Chapter 546: Different Ways of Getting Along
When the three of them arrived at the South Border Forest, they found Yamato already training there.
"Kakashi senpai, you're back from the tournament!"
Yamato greeted his seniors, whom he had not seen in a while, with a bright, excited expression.
"Yamato, do you know that I took second place in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and became the highest ranked Konoha ninja there?"
Obito spoke at an astonishing speed, finishing the whole sentence in one breath before revealing a deeply satisfied smile.
Yamato: …
Did Obito senpai just answer his own unasked question?
"Wait, then didn't first place go to one of you seniors?" Yamato asked in surprise.
He had assumed first place would either go to Might Guy or Kakashi. He had not expected neither of them to even place second.
"That's really amazing, getting such a good result." Yamato sincerely congratulated him.
Even if he did not know how Obito had managed it, taking second place under those circumstances definitely counted as impressive.
"Not bad, right? Yamato, train hard for a few more years. If there's another tournament like this in the future, you'll definitely get a good ranking too." Obito laughed and patted Yamato on the shoulder encouragingly.
He quite liked the feeling of acting like a senior passing down experience.
"I'll work hard and make sure I don't disgrace my seniors or Mugetsu sensei!" Yamato declared, full of fighting spirit.
"Kakashi senpai, Shisui senpai, how did you two place?" Yamato asked curiously as he turned toward them.
Originally, he had not planned to ask, but Obito's result was so different from what he had imagined that now he could not help being curious.
"Quarterfinals," Kakashi answered.
"Semifinals," Shisui replied.
As soon as the two of them gave their answers, Obito unconsciously straightened his back even more, fully savoring the fact that he had achieved the best result among the Konoha participants.
Greatness needed no explanation.
"There were that many geniuses in the tournament? Even Kakashi senpai only made the quarterfinals?" Yamato asked in surprise.
At that moment, the prestige of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament rose dramatically in Yamato's mind.
"There really were a lot of geniuses," Kakashi said, then added, "Also, my quarterfinal opponent was Guy."
That made Yamato understand immediately.
Because of how the brackets worked, luck did play a role in the final ranking. Kakashi had clearly not been fortunate in that regard.
"So which village was the champion from?"
Yamato wanted to know who had taken first place and managed to beat all of his seniors.
"His name is Nagato," Kakashi answered. "He wasn't from any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. He was from the Shinobi Sect, the organizers of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament."
"He wasn't from one of the Five Great Villages?" Yamato's surprise deepened.
In his understanding, only the other four Great Shinobi Villages should have been able to compete with Konoha's elite.
"Don't underestimate outside forces," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "The average quality of the Five Great Villages is far above that of other organizations, but every once in a while, a genius who completely defies common sense will appear."
In Kakashi's eyes, the former Hanzo, and now Sōsuke and Nagato, all fell into that category.
They might not be able to shift the overall balance of the Shinobi World alone, but underestimating people like that was the fastest way to court disaster.
After training began, Obito hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still chose to summon Charizard from home.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang!
A puff of white smoke exploded, and a sturdy Charizard appeared beside Obito.
Yamato's eyes widened.
His impression of Obito's partner was still stuck at Charmeleon. The difference now was so huge that for a moment, he genuinely thought Obito had contracted a brand new Nin Beast.
"Roar!"
The moment Charizard appeared, it swept its gaze around, confirmed there were no enemies nearby, and decisively condensed chakra before giving Obito his first Fire Release greeting back in Konoha.
But Obito knew Charizard too well. Since he had already decided to summon it, he had naturally anticipated exactly this outcome.
So the moment Charizard opened its mouth, Obito, who had already activated his Sharingan in advance, sidestepped and cleanly dodged the incoming stream of fire.
"That really is Obito senpai's Nin Beast…" Yamato muttered. "So it evolved again. No wonder it looks completely different now."
"Charizard, I think there are better ways to train," Obito said with a serious expression. "Training doesn't always have to mean fighting."
