Kakashi showed a slight smile, "It's not late at all, Teacher Mokgetsu, you congratulated me at the first opportunity."
Mokgetsu, as the deputy commander on the battlefield, couldn't leave the frontline easily due to his heavy responsibilities, so in Kakashi's opinion, Mokgetsu's congratulations weren't late, and he always kept it in mind.
"Whether it's early or late is not the point. Look forward to the promotion gift I'm giving you. You'll never guess what it is," Mokgetsu said, with a mysterious air about him.
This piqued Kakashi's curiosity. Mokgetsu never speaks without reason, so if he said it would be hard to guess, it must be something unexpected.
"Could it be a ninja novel?" Kakashi guessed in his mind, trying to think of useless options.
The next moment, Kakashi dismissed this guess. Mokgetsu wasn't Obito; he surely wouldn't give such a nonsensical gift.
If Mokgetsu were to give him a ninja novel, there could only be one reason: the novel would contain deep meaning beyond an ordinary ninja novel.
Obito looked at Kakashi with eyes filled with envy and jealousy. He also wanted a gift from Teacher Mokgetsu.
Only then did Obito realize that failing the Jonin exam was a massive life failure, enough to rank in the top ten terrifying events, making him feel overshadowed by Kakashi, unable to face Nohara Rin, and reduced to watching Mokgetsu give Kakashi a promotion gift.
Mokgetsu walked into his tent, pretending to fetch something, then took out a Pokemon egg from the System Space and came out of the tent.
"This is my Jonin gift for you," Mokgetsu said, handing the Pokemon egg to Kakashi with both hands.
"Wow, that's a big egg! What kind of egg is this? Are we going to have an egg feast to celebrate?" Obito asked curiously.
It was the biggest egg he'd ever seen, even bigger than their heads.
Pop!
With a crisp tapping sound, Mokgetsu's finger made intimate contact with Obito's forehead.
"This is not for eating; it's an egg that will hatch into a summoning beast," Mokgetsu retracted his finger and said.
"Oh, so summoning beasts hatch from eggs?" Obito rubbed the spot where he'd been tapped, feeling he'd learned something new.
Kakashi was speechless. No wonder Obito couldn't pass the Jonin exam.
"It's based on whether it's oviparous or viviparous, not whether it's a summoning beast or a ninja beast," Kakashi explained.
In Kakashi's view, the difference between ninja beasts and ordinary animals was like that between ordinary people and ninjas—special but mostly similar.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, what kind of summoning beast is inside?" Kakashi asked after examining the Pokemon egg for a moment.
Biology class didn't teach how to identify animals by their eggs.
"You'll know when it hatches, but I can tell you this summoning beast is very strong, with great potential. Once you nurture it well, it'll be a tremendous asset in battle," Mokgetsu continued with his mysterious tone.
Of course, this was mainly because Mokgetsu didn't know what kind of Pokemon was inside either.
But based on past system behavior, Mokgetsu felt the Pokemon inside should match well with Kakashi.
It could be a ground-type or electric-type Pokemon similar to Kakashi's chakra attributes, or it might be water-type, capable of combining ninjutsu with Kakashi or even relate to swordsmanship.
"Very strong..." Kakashi instinctively held the Pokemon egg a little tighter.
For a ninja, a summoning beast with excellent combat ability was more important than a powerful secret technique.
"What could it be? A bird?" Kakashi couldn't help but guess.
Birds are oviparous, but he'd never heard of a really strong bird summoning beast.
[You gave a Pokemon egg to your disciple. Due to the disciple's immense gratitude, you achieved a critical reward and acquired the ninjutsu Kirin (Master Level).]
Perhaps because it had been a long time since they last met, and Mokgetsu's gift was so grand, Kakashi struck it rich, gifting Mokgetsu a mastery-level S-level Lightning Release.
Mokgetsu didn't bring out Enma, as he believed Kakashi couldn't currently handle the demon sword, posing a risk in use.
Setting aside combat techniques like swordsmanship, Enma was most suitable for someone like Nagato, who had an abundant chakra supply and could casually absorb as much chakra as needed.
