Chapter 169: The Treacherous Ninja (3k)
Chapter 169: The Treacherous Ninja (3k)
"Hmph, what a joke. Thinking he could surpass me on a mission, Kakashi. I'll make sure you don't return." Obito, on his way to find the missing cat, was feeling rather confident.
He felt he had this competition in the bag. After all, out of the five tasks Mu Yue had assigned, one was to find a lost cat, and another was to locate a missing item. He was certain he'd be the first to complete these two, and then he just needed to casually finish one more to secure victory.
Going up against him, Kakashi had no chance. With the power of elderly allies on his side, Obito felt invincible.
With the help of many enthusiastic seniors, Obito gradually learned of the missing cat's whereabouts.
However, something unexpected happened. When Obito finally reached his destination, he found Kakashi, who had already captured the pet cat.
"Kakashi, what are you doing here?" Obito asked, puzzled.
"It's obvious," Kakashi replied nonchalantly. "I'm here to complete the mission, of course."
Obito scratched his head, confused not about Kakashi's purpose but about how he had managed to arrive before him.
"Consider yourself lucky this time. I'll show you the true power of Konoha's mission king soon enough," Obito decided, not wanting to waste any more time. He quickly moved on to the next task.
"We'll see about that," Kakashi said indifferently, knowing full well that this round was his to lose.
With Kakashi already one task ahead, Obito picked up the pace. He didn't want to lose again after boasting so confidently.
Leveraging his connections, Obito chose to complete the task of locating a lost item.
"Thank you, sir, for the information."
"No need for cookies or anything. Thank you for your help, ma'am," Obito said as he made his way to the lost item's location, expressing gratitude along the way.
But once again, something unexpected happened. Kakashi beat him to it and had already found the lost item by the time he arrived.
"Kakashi, how are you always one step ahead?" Obito felt a sense of foreboding.
Kakashi had now completed two tasks, while he had none to his name.
"Why not me?" Kakashi countered. "Do you think this task was meant for you to complete first?"
Obito was left speechless and dashed off to the next task location.
When he arrived at the site for garbage collection, he found that Kakashi's shadow clone had already cleaned up the mess.
"Damn it! This task is done too!" Obito felt his situation deteriorate. In the first round, he had fallen behind, and Kakashi had already completed three tasks.
"Guy is almost done with the moving task. Only the task of cleaning up the trap zone is left. If you hurry, you might be able to finish before him," Mu Yue said, appearing just in time to offer a suggestion.
"Thank you, Teacher Mu Yue," Obito said gratefully before rushing off toward the trap zone.
If he didn't complete at least one task in the first round, the pressure in the next round would be immense. He needed to complete at least four tasks to have a chance at winning, but how could he do that when Kakashi and Might Guy were so efficient?
The reward for cleaning up the trap zone was significantly higher than that of a typical D-rank mission due to its increased difficulty and the risk of triggering traps.
When everyone had finished their tasks and regrouped, Mu Yue announced their progress.
"Kakashi is currently in the lead with three tasks completed. Guy and Obito are tied for second place with one task each."
"Looks like I'll be the winner this time," Kakashi said nonchalantly, as if it were a trivial matter.
"Don't get too cocky, Kakashi. We're about to take on more missions, and it's not over till it's over," Obito said, refusing to give up.
"That's right! As long as there's hope, we can still turn this around!" Might Guy exclaimed, giving Obito a thumbs-up and laughing heartily.
Mu Yue smiled at her students' enthusiasm, pleased to see their chakra levels rising much faster than they would in a regular class.
After the first five tasks, their chakra levels had increased by over 200 points. In comparison, a full day of regular classes would only yield an increase of about 80 points.
As they embarked on the next set of five missions, Obito's carefree humming ceased. He immediately scanned the tasks for one that played to his strengths.
However, out of the five new tasks, only one involved searching, while the rest were manual labor.
Obito had no choice but to take what he could get. After reading the task description, he flew off to his destination.
When Obito finally arrived at the last location, exhausted from his efforts, he saw the last person he wanted to encounter.
"You again, Kakashi! How are you always one step ahead?!" Obito couldn't contain his frustration.
"Mission complete," Kakashi replied, his tone unchanged from before.
"Something's not right. No, something is very wrong," Obito thought, sensing that something was amiss.
While Kakashi being slightly ahead could be attributed to luck, it was too much of a coincidence for him to be ahead three times in a row. Kakashi couldn't have suddenly gained the ability to outpace him consistently after losing to him three times in a row.
"You've finally caught on?" Kakashi said, a hint of surprise in his voice. Given Obito's intelligence, he had expected him to realize the truth a bit later.
