https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-486-Obito-Rin-Nohara-and-the-Pokemon-Hatching/12558730/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-488-Insights-into-the-Sun-s-Breath/12558734/
Chapter 487: The Rare Gathering of Team Minato
Chapter 487: The Rare Gathering of Team Minato
As the white light dissipated, a flash of orange caught Obito's eye.
Rubbing his head in confusion, Obito beheld the unknown orange creature before him, resembling a cross between a lizard and a salamander.
He couldn't yet gauge its strength, but one thing was certain—it wasn't particularly handsome.
Obito scrutinized the orange creature standing on its hind legs. At first glance, it seemed lizard-like, but a closer inspection revealed significant differences.
Most of its body was orange, except for its underside and the tip of its tail, which were a creamy color. Its limbs were short, and its fingers so tiny that Obito had almost overlooked them.
The only remarkable feature, in Obito's opinion, was its tail. The seemingly ordinary tail ended in a vibrant flame that didn't seem to harm the creature in the slightest.
"It's probably because it's just born and hasn't grown into its full form yet. I'm sure it'll become formidable as it matures," Obito consoled himself.
After all, this was the ninshu beast he had painstakingly cared for and hatched himself. Even if it didn't match his expectations, he certainly couldn't ask Mu Yue for an exchange.
"Charmeleon," the little fire lizard called out happily, its blue eyes fixed on Obito.
Obito patted its head, thinking that it wasn't so bad after all. While it didn't exude the fierce and cool aura he had imagined, it seemed to have a pleasant disposition, unlike Zishi's Froakie.
He then turned his attention to Yahiko's side, having noticed the commotion with his ninshu egg earlier.
Obito was genuinely happy for Yahiko. If everyone else's ninshu eggs had hatched while his remained unhatched, the wait would have been agonizing.
However, when Obito laid eyes on the ninshu beast that appeared before Yahiko, he was stunned.
"This… could it be a mix-up with the eggs?" Obito racked his brains for words of comfort for Yahiko, struggling to find a way to compliment the ugly and feeble-looking fish that had emerged.
The ninshu beast that Yahiko had hatched was on a completely different level from the rest of them.
While their ninshu beasts might not have intimidating appearances, each of them had unique and special qualities.
Obito couldn't, for the life of him, discern anything special about Yahiko's ninshu beast. If he had to say something, it was… unusually ugly? Obito had never seen a fish as bizarre-looking as this one.
Despite being newly born, its fins were tattered as if it had been in a brutal fight, and its body was dented as if it had endured abuse.
"How did a fish hatch in these conditions?" Kakashi, too, was taken aback by the ninshu beast that had appeared before Yahiko.
However, Kakashi quickly shifted his focus to other matters. If dogs could become oviparous, then who was to question how a fish hatched without water? In his opinion, Iwadog and the others were the more peculiar ones.
"Probably not," Yahiko shook her head at Obito's suggestion. Though she was surprised by the peculiar fish that had hatched, she wouldn't deny it as her own.
"Kakashi, could you use your Doton ninjutsu to create a depressed area over there?" Yahiko requested, seeing the ugly fish lying motionless and twitching occasionally.
Even if it wasn't as cute as she had imagined, Yahiko couldn't just neglect her ninshu beast.
"Doton: Moving Earth Core!"
Kakashi nodded and swiftly formed the necessary hand seals, causing the ground where the ugly fish lay to sink, creating a depression.
Yahiko then moved away from the lowered ground and performed a series of hand seals, channeling her Suiton ninjutsu to fill the depression with water, thus forming a pond.
"Will a ninshu beast like that really have any combat power? I have a feeling it might never be able to beat Hei Yu," Obito remarked as he stood at the edge of the pond, unable to hold back his skepticism.
Ugly Fish gave him the impression of being extraordinarily weak, appearing less intelligent than ordinary animals.
"Not necessarily," Kakashi countered, refusing to jump to conclusions.
Mu Yue had never shown favoritism or targeted any particular disciple. Since she claimed that the ninshu eggs they received had immense potential, she certainly wouldn't give Yahiko a subpar egg.
"But I really can't see anything special about it. It can't be that it's especially…" Obito trailed off, knowing that finishing that sentence would be hurtful.
