Mokgetsu had the disciples check their personal belongings, and after confirming nothing was missing, he led them to the battlefield on the East Coast of the Land of Fire.
"Rin, why did you vote for Kakashi?" On the way, Obito couldn't help but ask Nohara Rin.
Compared to Kakashi's three votes and his zero, Obito was more concerned that Nohara Rin voted for Kakashi instead of him.
Because it gave Obito the feeling that Nohara Rin trusted Kakashi more than him.
"I feel Kakashi is quite suitable to be the sub-leader, he would be very reliable," Nohara Rin thought for a moment and replied with a gentle smile.
In other matters, Nohara Rin trusted Obito a lot, but when it came to leading a team, Nohara Rin still felt Kakashi was more dependable.
This wasn't a baseless guess but a conclusion based on Nohara Rin's experience performing tasks with them.
Kakashi can always analyze the current situation and determine the most advantageous actions for them, whereas Obito might perform exceptionally well when facing powerful enemies but only in battle. Counting on Obito to formulate strategies was impossible.
However, directly stating the facts might be a bit hurtful, so Nohara Rin simply said she felt that way.
Obito's expression immediately fell. What's more painful than hearing the girl you like praise another guy right in front of you?
Of course, there is something worse: the guy being praised is his archrival.
"That damn Kakashi!" Obito roared in sorrowful anger in his heart.
At this moment, in Obito's mind, Kakashi's image transformed from that of a friend with a bad attitude to an inherently evil little Hatake brat.
Remembering how he recently lost to Kakashi in a sparring match, forcing him to do a bunch of tasks, made Obito feel even worse.
And then thinking about how Kakashi learned Mokgetsu's powerful new techniques, making it even harder to catch up, Obito instantly felt more frustrated.
In just a minute, Obito recalled all the things about Kakashi that upset him.
"It's all Kakashi's fault. I must outdo him on the battlefield this time," Obito resolved fiercely in his heart, gazing at Kakashi with a fiery determination.
Feeling Obito's gaze, Kakashi turned slightly to meet Obito's eyes for a second, then calmly looked away.
Obito's thought process was too unique; he was careless in his actions and easily lost his cool, which worried Kakashi for Obito's safety. That's why Kakashi suggested to Mokgetsu to have a sub-leader.
With the identity of a sub-leader, Obito would have to obey even if he was not convinced, especially since it was Mokgetsu's personal decision, which might be more effective for Obito than the Hokage's words.
Seeing Kakashi being so nonchalant, Obito got even angrier, feeling like Kakashi was saying he hadn't even tried yet, and Obito was already down.
Shisui observed Obito's expression, opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't comfort him.
Self-awareness is very important. If it was just to comfort Obito and make him mistakenly think he could also lead, it might cause problems in the future.
They were all very familiar with each other, living and working closely together every day.
On the surface, the voting seemed like a multiple-choice question, but in Shisui's view, there was only one answer, and that was Kakashi.
Sets aside all else; just in terms of experience, Kakashi easily outmatched everyone. Due to his early graduation, Kakashi was already a ninja with five years under his belt.
Upon reaching the ninja squad's camp, Mokgetsu barely had time to say much to his disciples before being called to a meeting.
Mokgetsu stepped into the large tent serving as the meeting room and saw many familiar faces.
The first one he noticed was Orochimaru, the unit commander sitting at the head of the long table with a blank expression.
Mokgetsu nonchalantly assessed Orochimaru.
[Name: Orochimaru]
[Chakra: 142000]
[Potential: S]
[Skills: Yin Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master: 4800/15000), Wind Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master: 3040/15000), Fire Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master: 2008/15000), Water Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master Level), Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master Level), Hidden Shadow Snake Hand (Master Level)...]
Orochimaru's skill panel was somewhat similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen's, also possessing an abundance of ninjutsu, spanning from S-level kinjutsu to D-level ordinary ninjutsu, very complete.
However, unlike Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru's most proficient skills were his self-developed snake ninjutsu, not the five basic attributes of ninjutsu.
From the panel, Orochimaru seemed the most likely to inherit all of Sarutobi Hiruzen's skills, possessing many Master Level nature transformations.
As for why Orochimaru didn't choose to inherit Sarutobi Hiruzen's legacy, Mokgetsu believed there were two possibilities.
The first possibility was that Orochimaru felt inferior to Sarutobi Hiruzen in terms of ninjutsu talent, and following the same path would only make him a lesser version, so Orochimaru chose to carve his own path.
This speculation stemmed from Orochimaru's skill proficiency; although there were many Master Level nature transformations, none were especially outstanding in mastery.
The second possibility was that Orochimaru's desire for eternal life surpassed his pursuit of power. Sarutobi Hiruzen's path was undoubtedly strong, unmatched except against cheat-like ninjas, but clearly, combined ninjutsu couldn't lead to immortality, prompting Orochimaru to forsake combined ninjutsu and research kinjutsu instead.
This was Mokgetsu's summary of Orochimaru's level from the original works.
"There's still quite a bit of room for improvement," Mokgetsu thought, recalling the Jonin meeting and Orochimaru's assessed panel previously observed.
Perhaps because the war forced them into frequent clashes with equals, although they didn't improve as quickly as the younger generation like Namikaze Minato, even strong ninjas like Orochimaru and Jiraiya were progressing.