Chapter 228: The Meaning of Learning

Happy times are always short. On the morning after his birthday, Obito had this thought in his mind.

"Considering it was your birthday yesterday, I didn't bring out the training problems, but today it's time to start working on them." Muyue said with a smile, handing two test papers to Obito.

Yesterday he only had Obito and Shisui train; after it ended, he didn't give them the test papers.

"Actually, there was a mistake when I registered my birthday—today is my real birthday." Seeing the pristine white test papers and the clear black questions, Obito felt dizzy and didn't know what he was saying.

Smack!

Muyue's finger precisely tapped Obito's forehead as he said:

"Even if the next three hundred and sixty-five days are all your birthday, you still have to do these problems. You have to go back to school for exams in ten days. You don't want to end up with scores of just ten or so again, do you?"

"Huh, but we didn't have to attend classes this semester, so why do we still have to take exams?" Obito couldn't help complaining.

When Muyue mentioned this, he remembered that interns have to go back to school for exams normally.

"Maybe to test your internship results." Muyue smiled and replied.

"When the school announces the exam results, they'll also publish the internship achievements of all interns, listing the number of missions you've completed in the results column."

"Then I'll definitely be first with Guy!" Obito couldn't help showing a smug smile.

According to the ninja at the mission desk, other intern teams could only take D-rank missions, and D-rank missions would never have unexpected situations that cause the mission to be upgraded, so no one else could even have C-rank missions.

But he and Might Guy had records of two A-rank missions and one B-rank mission. Comparing that, they were directly several versions ahead of their fellow students.

"There's no problem getting first in mission quality, but mission quality won't add points to your theory exam." Muyue nodded and said. With Obito's resume, it would definitely be crushing among the interns.

Hearing the word "theory," Obito scratched his hair in worry. It wouldn't look good if others gathered around to see his mission results and found that his theory test only scored ten or twenty points.

"I'll give you three days to finish these problems. After you're done, come to me for discussion." Muyue set the time limit for the problems.

After speaking with Obito, Muyue then handed Shisui's test papers to Shisui.

He had prepared different papers for the two of them. For Obito, the problems were mainly related to the knowledge taught at the ninja academy, while for Shisui, they were history and politics.

And they weren't the kind of history questions like "what event happened in which year." Instead, they were like "Read the following materials and describe the changes in the ninja world after the era of ninja villages and the reasons for these changes," or "Combine the history of the Uchiha clan and the history of Konoha to describe the conflicts between the Uchiha and Konoha."

It was unrealistic for an outsider like him to resolve the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha by himself; it required the cooperation of the Uchiha clan themselves.

The best candidates were naturally his two disciples, Obito and Shisui. Muyue not only wanted them to become stronger than in the original story but also to teach them more knowledge and broaden their thinking.

Muyue's fundamental purpose in having them do problems was not to improve their theory test scores or to punish them, but to raise their knowledge level and enhance their thinking ability.

Shisui didn't take it too seriously at first. It was just two test papers—he'd go back and let a shadow clone spend some time finishing them. Until he casually glanced at one of the questions.

Looking at that thought-provoking question, Shisui's expression turned serious, and he read through all the questions on both test papers. He felt that each question could provoke deep thought and was very difficult to answer.

Staring at the two test papers, Shisui's face showed a grave expression. He felt he had misjudged Obito and the others. No wonder Obito and Might Guy were always terrified of the problem-solving training. If he had to face a hundred of these questions at once, he wouldn't be able to handle it either.

Muyue gave Shisui the same amount of time: three days to finish the problems and then come to him for discussion.

If they felt they couldn't finish, they could apply to do the problems in installments, which would extend the time but also increase the number of questions.

The two of them put away the test papers and began training in the constant state of Total Concentration Breathing, maintaining the breathing state while doing various basic exercises.

Even with sweat streaming down his head, clothes soaked through, and eyes blurred by sweat, Obito persisted until he couldn't stand before stopping.

"Tomorrow there's a problem-solving training session. I have to dodge at least once this time, so I can get fewer problems. Otherwise, I'll have to do installments again." This was the source of Obito's motivation for working so hard.

Fifty-five problems—he could grit his teeth and get through them in three days. But if another fifty-five came tomorrow, that would be different.

And Obito, experienced, knew well that once the problems started to be done in installments, they would pile up more and more. If Muyue didn't stop the problem-solving training, he would never finish them.

"This guy, is he working so hard just so I won't catch up?" Kakashi, resting, saw Obito's effort and showed a surprised expression.

Seeing Obito work so hard, Kakashi couldn't sit still. Without resting enough, he began training in Thunder Breathing.

"I'll add another two and a half hours to tonight's training!" Kakashi resolved silently in his heart.

At Muyue's place, no one would choose to slack off. Everyone trained very seriously, so Kakashi, wanting to overtake on the curve, decided to increase extra training time.