"Just as there are ninja who exhibit innate talent upon their first exposure to ninja knowledge, there are also those who start off mediocre but gradually build up their foundation and blossom late," Mu Yue explained as she walked over to them.
It was true that Ugly Fish was awkward in its early stages, and it was highly unlikely that it would possess any combat prowess before evolving.
However, with proper nurturing, Yahiko might just overtake the others and become the first disciple to evolve her Pokemon into its final form.
Unlike the others, Ugly Fish's evolution didn't depend on rigorous training. What it needed was beauty, the love and trust of its owner.
"As long as you nurture it with dedication, the final outcome will definitely be worth it."
"Thank you, Teacher Mu Yue. I'll take good care of it. This little one seems to need a lot of care," Yahiko expressed her gratitude, preparing to take Ugly Fish home to care for it attentively.
She had never intended to give up on Ugly Fish, but Mu Yue's words bolstered her confidence.
Obito, on the other hand, scratched his head in bewilderment, activating his three-tomoe Sharingan to scrutinize Ugly Fish, but to no avail. He eventually gave up, concluding that his vision was lacking and that Mu Yue, a sage, wouldn't deceive them.
That day, Obito cut short his training session to spend time bonding with Charmeleon.
Before his ninshu beast had hatched, he could afford to focus solely on his training. Now that he finally had a ninshu beast of his own, he was eager to strengthen Charmeleon and teach those detestable white-furred dog and red-furred fox a lesson.
Taking on Iwadog and Froakie directly was out of the question, as they were still newborns themselves. Doing so would be akin to bullying infants, and Kakashi would surely seize the opportunity to mock him, possibly causing Yahiko to think less of him.
That evening, Obito was in his backyard, explaining Katon ninjutsu to Charmeleon in the hopes of teaching it Fireball Jutsu.
Given that Iwadog could innately use Doton ninjutsu due to the stone on its neck, and Charmeleon had a flame on its tail, Obito was confident that Charmeleon could harness Katon ninjutsu.
As Obito was deep in his lesson, a familiar figure approached—Minato Namikaze.
"Obito, assemble at the Hokage Tower tomorrow," Minato instructed.
Hearing this, Obito suddenly recalled that he was, in fact, a member of Team Minato, although he had been under Kakashi's tutelage for an extended period.
"Sensei, are we going on a war mission?" Obito inquired.
Assemblies at the Hokage Tower usually signaled an upcoming mission, and with the village in a state of war, their team's prowess would undoubtedly warrant a challenging war mission.
Minato shook his head with a smile, "Not exactly a mission, but there will be some training involved.
The main district also had a training field, though it was quite small, essentially the size of a playground—a fenced-off open space.
After explaining the situation to Obito, Minato quickly went to notify Kakashi and Rin Nohara.
...
The next day, Team Minato assembled in front of the Hokage Tower, with Kushina accompanying Minato.
"All of you are Mu Yue and Minato's disciples. I've seen your names in the newspapers, but hearing is deceiving and seeing is believing. I want to see for myself if you're truly as excellent as Minato claims." Kushina said sternly, with her hands on her hips.
In reality, Kushina was just bored and itching for some action, and since Minato wanted her to get to know Kakashi and the others, she came up with the idea of a combat training session, which had nothing to do with assessing their excellence.
Of course, what she thought in her mind and what she said out loud were two different things. Kushina wanted to portray a dignified image, so she deliberately prepared a speech.
"How could that be false? Even our enemies acknowledge our excellence." Obito retorted.
Back when they were famous on the East Coast battlefield, ordinary Kirigakure squads they encountered would be afraid at the sight of them.
"And are you sure you want to train all three of us at the same time? We're all jonin-level, and I even defeated a jonin examiner during the jonin exam!" Obito said proudly, puffing out his chest.
Although Obito hadn't passed the jonin exam, he believed that defeating a jonin examiner was an achievement worth boasting about, as it was something Kakashi hadn't accomplished.
"So, you're saying you're brave?" Kushina said with interest as she looked at Obito.
It had been a long time since a ninja dared to be so arrogant in front of her.
"I'm just joking. With my current strength, I could definitely beat one of the Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!" Obito boasted, indicating that he was an elite among jonin.
"Then, do you want to challenge me alone?" Kushina asked as she began to flex her fists, eager to see if Obito would end up crying from her beatdown.
"Of course." Obito was full of confidence.
