Chapter 276: The Uchiha's Surprise

"Ninja School Teacher: I Get Stronger by Teaching," Chapter 194: The Surprised Uchiha Members. "Then I'll challenge you." Obito issued a challenge to Uchiha Inabi.

He was worried about how to get the reward, but after hearing Uchiha Inabi's words, his thoughts became clear instantly.

"I accept your challenge." Uchiha Inabi looked at Obito with admiration; daring to challenge someone stronger earned points in his book.

"Just go all out and fight; don't worry about anything else," Uchiha Inabi continued.

Although Uchiha Tekka said Obito had the strength to pass the chunin exam, Uchiha Inabi didn't think nine-year-old Obito could hurt him.

First, because he himself had passed the chunin exam last year; second, because he thought Uchiha Tekka had just graduated and didn't understand the difficulty of the chunin exam.

"Go all out? Fine." Obito nodded and agreed, thinking Uchiha Inabi was the same kind of battle maniac as Might Guy.

"Tekka, you'll be our referee," Uchiha Inabi said to Uchiha Tekka beside him.

The Uchiha hadn't prepared a dedicated referee; they usually found a friend or simply went without one.

"No problem." Uchiha Tekka nodded; after Uchiha Inabi and Obito's fight ended, he also wanted Uchiha Inabi to give him some pointers.

Then the group went together to the open space in the courtyard; nearby there was a small pavilion. After Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Yashiro finished talking, they went to the pavilion to drink tea.

Because it was just the beginning, no one was fighting in the courtyard yet; Obito and Uchiha Inabi were the first to fight.

"I'll count down from five, then the fight begins. Five, four..." After Obito and Uchiha Inabi assumed their fighting stances, Uchiha Tekka said.

Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Yashiro, who were drinking tea, noticed Obito and the others preparing to fight.

"This Uchiha Obito is a promising seedling. He has good talent and dares to challenge," Uchiha Yashiro said, nodding as he watched.

He was quite optimistic about Obito; among the Uchiha of similar age to Obito, aside from Shisui who was even more gifted, Obito was second.

"Mm, Inabi is also good. Though young, he is very steady when doing police department work," Uchiha Fugaku said, setting down his teacup and nodding.

"Two, one, fight!" Uchiha Tekka quickly backed away while counting; by the time he shouted "start," he was already by the house. Then he seriously looked toward the open space, ready to enjoy the fight.

Uchiha Tekka thought that in the end Uchiha Inabi would win, but not easily; it would be a hard-fought battle.

Uchiha Tekka's voice attracted the Uchiha who were chatting inside the house.

"A fight already? Let's see who it is."

"The one who dares to be first probably isn't weak."

Some Uchiha curiously came out to watch.

"Oh, it's Inabi; that's not surprising. But who's that person across from him? I don't think I've seen him before, and he looks young." An Uchiha who saw Obito asked curiously.

"Don't know, no impression." The people around shook their heads.

"Must be a junior who isn't good at socializing, so he rarely shows up. This fight should be a training match."

So a few Uchiha went back inside to continue chatting, thinking this kind of fight wasn't interesting.

After Uchiha Tekka finished the countdown, Obito immediately changed his breathing rhythm, entering the Flame Breathing state, while cautiously observing Uchiha Inabi.

"He's not moving at all? What kind of tactic is that?" Looking at Uchiha Inabi, who remained motionless, Obito wondered in confusion.

In various battles at school or enemies encountered during missions, he had never seen an opponent stay still; they were practically full of openings.

Obito wasn't sure what Uchiha Inabi was trying to do.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Obito quickly formed hand seals, gathered chakra in his throat, then performed a nature transformation and expelled a massive amount of fire.

The flames gathered together, eventually forming a huge orange-red fireball nearly four meters in size, looking extremely imposing.

Because he didn't know Uchiha Inabi's information and his tactics were so unusual, Obito chose the all-purpose opening jutsu: Fireball.

"To have already mastered the Fireball Jutsu at this age." Watching the huge fireball flying toward him, Uchiha Inabi's face showed surprise.

His own full-power Fireball Jutsu was about the same level; yet Obito was only nine this year, while he himself was already thirteen.

"He must be a ninjutsu genius," Uchiha Inabi thought to himself.

He decided to focus his guidance on taijutsu; there was really nothing to advise on this fire release, since at this age using such a Fireball was already impressive.

