Chapter 156: Steady Obito

"Candidate Number One, Nohara Rin, and Candidate Number Three, Might Guy, are ready for the exam," the proctor announced.

Mu Yue knew immediately that Nohara Rin's practical exam was over.

It was better for Nohara Rin to face Obito than Might Guy—against him, she could only be ruthlessly crushed.

Nohara Rin relied entirely on taijutsu in combat, and Might Guy specialized in taijutsu; there was simply no contest.

"I feel like Nohara Rin beat Uchiha Tekka so easily—maybe she has a chance against Might Guy."

"Now that you mention it, it's possible. Might Guy suddenly rose like that before, so maybe Nohara Rin will do the same this time."

Perhaps because Nohara Rin's last match was so clean and decisive, the students from Class 4 had high hopes for her.

"Rin, good luck!" Obito didn't say much; he knew the gap in their strength.

"Mm." Nohara Rin nodded and walked into the arena.

"Guy, you have to give it your all. I want to see the gap between us," Nohara Rin said seriously.

"A burning youth means going all out in every fight!" Might Guy gave Nohara Rin a thumbs-up before forming the seal of confrontation.

"Begin the match!"

Just as Nohara Rin tried to replicate her previous fight, she suddenly found Might Guy charging at her—he was faster than her!

"Leaf Gale!"

Might Guy kicked a rapid spinning heel toward Nohara Rin.

Whoosh!

At the critical moment, Nohara Rin used Shunpo to barely dodge Might Guy's kick.

But before Nohara Rin could plan her next move, Might Guy instantly appeared in front of her and threw a punch.

Nohara Rin could only compress chakra into her hand and quickly punch back.

Bam!!

The air burst from the collision of their immense forces lifted Nohara Rin's short brown hair.

The next moment, Nohara Rin couldn't hold out any longer and stumbled back several meters.

"So much power—I can't match him." Nohara Rin assessed, feeling her numb arm.

She was shocked—she hadn't expected Might Guy's pure physical strength to be so extreme.

Even Nohara Rin's strongest power couldn't rival Might Guy using his Breathing Method, sealing her defeat.

Then Might Guy, as he had promised, went all out, unleashing a series of fierce attacks that left Nohara Rin completely helpless.

"This... he's dominating her like that," the watching students muttered gloomily.

They had thought Nohara Rin might break the monopoly of Obito and Might Guy on the top two spots, but she was clearly no match.

This made them wonder: was Uchiha Tekka not as strong as they thought, or was Might Guy even stronger than they expected?

"Might Guy wins!" When Nohara Rin lost the ability to fight, the proctor announced Might Guy's victory.

"Rin, are you okay?" Obito quickly helped her off the field and asked with concern.

"I'm fine, but Guy is really strong. Looks like I still have a long way to go to catch up to you two," Nohara Rin replied.

"If you keep going like this, you'll definitely catch up," Obito encouraged.

He believed that with Mu Yue's guidance, Nohara Rin would eventually catch up to them, since both he and Might Guy hadn't been that strong at first either.

"What a shame. In another class, she'd definitely make it to the grade-level practicals," Ueda Aya gave Nohara Rin a high score and said regretfully.

In her opinion, with Might Guy and Uchiha Obito as two insurmountable mountains, no one else had a chance.

"I wonder what kind of luck Ikegaya has, with so many excellent students popping up in his class," Ueda Aya grumbled inwardly.

She didn't think the growth of Might Guy, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin was due to Ikegaya Isamu's merit; if he were that capable, he would have earned the Outstanding Teacher award long ago, instead of ending up like this.

She felt Ikegaya was just lucky to have taken over a very promising class.

When the second day of class practicals was nearly over, Might Guy and Obito finally faced each other in the last match.

"Obito, sorry, but I'll take this victory. I'll avenge Rin!" Obito said, full of confidence.

Through the previous battles and watching Might Guy fight Shisui, Obito was convinced that he had surpassed Might Guy by a fair margin.

"Haha, then come on! Let's burn our youth together!" Might Guy was brimming with fighting spirit.

"Begin the match!"

"Rock Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!" Might Guy instantly changed his breathing rhythm, entering the state of Total Concentration Breathing to enhance his entire body, and charged straight at Obito.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Obito also immediately changed his breathing rhythm, retreated while forming hand seals, and spat out a massive fireball toward the front.

