On Sunday morning, Mokgetsu went to the Southern Border Forest as usual, preparing to start a new round of teaching.
However, he didn't immediately begin teaching the Breathing Technique, but instead first had Might Guy and Obito compete in today's running race.
He used the Identification Jutsu yesterday to check Obito's progress on Soru, and he was about to get started; with a little effort today, he should be there.
"Today, I'll change the rules a little: the winner's questions will be added to the loser's," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
"What? That means the loser might have to do eighty questions." Obito was already a bit panicked.
According to Mokgetsu's new rules, if the winner has all questions waived and the loser can't push past their limits, they have to take on eighty questions.
He hadn't never won, but he lost more often than he won, and with this rule change, the questions just doubled.
Hearing Mokgetsu's words, even Might Guy's forehead broke out in a fine sweat; he won often, but he had lost before as well.
"This is a special activity for Sunday; after today, it will be the same as the old rules," Mokgetsu explained.
Obito and Might Guy both breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was only for one day; if it were always like this, the pressure would be too great.
Although they had experienced days of fighting with a hundred questions before, such tough days were a while back, and they had buried them deep in their memory, unwilling to touch them.
"Why is there this special activity today? Is today some special day?" Obito asked in confusion.
"Because today is my 111th day anniversary as a teacher," Mokgetsu replied.
Though it was said just to gloss over, it was indeed his 111th day as a teacher and his 111th day since crossing over to the Naruto World.
"Alright, let's get ready for the race," Mokgetsu said.
After quickly warming up, Obito and Might Guy stood at the starting point designated by Mokgetsu.
"Obito, do your best," said Nohara Rin, who was cultivating on the side, with a smile, cheering Obito on.
"I won against Guy in real combat tests, so this race shouldn't be any different," Obito said with a confident smile.
"Eighty questions, and with Rin watching, I definitely can't lose this time!" Obito thought to himself silently.
"Ready, go!"
Whoosh!
Just as Mokgetsu's words fell, Obito burst out with Chakra, making a super start.
With the pressure of eighty questions, Might Guy was also full of motivation and likewise used Soru for a super start.
Feeling the increasingly loud running sounds, Obito felt more urgency in his heart. He gritted his teeth and ran, ignoring the fatigue in his leg muscles, using Soru again.
But Might Guy wouldn't lose in a test of will; seeing Obito start to accelerate, Might Guy also gathered all his strength to speed up, rapidly pursuing Obito's back.
His physique was stronger than Obito's, and he had already gotten started with Soru, so as long as he got close to Obito, Obito would basically lose.
As they got closer and closer to the finish line, Might Guy and Obito's distance was also closing.
Whoosh!
Seeing that he was nearing the finish line, Might Guy directly activated sprint mode, disappearing from the spot and advancing by a large amount.
Obito also began to sprint, charging toward the finish line with his not-yet-fully-mastered Soru.
The distance between the two was getting closer and closer, and out of the corner of his eye, Obito could already see a streak of fast-moving green, which was none other than the tight-suit-wearing Might Guy.
"Oh no!" Obito felt things weren't looking good, knowing that Might Guy must have made some progress again this time.
"I absolutely can't lose!" Obito poured all his strength into his legs, running with all his might.
"Soru!"
Both used Soru at the same time, disappearing from their original spots.
"Who won?" Nohara Rin only saw their figures blur suddenly, and the next moment they appeared together at the finish line.
"Obito wins, Guy has seventy questions," Mokgetsu announced the result.
During that final sprint, Obito mastered Soru completely, mastering the technique of combining it three times, winning the race by having a bit of an edge on distance.
"Huff huff huff." Obito collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, feeling a burning in his chest, even his breathing was hot.
Despite being exhausted, Obito was very happy because this meant doing eighty fewer questions, equivalent to having lost two fewer times, and he had also won in front of Nohara Rin.
Thinking about having Nohara Rin present, even with tired legs, Obito stood up shakily.
"Obito, why don't you rest for a while?" Nohara Rin asked with concern.
"It's nothing, just a short distance, it's no big deal." Obito controlled his legs not to tremble, pretending to be relaxed.
"Oh, the distance was a bit short; let's double it tomorrow then," Mokgetsu said with a suddenly enlightened expression, smiling.
Obito: ...
"So you still have spare energy, let's run together again, I feel I still have room for improvement," Might Guy suggested, temporarily suppressing his fear of the questions, speaking with a passionate expression.
Aside from having to do questions, Might Guy really liked these kinds of races. Although he lost just now, he indeed made progress.
For a moment, Obito didn't know if Might Guy was undermining him or genuinely wanted to run with him again.
"Actually, I was just using a literary writing technique, you misunderstood my meaning," Obito tried to gloss over it.
Nohara Rin jabbed her finger into Obito's thigh, causing his leg to tremble uncontrollably.
"Obito, don't overexert yourself, shaking like this, if we double the distance you'd be exhausted." Nohara Rin sighed.
Obito felt exhausted at heart, with a sense of wanting it all to end, as he was tired.
He just wanted to put on a simple show in front of Nohara Rin, why was it so hard?
"Alright, rest a bit before learning a new Ninjutsu; this time I'm teaching you a very difficult Secret Technique, you must take it seriously," Mokgetsu said.
"A very difficult Secret Technique? Does that mean it's very powerful?" Obito became spirited instantly; typically, the more difficult a Ninjutsu, the stronger it is.
"Yes, it's hard to learn, but if you do, it can greatly enhance your power," Mokgetsu nodded.
After localizing the Breathing Technique, it had tremendous power, and it was also extremely difficult. If graded in the Naruto scale, his current two Breathing Techniques were both S-level Kinjutsu.
Especially the Breath of Rock, which was incredibly difficult to train, about as hard as the Eight Gates, requiring relentless drilling.
"Teacher, do I have to learn too? I'm a bit slow at Ninjutsu," Might Guy scratched his head and asked.
His Ninjutsu talent was a bit lacking, taking great effort to learn even the Three-Body Jutsu.
"Yes, but what you'll learn is different from theirs, just believe you can do it," Mokgetsu replied.
Once the two had rested, Mokgetsu called Shisui to get ready to teach the Breathing Technique.