"Does anyone know his information? To have this level of proficiency with the Fireball at this age." It wasn't just Uchiha Inabi who thought Obito's Fireball was impressive.

Some even suspected that Obito was already twelve or thirteen years old and just short in height.

"His name is Uchiha Obito. He's the same age as me, nine years old." Uchiha Tetsuka came forward to correct them.

"Uchiha Obito? I've heard that name. Didn't the rumors say he was the dead last of the Uchiha?" An Uchiha ninja three years Obito's senior recalled some information upon hearing the name.

In the year before he graduated, he heard that a junior named Uchiha Obito had terrible grades and was called the dead last among the Uchiha. Even though he was a clan member, he had no intention of standing up for Obito. In his mind, if you lacked strength, you deserved the title of dead last.

"Dead last? You call a nine-year-old using a Great Fireball like that 'dead last'?"

Uchiha Tetsuka's feelings were mixed as he listened to them. Who could have imagined that Obito would suddenly erupt in his graduation year, going from the bottom to a strong contender for first place in his grade?

He also understood that these Uchiha didn't know about Obito's current information. After all, once you graduate, who still pays attention to what happens at the Academy? And aside from Shisui, Obito seemed to have no other Uchiha friends—he only hung out with people from other clans.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Uchiha Inabi also swiftly formed hand seals, gathered a large amount of chakra, and spat out a Great Fireball about the same size as Obito's.

Boom!!

The two massive fireballs collided, causing a violent explosion. The blazing flames scorched the ground around the impact zone black, and the loud blast drew all the Uchiha inside the house out.

"This Uchiha Obito isn't just decent—he seems to have a very strong talent in Fire Release." Uchiha Fugaku said with a surprised expression.

He had originally wanted to see Shisui's performance, but Obito ended up giving him an unexpected delight.

"Indeed. This kind of talent is rare even among the Uchiha." Uchiha Yashiro agreed. He couldn't have used a Great Fireball like that when he was nine.

Uchiha Fugaku decided to give Obito a B-rank Fire Release technique as a reward after the exchange meeting.

After canceling out Obito's Great Fireball with his own, Uchiha Inabi took the initiative and charged at Obito. Based on his judgment, taijutsu should be Obito's weak point.

Obito was only nine. If he had spent so much time mastering ninjutsu so excellently, he wouldn't have had time to train in taijutsu.

"His speed is a bit slow. Is there some tactic involved?" Obito thought Uchiha Inabi might be feigning weakness.

Because Uchiha Inabi had acted like a senior guiding a junior earlier, Obito assumed Inabi was very strong. But the speed Inabi was currently showing was only about the same as Obito's normal breathing pace.

"Flame Breathing: Total Concentration Breathing!" Obito focused his breath, further enhancing his physical abilities.

He couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and simply went all out, adapting on the fly.

Whoosh!

Obito concentrated chakra in his feet, explosively increased his speed as he rushed toward Uchiha Inabi, then quickly kicked out a whirlwind kick.

Obito had also learned a bit of the whirlwind series taijutsu, and since he often trained with Might Guy, he was fairly skilled in using it.

"Such speed!" Uchiha Inabi only felt Obito's form flicker before he appeared right beside him.

Thud!

Caught off guard, Uchiha Inabi was sent flying four meters by the kick and smashed heavily into the ground.

Lying on the ground, Uchiha Inabi was utterly dazed, his mind filled with "Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?"

"His ninjutsu skill is this high, and his taijutsu is this strong too. Did he start training right after being born?" Uchiha Inabi felt extremely frustrated.

Not only was Uchiha Inabi bewildered, but Obito was too.

"My taijutsu and breathing technique haven't improved much recently, so how did he fall so easily?" Obito scratched his head as he looked at Uchiha Inabi, who was four meters away.

The watching Uchiha were even more astonished. Although they didn't know Obito, they knew Uchiha Inabi well.

Uchiha Inabi had participated in the exchange meeting ever since he first became a Genin, never missing a single year, and he always challenged older Uchiha at the meeting. He was well-known as a promising young expert among the younger generation of the Uchiha.

"When did our clan produce such a genius? He looks at most ten years old, and yet Inabi was beaten so easily."

"I think his name is Uchiha Obito."

