The mission to hunt down the wild boars went smoothly.
Minato's arrangement really was the best way for the teammates to grow closer and get to know one another.
Kakashi might have always loved competing with Obito.
But as the three carried out the boar-hunting mission, their teamwork grew increasingly seamless.
Rin mainly stayed up on the tree trunks, sensing and observing their surroundings.
Obito and Kakashi followed Rin's directions as they advanced, competing over how many boars they could kill.
The forest covered an immense area.
Besides wild boars, there were plenty of fierce beasts such as tigers and leopards deep within it.
In the ninja world, perhaps because of the influence of the natural energy from the Three Great Sage Lands.
And because these beasts instinctively absorbed natural energy.
The tigers and leopards in the forest were much larger than normal.
After an entire morning.
The four members of Team Minato successfully wiped out all the large wild boars.
They also drove the smaller boars into other areas.
In the end, Minato won the boar-hunting competition.
He certainly lived up to his reputation as the fastest man in the shinobi world.
Over the course of a single morning, more than four hundred wild boars died at his hands.
Meanwhile, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin had killed fewer than three hundred, even with all three working together.
But Obito had gained something else.
At noon, when Obito and his two teammates emerged from the forest and returned to the edge of the cornfields.
An enormous tiger followed slowly behind them, taking short, measured steps.
The tiger was over three meters long and nearly two meters tall.
Its fur was white, marked with black stripes.
With every step, its paws left deep prints in the ground.
However, its yellow eyes had turned red.
Three black tomoe slowly revolved in each pupil.
The appearance of this giant tiger beside the cornfields gave the villagers working nearby quite a fright.
Quite a few even dropped their farming tools and fled.
Tigers like this lived in the deepest parts of the forest and were rarely seen around its edges.
"Obito! You're controlling that tiger with your Sharingan, aren't you?"
Minato spotted what was happening at a glance and asked.
Obito nodded. "Yeah! Minato-sensei, this tiger would make a good summoning beast. I want to take it back to the village and sell it."
A fierce tiger like this was perfectly suited to being a summoning beast.
With its enormous size, Obito figured it would fetch a good price.
Rin and Kakashi already knew about the tiger.
On the way back, Obito had also told them what he intended to do.
Rin hurried to reassure the villagers nearby, calling, "Everyone, please don't be afraid! This tiger is under control. It won't hurt you."
The villagers had all heard what Minato had just said.
With Rin's reassurance, they naturally felt at ease.
They immediately turned to look at Obito, whispering among themselves.
"That boy belongs to the Uchiha Clan, doesn't he? He's really impressive, controlling such a huge beast so easily."
"Aren't the Uchiha the clan in charge of the Military Police Force? They're no good. They don't care about us villagers and act like they're above everyone else."
The moment someone mentioned the Uchiha, others immediately thought of the Military Police Force and its heavy-handed enforcement.
The Uchiha Clan's bad reputation had long since spread throughout the village.
Even a child like Obito could be affected by it when he went out, perhaps even earning scornful looks.
Obito could only shake his head and sigh helplessly at what he heard.
What does the Military Police Force have to do with yours truly?
I don't want any trouble with you people right now. I just want to enjoy a laid-back life for a while.
Minato, Kakashi, and Rin naturally heard the surrounding chatter too.
But there was nothing they could do about it.
Minato could only pat Obito on the shoulder to comfort him.
Rin also took Obito's arm and offered a few reassuring words.
Then the four members of Team Minato left.
They returned to the village to report the mission's completion at the Hokage Office Building and collect their reward.
Obito, however, did not go with them.
Instead, he took the giant tiger he had captured to the street where ninja equipment was sold.
Kunai, shuriken, all sorts of scrolls, special weapons, and more.
The shops along this street sold almost all of them.
As long as you offered the right price, you could probably get anything you wanted.
Selling ninja tools generally brought in very high profits.
The reason Konoha allowed a shopping district like this to exist.
Was mainly that the merchants had to pay more than half their profits in taxes to the village.
Moreover, most shops here were opened in the village's name, and all their funds belonged to the village.
However, someone like Obito, who had captured a summoning beast and was selling it from a stall, could avoid paying that tax.
This encouraged people to come and spend money while also drawing more foot traffic.
"Look! Why does that boy have such a huge tiger with him?"
"Are you stupid? That's obviously his summoning beast!"
"A summoning beast like that looks so impressive! I want one too!"
The green-vested ninjas passing along the street whispered among themselves, their attention drawn to Obito's giant tiger.
Once Obito found a spot to sit down, took out paper and a pen, and put up a banner.
With "Summoning beast for sale" written on it.
Everyone finally realized that the giant tiger still had no owner and could be purchased to become their own summoning beast.
For a ninja, a summoning beast was undoubtedly a sure way to increase their strength.
Once they formed a contract with a powerful summoning beast, it would obey its master's orders unconditionally.
Of course, there were different kinds of contracts.
For a powerful summoning beast like Manda, the contract might work differently, and he would not necessarily obey every wish of his summoner.
He was a proud being from Ryūchi Cave, after all. How could he possibly bow his noble head to a mere human?
Without an offering of eighty or a hundred humans to snack on and fill the gaps between his teeth, Manda would refuse to help.
"Hello there, young man! How much are you asking for this summoning beast?"
A burly man studied it from the side for a while before approaching to ask.
"Not much! A hundred thousand ryō, and it's yours! You can sign a Summoning Contract with it right away," Obito said calmly.
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