But considering other restrictions, the disciple most compatible with Enma was indeed Kakashi.
Though Kakashi was an all-rounder, his forte was still lightning release blade techniques. A good sword would significantly enhance his capabilities.
The White Fang was just an ordinary chakra blade, famed in the Ninja World due to its master Hatake Sakumo's strong abilities, not because of the sword itself.
Mokgetsu had field-tested Enma once; it could consume chakra from those it struck, growing stronger with each hit, not entirely reliant on its master for energy.
Given this, Kakashi would face two issues using Enma: the initial chakra needed to activate it, and the difficulty in absorbing enemies' chakra in one-on-one battles.
Solving these problems required a substantial chakra reserve, and since Kakashi presently had to cautiously manage his chakra while using skills, Mokgetsu decided to wait until Kakashi hit his next growth stage before letting him try Enma.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, on my way over, I heard someone mention Shisui of the Body Flicker. What's that about?" Obito asked, suppressing his desire for a summoning beast.
In skirmishes, Shisui shouldn't outshine him, yet the name was far more impressive, even earning such a cool title.
Shisui, having just finished a task and searching for Mokgetsu, overheard Obito's question and answered, "It's nothing; I've just been doing a lot of missions lately, and someone gave me that nickname."
Obito's lips twitched; he wished for a nickname like that too.
"While you were recuperating in Konoha, Shisui was constantly on missions. At one point, he fell into an enemy trap, but he managed to defeat three Hidden Mist Jonin with his power," Mokgetsu briefly described Shisui's efforts over the past month.
Obito imagined a tenacious green plant in his mind and regretted going back.
Failing to advance to Jonin, busy training, declining to deepen ties with Nohara Rin due to his failure—all culiminated in being forced to celebrate Kakashi's success.
Obito's life in Konoha seemed like hell compared to Shisui seizing the chance to make a name under 'Shisui of the Body Flicker.'
For Obito, it felt like a friend who studied hard during vacation while he chased a girl but ended up with nothing, wherelse his friend scored top marks.
"Everything will be okay; I just need to start going on missions again," Obito consoled himself proficiently.
Mokgetsu soon shared the latest battlefield intelligence with Kakashi and the others and rearranged Shisui into Kakashi's team.
While Shisui made no objections—even with a satisfying relationship with Takagi Shinji's team—Kakashi and the others meant more to him.
Yet, comradeship formed over life-or-death scenarios mattered, so Shisui went to explain and say his farewells to Takagi Shinji's team.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, Obito said he feels discontented with being unable to advance to Jonin due to low theoretical ability and hopes you could provide some hard exams to improve his written skills—he wants to become a well-rounded Jonin," Kakashi said abruptly before departing.
If Obito wanted to act out, he could hardly blame Kakashi for being relentless.
"Is that so?" Mokgetsu glanced amusedly at Obito.
Obito voluntarily requesting exams, especially difficult ones, had nearly the same probability as Zetsu surrendering; obviously one of Kakashi's tricks.
"Of course, I'm a motivated person," Obito stiffened up, fronting hard.
Obito secretly berated Kakashi since he set him up; if he denied it, it would imply no ambition and wanting to remain a simple-minded brute.
He couldn't stand the thought of admitting it in front of both Mokgetsu and Nohara Rin due to the humiliation it would cause.
"But thinking about it now, my perspective was very immature back then. Teacher Mokgetsu, as battlefield deputy commander, you must be weary enough already, so there's no need to burden you with trifles like this," Obito rapidly tried salvaging.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow; it's during times like these that Obito's mind worked like a well-oiled machine.
Obito started by showing consideration for Mokgetsu—which made it hard for Kakashi to say much further.
"It's no trouble; for a seasoned teacher, this is nothing. I'll do my best to prepare exams that will help you improve, Obito," Mokgetsu said with a warm smile.
Kakashi couldn't restrain his smiling face. Normally, he wouldn't smile unless he couldn't help it.
"This world is fake; this is... hell," Obito stood there with a face full of sadness.