Chapter 56: Uchiha's Oddity

"Want to go back together?" Shisui asked Obito, who was putting away test papers.

"Are you heading back early today, Shisui?" Obito asked, a bit puzzled.

They were both members of the Uchiha clan and didn't live far from each other, but they rarely went back together because Shisui often stayed later than them.

It wasn't that Obito didn't want to train more; he was worried his grandmother would worry if he got home too late.

"Yeah, Teacher Muyue said to go back early today and get plenty of rest to prepare for tomorrow's training." Shisui nodded.

The reason he went back late every day was that no one was at home anyway—it didn't matter where he was.

"Then you really should rest well, Shisui. Tomorrow's training is bound to be exhausting." Obito warned, looking at Shisui with a hint of pity.

After all, if Muyue had said that, tomorrow's training for Shisui definitely wouldn't be easy.

For his own level of training, Muyue had never told him to rest properly.

"I have a rough idea—it'll probably be more physical conditioning." Shisui said.

Since Muyue had already said that the new Body Flicker Technique would put more strain on his legs, building up his physique was certainly necessary.

"Maybe she'll have me join your sparring sessions. When that happens, I'll give it my all," Shisui joked.

"I hope not." Obito clasped his hands together and silently prayed to the Sage of Six Paths.

He had watched Shisui practice the Body Flicker Technique while doing his assignments—the speed was incredible; if it came to a fight, he definitely wouldn't be able to react in time.

If his opponent were replaced with Shisui, he'd probably have to double the number of problems he solved per battle.

"That probably won't happen. If it were the case, Teacher Muyue would have mentioned it in advance." Seeing Obito praying so devoutly, Shisui couldn't help but laugh.

To put it a bit harshly, neither Obito nor Might Guy could give him any pressure right now, so Muyue wouldn't arrange joint training for them.

Unless Muyue's goal was to put pressure on Obito and the others.

As they walked, Obito suddenly stopped. Shisui looked back at him in confusion.

"Shisui, wait a second. That old lady over there seems to need help." Obito pointed at an elderly person bent over with a large bundle on her back.

Shisui looked in the direction Obito pointed and indeed saw an elderly person struggling to walk on that street.

"Is Obito's observation skill that strong?" Shisui was startled—he hadn't noticed at all.

After asking the old lady what trouble she had, Obito immediately offered to carry her luggage and escort her to her destination.

"Grandma, I'm fine. Don't underestimate me because I'm small—I'll become a ninja next year, and I'm really strong!" Obito patted his chest and grinned.

Then he performed a set of taijutsu moves, actually convincing the old lady, who handed her luggage over to Obito.

Obito walked ahead, the old lady followed, and Shisui, at the very back, wore a thoughtful expression.

After helping the old lady, the two resumed their walk home. A little while later, Obito stopped again to help another elderly woman using a cane get home.

Shisui finally understood why Obito was called an oddity.

The first lesson Uchiha children learned wasn't respecting teachers or elders, nor caring for the young—it was that the strong reign supreme, and ninjutsu power came first.

Nothing was more important than increasing one's strength. As long as you were strong enough, nothing was a problem.

Shisui wasn't old, but his talent and strength were undeniable; even kids several years older had to defer to him.

Obito was different—he wasn't very enthusiastic about training to boost his strength, but he was very interested in actions like helping the elderly.

Shisui thought that might be why Obito noticed elderly people in need.

"Shisui."

After entering the Uchiha compound, they gradually ran into familiar faces around their age. Uchiha Tetsuka greeted Shisui, but looked puzzled when he saw Obito standing beside him.

"Tetsuka." Shisui greeted back.

"I'll head home now." Obito was eager to see his grandmother, so he said goodbye to Shisui and left.

He didn't greet Uchiha Tetsuka because they really weren't familiar with each other.

"Mm." Shisui nodded.

"Shisui, why were you with him?" Uchiha Tetsuka asked curiously.

Before this exam, Obito had always been an anomaly in his eyes—a Uchiha with poor grades who didn't know how to improve, who looked foolish, and whose behavior was nothing like a typical Uchiha.

After the exam, he shed most of those labels, but he still thought Obito was a strange Uchiha.

This wasn't just his own opinion; it was the consensus among Uchiha of his age.

"What's wrong?" Shisui asked.

"Uh, I'm just pretty surprised, since he's that Uchiha Obito," Uchiha Tekka said after thinking it over.

"Actually, if you get to know him, you'll find Obito is a pretty great person," Shisui said.

Shisui didn't explain further and went home after a few more words.

"Could Obito's improvement be because Shisui taught him some training secret?" Uchiha Tekka wondered as he watched Shisui's retreating back.

He was a bit unwilling to accept being defeated by Obito, so he'd been training hard recently, aiming to regain his pride in the final exam.

…

In the morning, Shisui and Obito got up early and headed to their training ground in the Southern Forest.

As Shisui had expected, Muyue had arranged a massive amount of physical conditioning for him.

Push-ups and squats were just the basics—he also had to swim and run laps around Konoha, with a training volume that exceeded Shisui's imagination.

"Isn't this kind of training a bit too much for someone my age?" Shisui couldn't help asking.

Though some say a ninja's body has limitless potential, the truth is that overtraining can leave hidden injuries.

Hearing Shisui say this, Obito curiously came over and was stunned speechless, suddenly feeling that his own training was very light.

"Under normal circumstances, this amount of training would be impossible, but I have a special secret medicine that can relieve fatigue and heal the body after training," Muyue said.

What Shisui didn't know was that this was actually Muyue's reward for him achieving an excellent result.

Since the secret medicine provided by the system was limited, Muyue wanted to keep two pills for future research; the remaining ones would only decrease with use.

Among Muyue's three current disciples, only Might Guy could only walk the path of taijutsu, so Muyue had originally intended to give all the medicine to him.

But seeing how well Shisui performed, he decided to give two pills to Shisui for intensive training.

Shisui had the highest potential among the current disciples, and Muyue hoped Shisui would enter a growth spurt as soon as possible, because the chakra provided back to the teacher through the disciple's training would be considerable.

"Secret medicine?" Shisui was a bit surprised. If it was a secret medicine with special effects, then that made sense.

Judging from Muyue's usual training plans, he wasn't the type to increase training volume without reason.

"Master Muyue, how much does this secret medicine cost? My family left me quite a bit of money," Shisui asked.

Even though his grandparents and parents were gone, they had left him their assets.

"You don't need to worry about that. Completing your training seriously is the best reward for me," Muyue said with a smile.

Seeing Muyue's sincere expression, Shisui was deeply moved. He could feel that Muyue's words came from the heart.

To be honest, Muyue had given him more warmth than even his uncle had.

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