The moment Makoto announced the start of the match, Obito immediately began retreating while forming hand seals.
He knew that Might Guy specialized in Taijutsu, so naturally he had no intention of confronting him in close combat.
"Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof!
After the technique was completed, two identical copies of Obito appeared beside him.
The three Obitos continuously crossed paths and switched positions while running, attempting to confuse Guy.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
However, Guy was faster than Obito expected. He instantly caught up and unleashed a lightning-fast spinning kick, dispersing the two clones immediately. Obito himself was also struck and forced back more than a meter.
"Your strength is incredible…" Obito muttered.
His arm trembled slightly. He had blocked the kick with his forearm, and it was already beginning to ache.
Guy didn't give him any chance to recover. He immediately closed the distance, forcing Obito to continue fighting in close quarters.
But in pure Taijutsu combat, Obito was no match for Guy. Before long, he was pushed into a disadvantage.
"Who do you think will win?" the watching students began discussing the outcome.
"Might Guy , probably. It feels like Uchiha Obito is about to lose," one student analyzed after observing the situation.
"Not necessarily," another argued. "When Obito fought Uchiha Tekka earlier, he was also losing in Taijutsu. But in the end he won using Fire Release."
After all, Obito had legitimately defeated the previous top student, Uchiha Tekka. His record spoke for itself.
"Teacher Makoto, who do you think will win?" Kimura Sugito suddenly asked.
"Might Guy ," Makoto replied after a brief moment of thought.
"Yeah," Kimura agreed. "Although Uchiha Obito has powerful Fire Release techniques, this exam arena isn't suitable for him to use them."
Makoto nodded.
In truth, the two were nearly equal in strength.
But Obito was currently like a long-range artillery mage with limited close-combat ability—and he couldn't perform ninjutsu instantly without hand seals. On a small, flat battlefield like this, it was difficult for him to defeat a high-speed fighter like Might Guy .
Sure enough, in the next moment Obito exposed a flaw.
Guy seized the opportunity.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
The spinning kick struck cleanly, sending Obito flying.
"Might Guy wins," Makoto announced the final result of the exam.
Some students who had predicted Obito's victory couldn't help covering their foreheads.
Obito truly never disappointed when it came to being disappointing.
When everyone thought he would lose to Uchiha Tekka—he won.
When everyone thought he would beat Might Guy —he lost.
"Might Guy , you're amazing! How do you train?" a classmate asked eagerly, hoping to learn the secret to getting stronger.
"How do I train?" Guy thought for a moment.
"Probably waking up at 5:30 a.m., running laps around Konohagakure until school starts, then practicing Taijutsu against a wooden post all evening… and on weekends—"
"I'll pass!"
The student immediately backed away.
Just hearing about waking up at 5:30 a.m. was already enough to fill him with admiration. By the time Guy mentioned training against a wooden post all night, he had no desire to hear more.
He felt that even official shinobi probably didn't train like that every day.
"Obito, are you okay?" Nohara Rin asked with concern as she approached him.
Obito brushed the dust off his clothes and replied casually,
"I'm totally fine. I only lost by a little this time. Next time I'll definitely win."
In front of the girl he liked, even if something was wrong, he'd still say he was fine.
But Rin wasn't that easy to fool.
She grabbed Obito's arm and rolled up his sleeve. Several bruises were visible.
She glared at him.
"You think pretending to be tough will help? Injuries don't heal just because you act brave. Come on—let's go to the medical office and put some medicine on it."
With that, Rin dragged Obito toward the infirmary.
Obito protested verbally that it wasn't necessary—but he didn't resist.
His mouth was rebellious, but his body was very honest.
With the class champion decided, the second day of the combat exams came to an end.
Tomorrow's exam would involve the top two students from each class, who would compete to determine the grade's overall champion.
After the exam ended, Might Guy planned to thank Makoto and then head home. He wanted to share the good news with his father, Might Duy.
Guy could already imagine the scene: his father bursting into tears and shouting about youth.
However, Makoto didn't let Guy leave immediately.
Using the excuse that he had something to give him, Makoto brought Guy to a quiet, secluded spot.
"Kai, congratulations on getting first place," Makoto said with a smile.
Then he took out a small booklet and handed it to him.
"This is a Taijutsu training manual I wrote recently in my spare time. It also contains some ideas I have for further developing the Leaf Whirlwind. Consider it a gift for taking first place in the class."
Guy accepted the manual—but his attention was drawn to Makoto's hand.
At first glance, Makoto's hand looked clean.
But with Guy's sharp eyes, he noticed faint gray smudges on Makoto's palm—like traces of ink that hadn't completely washed off.
Then he looked at the contents of the booklet.
In an instant, Guy understood everything.
Spare time? Written casually?
There was no way.
Makoto must have spent a tremendous amount of effort thinking it through and writing it specifically for him. Even if Guy hadn't won first place, he would probably have found another excuse to give it to him.
The ideas inside about further developing the Leaf Whirlwind felt almost custom-made for Guy.
There was no way something like this could have been written without serious effort.
"Teacher Makoto!"
Guy's eyes filled with tears.
"I won't disappoint your efforts. One day I will definitely become the strongest Taijutsu ninja!"
Makoto took out a piece of paper and wiped away Guy's tears. Then he patted his shoulder with a gentle smile.
"As long as you think that way, it's enough. For a teacher, the best reward is seeing their student grow stronger."
When he said this, Makoto's expression looked completely sincere.
"Mm!" Guy nodded vigorously.
At that moment, his determination to grow stronger became even firmer.
Watching Guy walk away into the distance, Makoto glanced at the system notification and smiled.
[You have given your disciple a Taijutsu Training Manual. Because the disciple is extremely grateful, a reward critical hit has occurred.]
[Reward obtained: Mastery of Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation.]
[Disciple Might Guy 's trust level has increased. Current trust level: Level 3.]
"Not bad luck," Makoto said in a good mood as the new knowledge flooded his mind.
Normally, rewards returned by the system were related to a disciple's specialty.
For example, Shisui and Obito often triggered Fire Release rewards, while Guy usually triggered Taijutsu rewards.
But occasionally there were surprises.
Compared to something like advanced Taijutsu proficiency, mastery of a chakra nature was far more valuable.
Makoto was very satisfied.
If he accumulated enough of these, he might even be able to develop a Kekkei Genkai himself.
As for the trust level increase—that was an extra bonus.
Makoto concluded that when giving high-quality items in the future, he should plan the timing carefully to maximize emotional impact.
That way, it would be easier to trigger better rewards.
For example, if he had casually given this manual to Guy on an ordinary day, the system might have only produced a small reward—perhaps a proficient-level Taijutsu or Ninjutsu.
But by giving the gift right after Guy won first place, letting him notice the ink stains on his hands, and finishing with a bit of heartfelt encouragement—the effect became completely different.
First, giving the gift right after Guy's victory reminded him of Makoto's guidance and teaching.
Without Makoto's instruction, would he have achieved first place?
That sparked the initial emotion.
Then Guy noticed the ink stains and realized the effort behind the gift, imagining how hard Makoto must have worked.
His emotions intensified.
Finally, Makoto delivered a heartfelt line of encouragement—
And the emotions exploded.
"Once tomorrow's exam ends, the results should come out in a couple of days," Makoto thought.
He wondered whether the system would also give exam-related rewards.
Logically speaking, when students performed so well, the teacher ought to receive some recognition too.
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