Chapter 546 Different Ways of Getting Along

When the three of them arrived at the South Border Forest, they saw Yamato training.

“Kakashi-senpai, you’ve finished your matches!”

Yamato greeted his seniors, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, with a happy expression.

“Yamato, how did you know I got second place in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and became the highest-ranked Konoha Ninja?”

Obito spoke at an extremely fast pace, finishing in one breath, then revealed a satisfied smile.

Yamato:…

Did he just ask about his ranking?

“Also, wasn’t first place taken by the seniors?” Yamato was a little surprised.

He had thought that first place would go to Might Guy or Kakashi, but he didn’t expect them to not even be second.

“That’s truly impressive, achieving such a good result.” Yamato congratulated him honestly.

Although he didn’t know how Obito did it, getting second place in this situation was perfectly described as impressive.

“Not bad. Yamato, if you train hard for a few more years, if there’s another competition like this, you’ll definitely get a good ranking too.” Obito chuckled, patting Yamato’s shoulder encouragingly.

He quite enjoyed the feeling of being a senior guiding the way.

“I will work hard not to disgrace my seniors and Muzuki-sensei!” Yamato shouted, full of fighting spirit.

“Kakashi-senpai, Shisui-senpai, how did you two do?” Yamato looked curiously at Kakashi and Shisui.

Originally, he hadn’t intended to ask about their results, but Obito’s announced result was quite different from what Yamato had expected, which made him curious.

“Quarterfinals.” Kakashi replied.

“Four Finals.” Shisui replied.

As the two spoke their results, Obito stood even straighter, as the Konoha competitor with the best result.

Greatness needs no words.

“Are there so many geniuses in this competition? Even Kakashi-senpai, you only made it to the quarterfinals.” Yamato asked with a surprised expression.

At this moment, in Yamato’s mind, the Youth Martial Arts Tournament’s level instantly rose.

“There are indeed quite a few geniuses. Also, my quarterfinal opponent was Guy.” Kakashi explained.

Excluding the Nin-Beast evolution factor, Nagato, Might Guy, and Sasori were the three strongest competitors in the Martial Arts Tournament.

These three were the type that anyone who encountered them would likely be eliminated, but if you didn’t, your path to advancement would be relatively smooth.

Yamato instantly understood. Due to differences in the match order, the final ranking would have a bit of a luck factor, and Kakashi’s luck was clearly average.

“Which Ninja Village is the first-place Ninja from?”

Yamato wanted to know who first place was, who had managed to defeat his seniors and claim the top spot.

“His name is Nagato. He’s not a Ninja from any Ninja Village; he’s a Ninja from the Shinobi Sect, the organizer of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.” Kakashi once again gave an answer that surprised Yamato.

“He’s not a Ninja from the Five Great Ninja Villages!” Yamato was very surprised.

In his understanding, only the other Four Great Shinobi Villages could compete with Konoha Ninja.

“Don’t underestimate other Ninja Organizations. Although the average Ninja quality of the Five Great Ninja Villages far surpasses other Ninja Organizations, occasionally there will be a genius who defies common sense.” Kakashi shook his head, reminding him.

The former Hanzō, and now Sōsuke and Nagato, were all of this type in Kakashi’s eyes.

They might not be able to change the general trend, but underestimating them could easily lead to a fall.

After starting his training, Obito hesitated for a moment, but still chose to use the Summoning Technique to summon his Charizard from home.

Bang!

White smoke flashed, and a robust Charizard appeared beside Obito.

Yamato’s eyes widened when he noticed Charizard; his impression of Charizard was still from its Charmeleon stage.

This change was so great that Yamato thought Obito had contracted a new Nin-Beast.

‘Fire Blast!’

After Charizard emerged, it quickly surveyed its surroundings. Finding no enemies, it decisively gathered Chakra and gave Obito his first taste of Fire Release back in Konoha.

And Obito understood Charizard so well that when he decided to summon Charizard, he had already anticipated this outcome.

So Obito had already activated his Sharingan in advance, sidestepped, and dodged the incoming pillar of fire.

“That’s right, it’s Obito-senpai’s Nin-Beast. It must have evolved again, which is why its appearance has changed.” Yamato nodded.

He had only seen this kind of art style on Obito and Charmeleon.

“Charizard, I think we should learn from others. Training doesn’t always have to be combat.” Obito suggested with a serious expression.

Charizard crossed its arms, two streams of hot air spewing from its nostrils, looking at Obito with disdain.

When it was weak, he bullied it every day. Now that it’s strong and he wants to change, no way!

In a sense, it was also for Obito’s own good. Obito’s strength wasn’t as good as Might Guy’s, and unlike it, he couldn’t fly, so wouldn’t combat easily become a weakness?

“Awoo!”