Although the Great Fireball was a C-rank Fire Release, its power was considerable, and Might Guy dared not take it head-on, dodging to the rear side.

Seeing Might Guy so cautious, Obito shook his head regretfully. If Might Guy had recklessly charged in from the side, he would have immediately used Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nail Crimson.

Obito quickly swapped his kunai for shuriken and flung them at the running Might Guy.

However, with Might Guy going all out, not a single one of Obito's shuriken hit—all missed.

The first exchange left both sides having expended some chakra and stamina, with a temporary stalemate.

Because they had trained together for so long, each knew the other's information, and both were cautious.

Might Guy was on guard against Obito's incredibly fast Fire Release under Flame Breathing, while Obito was on guard against Might Guy's immense power under Rock Breathing.

After a minute of deadlock, Might Guy sensed an opening in Obito's defense and burst forward instantly.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nail Crimson!"

Obito quickly formed a one-handed seal and then swiftly hurled a flaming kunai.

But Might Guy had anticipated this, dodging with an extreme sidestep before suddenly kicking out a whirlwind kick at Obito.

Just as Might Guy thought he was about to win, he saw Obito smile.

"Flame Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!" Obito firmly caught Might Guy's swiftly kicked leg, then expelled a large amount of flame from the palm of his hand.

Although his legs were reinforced with chakra and his body strengthened by the Breathing Technique, Might Guy still felt the pain from the high heat.

"How did Obito's power and speed suddenly increase again?" Might Guy wondered inwardly. There was no way Obito should have been able to catch that kick.

Obito was immensely proud. Only after truly mastering the basics did he realize that his previous Total Concentration Breathing had not been concentrated enough. The Total Concentration Breathing after basic mastery was the real Total Concentration Breathing, providing a far greater enhancement than before.

The greater enhancement also came with a terrifying drain on stamina and chakra. After reaching basic mastery, he could only use his full-powered Total Concentration Breathing once; he couldn't do it a second time. Maintaining normal breathing already exhausted him.

Even with the increased boost, based on watching Might Guy fight Shisui, Obito believed that even with basic-mastery Total Concentration Breathing, his strength was at most evenly matched with Might Guy—he couldn't suppress him.

Being at most evenly matched in strength while having greater stamina consumption, and his taijutsu experience being inferior to Might Guy's, Obito didn't plan to win against Might Guy in taijutsu using the Breathing Technique alone.

However, he could use the power of Total Concentration Breathing to catch Might Guy off guard. Obito had deliberately shown an opening just now to make Might Guy rush in recklessly.

Strike while the iron was hot. Obito launched a relentless flame assault without mercy. Might Guy pushed Rock Breathing to its limit but still couldn't withstand Obito's offensive and quickly lost the match.

Mu Yue nodded. This was within his expectations.

After all, with Obito so far ahead in his Breathing Technique progress, for him to lose to Might Guy would only happen if Obito got careless and Might Guy performed exceptionally well.

"Uchiha Obito wins!" the exam proctor announced.

"I finally got first in the class!" Obito couldn't help pumping his fist in celebration.

Strangely enough, he had once taken first in the grade, but this was his first time being first in the class.

Obito felt it hadn't been easy. Fighting against Might Guy put him at a slight disadvantage because Fire Release techniques were very powerful; if he wasn't careful, something could go wrong. He felt somewhat restrained when fighting.

"I'll win tomorrow's fight just as steadily and get double firsts!" Obito said to himself.

In the last exam, he also had an advantage, but he got too cocky during the class practical and lost to Might Guy, leading to the awkward situation of being first in the grade without being first in the class.

This time, Obito was determined to fight as calmly as Shisui, never letting his guard down even if he had the advantage, and secure the victory steadily.

"Obito, you performed really well this time. You were amazing," Rin Nohara praised sincerely.

"Hehe, Rin, you'll become as strong as me soon enough," Obito said with a slight blush and a smile.

"You really did perform excellently. You didn't waste that Breathing Technique you mastered first," Mu Yue praised with a smile.

Obito felt the world was so beautiful. Being praised by both Rin Nohara and Mu Yue at the same time—was there anything happier than that?

The exam was over. Mu Yue brought all the disciples back to the Southern Border Forest. First, he treated Mait Kai's injuries, then began teaching Obito a new ninjutsu.