"Everyone's youth is burning fiercely today." Might Guy saw his friends training with such passion and trained even more vigorously.

"Open the Gate! Open, Rest Gate!"

Excited, Might Guy suddenly discovered that he had finally completed the training for the second gate, successfully opening the second gate of the Eight Gates under normal circumstances, rather than forcibly opening it by stepping on his own left foot with his right using the breathing technique.

"Rock Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!"

Might Gai immediately adjusted his breathing to a highly concentrated state, continuously enhancing his physical strength.

"This is the power." Might Gai clenched his fist, a look of excitement on his face. After the mission, he wanted to refine the Noon Panther, but found that without opening the Second Gate, his power was still a bit lacking.

"Noon Panther!"

Might Gai began to sprint at extreme speed. The massive burst of chakra generated by the Eight Gates was used to enhance his physical abilities. His speed increased until, at its peak, he suddenly kicked a huge boulder, like a cheetah pouncing on its prey.

Boom!!

With a loud crash, the boulder was directly blasted apart by the powerful force. Stone powder filled the air, and small fragments shot out in all directions.

After that kick, Might Gai felt immensely exhilarated.

The commotion from Might Gai drew the attention of everyone around.

"Can he already use that move normally?" Kakashi felt that Might Gai had become much stronger.

Before, he had to forcibly damage his body to unleash this power, but now he can do it in his normal state.

"Such speed, such power!" The strength Might Gai displayed surprised Shisui.

It was the first time he had seen Might Gai use Total Concentration Breathing and the Second Gate of the Eight Gates simultaneously. It felt very strong.

"Isn't that the move he used in the last battle? If you get kicked, you'll either die or be severely injured." Obito saw the power Might Gai displayed and recalled that Might Gai had said he wanted to fight him. His eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

After a day of training, Obito dragged his tired body home. On the way, he saw the dango shop where he had eaten with Nohara Rin before, and thought of buying some dango to replenish his energy.

"Obito, what's wrong? You look so tired." A somewhat familiar voice reached Obito's ears.

Obito looked back. A person with a senbon in his mouth was greeting him, and next to him sat another person wearing sunglasses.

"It's nothing. Just a bit tired from training." Obito bought three skewers of dango and, carrying a plate, sat down at the table with Shiranui Genma and the others.

Although they were in different classes, they knew each other somewhat since they were in the same year. After that summer special training, they became even more familiar.

"Who is your internship teacher? Their training is so intense?" Shiranui Genma asked curiously.

"It's Teacher Muyue. It's not that his training is intense; it's me training myself. If you want to become stronger, you have to train." Obito stuffed a skewer of dango into his mouth as he explained.

"Wow, your internship teacher is actually Teacher Muyue? You're so lucky." Shiranui Genma showed an envious expression.

Anyone who has been taught by Muyue knows the difference between Muyue and ordinary teachers. They are not on the same level; it's hard to even compare.

"After training with Teacher Muyue for so long, your strength must have increased a lot. Your first place in the practical exam must be secure now. Gai probably can't beat you." Shiranui Genma said with a smile, thinking that Obito could already pop the champagne early.

"Uh, Gai and I are in the same class, and we're also interning with Teacher Muyue." Obito paused for a moment before saying.

He really wasn't sure if he could beat Might Gai, because Muyue didn't allow him to casually activate his Sharingan. If he couldn't use his Sharingan and Might Gai could use the Eight Gates plus Breathing Technique, he would definitely lose.

"Oh, so Gai is interning with you." Shiranui Genma gave an awkward smile.

"So it will be another fierce contest. I'm really looking forward to your fight."

"It's fine. How do you feel about the internship?" Obito ate another skewer of dango and then asked.

"Just so-so. It feels like some class time has been replaced by doing odd jobs." Shiranui Genma complained.

"Yeah, I thought we'd get to take on real missions, but it's either catching cats and dogs or picking up trash and doing farm work. Might as well just sit in class." Ebisu also complained.

Clearly, they were not very satisfied with their internship life.

Obito couldn't help but straighten his back and lift his head slightly, saying:

"I think it's okay. It's not as boring as you say."

Compared to the two of them, Obito suddenly felt that his own internship life was extremely exciting. He had encountered the candidate Raikage with Muyue, and had also teamed up with his companions to defeat an enemy village jonin.

"No wonder your strength has improved so fast, Obito. Not only do you train more seriously than us, but you also have more of a ninja demeanor when facing missions." Shiranui Genma sighed.

To be honest, he didn't want to do those odd job missions. His thoughts were the same as Ebisu's—might as well attend theory classes.

"Hehe, it's just okay. Not as impressive as you say." Hearing Shiranui Genma say he had a ninja demeanor, Obito couldn't help but chuckle.

Actually, he was eagerly hoping that Shiranui Genma and Ebisu would ask him about his missions, so he could mention that he had completed two A-rank missions. But until he finished his dango, they didn't ask, which left him a little disappointed inside.