"Uchiha Obito? Isn't that…"

At first, it was the noise from the ninjutsu collision and explosion. The more people talked, the louder it got, until eventually all the Uchiha inside the house came out. In the end, they successfully remembered the name Uchiha Obito and labeled him a genius.

"His strength is even greater than Inabi-san's? Has he improved again?" Seeing the result of their taijutsu clash, Uchiha Tetsuka found it hard to accept.

After all, Uchiha Inabi was the ninja he strived and aspired to be.

"Maybe Inabi-san was careless, since it's his first time fighting Obito." Uchiha Tetsuka comforted himself, then continued watching the battle. By now, Uchiha Inabi had gotten back up.

Uchiha Inabi thought similarly to Uchiha Tetsuka. He admitted that Obito was indeed strong in taijutsu, but being knocked down so easily was largely due to his own carelessness.

"I can't treat him as a junior anymore. I have to treat him as a ninja on the same level." Uchiha Inabi took a deep breath and put on a cautious expression.

Uchiha Inabi regarded Obito as an opponent of the same rank, but Obito, after two rounds of combat, concluded that Inabi was quite a bit weaker than him.

What had happened before wasn't any kind of strategy—it was pure inexperience.

After realizing this, Obito directly used the boost from Total Concentration Breathing to rush in and engage in close-quarters combat with Inabi.

This time Inabi was extremely serious and careful, but that couldn't make up for the gap in strength between him and Obito.

With a bang, he was knocked down by Obito again.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Finding that he really couldn't win in taijutsu, Uchiha Inabi switched to ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"

The fireballs fused with shuriken were more powerful than ordinary Phoenix Flowers. Inabi's Phoenix Flower was canceled out, and at the same time he was cut by the high-temperature shuriken.

"He even mastered this jutsu!" Uchiha Inabi realized he had still underestimated Obito. It wasn't just that Obito was better than him in taijutsu—he was better in both ninjutsu and taijutsu.

Obito seized this opportunity, knocked Inabi down, pinned him, and pressed a kunai against Inabi's throat.

"Guess that means I win, right?" Obito asked casually.

He felt that obtaining this high-level fire jutsu was pretty easy. Inabi didn't even have a Sharingan. Before, Obito had been thinking about what he would do if Inabi used the Sharingan.

"Uchiha Obito wins." Uchiha Tetsuka finally announced the result. His expression was hard to describe—part surprise, part sadness, part confusion.

Lying on the ground, Uchiha Inabi's feelings were also extremely mixed. At first he had planned on giving advice to a junior, but instead he got thoroughly schooled by the junior.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Obito asked with concern, reaching out a hand to Inabi.

He had a pretty good impression of Inabi, who had so easily helped him obtain a high-level fire ninjutsu.

Uchiha Inabi grabbed Obito's hand and stood up, replying, "No need for that trouble. It's just a scratch. I'll be fine after some rest."

Having said that, Inabi walked into the house. He needed some time to himself.

"Inabi," Uchiha Tetsuka patted Inabi on the shoulder. He understood that feeling all too well. Not long ago, he himself had been defeated by Obito in front of his classmates, who looked at him in disbelief.

Obito's battle exceeded most people's expectations. Apart from Shisui, no one thought he could defeat Inabi.

"I didn't expect him to be so outstanding in taijutsu besides ninjutsu," Uchiha Yashiro remarked.

He had originally planned to groom Obito to become the next Inabi, but now Obito already had strength surpassing Inabi's.

"We can allocate more resources to Uchiha Obito, while also cultivating a sense of clan belonging," Uchiha Fugaku said after some thought.

Uchiha Fugaku now had very high hopes for Obito, because even at nine years old, he himself hadn't been as strong as Obito.

Uchiha Yashiro nodded. A genius like Obito naturally needed to be nurtured heavily. In ten years, he would be a reliable combat force.

Because he had defeated Inabi, some Uchiha came forward curiously to talk with Obito, but they all asked about training.

Obito answered what he could. In the process, he got to know quite a few young ninja from the Uchiha clan.

Today was strange. The morning and noon were fine, but after five in the afternoon my head started to ache a little, making my writing slow and unenthusiastic.

If there are mistakes or bad parts, you can leave a comment in the chapter. I'll fix them when I see them. Right now my brain still feels fuzzy.

There will be more later—I'll try to write another chapter.