CHAPTER 241: CHAPTER 241: IS OBITO REALLY CUT OUT FOR THIS?

These days, calling Obito’s life "rough" didn’t even come close.

It was pure hell.

Mornings were spent doing missions around the village with Kakashi and Rin as a three-man team. Afternoons? Back to the Academy for theory classes. And the worst part?

Back then, exams were once a semester. Now?

Once a month.

They even gave it a nice name—"monthly assessment."

At this point, there wasn’t a single moment in the month he could relax. Missions had somehow become his break time.

Once upon a time, if anyone had said "missions are the most relaxing part of being a ninja," Obito would’ve smacked them upside the head with a kunai.

Now though...

"Obito."

"Minato-sensei! Ahhh! Sensei, is there a mission? Are we leaving the village?"

Obito was practically in tears with joy.

His teacher hadn’t forgotten him after all. He remembered that one of his students was still stuck in the Academy.

Minato smiled with his usual sunny charm, but what he said next instantly froze Obito’s face.

"How’s your studying going?"

"Uh, fine, I guess? I’ve been working really hard, trying to memorize everything, but it just won’t stick! Sensei, please take me with you, I can’t stay trapped in that school any longer!"

Obito wailed like his soul had been crushed.

"If you want to become a jōnin, theory, tactics, and command skills are all things you have to learn. You don’t want to be a chūnin your whole life, do you? Obito, believe in yourself. You have talent—you just need to calm your mind."

"Sensei, I..."

Obito trailed off.

He’d heard this line before. That he had talent, that he’d definitely become a jōnin one day. But these classes just didn’t click. He’d rather train one more jutsu than suffer through another lesson on battlefield logistics.

"Well, I actually came today to teach you a new jutsu."

"Awesome! As long as I don’t have to read, I’m down for anything!"

Obito jumped with excitement.

"I figured as much. After all, you’re the genius Obito!"

Minato grinned.

The next moment...

He handed Obito a scroll—and a book.

Obito froze.

He opened to the first page and felt his scalp go numb.

"Sensei, you..."

"It’s called the Threaded Lantern Formation, a basic sealing technique. The difficulty is low. You’ll get it down easily once you study this book thoroughly."

Minato patted Obito’s head while spouting words that sounded like something from the depths of hell.

Obito looked up with an expression that said everything.

Me? Learn sealing techniques?

Absolutely not.

Obito wasn’t delusional—sealing arts required a strong theoretical foundation. Even Kakashi hadn’t learned much about them yet.

And he?

"Sensei, maybe I’ll pass on this one?"

"Believe in yourself. You’ve got this. What I really want to teach you is Flying Thunder God—something even Kakashi hasn’t learned yet. Don’t you want to master it?"

"Flying Thunder God?!"

Obito practically started drooling.

That technique...

Of course he wanted it!

And if Kakashi couldn’t do it, then he had to!

"I’ll definitely surpass Kakashi!"

He clutched the scroll and book like treasure and ran off.

Minato chuckled.

Ah, youth.

So full of energy and innocence. A little push through friendship and rivalry, and the potential was endless.

"Minato, you’ve gotten sneaky."

"What do you mean? I’m just being honest. In my eyes, Obito has incredible potential. He’s not going to lose out to Kakashi."

Minato answered seriously, then turned to Kyoichi, puzzled.

"I haven’t seen you around lately. What brings you here? Nothing going on in the ANBU?"

"The newbies are coming along. I’ll be retiring from ANBU soon. As for you—I haven’t seen you because you and Kushina have been very busy at home, huh?"

Kyoichi couldn’t help poking fun.

Minato had been stuck to Kushina like glue lately. Even grocery shopping had become a two-person job. Other than that, they were practically holed up at home.

And he had the nerve to say he hadn’t seen Kyoichi?

Minato coughed awkwardly and gestured toward the exit—not here, his look said. Too many ears around.

He had also been following the developments in the Hyūga clan recently. With all the things Kyoichi had been up to, even relaxing at home didn’t feel peaceful anymore—he was starting to worry about being left behind.

So...

He’d come out to get to work again.

The two of them left the school and found a secluded spot above the Hokage Rock.

"Kyoichi, have you found anything new about the organization behind the Uchiha’s internal unrest?"

"Nothing concrete. Just a suspect."

Kyoichi told him about the matter with Kakuzu and Sasori. He also filled Minato in on the Flying Thunder God seal discovery.

At this point, only Minato and Kyoichi knew about the seal.

Minato’s face lit up.

"The seal has a limited detection range, but even so, that’s invaluable intel. Sasori of the Red Sand, huh... Think we can cooperate with Sunagakure to take him down?"

"He hasn’t used the Third Kazekage yet. We’ll have to see how Suna reacts. But I’ve already sent someone there. We should have an answer soon. Now that your break’s over..."

"What’s the plan?"

Minato straightened up. As long as Kyoichi had a goal, he would never hesitate.

Kyoichi thought for a moment. "Let’s master the Flying Thunder Formation first. We need that mobility. Doesn’t matter if Suna cooperates or not."

"Got it."

Minato nodded and took out another scroll.

It was the Flying Thunder Formation Technique.

Despite appearances, he hadn’t spent all his downtime cuddling with Kushina. The two had worked together to create this technique during their "off time."

"I’ll train a unit in ANBU. You handle the others. As for Obito... don’t count on him just yet."

They both knew—Obito had decent ninjutsu and taijutsu skills, but his theoretical knowledge was a disaster. It would take a lot of remedial study before he’d be ready for something like Flying Thunder Formation.

"Haha, fair enough... I’ll head out."

"Oh, right—here’s something I’ve been working on. If it’s useful, study it. If not, destroy it. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands."

Kyoichi handed him a scroll containing knowledge on Sage Mode.

Minato took it, puzzled. When he read it, his eyes widened.

"Wait... I’ve only been off-duty for, what, ten days?"

"Huh?"

"How the hell did you already figure out Sage Mode?!"

Minato was cracking.

Damn it!

Kanda Kyoichi—was he even human?

Minato thought they were all relaxing, but apparently, he had been the only one doing that. Kyoichi had been grinding twice as hard in secret.

"All three great sacred places have Sage Mode training. I’ve got a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, so it’s not that crazy. This scroll is just a summary of my learnings—use it if it helps."

"Thanks. Would you mind... giving a copy to Jiraiya-sensei too?"

The scroll was unbelievably valuable.

Even at a glance, Minato could already see several key insights that could help Jiraiya improve his own imperfect Sage Mode.

"Of course. I was planning to. I just don’t know where he is right now."

"He’s probably... ahem, out gathering ’research.’"

Minato coughed.

Clearly, he’d heard from Jiraiya recently and knew exactly what kind of "research" the man was doing.

It wouldn’t be long now...

Before Icha Icha Paradise hit the shelves.

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