"You must have bought inside information with money, Kakashi. That's the only way you could be faster than me!"
Kakashi: "..."
He truly couldn't fathom Obito's train of thought. Shouldn't he have suspected he was being tailed? What was this about buying inside information with money?
"Why would you think that?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask.
"That's how it always goes in novels," Obito replied matter-of-factly. "The villainous character uses money to surpass the hardworking protagonist."
Kakashi was left speechless. So, in Obito's eyes, he was the villain, and Obito saw himself as the protagonist.
Obito's answer was so outlandish that Kakashi directly addressed it:
"There are no inside scoops in D-rank missions, and no one would spend money to complete them. The reason I was able to beat you to it each time was that I tailed you and then located the mission objectives faster than you."
Since he didn't have any inside information, Kakashi had simply eavesdropped on Obito and then sent his shadow clones to do the menial tasks, thus staying ahead.
"You... tailed me? How despicable!" Obito was shocked. He hadn't expected that the reason Kakashi kept beating him was because he was stealing the fruits of his labor.
"There's nothing despicable about it. You could have tailed me too, if you had the ability," Kakashi goaded.
"Surveillance and counter-surveillance are basic ninja skills. If you had been more vigilant, you wouldn't be in this situation," Kakashi added.
"Damn it! If I had the Sharingan, I definitely would've noticed you!" Obito was very unhappy about the situation. He recalled his search for the items, and he hadn't noticed any signs of being tailed at all.
"You can say that again once you have the Sharingan," Kakashi said, turning to leave. "The world of ninjas is cruel. If the one tailing you is an enemy, guess what would happen to you."
Thanks to Obito, they still had four more tasks to complete.
Kakashi's words sent Obito's blood pressure soaring. He wanted nothing more than to engage Kakashi in a real battle right then and there. How dare he steal his victories and then mock him on top of it! If Obito had mastered the breathing technique, there was no way he would have taken this lying down.
Obito channeled his anger into motivation and began to work swiftly on the tasks. He didn't want to lose too badly.
In the second round, Kakashi completed two tasks on his own, Might Guy and Obito each completed one on their own, and then they worked together to finish the last one.
"Kakashi takes first place, having completed five tasks alone. Obito and Guy sensei are tied for second place," Mu Yue announced the final results.
"Haha, as expected of my rival! Your progress is remarkable. You completed half the tasks by yourself!" Might Guy laughed heartily.
Initially, Might Guy had wanted to play to his strength in taijutsu, so he chose tasks that required manual labor. However, those tasks turned out to be more troublesome than he anticipated, and he only managed to complete two and a half.
"At least I fared better than a certain braggart," Kakashi said nonchalantly.
Although he didn't mention any names, he was clearly referring to Obito.
"I did three more than you yesterday, so including those, I did five and a half, which is more than you!" Obito brought up the previous day's tasks.
"If we're counting past missions, I've done more C-rank missions than you've done D-rank missions," Kakashi said indifferently.
"Everyone worked hard today. After turning in your missions, I'll treat you all to a meal at my place," Mu Yue said, her smile calming the bickering between the two.
"Sensei Mu Yue, you won't be able to take on any more missions for now. You've completed most of the odd jobs, and in just one afternoon, you've finished ten tasks. Your efficiency is too high," the registration ninja reminded them as they turned in their missions.
"What? No more missions?" Obito asked, surprised.
He had been planning to be more cautious tomorrow and defeat Kakashi again. Without any missions, how could he redeem himself?
"You've been too quick. In just two days, you've completed twenty tasks. Some classes don't even do that many in a month," the registration ninja said helplessly.
"If there are no D-rank missions, surely there are other missions available?" Obito couldn't let today's loss go.
"Don't even think about it. As interns, you can only accept D-rank missions for now," the registration ninja replied.
"Don't underestimate me. I may still be in school, but I'm top of my grade at the Ninja Academy, and I've even defeated official ninjas!" Obito persisted.
"It's a no," the registration ninja said firmly.
Regardless of whether Obito was telling the truth or not, the ninja was not about to break the rules for him. There was no benefit to doing so, and if anything went wrong, he would be the first one in trouble.
"What's going on here?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was just finishing up his work, happened to witness this exchange. Recognizing Mu Yue and Kakashi, he walked over to inquire.
"Lord Third!" The registration ninja respectfully addressed him.
"It's like this, their class..." The registration ninja quickly briefed Sarutobi Hiruzen on the situation and the cause of the commotion.
"Twenty tasks in two days?" Sarutobi Hiruzen was also surprised.
"In that case..."
(End of Chapter)
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