Chapter 135 Uchiha’s Reward and Attention (3k)

“I’m home.”

Obito walked to the entrance, changing his shoes while cheerfully announcing his return to Grandma.

“Huh, is Grandma out for a walk?” Obito was a little confused when he didn’t receive a response.

Usually, as soon as he called out that he was home, Grandma would either come to the door to greet him or respond with her voice.

Obito walked further in and realized that Grandma wasn’t absent; instead, she had guests and was currently entertaining them, which was why she hadn’t responded immediately.

“Obito, welcome home,” Grandma said with a kind smile.

Obito curiously glanced at the guest sitting in the living room—a brown-haired middle-aged man dressed in dark blue clothes.

Although he didn’t know who it was, Obito could confirm it was a Ninja from the Uchiha Clan, because the brown-haired middle-aged man not only wore a Ninja headband but also had the Uchiha fan emblem on the back of his clothes.

“Obito, you’ve come at a good time. Say hello to Uncle Yashiro,” Grandma reminded him.

“Hello, Uncle Yashiro,” Obito dutifully greeted the guest as instructed by Grandma.

Uchiha Yashiro smiled and praised, “You must be Obito. You’re very good.”

“Among the Uchiha your age, you are one of the most outstanding.”

“Hehe, not bad,” Obito scratched his head and chuckled, not feeling much about it.

Because he didn’t know Uchiha Yashiro at all, he naturally wouldn’t feel much emotion from a stranger’s praise, unlike if it were Grandma, Rin, or Muzuki.

“Oh, right, Grandma, I got first place in the practical exam for the entire grade!” Obito eagerly shared the good news with Grandma.

“Hmm, our Obito is truly amazing. When you graduate, you’ll definitely become an excellent Ninja,” Grandma said, smiling as she patted Obito’s head, praising him.

Uchiha Yashiro nodded inwardly upon hearing Obito’s words, believing that Obito was indeed worth his visit.

While being first in his grade doesn’t guarantee future strength, it proves he is very outstanding at the current stage.

He remembered an Uchiha named Tekka, who was the same age as Obito and whose strength was considered good for his age, but he had never achieved first place in the entire grade.

“Continue to maintain this, and strive to become a Ninja worthy of inheriting the Uchiha’s glory,” Uchiha Yashiro said.

After speaking, Uchiha Yashiro placed some nutritional supplements he had brought onto the table, then counted out fifty thousand Ryo and placed them on the table as well.

“We Uchiha are never stingy with our outstanding clan members. This is a reward for your achievements,” Uchiha Yashiro said.

He certainly wasn’t there to chat with Grandma. Although the Uchiha were all somewhat related, except for direct family, normal Uchiha wouldn’t waste time chatting with elders.

He came to Obito’s house specifically to reward Obito.

This was a policy within the Uchiha Clan: if a clan member’s strength far surpassed their peers, they would receive a reward.

Obito’s reward should have been available at the end of the term exams.

However, the Uchiha higher-ups hadn’t assigned anyone to specifically monitor Ninja Academy grades. Obito only had Grandma, and among his peers, he was only relatively familiar with Uchiha Shisui, making him quite inconspicuous within the Uchiha.

So, it was only recently that the Uchiha realized this inconspicuous Uchiha child, Obito, had risen to become an Uchiha genius.

“Now, train diligently. After you graduate, you can join the clan’s Police Force, and I will personally guide you then,” Uchiha Yashiro continued.

Ninja from large clans often had some privileges.

The Hyuga Clan’s privilege was that the Main Family could bypass Ninja Academy and receive education directly within the clan, then become Genin and participate in the Chunin Exams.

And the Uchiha Clan’s privilege was the Konoha Police Force.

The Konoha Police Force was entirely controlled by the Uchiha, and everyone within it was a Ninja of the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha could appoint their clan members to any position they desired.

If Obito could continue to maintain such excellent strength, Uchiha Yashiro wouldn’t mind becoming a teacher on Obito’s Ninja path.

The prerequisite was to consistently maintain this level of excellence; otherwise, the ‘guidance’ he spoke of would only mean initially helping Obito familiarize himself with the work.

The Uchiha Clan’s ancestral motto from ancient times has always been to respect the strong. There has never been a saying about sympathizing with the weak. If you have strength, you can have everything; if you don’t, no one will care, no matter how difficult your situation.

“Thank you so much, I will train diligently,” Obito said with a grateful expression, then selectively ignored Uchiha Yashiro’s mention of joining the Police Force.

Seeing Obito’s grateful expression, Uchiha Yashiro nodded inwardly.

“Interact more with your Uchiha peers and seniors. Only clan members are the most reliable strength.”

“Once you graduate as a Genin, you can apply to the clan to learn new Fire Release Ninjutsu.” With that, Uchiha Yashiro left Obito’s home.

“Our Obito is truly promising. Your father was never rewarded by the family before; you’re already more outstanding than your father was back then,” Grandma said with a cheerful smile.

“Father, huh…” Obito tried to recall in his mind but couldn’t find any image associated with the word ‘father.’

