat."

"There's no mistake! He's wearing the crest of the Uchiha Clan on his body."

"Speaking of which, aren't there rumors that the brat unlocked the three tomoe? Can the three of us beat him?"

Hearing his companion's words, one of the three, a Bald Man, immediately grew displeased.

He confidently patted his chest and said:

"What are you afraid of? Just follow my lead later. As a Special Jōnin leading the two of you as Chunin, could I seriously fail to handle a mere punk?"

Young Master Baoguo had already said that this Uchiha Obito had only just awakened his eyes yesterday.

Even if he was a super genius, he certainly wouldn't be able to control that pair of eyes yet.

"Boss is right, let's change clothes quickly so we don't get recognized later."

Immediately, the three of them each pulled out a set of tattered villager clothes and began slipping them on.

"Ah~~, I'm stuffed." Inside the ramen shop, Obito rubbed his belly with a satisfied look.

Kurenai Yuhi had too small an appetite and actually couldn't finish a bowl of dhal soup noodles.

In the spirit of not wasting food, Obito finished his own chashu ramen, and then cleanly polished off the half-bowl Kurenai had left behind.

"Let's go, Obito." Kurenai Yuhi called out, standing up to lift the curtain and walk outside.

"Yeah." Obito nodded, closely following Kurenai's pace.

The two of them had just walked to the intersection ahead when three tall fellows suddenly dashed out from a corner.

They walked toward the two of Obito with fierce expressions, looking like bandits who had just come down from the mountains.

"Obito... what do they want?" Kurenai Yuhi instinctively took a step back.

After all, the opponents were three adults coming at them so aggressively, and Kurenai was genuinely a bit scared.

How could Big Brother Tobi miss such a great opportunity to show off in front of a girl?

Obito proactively took a step forward, blocking Kurenai behind him. "Kurenai! Don't be afraid, I'll protect you."

"Yeah." Kurenai nodded. Looking at Obito's resolute back, her favorability instantly increased quite a bit.

"What kind of people are you, and what do you want?" Obito shouted loudly in inquiry.

There were still quite a few pedestrians around the street, and they immediately had their gazes drawn over by this shout.

Those three thugs, however, didn't care.

One of the Bald Men glared at Obito and demanded in a loud voice:

"You're Uchiha Obito, right? My family lost 200,000 ryo in silver yesterday, and you must have stolen it! Hurry up and return the money to me!"

As soon as those words came out, the villagers watching around immediately began whispering and discussing.

Some people had even started accusing Obito of not learning properly and stealing things at such a young age.

Kurenai Yuhi's pretty face was filled with shock. She tugged at Obito's clothes and asked softly, "Obito, what on earth is going on?"

Obito shook his head. "These three people are obviously here to pick a fight. How could you believe words like that?"

As he spoke, Obito raised a finger to point at the clothes on the three men, shaking his head in mockery and laughter:

"Come on! If the three of you are going to disguise yourselves as villagers, at least make the disguise look decent! The emblem of the Shimura Clan is exposed right there on your inner garments!"

"Nonsense! No it isn't!" The Bald Man's expression changed in shock, and he hurriedly pulled open his outer tattered clothes to check the condition of his inner garments.

The other two men made the same movements, grabbing the outer villager clothes and tugging them this way and that to inspect their bodies.

After a good while, one of the short men scratched his head and asked the Bald Man:

"Taro, isn't this wrong? The clothing of our Shimura Clan doesn't seem to have any family markings on it."

The Bald Man stroked his own bald head and only then realized with a start: "That's right! Why didn't I think of that? I got tricked by that brat!"

Obito folded his arms and looked at the three of them with a mocking expression. "That's right! I was tricking you! Who would've thought you guys would be so stupid! You actually exposed your own identities! Hokoku Shimura sent you guys to pick a fight, didn't he?"

"Pfft~~!" Kurenai Yuhi covered her mouth and let out a chuckle.

She certainly hadn't expected Obito to be so shrewd, nor had she expected the three fellows opposite them to be so stupid.