A mission strikes

Elsewhere in the Training Ground.

Having finished their shuriken assessment, Liumu and the others prepared to head to the next assessment station.

Just then, Rin Nohara kept glancing at Liumu's head, seemingly casually, hesitating to speak.

"Wh-what is it?"

Liumu self-consciously smoothed the wig he had just bought that morning, wondering whether this girl had noticed that he was bald.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Faced with his confusion, Rin Nohara hurriedly smiled and replied, "It's just that your hairstyle looks a little different from yesterday."

At that, Liumu smiled awkwardly and hastily made up a lie. "I got up a little late today and didn't wash my hair. Maybe that's why."

"Oh."

"For the combat exercise, you'll pair up and come forward in order according to your previous results."

In the clearing, the teacher in charge of the combat matches explained the rules for the upcoming assessment, spittle flying. But while Liumu was waiting for the teacher to call his name, Obito Uchiha suddenly appeared beside him.

"Liumu!"

Hearing someone call him, Liumu turned toward the voice and saw Obito standing motionless, staring at him with a solemn expression.

"Need something?" Liumu asked blankly.

Obito frowned slightly at his question. His usual mischievous manner was gone, replaced by a rare seriousness, as though he had made some major decision.

Finally, after keeping Liumu waiting, Obito spoke. "I hope to use this assessment as a chance to have a fair duel with you as fellow ninja!"

"A duel... as fellow ninja?" Liumu had no idea what he meant.

As it turned out, ever since Kakashi graduated, the studious Rin Nohara had often stayed close to Liumu. This made Obito, who had always had a secret crush on Rin, jealous, leading him to come up with this idea for a duel.

But...

When it came to studying, Obito could never compare to Liumu. Since he could not beat him academically, his only hope lay in actual combat.

Seeing the look in Obito's eyes, Liumu glanced at Rin beside him, who had not noticed what was happening, smiled slightly, and actually accepted Obito's challenge.

"Man, why bother?"

Suddenly, the bowl-cut Might Guy popped up from who knew where and muttered into Liumu's ear.

As the strongest student in class since Kakashi's departure, Guy really thought little of Obito's amateurish skills.

Seeing Obito challenge Liumu, who had defeated him, the mighty Guy could not help grinning and shaking his head.

"You don't understand!" Liumu said to Might Guy behind him as he watched Obito walk away.

"I don't understand? What don't I understand?" Guy did not understand what Liumu meant.

But Liumu knew in his heart. Especially after seeing the look in Obito's eyes just now, he understood his feelings all the more clearly.

It was like having someone snatch your favorite lollipop when you were little. There was no fear, much less hesitation. You simply went straight up to them and took it back fair and square, regardless of the consequences or whether you won or lost.

Rin was not a lollipop, but in Obito's eyes, she was more precious than one.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

Time passed, and as Might Guy sent his classmate Choji Akimichi flying with a dazzling spinning kick, the assessment teacher immediately declared Guy the winner.

"Next pair, Liumu versus Obito Uchiha!"

Although he did not know how Obito had persuaded the teacher, upon hearing that he really would be fighting Obito, Liumu stood, brushed the dust off his backside, and stepped into everyone's view.

Ding...

Just then, having just exchanged Ninja Hand Seals with Obito, Liumu suddenly heard a sound in his mind.

Timely Mission triggered. Host, graduate from the Ninja Academy and become a Genin within seven days.

Liumu froze for a moment upon hearing this, then finally came to his senses.

Listening to the mission issued by the system, Liumu suddenly felt like a puppet being controlled by it.

Graduate?

No way!

Liumu looked at Kurenai Yuhi, Rin Nohara, and all his fresh and delectable... oh, no, wonderfully friendly classmates on the sidelines, thinking that since he already possessed One-Punch Man's abilities, why should he still do what the system wanted?

Besides, if I really follow the system's mission, once I graduate and become a ninja, I'll have to follow the village's orders and carry out missions outside it.

That was something Liumu absolutely could not accept... at least, not now.

"...Liumu?"

"Liumu!"

At that moment, Obito looked at the daydreaming Liumu before him and called out twice in annoyance.

This is a match, and Liumu is actually thinking about something else right in front of me?

Obito narrowed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he pushed off the ground, darting up to Liumu like lightning, his clenched right fist driving straight toward Liumu's torso.

"Liumu! Watch out!"

Seeing Obito's fierce attack, Rin Nohara instinctively called out a warning to Liumu, her expression anxious.

But it was that shout that brought Liumu out of his thoughts just in time. Seeing the fist less than half an arm's length from his chest, he smiled slightly and immediately dodged.

In the eyes of the teacher and students, the distracted Liumu was about to take a direct hit from Obito. Yet somehow, in the blink of an eye, only Obito remained on the field, looking just as shocked. As for Liumu...

Everyone looked around, trying to find the figure who had suddenly disappeared.

"Stop looking. I'm over here!"

Everyone looked up at his voice. Liumu was crouching on a branch about three meters high in a tree beside the field, waving to everyone below.

"He's so fast!"

"Liumu's amazing."

"Right? He got that far away in just the blink of an eye."

The students kept whispering among themselves, all marveling at Liumu's skills.

"Come down and get on with the match." The assessment teacher urged Liumu on with apparent composure. In truth, after Liumu disappeared just now, even he, a Chunin, had been unable to detect where he had gone.

But to avoid showing weakness in front of his students, the teacher in charge of the assessment ultimately suppressed his shock.

Hearing the teacher's words, Liumu sprang down from the tree, kicking up a large cloud of dust as he landed.

"Sorry about that."

Having come down, Liumu looked at Obito standing opposite him and said quietly, "I know what you're thinking. So, out of respect for you, I won't hold back for any other reason. Come on."

"That's just what I want!" Obito snorted, stepping forward with his left leg and bending his knees slightly. Just as he was about to launch another surprise attack, Liumu, who had been several meters away, suddenly appeared right before his eyes. At the same time, everyone present heard only...

"Konoha Secret Technique: Thousand Years of Death!"