Watching Luke's swift, clinical execution of the Leaf Whirlwind, Might Guy's eyes practically turned into stars. It was as if he had just witnessed the physical manifestation of his soul's deepest desire.
It was simple, it was fast, it was devastating, and—most importantly to a young boy—it looked incredible.
"I love it! Please, you must teach me that!" Guy shouted, his voice booming with the kind of intensity that could wake the dead.
"I'm glad you like it," Luke said, nodding with a calm smile.
Internally, Luke wasn't surprised. This was the move Guy would eventually develop himself in the original timeline, spawning an entire lineage of "Leaf" variations—Great Whirlwind, Iron Whirlwind, and so on. It was fundamentally "Guy."
With Luke's promise secured, the atmosphere around the study desks shifted. Even the dreaded, headache-inducing test papers seemed a little less offensive now.
"Watch me go full throttle! This time, I'm getting at least four right!" Obito declared, cracking his knuckles as if he were about to storm an enemy fortress rather than solve a math problem.
"I'm getting at least three, or I'm running five hundred laps around the village tonight!" Guy added, immediately applying his "Self-Rule" philosophy to his studies. He was already imagining using the Leaf Whirlwind to finally close the gap between himself and his self-proclaimed rival, Kakashi.
But sudden bursts of passion have a short shelf life. Five minutes into the next set of problems, Obito hit a wall.
He realized a painful truth: if you pushed him into a corner, he might manifest a bigger Great Fireball, or he might hit a bullseye with five shuriken at once. But no amount of adrenaline or "Will of Fire" could spontaneously generate the answer to a long-division problem.
He propped his chin on his hand, twirling his pen with agitated fingers. Even the leaves swaying in the breeze looked like they were mocking his inability to solve for x.
Obito glanced over at Might Guy.
Though they had been in the same class for three years and shared a mutual friend in Kakashi, they had never really "clicked." They weren't strangers, but they weren't friends either—just two names on a roster who occasionally ended up in the same remedial circle.
To Obito, Guy had always been the quintessential "Dead Last."
Obito considered himself a "specialist"—he was good at the "cool" ninja stuff like shuriken and jutsu, but just happened to be terrible at theory. In his mind, he was a genius who was simply "imperfect." Guy, however, was someone who struggled with everything: Ninjutsu, theory, and even basic history.
Yet, as Obito watched him, he noticed that Guy possessed a level of patience he lacked. Even when the problems were clearly twisting Guy's brain into knots, the boy didn't stop scribbling.
Obito recalled a time when Guy had been mocked by their peers and shouted: "I believe that if I keep working this hard, I'll become the strongest Taijutsu Ninja in the world!"
At the time, Obito hadn't joined in the laughter, but he hadn't believed him either. Now, watching Guy's unyielding focus, his opinion was shifting. He didn't know if Guy would become the strongest, but he was certainly going to be stronger than the people who spent their time laughing at him.
"Maybe being friends with him wouldn't be so bad," Obito muttered. "At least we could team up against that jerk Kakashi."
Seeing Guy's pen moving, Obito felt a spark of competitive fire. He gritted his teeth and dove back into his own paper, racking his brain for every scrap of information Luke had shared.
Luke watched the two of them from the sidelines, his expression thoughtful.
He hadn't expected the "Chemistry of the Underdogs" to be this effective. The restless, easily distracted Obito was being anchored by Guy's stubborn work ethic. I can definitely use this to stimulate Obito's training later, Luke noted.
When the hour was up, Luke graded the results.
Obito got three right. Guy got two.
"Ugh, still didn't hit four. I gave it everything!" Obito groaned, collapsing onto the table like a burnt-out candle.
"Five hundred laps it is," Guy muttered, adding the failure to his training log without a hint of complaint.
"Actually," Luke said, leaning in with an encouraging tone, "look at the data. You're only five questions away from a passing grade. You've improved by one whole point in just an hour. If you keep this pace, the 'passing mark' is well within your reach."
Obito and Guy looked at each other. Put that way, it didn't sound like an impossible mountain anymore. It sounded like a countdown.
Seeing their spirits lifted, Luke "kindly" produced two more practice sheets.
Obito stared at the fresh white paper and thought about the three weekends remaining before the exam. For a moment, his world went dark. But he couldn't quit now—if he quit, all the work he'd just done would be for nothing. He picked up the pen.
Nearby, Shisui had finished his chakra recovery and begun another round of Fire Release drills. A trio of flaming dragons spiraled into the sky, their roar once again catching Obito's attention.
"Teacher Luke," Obito asked, pausing mid-sentence. "If we learn your jutsu... does that mean we're your disciples, just like Shisui?"
"If you want to be, then yes," Luke replied, keeping his answer vague and non-committal.
"Hehe! Since we're going to be your students anyway, why don't you start teaching us now?" Obito's true colors finally showed. He had been waiting for the "Map of Yan" to unfold.
Luke gave him a skeptical look. The kid is bold, I'll give him that, he thought.
Obito puffed out his chest. "I'm not trying to skip the studying! I just think... we could do both at the same time. Right, Guy?"
"Teacher, I think Obito is onto something," Guy added, his eyes burning with the desire to test himself against Kakashi as soon as possible.
"And what happens if you don't pass the exam?" Luke asked, playing the role of the stern but wavering educator.
"Then you can do whatever you want with us! I'll listen to anything you say!" Obito promised recklessly.
"I agree!" Guy echoed.
"Well..." Luke let out a long, conflicted sigh, rubbing his chin as if weighing the souls of the universe.
"Please, Teacher Luke! Trust us! I won't embarrass you!" Obito pleaded, sensing victory.
"I won't let your teachings go to waste!" Guy added, his fist clenched in a salute.
"Fine," Luke said, as if finally relenting to their overwhelming passion. "I believe in you. Finish this next sheet, and then I will begin your first lessons in the Great Dragon Fire and the Leaf Whirlwind."
"YES! I knew you were the best, Teacher!" Obito cheered. He felt like he had just pulled off the heist of the century—improved grades, a cool new teacher, and elite jutsu, all for the price of a few math problems. I've totally hit the jackpot, he thought.
"I will give your Taijutsu everything I have!" Guy declared, feeling equally lucky to have found a master who didn't look down on him.
[Would you like to establish a Mentor-Disciple Bond with Uchiha Obito?] [Would you like to establish a Mentor-Disciple Bond with Might Guy?]
As the system prompts flickered in his vision, Luke's inner monologue was far more cynical.
Yes, he thought, clicking 'Accept' on both. You two definitely hit the jackpot.
[Legacy Bond: Established] [Target 1: Uchiha Obito | Potential: S] [Target 2: Might Guy | Potential: S]