Ninja School Teacher, I Can Become Stronger by Teaching - Chapter 39
Obito was feeling frustrated.
If Kakashi didn’t participate, winning first place wouldn’t mean anything to him.
What Obito wanted was to defeat Kakashi in front of Rin and reclaim his honor by winning first place. Without Kakashi, winning wouldn’t be as satisfying.
His obsession with winning the Junior Ninjutsu Tournament stemmed entirely from Kakashi.
Back when Kakashi had crushed him with overwhelming scores and taken first place in front of Rin, Obito’s victory speech had turned into empty words.
Obito had remembered this humiliation, but he had never had the ability to win.
Now that he finally had the strength to win, he found that his opponent had moved on, which annoyed him greatly.
“No, I have to get Kakashi to join the competition!” The more Obito thought about it, the more he realized that a competition without Kakashi was meaningless.
“We can go find Kakashi after school and see if he’s interested in competing,” Rin suggested.
“I can go with you. We haven’t seen Kakashi in a while.”
Though the three of them were close friends, they had seen less of Kakashi since he graduated.
Rin and Obito had to attend school daily, and Kakashi, as a ninja, had missions to complete.
“Alright.” Obito nodded, thinking Rin’s idea was good.
Before the end of school, Obito asked Mokutsuki for a day off, saying he wouldn’t be able to train today and needed to sort out things with Kakashi.
After school, Rin and Obito headed straight to Kakashi’s house.
Kakashi’s house wasn’t in the central part of the village but in the nearby outskirts, which was not as bustling but less crowded.
Rin and Obito had been to Kakashi’s house before, even invited in for meals.
As the giant, sloped-roof house came into view, they knew they had arrived.
They were lucky that Kakashi wasn’t on a mission today; when they arrived, he was training in the yard.
Kakashi held his silver chakra blade, slicing off the head and limbs of a straw dummy with a few swift moves.
Noticing his friends’ arrival, Kakashi exhaled lightly, sheathing his chakra blade behind him as he asked, “What brings you here?”
“It’s been a while since we’ve hung out, so we came to see you,” Rin said with a smile.
Obito wasn’t as polite as Rin, directly asking, “Kakashi, the Junior Ninjutsu Tournament is coming up. Are you going to enter?”
“Junior Ninjutsu Tournament?” Kakashi thought for a moment, recalling it as a local competition he had entered out of boredom when he was still in school.
“No, I’m not interested,” Kakashi replied flatly.
To him, such competitions were child’s play, and the first-place prize was merely a fancy kunai.
Even back when he was still in school, he had only entered out of boredom, let alone now.
Obito’s face fell. Kakashi’s refusal was too blunt.
“Why not? Didn’t you participate before?” Obito asked, unwilling to give up.
He genuinely wanted Kakashi to join the competition.
“Back then, I was still an academy student. Now, I’m already a Chunin,” Kakashi said, pointing to his ninja forehead protector.
Obito felt Kakashi was implying something. Back then, he was a student, and now he still was…
“Being a Chunin or not doesn’t matter. There’s no age limit,” Obito argued.
“Do you want me to say it outright? I have no interest in these childish games,” Kakashi said mercilessly, seeing Obito’s persistence.
Obito’s face turned red. Childish games? It was the Junior Ninjutsu Tournament!
“I’ll be competing too. Are you afraid of losing to me, Kakashi?” Obito said, growing more aggressive.
“Lose to you? Have you ever beaten me?” Kakashi said, expressionless.
“I… I…” Obito racked his brain, realizing that he, indeed, had never beaten Kakashi.
Discovering this frustrating truth, Obito’s face turned even redder.
“Kakashi, don’t be so smug. I’m not the same as before,” Obito said, hands on his hips, showing his determination.
Kakashi glanced at Obito, wearing goggles and a tracksuit, hands on his hips with a goofy grin. He looked as foolish as ever.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Kakashi said honestly.
“Dammit!” Obito was losing his temper.
“You guys, even after so long, you’re still the same,” Rin laughed, watching the familiar scene unfold.
She had seen this play out countless times before.
Obito loved to challenge Kakashi, but it always ended poorly for him.
Obito took a deep breath to calm himself, then thought of his teacher, Mokutsuki.
“What would Sensei do in this situation?” Obito pondered.
To make him train more seriously, Mokutsuki made him do extra assignments every time he got hit. Training was tough, but the assignments were even worse, so he chose the lesser of two evils and trained harder to get hit less.
“Choose the lesser of two evils…” An idea struck Obito.
“Kakashi, you say I can’t beat you. How about a bet?” Obito challenged with a smile.
Kakashi’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “Bet on who gets first place? Do you think I’d fall for such a stupid provocation?”
He’d rather spend time reading than join a meaningless competition.
“Of course not. You think you’re so great. How about testing your perception against my speed?” Obito suggested.
“If you win, I’ll drop the competition and treat you to five bowls of ramen. If you lose, you only have to join the competition.”
As long as Kakashi disagreed, he’d keep pestering him about the Junior Ninjutsu Tournament. Kakashi would naturally prefer this more straightforward, quicker challenge.
Kakashi didn’t immediately agree but asked, “What’s the specific challenge?”
Obito plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and placed it in his hand.
“It’s simple. I’ll switch the leaf between my hands rapidly, and you just have to guess which hand it’s in. Easy, right?”
Kakashi thought about it and decided that Obito’s hand speed couldn’t match his eye speed, so he agreed.
He knew Obito’s personality. He might keep bothering him until nightfall.
Better to settle this quickly and show Obito their difference.
Obito moved his hands as fast as he could, switching the leaf between them. After about five minutes, he stopped.
“Right hand,” Kakashi said confidently, pointing to Obito’s right hand.
“I don’t know where you got the courage to challenge me in this,” Kakashi said, disappointed.
He had expected Obito’s hand speed to be much faster. The leaf never left his sight.
Hearing Kakashi, Obito laughed and asked, “Kakashi, are you sure it’s this hand? Once you decide, you can’t change your mind.”
“Trying to bluff me? It’s the right hand. Open it,” Kakashi said, unfazed by Obito’s laugh, thinking he was just bluffing.
“Alright, I’ll open it,” Obito said, slowly opening his right hand.
(Today, there’s a funeral, so I wrote this in a hurry. If there are any issues, please point them out. I’ll fix them when I see them.)
(This chapter ends)
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