"This, huh…"
"It's nature transformation. I tried adding nature transformation."
Mikami Yuu casually explained.
After this round of testing, he had basically confirmed that the Sharingan's copying ability had lower priority than the galgame system. So the Traits he had mastered could not be learned by Obito. At most, Obito could be inspired by him and then explore similar ninjutsu effects on his own.
However, explaining the existence of "Traits" in real-world terms…
was a little difficult.
Fortunately, the ninja world had all kinds of strange ninjutsu, and there were plenty of people who possessed secret techniques and kekkei genkai. Even Minato had never questioned Yuu's ninjutsu, so a Wisdom 2 like Obito naturally couldn't say much. Although he felt Yuu's explanation was a little far-fetched, he was still fooled.
"Let's go, Rin."
Yuu looked toward Nohara Rin. "I don't know when the Chūnin Exam Minato-sensei mentioned will be held. We'll probably have to leave in a few days, so while we still have time, let's finish organizing all the experimental data on Scorch Release. Otherwise, who knows when we'll be back next time."
"Oh, okay!"
Rin quickly followed, walking with Yuu toward the medical room.
Kakashi, meanwhile, came onto the field with his arms folded and raised his chin toward Obito.
"Come on, Obito. Continue."
At this moment,
outside the training field, where no one noticed, beneath a patch of damp soil, two pale humanoid creatures that resembled plant fibers were silently lurking, "watching" the scene above through the earth.
"Target 'Uchiha Obito': two-tomoe Sharingan ability confirmed. Growth speed… generally within expectations. Emotional fluctuations are outward-facing and easily stimulated."
"Hehe, that white-haired Konoha kid looks really interesting. His Fire Release temperature is abnormally high. Should we record it and report it to Madara-sama?"
"Of course. All intelligence concerning Uchiha Obito and the people around him is top priority and must be reported together… Be careful. There are quite a few sensory ninja in this outpost, especially that blond one. His sensory ability is extremely sharp. Don't let him discover us."
After a brief exchange,
the two White Zetsu sank silently into the deeper layers of earth like melting snow.
…
Time quickly moved to three days later.
Over these few days, Yuu and Rin had spent most of their energy on the data related to Scorch Release. After several days of repeated verification and deduction, they finally produced a data analysis report of seven or eight pages on the third afternoon, sorting out several key results.
In addition,
based on his own experiences and feelings when using Blazing Burst Stream, Yuu also wrote an extra page of suggestions on refined Scorch Release chakra control and increasing its power.
After obtaining this result, Yuu and Rin copied two additional backup versions.
"That should do it. One copy goes to Pakura, one we keep for ourselves, and one gets submitted to the village. Thanks for your hard work, Rin. I've kept troubling you here these past few days."
"It's alright. I'm happy as long as I can help you, Yuu-kun. And I've learned a lot during this period too."
Rin said with a smile.
So,
that evening, Yuu went to Pakura again and handed her the prepared scroll.
Pakura weighed the scroll in her hand, but did not open it immediately. Instead, she raised her eyes and looked at Yuu.
"You said before that you would share all data and analysis results. Does this count as fulfilling that promise?"
"More or less."
Yuu nodded and replied, "With my current ability and conditions, this is all I can do. If the next time we meet is still here and not on the battlefield, I might be able to give you an updated research result."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm returning to Konoha. I've already asked Lord Jiraiya and Minato-sensei. Konoha and Suna have recently negotiated a prisoner exchange plan, so you'll probably be ransomed back soon. So… next time we meet, I hope you can bring me a little surprise."
"…"
Pakura snorted coldly and lifted her chin slightly. Her orange hair looked like burning flame under the dim light.
"Fine. Then wash your neck clean and wait, little white-hair! Next time we meet, I will definitely wash away this humiliation!"
"Sure. I'll be waiting."
Yuu shrugged indifferently and turned to leave.
"…Wait!"
Pakura suddenly spoke.
"?"
Yuu paused, only to see Pakura stand up and drag her shackles forward two steps before beckoning to him.