Charizard crossed its arms and snorted, hot air blasting from its nostrils as it looked at Obito with obvious disdain.
When it had been weaker, Obito had bullied it every day. Now that it was finally stronger, he wanted to talk things out?
Not a chance.
"Awoo."
"Awoof."
Since Obito and Shisui were walking the same road, Charizard and Zorua had also stuck together, the two of them already quietly discussing tonight's tactical meeting against Obito.
Charizard: "To deal with a brat like Obito, you have to hit hard."
Zorua: "You can't just say that. Shisui is actually really nice."
Charizard: "Then Obito is the evil goggle brat."
Obito suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced suspiciously toward Charizard, but naturally, he could not make sense of their encrypted conversation.
"Rockruff, come out."
Kakashi also shook his head and summoned his own partner to continue training.
"Kakashi senpai, is this Lycanroc?"
Looking at the handsome dusk form Lycanroc, Yamato searched hard for traces of Rockruff's old appearance and only barely found a few similarities.
"Yes. It evolved," Kakashi said, rubbing Lycanroc's head as it nuzzled against him.
Although it had grown much larger after evolution, some of Rockruff's old habits had not changed at all. It still loved being petted by Kakashi.
"That's really nice." Yamato felt a little envious.
He wanted a Nin Beast too, even if it was not as strong as the ones Kakashi and the others had.
As Obito and the others trained, time passed quickly.
Before they realized it, the blazing sun high in the sky had already started sinking westward, leaving only the last traces of dusk over the forest.
Seeing evening arrive, the disciples finally brought their training to a stop and prepared to head home for dinner.
"Just wait, Charizard. Once I learn the Fire Release Mugetsu sensei is going to teach me, I'll see whether you still dare act this arrogant."
Obito was now only looking forward to the day after tomorrow, when he could finally learn Azure Flame from Mugetsu.
Charizard had truly become far too cocky. Obito felt it was absolutely necessary to master some overwhelming Fire Release technique that would force Charizard to sit down and listen to reason.
"Zorua, let's go home for dinner," Shisui called as they reached the fork in the road.
"Mhm."
Zorua jumped up, intending to land on Shisui's shoulder as usual, but Shisui mercilessly caught him and held him in his arms instead.
After training most of the day, Shisui was genuinely tired. In his current state, his shoulder could not comfortably handle the weight.
After all, unlike others, he had no family waiting at home with a meal already prepared. If his shoulder got overstrained, the result would simply be Zorua eating Inuzuka clan dog food while he himself survived on instant noodles.
After finishing a quick dinner, Shisui took Zorua out for a walk.
Partway through, however, he changed direction and headed toward Fugaku's house.
Fugaku had shown considerable interest in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, so Shisui felt certain that by now he must already know the final results.
"Between Obito, me, and Charizard, we're already a powerful force inside the Uchiha clan," Shisui thought.
In his view, reforming the Police Force was a necessary part of solving the Uchiha issue.
That was why Shisui had previously gone to Fugaku and openly stated his position, hoping Fugaku would join his side.
But at the time, Shisui had underestimated how deeply the clan valued control of the Police Force, and overestimated Fugaku's decisiveness.
Back then, Shisui had believed that the combined weight of his and Obito's talent should have been enough to make Fugaku choose a direction, yet Fugaku had still declined politely.
But things were different now.
Their personal strength might not have risen dramatically, but Obito's Pokémon had evolved, and Charizard now possessed strength that was no weaker than Obito himself.
Coupled with the immense rise in their reputations after the tournament, Shisui was very curious to see whether their standing in Fugaku's eyes had finally reached the point where it could affect his decision.
When Shisui arrived, Fugaku's family had just finished dinner and were sitting together in the courtyard.
"Shisui nii!"
Itachi's eyes immediately brightened when he saw him.
"Shisui, congratulations. Reaching the semifinals in the Martial Arts Tournament is no small achievement," Fugaku said with a smile.
