When Obito's right hand fully opened, there was no green leaf inside.
Only a bit of black ash remained.
The wind blew the ash away, leaving nothing behind.
Obito grinned proudly.
"Kakashi, looks like you guessed wrong."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and grabbed Obito's left hand, opening it as well.
As expected, it was empty.
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi quickly pieced together what had happened.
"Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation," Kakashi said, looking at Obito with surprise.
He hadn't expected that Obito had not only begun to grasp Nature Transformation, but had also used it cleverly to set a trap.
The first part was unusual but possible.
The second part—Obito actually tricking him—was what truly surprised Kakashi.
"Hahaha! Bet you didn't expect that, Kakashi!" Obito's smile grew increasingly smug.
"That was a little unexpected," Kakashi replied calmly.
"It seems I've been slacking lately."
Although he privately acknowledged that Obito had improved significantly, Kakashi had no intention of praising him when faced with that arrogant expression.
"What's that supposed to mean, Kakashi?" Obito snapped.
If Kakashi losing meant he had been slacking—
Didn't that mean Obito was still weak?
"I mean exactly what I said," Kakashi replied indifferently.
"You—!"
Obito was about to argue further, but then remembered that he had already achieved his goal.
The important thing now was to return and continue training.
This time he had beaten Kakashi with a trick.
But during the actual competition, there would be no tricks—only true strength.
"Forget it. I'm in a good mood today, so I won't argue with you," Obito said.
"Just remember to register for the tournament. You're not going to go back on your word, right?"
"A bet is a bet," Kakashi answered.
Originally, he had thought the competition was meaningless.
But after seeing Obito's improvement, Kakashi felt it might be worth having a tiny bit of expectation.
With their goal achieved, Rin and Obito soon said goodbye and left.
On the way home, Rin asked curiously:
"Obito, how did you do that just now? It looked really impressive."
Receiving Rin's praise, Obito instantly swelled with pride.
"Hahaha! It was just Chakra Nature Transformation. Nothing special…"
Because he was so busy bragging, Obito failed to watch where he was walking.
THUD!
He walked straight into a utility pole near Kakashi's house.
"Damn you, Kakashi!" Obito blamed the location of Kakashi's pole.
Kakashi, who was watching them leave: …
He withdrew the tiny bit of expectation he had just developed.
Nothing changed at all.
Obito was still the same idiot as before.
During Ninjutsu class, Makoto finished explaining the lesson and demonstrating the technique.
Then he allowed the students to practice freely.
If they encountered any problems, they could come ask him directly.
Makoto deeply understood the gap between theory and practice.
Most of the time, the brain would say:
I see it. I understand it.
Then the body would reply:
No, you absolutely don't.
"I'm used to making my clone look like myself. Transforming it into something else feels really strange," Hagane Kotetsu said while scratching his head.
"Why don't we ask Teacher Hosokawa if there's some special trick?" Kamizuki Izumo suggested.
Mitarashi Anko nodded immediately.
"If you have questions, just ask Teacher Hosokawa ."
The three of them were currently trying to develop a new technique by combining the Clone Technique with the Transformation Technique.
They wanted to shock the entire school during the next final exam and achieve better results.
After agreeing, the three students walked over to Makoto and explained their problem.
Makoto thought for a moment before answering.
"You can start with simple objects first. Get familiar with the feeling, then gradually move to more complex shapes."
"Simple objects…" Kotetsu murmured thoughtfully.
Anko suddenly pointed at the chair on the podium.
"Then let's start with a chair. That's simple enough, right?"
Kotetsu looked at it and nodded.
The structure of a chair really was simple—just a few wooden legs and a flat board.
So the three began practicing according to Makoto's suggestion.
Soon, the classroom atmosphere became… strange.
Several chairs appeared in the classroom—
Some had three legs, some had two legs, and one even had only one leg.
"Looks like chairs aren't as easy as we thought," Izumo said awkwardly.
The one-legged chair was his.
"Are you trying to make me laugh to death, Izumo?" Kotetsu immediately pointed at the one-legged chair and burst out laughing.
His loud voice attracted the attention of the entire class.
Everyone looked over—and started laughing.
"You're one to talk! Isn't your two-legged chair weird too?" Izumo shot back.
The students looked at Kotetsu's chair.
It had two legs on the same side.
The class burst into laughter again.
"You two are amateurs," Anko said proudly, crossing her arms.
"Watch the work of the second-ranked student in the grade."
Her chair had three legs—
And was walking around her.
Seeing this bizarre scene, the classroom erupted with laughter.
Because it was close to dismissal time, students from other classes even came over to watch.
Amid the cheerful chaos, the school bell rang.
Makoto officially ended the class.
[Lecture Completed]
[Evaluation: A]
[Reward: Mystical Palm Technique]
Memories about practicing and using the Mystical Palm Technique flowed into Makoto's mind.
"Today's luck is pretty good," Makoto thought.
The Mystical Palm Technique was not an ordinary Medical Ninjutsu.
It was a high-level healing technique, and only a small number of medical ninja in Konohagakure had mastered it.
Not only could it heal external wounds—
It could also treat internal injuries and illnesses.
With the Mystical Palm Technique, Obito's Nature Transformation training would be much safer.
If he got injured, Makoto could heal him immediately.
That makes seven attributes now, Makoto thought.
The Mystical Palm Technique used Yang Release.
Since he hadn't previously mastered that nature, the system also granted him a small amount of training memory for it.
Combined with the Yin Release used in Genjutsu—
Makoto had now mastered seven chakra attributes.
After school, Makoto trained with his disciples as usual.
When the training ended, he did not return to the Main District of Konohagakure.
Instead, he stayed at his residence near the Southern Forest.
Today was the day he had to submit a mission report to Root.
Since Shisui's personality was already different from most Uchiha, Makoto reported that truthfully.
For the rest—
He applied a bit of creative writing.
For example:
During the grade's combat exam, Hyūga Homon defeating his opponent was described as a crushing display of genius.
Meanwhile, Obito and Might Guy 's victories were written as lucky wins where fortune played a major role.
Regarding the mission involving Asuma Sarutobi, Makoto reported that he had successfully gained Asuma's recognition as a teacher.
He even asked whether they should attempt to recruit Asuma into Root.
As long as Danzo Shimura wasn't senile, Makoto was certain Danzo would never approve such a suggestion.
The purpose of writing the report like this was simple.
First, to show Danzo that he was performing his missions well and had already gained Asuma's trust.
Second, to subtly demonstrate loyalty to Root.
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