The chain was only two meters long and could not reach Yuu's position.
When Yuu walked closer, Pakura suddenly extended her right arm, wrapped it around his neck, and pulled him toward herself.
This sudden change made Yuu instinctively alert. For a moment, he thought Pakura was about to self-destruct with him or take him hostage to escape.
But that thought was quickly suppressed, because he didn't sense killing intent from her. And even if there really was any, he was confident he could escape or counterkill the instant she acted.
Immediately after,
Yuu felt Pakura's other hand rub over the top of his head, messing up his white hair.
"You…"
"Ha, I've wanted to do this for ages! You're clearly a brat several years younger than me, yet you act so mature and smug all day!"
Pakura's voice carried a trace of triumphant laughter.
"…"
Yuu said nothing.
His reaction was mostly due to objective reasons.
Because of Pakura's movement just now, his face had inevitably been buried in the softness of her chest. He could fully feel that astonishing size and elasticity, accompanied by a faint soapberry fragrance. Although she was a prisoner, she was still given chances to bathe.
Especially when Yuu instinctively tried to break free but was held tighter by Pakura's arm, the warm breath from his nose happened to blow into her cleavage. Pakura's body stiffened, and a layer of fine goosebumps rose over her smooth, pale skin.
At that,
Pakura finally realized what was happening. She released him as quickly as if she had been burned, then turned her face slightly aside. A barely noticeable flush crossed her cheeks.
"…Alright, get lost already, little white-hair. Before I personally defeat you, don't go dying in some corner."
"…Same to you."
Yuu raised a hand and tidied his hair. His gaze paused briefly on Pakura's chest, then under her subtle stare, he smiled and turned to leave.
As the iron door closed,
Pakura leaned against the cold wall, looked down at the scroll in her hand, and unconsciously raised her hand, as though recalling the feeling of that same hand brushing over the boy's neck just now. Then she took a deep breath, suppressed the irritation in her heart, and opened the scroll.
…
After returning to the barracks area.
"Huh, Yuu? Why is your hair messy? Did you fight someone?"
The one speaking was Obito.
Yuu calmly looked back. "Is it?"
"Yeah. Your hair wasn't like that when you went out this morning. This part is sticking up…"
Obito pointed at the top of his own head as he explained.
"?"
Yuu froze.
No, buddy…
Do you have so much Sharingan ocular power that you have nowhere to use it? Why are you observing useless details like this every day? Aren't you supposed to only pay attention to Rin? Why are you paying attention to me too?
However, Yuu hadn't done anything shameful, so his expression remained calm.
"Ah, I guess you could say I exchanged a couple of moves with Pakura. She heard that she might be sent back soon, so she got a little emotional and issued me a challenge, saying next time we'll decide the winner on the battlefield…"
"Hmph! That Suna woman!"
As soon as Obito heard it was Pakura, he immediately curled his lip with disdain.
"These people are really something. They lost, and they're still not convinced! Yuu, next time we meet her on the battlefield, we'll team up and teach her a harsh lesson! Let her know the power of Konoha genin!"
"…Sure, sure."
Yuu was speechless.
As expected of Wisdom 2. Easy to fool.
On the other side,
Rin's eyes moved slightly. She seemed to have faintly noticed something and walked forward.
"Yuu, you're not hurt, right? Let me help you fix it…"
As she spoke, Rin stood slightly on tiptoe and reached out with both hands to help Yuu straighten his hair.
Although this action wasn't as intimate as what Pakura had done earlier, it was not something ordinary teammates would do either. From an observer's perspective, it looked like a wife in a newlywed couple helping her husband tidy up his appearance…
"!!"
Obito's eyes suddenly widened. The two tomoe in his eyes appeared again, and his face visibly began heating up.
"Rin…"
"Ahem."
Yuu raised a hand, held Rin's small hand, and gently lowered it.
"I'll do it myself. There's no need to trouble you with such a small thing, Rin… Obito, where's Kakashi?"
"No idea!"
