Chapter 38: Obito's Fiery Life (Please Follow)

Obito looked up at the sky; the black smoke continually rising from the crater covered the sky, and combined with the dark gray land, he felt as if he were in a monotonous world of only black and gray.

"So hot, so spicy!" Obito breathed deeply and exhaled, trying to relieve his tongue.

Boom!!

Suddenly a huge roar, and an indescribably terrifying eruption of molten lava shot out from the crater like a fountain, rushing into the sky.

Scorching black smoke, sky-high flames, dark red lava—the originally black-and-gray world now added a dangerous touch of red.

Then the terrifying lava rained down from the sky, engulfing Obito, and his eyes regained clarity.

"Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!" As consciousness returned, the feeling of high heat gradually faded, but the spicy taste lingering on his tongue still hadn't disappeared.

Still, Obito didn't stop eating.

Though it was spicy, it was just too delicious—he simply couldn't control himself.

"High heat, burning." Obito involuntarily recalled the illusion that had appeared out of nowhere—the flames erupting from the ground, the scorching lava that melted him.

Hoo, hoo, hoo!

The next moment, as he breathed with his tongue out, Obito directly spat a crimson flame from his mouth.

Obito yelled "spicy" while spitting fire and fanning his tongue with his hand, looking just like a circus performer showing off a fire-breathing trick.

"Ah... ba..." Obito was a bit stunned.

"Stop the chakra output," Muyue said calmly.

Only then did Obito realize he had somehow been using chakra without knowing it, so he cut off the chakra supply, and the flame disappeared.

"Hurry up and cultivate while the state hasn't faded," Muyue said, taking out a palm-sized ice cube and placing it in Obito's hand.

"Remember that feeling just now—the high heat and the burning," Muyue reminded him.

Recalling how Obito had seemed lost in a trance earlier, Muyue vaguely guessed something.

"I never thought a skill dish carrying an illusion could have this kind of effect," Muyue thought with some surprise.

"Looks like I'll have to make some spicier dishes for Obito recently," Muyue said to himself.

If an ordinary home-cooked stir-fry with chili had this effect, then feeding Obito mapo tofu every day would be amazing—his progress would be incredibly fast.

"Muyue-sensei, look!" Obito shouted excitedly, pointing at the ice cube in his hand that was rapidly melting.

Muyue glanced and nodded slightly; the palm-sized ice cube had shrunk by a size in one minute.

"Good, keep it up, and don't forget that feeling," Muyue acknowledged, also reminding Obito not to get cocky.

"Mm-hmm!" Obito nodded quickly, focused entirely on the ice cube, continuously releasing chakra.

He was very excited about the significant progress.

Sometimes the reason training feels unbearably dull is that you never get any feedback.

If he could make progress like this every time he trained, Obito thought he might actually become a training addict.

"Obito, you don't dislike spicy food, do you?" Muyue suddenly asked with a smile.

"Spicy? If it can taste as good as that dish just now, I don't mind a little spice," Obito said, licking his lips as he recalled the delicious meal.

It was the first time he had eaten such tasty stir-fry; even though the chili made it a bit spicy, it was genuinely delicious.

"Don't worry, I guarantee it'll be tasty." Muyue patted Obito's shoulder—hey, you said it yourself.

Obito, who was busy melting the ice cube, suddenly felt a bad premonition.

Could it be... could it be that he's going to...

Even though he was holding an ice cube in his hand, Obito couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

"Muyue-sensei, actually, I really like fried rice too," Obito tried to backpedal.

"Mm, chili fried rice, right? I'll make it for you," Muyue said with a gentle smile.

"Can we have chili fried rice without the chili?" Obito asked with pleading eyes.

He had a very unpleasant memory—once he ate something extremely spicy, and then he learned what it meant to burn at both ends.

If he had to eat dishes that Muyue said were "a little spicy" every day, Obito was afraid that after walking into the bathroom, he wouldn't be able to come out.

"Stir-fried peppers without the stir-fried rice? I didn't expect your taste to be so heavy. It's not impossible." Muyue selectively lost his hearing.

Hearing Muyue's words, Obito's vision went dark and his legs went weak, nearly fainting on the spot.

He looked to Shisui for help. Shisui, who had just finished eating and was still savoring the taste, sensed Obito's gaze and directly looked up at the sky, pretending not to see.

It wasn't that he, Uchiha Shisui, disregarded clan bonds, but this matter was hard to get involved in.

After all, Obito's training efficiency had indeed improved after eating, so maybe eating spicy food had a miraculous effect on training Fire Release nature transformation.

Moreover, Obito himself had said it was delicious, and just now he was frantically eating while yelling that it was spicy.

Of course, the main reason was that he knew the result of speaking up would be that he and Obito would eat together.

Although Shisui didn't mind eating spicy food, he didn't want to eat it every day. He didn't have the need to rapidly improve his nature transformation.

Obito looked at Might Guy.

Sensing Obito's gaze, Might Guy smiled at Obito and gave a thumbs up, saying, "A fiery youth should eat more spicy food!"

Obito:...

At this moment, his hands were cold and his heart even colder. Where was the bond of clan brothers? Where was the master-student friendship? None of them could be relied upon in a critical moment!

Obito burst out chakra, suddenly melting all the ice on his hand in one breath, and used his hand to straighten his goggles.

"Teacher, I think it's too much trouble for you to make three separate dishes. Just make one dish a little bigger and split it into three portions for us. That would be much easier." Obito said, pretending to be considerate of Muyue.

Since that was the case, then no one should have it easy. If we're going to die, let's all die together.

"Sounds good." Muyue showed a thoughtful expression.

Of course he knew what Obito was thinking, but Muyue still chose an answer that would let him enjoy the show.

Shisui could no longer maintain his usual calm expression. He never expected that this clan brother, who usually seemed a bit simple, could have such quick wit when it came to dragging others down.

"A fiery youth should eat spicy food together." Might Guy said with a big laugh.

"So that's how he really thinks." Obito and Shisui thought speechlessly.

Muyue thought about it and felt it wasn't a bad idea. After all, the flavor was guaranteed. Both Obito and Shisui needed to practice Fire Release, and Might Guy was also willing to eat it.

From that day on, Obito, Shisui, and Might Guy lived a life that was literally fiery hot.

"So spicy, so delicious!" Even though Obito was crying from the spiciness, he still couldn't stop himself from frantically eating the mapo tofu in his lunchbox.

"So spicy! Delicious!" Might Guy was also eating mapo tofu with tears streaming down his face. The difference was that Might Guy was moved, not crying from the spiciness.

Shisui, who was constantly gasping from the spiciness, silently distanced himself a little from the two.

The three of them went to the bathroom together, walked in standing, and all came out stooped over, holding the wall.

At school, Rin saw Obito inexplicably sticking his butt out all the time, so she asked with concern:

"Obito, are you feeling unwell?"

Obito showed a melancholy expression and said, "No, it's just a small side effect from hard training."

"Rin, this time you definitely won't believe how much my Fire Release has improved. I will definitely defeat Kakashi in this Young Ninja Technique Competition." Obito said with full confidence.

One of the reasons he could persist in intense training was to wash away his previous shame, to defeat Kakashi in front of Rin and take first place.

"But Kakashi probably won't sign up for the competition, right? He's already a chunin. This competition is usually for us academy students." Nohara Rin said.

She believed that Obito had indeed trained hard and made great progress, but Kakashi, who had already become a ninja, how could he participate in a civilian competition like this?

"Ah?" Obito was dumbfounded. He had assumed Kakashi would participate.