"Next, I'm going to teach you the Dust Hiding Technique. This technique is useful whether you're retreating or launching an attack." Mu Yue explained to Obito.

Obito had already mastered four offensive Fire Release techniques, so Mu Yue chose to teach him a functional one.

"Fire Release: Dust Hiding Technique!" Mu Yue gathered chakra in his throat and spat out high-temperature flames and scorching dust ahead.

Since the area was full of large trees, Mu Yue controlled the power of the jutsu, producing not too much flame but primarily dust.

Obito immediately lost sight of Mu Yue. Under the thick dust, he couldn't see anything inside.

After giving Obito a brief demonstration, Mu Yue canceled the jutsu.

"But if I use this technique, I can't see either—what do I do?" Obito scratched his head and asked.

"Two options. One is to use it only for retreat—cast it and run. The second is to undergo special training to detect movement by sound, enabling you to launch a surprise attack within the dense dust." Mu Yue said.

Obito decided to learn it first before worrying—the jutsu looked quite impressive.

【You taught your disciple Fire Release: Dust Hiding Technique. Because of the disciple's immense gratitude, a critical reward was triggered: obtaining the ninjutsu Fire Release: Great Flame Technique (Proficient Level).】

A small explosion, but the reward was somewhat average.

Mu Yue could never use this jutsu in normal situations, because this Fire Release technique was a secret technique of the Sarutobi Clan, mastered only by Sarutobi ninjas.

On the third day's grade-level sparring, Mu Yue chose the fourth-grade venue.

The first grade had nothing interesting—Shisui dominated completely, and Anko was solidly second as long as she didn't face Shisui.

For the fourth grade, Obito still had a chance of messing up—after all, he was Obito.

On the third day, Obito and Mait Kai met in the top-four to top-two match. Whether or not Obito had learned from past mistakes, even after winning yesterday, he didn't let his guard down. He fought steadily and secured the victory, once again defeating Mait Kai.

"This time Obito is definitely going to be first again." The spectating students believed this match was the final beginning early.

Because the winner of the other top-four to top-two match was Hyūga Hōmon—the former-former-former first-place who had been easily defeated by Mait Kai in the previous exam.

As many students expected, Obito handled Hyūga Hōmon easily; the intensity of the battle was far less than the top-four to top-two match.

Now Obito didn't even need to use many ninjutsu against Hyūga Hōmon—just a Great Fireball to force movement, then Flame Breathing to charge in. Hyūga Hōmon couldn't defend at all.

"The first place in this final exam's grade-level sparring is Uchiha Obito!" The proctor announced Obito's victory, also declaring the final exam completely over.

With the exam over, it was naturally time for the students' holiday. However, the fourth-graders wouldn't enjoy a long break—they would have to participate in special training or internships after resting for four days.

Mu Yue also decided to give Obito, Mait Kai, and Rin Nohara a short break, letting them rest for a few days.

"Obito, and you too, Gai—remember to gather at the training ground I mentioned next Monday. Everyone can take a good rest during this time." Mu Yue announced a holiday for all.

"We're going to start doing missions on Monday." Obito was a bit excited.

"It's only Wednesday today—so much time off." Rin Nohara, who had been training every day since becoming Mu Yue's disciple, felt this break was quite long.

"A passionate youth should train every day!" Mait Kai wasn't planning to rest; he would go to the Southern Border Forest to train as usual tomorrow.

"Teacher Mu Yue, will you still be at the forest these days?" Shisui asked.

"Mm-hmm. If any of you can't sit still, you can come find me." Mu Yue smiled warmly.

"I feel there are still some things I don't understand about Flame Breathing. I'll trouble you then, Teacher Mu Yue." Shisui said.

A student's holiday also meant a teacher's holiday. Shisui felt he was intruding on Mu Yue's holiday, so he used the word "trouble."

"It is a teacher's duty to resolve students' doubts. There's no 'trouble' about it. You must ask me promptly whenever you have questions." Mu Yue said with a gentle smile.

"For a teacher, nothing brings more joy than seeing students improve their strength."

With both Shisui and Mait Kai continuing to train, Obito felt a bit embarrassed. If he didn't come, wouldn't that show he was the laziest among Mu Yue's disciples?

"Obito, do you want to go share the good news of your victory with Kakashi tonight?"

"To cope with the upcoming ninja life, it really is necessary to do some extra training." Obito said with a serious expression.