Obito's tone was a little unhappy. "That guy is a 'noble' chūnin. He's not on the same level as us genin. How would I know where he went? Maybe he went out on a mission with Minato-sensei."
"…Idiot dead last."
A cold voice came from beside them.
They turned and saw Kakashi had appeared at some point, both hands in his pockets. His exposed dead-fish eye glanced at Obito.
"If you're free enough to stand around, hurry back and pack your things. Tomorrow, we set out for Konoha to participate in the Chūnin Exam."
"Huh, you're taking the exam too?"
Obito's attention was diverted.
"I've been a chūnin for a long time. This time, I'll serve as an observer during the exam, watching your performance and confirming whether you have the qualities to be promoted to chūnin."
Kakashi said.
Konoha ninja had two methods of promotion.
One was the simple method. As long as someone was strong enough, their ability would be privately confirmed and they would be directly granted the rank. Most chūnin and special jōnin were promoted this way, especially during tense wartime periods.
The second method was the formal exam. Its content covered multiple basic abilities. Those who could pass were basically outstanding members of the new generation. Forget chūnin—becoming jōnin was only a matter of time. Their talent wouldn't be an obstacle, and they would become pillars of the village.
Sometimes, for political purposes, a ninja village would also hold a multinational joint Chūnin Exam to display strength and gather intelligence on other countries.
According to Minato, Konoha had also sent documents to other villages for this Chūnin Exam—except to Suna, which they were currently fighting.
Whether the other villages came was another matter.
Generally speaking, getting two or three of the Five Great Ninja Villages to hold a joint exam was already a rare grand occasion.
As for an exam attended by all Five Great Ninja Villages…
Since the end of the Warring States Period, nothing like that had happened in decades.
Obito and Rin took this exam quite seriously.
Yuu, however, felt no fluctuations at all.
Nonsense. Who didn't know Konoha's strongest were genin?
Besides, chūnin was only a title. It wouldn't give him any boost. Yuu didn't need this to prove himself. On the contrary, the Chūnin Exam needed a "genius" like him to stimulate others and draw out their potential.
Compared to the exam,
Yuu wanted more to see his parents in this life, along with Tsunade and Orochimaru, check how far the Raw Cola plan had progressed, and get some research done with the latter two. Those things were more important. The exam was just something to do along the way.
"Speaking of which…"
Minato had said a few days ago that when they returned to the village this time, he would teach them a few new techniques.
Jiraiya had already made good on his part.
Yuu was a little curious what Minato planned to teach.
Could it be… Flying Thunder God?
…
The next morning.
Just as dawn began to break, Team Minato's group of four, led by Namikaze Minato, said goodbye to Jiraiya and the other Konoha ninja stationed at Wildfire City, then set out on the road back to Konoha.
The journey from the southwestern border to the heartland of the Land of Fire was not short.
To train their long-distance mobility, Minato chose to advance at a ninja-standard forced-march speed. The moment the four set off, they were like four swift shadows, moving at high speed through forests and plains, only occasionally stopping briefly at rivers or difficult terrain.
"Rin, don't worry! In this Chūnin Exam, I'll definitely protect you!"
Obito patted his chest and said to Rin, "My Sharingan is already very strong! Even Kakashi isn't my opponent!"
"Heh."
Kakashi couldn't be bothered to refute him and just held Icha Icha Paradise in the corner, flipping through it.
Yuu, meanwhile, spent most of his time on the galgame system, occasionally practicing Wild Lion's Mane and Transparent Escape.
These two techniques were newly taught by Jiraiya, so practicing them while they were fresh was perfectly reasonable.
Wild Lion's Mane was a skin for Transformation Technique, so it came with a certain level of initial proficiency. All he had to do was further improve it on that foundation and push it to its limit.
As for Transparent Escape, because it was a new wooing target and its Trait hadn't yet been unlocked, Yuu could only train it step by step.
Of course…
Given how overly proactive Transparent Escape was, its affection increased very quickly, nearly like the Three Basic Jutsu had back then. So this technique's Trait should unlock soon.