Chapter 59: Rin Nohara, Out of Place

"I'm not the dead last of the Uchiha. I ranked third in the last year's practical exam!"

Seeing that Kakashi still remembered him as he was before studying with Muyue, Obito directly blurted out his last exam results.

"If being third counts as dead last, then wouldn't only two people in the whole grade not be dead last? And last time I just let my guard down—next time I'll definitely be first!" Obito said indignantly.

Kakashi was slightly taken aback. Third in the grade certainly wasn't dead last. Thinking about Obito's performance in the Youth Ninjutsu Tournament, he felt that third place was pretty reasonable.

But Kakashi couldn't stand Obito's cocky attitude, so he spoke up:

"I really don't know if third counts as dead last, because I've always been first. I have no idea what it feels like to be third."

Obito opened his mouth, only to find he couldn't refute it—because it was the truth. Kakashi had absolute dominance in school and had always been first.

"By the way, were you third in the written exam too? I was first in that as well." Kakashi added a finishing blow.

Obito felt like an arrow had struck his heart. Theory was his eternal pain. Forget third—he barely even passed thanks to Muyue's tutoring.

Even though his theory grades really were terrible, Obito wouldn't admit it to Kakashi. So he stubbornly said:

"Last time, I didn't sleep well the night before the theory exam, so I did a bit worse than in the practical. But this time will definitely be different!"

"A bit worse? How much worse? Don't tell me you didn't even pass." Kakashi, who knew Obito very well, deliberately said.

As expected, Obito immediately spilled the truth.

"That's not true! I barely passed!" Obito retorted. This was his first time passing.

"Barely passing is a bit worse than third. That 'bit' is pretty big." A smile couldn't help but appear on Kakashi's face as he spoke.

Obito fell silent. If he ever became Hokage, he would definitely issue an order to abolish the theoretical exams at the Ninja Academy. They were too torturous.

"Obito has been working really hard lately. I see him studying every day. Maybe his final exam scores will improve dramatically," Rin Nohara spoke up for Obito.

Obito, who had been a bit down, instantly recovered, feeling that the world was so beautiful.

Even the receding backs of Might Guy and Shisui looked a bit cuter.

"Wait, Guy and Shisui are training, and here I am wasting time arguing with Kakashi?" Obito suddenly realized a problem.

As one loses while the other gains, Might Guy would definitely become stronger than him. Then Obito would have even more problems to solve, and even less time to play with Rin.

"Playing with Rin means more problems to solve. More problems to solve means no time to play with Rin. So playing with Rin means no time to play with Rin." Obito's mind came up with this somewhat strange chain of logic.

Obito couldn't quite understand why Might Guy and Shisui would train together at night.

One was from his clan, the other was his classmate. Yet he felt like an outsider.

Obito recalled that he thought they had invited him, but he had refused because he wanted to go play with Rin.

At this moment, Obito was very conflicted. He wondered how to solve this dilemma. Then he caught sight of Kakashi, and an idea was born.

No matter how much he refused to admit it or how stubborn he was, Obito had to acknowledge that Kakashi was really amazing.

He graduated at five and became a chunin at six. While they were still in their second year at the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had already been promoted to chunin, on par with the school instructors.

If he could learn something from Kakashi, maybe he could gain an advantage in his fight against Might Guy.

"Kakashi, if your opponent is faster and stronger than you, how would you handle it?" Obito asked Kakashi.

"Keep your distance and use ninjutsu," Kakashi replied.

"What if it's taijutsu only?" Obito added a condition.

"If I know ninjutsu, why wouldn't I use it?" Kakashi refused to answer.

Obito scratched his head, silently raging at that damn Kakashi.

"Because you're almost out of chakra and can't use ninjutsu," Obito said after thinking.

"Then go head-to-head with him."

"Why? If speed and strength are both inferior, how could you possibly win in a direct fight?" Obito was very puzzled.

"That way you can die more gloriously. Do you think taijutsu doesn't consume chakra?" Kakashi replied bluntly.

Obito was getting frustrated. This damn Kakashi never played by the rules.

Feeling that he had teased him enough, Kakashi finally said:

"Since the enemy's physical strength and speed are superior, you must focus on body movement and technique."

"What is combat if not how I hit the enemy and how I keep the enemy from hitting me? Body movement lets you dodge attacks and avoid injury, and stronger technique can compensate for a lack of power when attacking."

Obito felt that what Kakashi said made a lot of sense, but at the same time it was as if he had said nothing at all.

Thinking it over carefully, he had already heard similar words from Mu Yue.

"Are you going to compete in some taijutsu-only tournament where someone is better than you?" Kakashi guessed.

"It's not a tournament, it's a combat exam, and my two strongest rivals are both good at taijutsu." Obito didn't tell Kakashi the truth.

He felt that if Kakashi found out about the combat penalty of doing questions, he might just refuse to help and laugh while watching him do the questions.

"If you're serious about improving your taijutsu, I don't mind giving you a hand—but I'm afraid you won't be able to endure the hardship," Kakashi said.

"I, Uchiha Obito, am the last person to be afraid of hardship."

Hearing Kakashi's words, Obito chuckled. What hardship could compare to doing a hundred questions after one fight? My pain is greater than yours, Kakashi.

Then Kakashi led the two of them to a nearby training ground.

"Next, I'll fight you without using ninjutsu, but I won't go easy. Are you sure you want me to train you?" Kakashi asked one last time.

"Go ahead and use your full strength," Obito said casually.

He was just looking to test Kakashi's strength.

Without a doubt, Kakashi was better at ninjutsu, so Obito thought that in a pure taijutsu match, the gap shouldn't be too big.

"Alright, then I'll start." Seeing Obito say that, Kakashi decided to grant his wish.

The next instant, Kakashi appeared in front of Obito with a Shunshin and kicked him flying before he could react.

Obito, who had just been chatting with Nohara Rin, was a bit dazed. He brushed the dust off himself and said,

"I let my guard down and didn't dodge. Continue."

One minute later, Obito was covered in dust, with several shoe prints on his body.

Because Nohara Rin was watching, even though he had fallen several times in that minute, Obito could still stand up and yell "Continue" while pretending to be at ease.

Nohara Rin watched the two of them, now in the zone, and seemed to want to say something but held back. Her presence here seemed a bit superfluous.

Everyone, please don't save the book over the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday! This is a critical moment, I beg you.

Recommending a friend's Bleach fan fiction.

Title: *Bleach: The Sunshine Cheerful Big Boy*