His parents had died before he could remember.

However, precisely because he had no memories, Obito’s childhood was quite happy, as Grandma was with him, and he never lacked love from an elder.

“Grandma, quickly put the money away before it gets blown away by the wind,” Obito organized the money on the table and handed it to Grandma.

“Obito, you keep it to buy food. This is what you earned yourself. Grandma doesn’t want it,” Grandma said with a kind smile.

“Then I’ll deposit the money with you, Grandma. I’m afraid I’ll lose it,” Obito thought for a moment, took out one hundred Ryo, and then handed the rest of the money to Grandma.

Grandma eventually accepted the money from Obito with a look of contentment.

“Obito, you’ve really grown up,” Grandma sighed. “I just wonder when I’ll get to hold a great-grandchild.”

Hearing Grandma mention holding a grandchild, Obito’s face quickly flushed, and he reminded her:

“Grandma, I’m still in school!”

Grandma smiled and said, “You can still cultivate feelings while in school, you know. Your father was your mother’s classmate, actually.”

“I think Rin is a very good child; she seems very thoughtful. How have you two been getting along lately?”

“I need to go study!” Obito ran upstairs, his face red.

…

“Spin, spin, spin, so this must be the place.” Muzuki looked up at the shop name and walked inside.

He felt the shop owner’s naming sense was rather abstract. If it weren’t for the words ‘Ninja Tools’ written next to the shop name, most people probably wouldn’t understand what it sold.

If Minato hadn’t recommended it, Muzuki would probably have gone to a Ninja Tool shop with a more normal name.

Upon entering the shop, Muzuki glanced around. The counter and walls were filled with various Ninja Tools, including different styles of Kunai and Shuriken.

Compared to its name, the shop’s interior layout was no different from a regular Ninja Tool shop.

“Customer, do you need any Ninja Tools?” A young man with a warm smile on his face walked up and asked.

“Can I use your equipment to forge Ninja Tools myself? I might need some assistance from you during the process,” Muzuki asked directly.

“Use equipment to forge them yourself?” The young man was a bit bewildered. He had been running the Ninja Tool shop for several years, and this was the first time he had encountered such a request.

“If you, customer, wish to forge specific Ninja Tools, our shop accepts custom orders,” the young owner thought for a moment and said.

Muzuki felt the owner misunderstood him, so he explained:

“I plan to personally forge a Ninja Tool as a gift. The intention of forging it myself is more important than its practicality.”

“Is that so? That’s truly thoughtful,” the young owner said with a look of sudden realization.

“Whether it’s using the equipment or needing assistance, I will provide corresponding compensation. If any accidents occur during the forging process, I will be responsible,” Muzuki stated.

Muzuki hadn’t spent any of his salary or bonus from the end of last semester. Plus, his salary from the summer special training and one month’s salary from the new semester, after setting aside necessary emergency funds, he was fine with a budget within 700,000 Ryo.

Muzuki felt it shouldn’t be that exaggerated; he wasn’t asking for Pure Chakra Metal or extraterrestrial meteorite forging.

A Kunai of ordinary quality usually cost about two hundred Ryo, so even if it were a thousand times more, it would only be two hundred thousand Ryo.

“You must be giving it to someone important. Luckily, you came to me. Most Konoha Ninja Tool shops now import goods from other places to sell, and rarely have tools for forging Ninja Tools anymore,” the young owner said after some thought.

Initially, he wanted to refuse, but then he considered how thoughtful Muzuki was and that he had promised to pay for everything, so he decided to agree.

“Follow me.” The young owner called down a young woman who looked to be about his age to mind the shop, while he led Muzuki out of the Ninja Tool shop.

Muzuki followed the young owner to their backyard warehouse.

“I occasionally forge some high-quality Ninja Tools to sell, but I use it less now. Selling ordinary Ninja Tools is more profitable,” the young owner said, pointing to the forging equipment in the warehouse.

“Now, everything is mass-produced in factories. Times have changed,” the young owner lamented.

When he was a child, he often learned to forge various Ninja Tools with his father, but after more than ten years, times had changed, and purely handmade Ninja Tools were not only more tiring but also less efficient.

Then, the two discussed the price. Muzuki would need to pay for all material costs incurred during the process, and then there would be a fee for the owner’s guidance.

Muzuki planned to practice with ordinary materials initially, and once he became proficient, he would start formal forging with better materials.

His three disciples’ birthdays are Shisui on October 19th, Might Guy on January 1st, and Obito on February 10th.

The closest one was Shisui, with only eight days left. Including some related books he had read before, Muzuki felt that using Shadow Clone to speed up his learning should allow him to barely make it.

Using Shadow Clone to practice Ninjutsu consumes a lot of Chakra, as each Shadow Clone needs enough Chakra to use Ninjutsu. But forging iron is different; just be careful not to create too many clones and accumulate too much fatigue.

Moreover, for the final forging, he could ask the owner for full assistance, which would be enough to compensate for many things.

My head is spinning; I only woke up at 4 PM.