Chapter 177: Men's Friendship

"I haven't seen Obito in a while. I wonder how he's doing." After finishing training, Rin Nohara wore a slightly worried expression on her way home.

The ninja academy had never hidden the cruelty of the ninja world; the dangers of going on missions and even to the battlefield were clearly explained by the school.

But hearing a teacher talk about various casualties and having someone close to you die in battle are two different things. Since learning that Kakashi's teammate had died on a mission, Rin Nohara fully understood the cruelty of being a ninja.

And Obito easily gets carried away by his own pride. Rin Nohara was genuinely worried that Obito might get hurt on a mission because of that personality.

"Obito, Kakashi, Guy—what are you all doing together?" Rin Nohara suddenly spotted a few familiar figures.

"Mmm mmm mmm!" Hearing Rin's voice, Obito looked up in surprise, but remembering the bet, he could only gesture and make sounds that no normal person could understand.

Even Rin Nohara, who knew Obito extremely well, was a bit baffled by his bizarre behavior and had no idea what was going on.

"Kakashi, what's wrong with Obito?" Rin Nohara had no choice but to look at the reliable Kakashi.

But Kakashi didn't answer Rin; he just stared back at her.

Looking at the silent Kakashi, Rin Nohara felt even more puzzled. Could Obito's unreliability be contagious?

Might Guy's next words cleared up Rin Nohara's confusion.

"Haha, it's because they both lost to me in a running race. Today, neither of them can talk." Might Guy gave himself a thumbs up and laughed loudly.

Running a hundred laps demands high endurance, especially since they had already traveled back—they were already pretty tired—so in the end, Might Guy, with his greater stamina and willpower, finished first.

Rin Nohara didn't know what to say. A punishment of not being able to talk for a day? Were they little kids who hadn't even started school, playing punishment games like this?

"Aren't you guys genin now? Aren't you supposed to be going on missions? Why are you having a race with Kakashi?" Rin Nohara's big eyes were full of confusion.

"That's right, we just got back from a mission." Might Guy nodded and answered.

"Mm mm..." Obito was so anxious. He really wanted to share with Rin how brilliantly he and Teacher Mugetsu had performed in battle, and what a burden Kakashi had been.

"Damn it, Kakashi! He's totally targeting me!" Obito roared inwardly.

When Might Guy challenged Kakashi, Kakashi flat-out refused. But when he casually suggested it, Kakashi immediately agreed. That was blatant targeting.

"Could it be... he already anticipated this situation and was worried I'd tell Rin about his poor performance?" Obito's mind turned, and suddenly the thought struck him.

"Sneaky Kakashi! Just wait until tomorrow—I'll expose everything about you!" Obito planned to thoroughly badmouth Kakashi the next day.

"So that's how it is. You guys really get along with Kakashi—you challenged him to a race as soon as you got back." Rin Nohara showed a look of sudden understanding and smiled.

"No way! It's because this guy is our teammate!" Seeing Rin's smile, Obito sensed something was wrong and desperately wanted to explain.

Obito could only hope Might Guy would explain, but Might Guy's next words nearly made him stumble and fall.

"Of course! Youth and friendship are the best match!" Might Guy answered with a radiant smile.

"The bond between boys is really something." Rin Nohara sighed.

At that moment, Obito hated that he didn't know sign language. Otherwise, he would definitely have used it with a speed faster than hand seals to tell Rin everything.

"By the way, did anyone get hurt on your mission?" Rin Nohara asked with concern.

"No, not really. Although the enemy was very strong, Teacher Mugetsu protected the three of us really well." Might Guy answered honestly.

"The three of you?" Rin Nohara suddenly noticed a problem.

She asked hesitantly, "Other than you, Guy, and Obito, who is the other teammate in your squad?"

Obito breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing Rin was sharp-minded, or there would have been a misunderstanding.

"Kakashi." Might Guy scratched his head and replied.

"Didn't Kakashi become a chunin a long time ago? Why is he in a genin squad?" After confirmation, Rin Nohara was even more puzzled.

Kakashi: …

Kakashi, who couldn't speak right now, couldn't answer Rin's question. But even if he could speak, Kakashi wouldn't have known how to answer. After learning that it was a genin squad, he himself was completely dumbfounded.

"This is the bond between me and my rival!" Might Guy said passionately.

"I don't quite understand, but it's really nice that everyone is together." Rin Nohara said with a gentle smile.

Although the process was unexpected, the outcome was still good. Even though she was no longer around, Kakashi was still with Obito. She believed Kakashi would take good care of Obito.

"It's not nice at all." Obito internally cursed Kakashi wildly, even blaming Kakashi for the fact that Rin didn't get to be a genin. If it weren't for Kakashi, maybe he, Might Guy, and Rin would have been on the same team.

"Goodbye, I'm going home. You all seem pretty tired, so go home and rest early too." Nohara Rin waved and smiled as she bid farewell.

Obito raised his hand, but finally put it down. If you lose, you have to admit it. Today he would keep silent.

The next day, Muyue gathered the disciples at Training Ground No. 26.

The assembly time set by Muyue was 8 AM. Kakashi and Might Guy arrived around 7:50, while Obito arrived at 8:10.

"Late again," Kakashi said coldly.

"That's because..." Obito wanted to explain defiantly, but was interrupted by Muyue.

"Before starting training, let's hold a summary meeting to review the battle of the last mission," Muyue said.

"Kakashi was too reckless, leading to him being controlled for over ten minutes!" Obito quickly summarized for Kakashi.

"Obito, you don't understand battle at all. If I hadn't warned you, you would have already fallen into the enemy's trap," Kakashi retorted quickly.

Smack! Smack!

Two crisp tapping sounds sounded. Obito and Kakashi each covered their heads.

"I asked you to summarize yourselves, not to summarize others." Muyue put down her hand and smiled.

"Such fast speed, completely unavoidable," Kakashi, being hit for the first time, couldn't help thinking.

With Muyue's strong suppression, Obito and Kakashi stopped slandering each other and carefully considered their own shortcomings.

"My strength and explosive power are still insufficient. I need more training to master the Eight Gates as soon as possible," Might Guy spoke first.

What Might Guy trained was not as varied as that of Kakashi and Obito. He focused solely on taijutsu, with the core being the Breathing Method and the Eight Gates.

There was still more to come.