Originally, Fugaku's expectations for the clan's two greatest talents, Shisui and Obito, had been the semifinals and the final.
But as reports of the tournament spread and he learned more about the competition, Fugaku gradually realized that the Youth Martial Arts Tournament had been a true gathering of monsters. The rankings carried far more weight than he had first assumed.
"The result was partly luck from the bracket," Shisui said modestly. "I still need a lot more training."
"Look at that, Itachi," Fugaku said, using the opportunity to educate his son. "This is something you should learn from Shisui. Even after achieving so much, he remains humble and keeps striving forward."
Whether someone was humble or not did not matter that much to Fugaku in itself, but diligence was a very precious quality.
Even in the Uchiha clan, which respected strength above all else, not everyone was willing to train diligently every single day.
Itachi nodded.
Though there were many things he still did not understand, he genuinely felt that Shisui was incredible, and part of him instinctively wanted to grow up to be just like him.
"You're praising me too much, Uncle Fugaku," Shisui said with a smile as he stepped over to Itachi. "Maybe in the future, Itachi will be even more outstanding than I am."
Itachi was definitely a future genius. Of that, Shisui had no doubt.
Otherwise, how could someone so young have later possessed the strength to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan and then join the future Evil Akatsuki Organization?
As for whether Itachi would surpass Shisui, Shisui could not say that with certainty.
After all, he himself had already become Konoha's unprecedented eight year old jonin.
He was simply saying what would make Itachi happiest.
And as expected, Itachi smiled immediately.
Being praised by the older brother he admired so much really did make him happy.
"Forget surpassing you. If Itachi could simply have your level of talent, Shisui, I'd already be satisfied," Fugaku said, clearly pleased as well.
What father would not want his child to become more outstanding?
"Uncle Fugaku, I came today because I want to discuss some clan matters with you," Shisui said, finally stating his purpose.
Today, he had not come to guide Itachi's training. His real goal was to probe Fugaku's current thoughts.
Mikoto, please keep an eye on Itachi for a while," Fugaku said to his wife before leading Shisui toward the study.
Itachi, Zorua will be in your care for the moment, all right?"
Shisui gently placed Zorua beside Itachi.
"I need taking care of?" Zorua puffed up its cheeks in mild annoyance. "Shouldn't I be the one taking care of him?"
Itachi's eyes widened.
"The fox… spoke?"
Although this was not the first time he had seen Zorua, it was the first time Zorua had directly used telepathy in front of him.
Zorua's "speech" was really mental communication. It only used that power when interacting with companions or particularly interesting people. It did not bother using it all the time.
"Hmph. What a fuss. You're still just a brat who needs babysitting," Zorua said.
Fugaku also looked at Zorua with interest.
He had seen talking Nin Beasts before. They were rare, but not unheard of. However, Zorua's form of communication reminded him strongly of the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques.
Still, Fugaku was a man who had seen many strange things in his life. Suppressing his curiosity, he simply brought Shisui into the study.
"I hope it isn't that matter again," Fugaku thought with a headache.
Though he valued Shisui highly, the Police Force involved far too many vested interests.
Even if Fugaku himself, as the biggest beneficiary of the Police Force, were willing to reform it, that did not mean the other senior Uchiha or the clan ninjas under them would agree so easily.
"Zorua is so cute," Mikoto said gently, clearly charmed. "May I hold him?"
Whether one was a young girl or a grown woman, cute things were always difficult to resist.
"Hmph. I, Zorua, am not someone anyone can just hold," Zorua said proudly. "But since you have good taste and called me cute, I'll make an exception. One minute."
Mikoto picked Zorua up and gently stroked the fur along his back.
Then, as if petting a cat, she lightly scratched him under the chin.
Zorua's eyes narrowed in bliss.
Oh no.
This felt way too good.
"I'm making Shisui do this when we get home," Zorua decided immediately, not forgetting Shisui even while enjoying himself.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]