As a renowned genius jonin of Konoha, defeating a little-known jonin of Konoha would be a breeze.
Kushina was the challenger here.
"Obito, that's not good." Rin voiced her concern for Obito.
Minato was not an unreliable person. Since Minato had asked Kushina to train them, Kushina's strength must surpass theirs, or she must have some outstanding quality, and it wasn't because of her personal relationship with Minato.
Obito responded to Rin with a confident smile.
"He's hopeless," Kakashi shook his head inwardly.
Even Rin could see through Obito's boastfulness, yet Obito couldn't fathom Kushina's strength.
However, Kakashi was also curious. In a time of constant war, there was still an unknown strong ninja.
"Kushina, go a little easy on them later," Minato said in a low voice as they made their way to the training field.
Kushina had a way of hitting people that didn't match her cute face; she had earned the nickname 'Blood Red Chili Pepper' during her time at the Ninja Academy.
"How can that be? I must teach him a profound lesson so he knows not to underestimate others." Kushina clenched her fist and made a light swinging motion, indicating that she was about to throw a heavy punch.
Minato smiled helplessly, hoping that Obito would be more cautious with his words and actions in the future.
"Go ahead and attack. I want to see how strong a ninja who claims to be able to defeat a Ninja Swordsman of the Mist really is."
Upon arriving at the training field, Kushina displayed her senior's magnanimity and allowed Obito to make the first move.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Kushina's attitude made Obito reconsider his assessment of her strength. Usually, those who dared to be so arrogant had exceptional skills, so Obito didn't waste time with words and immediately spat out a fireball.
After all, he had been so confident before the fight, and losing now would be embarrassing.
"Adamantine Locking Chain!"
Kushina dodged the slow-moving fireball with a swift movement and then unleashed her formidable chakra, using the special ability of the Uzumaki clan's bloodline.
Swoosh! Swoosh!!
One after another, chakra chains extended from Kushina's back, stretching endlessly and blocking off a 20-meter radius around her.
Obito didn't even have time to activate his Fire Style Chakra Mode and could only dodge a few times before he was bound by the chakra chains and immobilized.
"What kind of jutsu is this?" Obito was stunned, as he had never seen such a jutsu before.
"Fire Style Chakra Mode!"
Obito focused his breathing to the extreme and entered the Fire Style Chakra Mode, causing his entire body to burn with high-temperature flames in an attempt to melt the chains binding him.
But to Obito's surprise, the high-temperature flames didn't seem to affect the chains at all.
Kakashi, who was observing the fight, narrowed his eyes. If he hadn't activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and wasn't standing relatively close to Kushina, he might not have been able to dodge all those chains.
"Is this a secret technique of the Uzumaki clan?" Kakashi wondered, as he had no recollection of this jutsu.
Obito was flustered. How could there still be a hidden expert in Konoha when even Mu Yue, who kept such a low profile, had become famous in the ninja world?
With the force of the chakra Kushina had unleashed earlier, not to mention Obito, even Might Guy might not be able to win against her.
Kushina controlled the chains and lifted Obito into the air, "It seems the rumors are false. You're not that strong after all."
"Isn't it possible that you're just stronger than me?" Obito said, his face reddening.
"No, that's not it. I'm strong!" Hearing Obito's indirect compliment, Kushina immediately smiled and released Obito.
Anyone who complimented her couldn't be a bad person.
"Teacher Mu Yue, by the way, when are you and Sensei going to have Naruto? He still owes me a 'big brother'," Obito suddenly remembered something very important.
Minato: ...
Kushina: ???
Obito's words almost stunned Minato speechless. It was only then that he recalled the joke he had made to Obito before Naruto's future departure.
Seeing Obito fall into a daze due to his red eyes, Kakashi silently placed the photo in front of Obito's eyes, using poison to fight poison. Obito lost his sanity and lunged at Kakashi to snatch the photo, ultimately being tricked by Kakashi, who safely distracted Kushina.
After Obito rested, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito practiced with Kushina.
After the training session ended, they all went out for ramen and then disbanded.
During their interactions with Kushina, Kakashi noticed that she and Obito were somewhat similar—they were both straightforward people.
However, Kakashi still couldn't figure out why Kushina wasn't famous. She didn't seem like someone who would deliberately hide her strength.
(End of Chapter)
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