“Combat training allows us to both get stronger and build tacit agreement. That’s what it said.” Zorua, who had jumped onto Shisui’s shoulder, translated.

Obito:…

Building tacit agreement for mutual attacks, is that it?

However, since Charizard had come up with such a reason, Obito indeed found it hard to refute.

“Summoning Technique!”

Kakashi shook his head and summoned Rockruff to train together.

“Kakashi-senpai, is this Manewra?”

Looking at the handsome Dusk Rockruff, Yamato recalled what Rockruff looked like and with difficulty found a few commonalities between the two.

“Yes, it evolved.” Kakashi replied, stroking Rockruff’s head as it nudged him.

Although its size had increased significantly after evolution, some of Rockruff’s habits hadn’t changed; it still loved being petted by Kakashi.

“That’s really nice.” Yamato was a little envious.

He also wanted a Nin-Beast, even if it wasn’t as powerful as Kakashi’s or theirs.

As Obito and the others diligently trained, time flew by. The scorching sun hanging in the sky quickly set towards the west, leaving only a few lingering rays to illuminate the earth.

Seeing the dusk, the disciples stopped their training, preparing to go home for dinner.

“Little Charizard, once I learn the Fire Release Ninjutsu that Muzuki-sensei teaches, let’s see if you still dare to be so arrogant.” Obito now only wanted to fast-forward to the day after tomorrow to learn Azure Flame with Muzuki.

Charizard was truly arrogant. Obito felt it was necessary to master a Ninjutsu that would make Charizard quietly listen to his reasoning.

“Awoo.”

“Awoof.”

Since Shisui and Obito were going the same way, Charizard and Zorua also stayed together, the two discussing tonight’s strategy meeting against Obito.

Charizard: “To deal with an evil brat like Obito, you must strike with heavy claws.”

Zorua: “You can’t say that, Shisui is very good.”

Charizard: “Then he’s the evil goggle-wearing brat.”

Obito suddenly felt a chill down his spine and looked suspiciously in Charizard’s direction, but he couldn’t quite understand their encrypted communication.

“Zorua, let’s go home for dinner.” When they reached the fork in the road, Shisui waved to Zorua.

“Mhm.”

Zorua jumped up, intending to leap onto Shisui’s shoulder, but Shisui mercilessly caught him and held him in his arms.

After training for most of the day, Shisui was quite tired now. In his current state, his shoulder couldn’t quite bear the pressure from Zorua.

After all, he didn’t have family at home who would prepare meals and wait for him to eat. If his shoulder was overstrained, the result would be Zorua having to eat Inuzuka Clan dog food, and Shisui having to eat instant noodles.

After a simple dinner, Shisui took Zorua for a walk outside.

Halfway through their walk, Shisui headed towards Uchiha Fugaku’s house.

Uchiha Fugaku was quite interested in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, and Shisui felt that Uchiha Fugaku should already know the final results of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.

“Obito plus me, plus Charizard, is already a formidable force within the Uchiha Clan.” Shisui thought to himself.

In Shisui’s vision, to solve the Uchiha problem, Police Force reform was a necessary step.

So Shisui had confronted Uchiha Fugaku before, wanting Uchiha Fugaku to stand on his side.

However, at that time, Shisui had underestimated the allure of the Police Force to the Uchiha and overestimated Uchiha Fugaku’s resolve.

He thought that his and Obito’s performance would be enough to make Uchiha Fugaku make up his mind, but Uchiha Fugaku still politely declined.

However, things were different now. Although their own strength hadn’t significantly improved, Obito’s Pokémon had evolved, and Charizard now possessed strength no less than Obito’s.

Coupled with the Martial Arts Tournament greatly boosting their reputation, Shisui was very curious to know if their standing in Uchiha Fugaku’s mind could now change Uchiha Fugaku’s attitude.

When Shisui arrived at Uchiha Fugaku’s house, Uchiha Fugaku’s family had just finished dinner and were all sitting in the courtyard.

“Shisui-nii.” Uchiha Itachi’s eyes lit up slightly when he saw Shisui.

“Shisui, congratulations on achieving such a good result, reaching the Four Finals in the Martial Arts Tournament.” Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile.

Actually, his initial expectations for Obito and Shisui were the Four Finals and top two, because in Uchiha Fugaku’s eyes, Shisui and Obito were the two most outstanding geniuses in the Uchiha Clan in recent decades.

However, as the performances of various competitors spread, Uchiha Fugaku also realized that the Youth Martial Arts Tournament was a true battle of dragons and tigers, much more difficult than he had imagined, and the rankings were even more valuable.

“Actually, part of the reason for this result was good luck in the draw. I still need to undergo more training.” Shisui said modestly.

Kakashi and Sasori were both stronger than him. If Shisui had encountered them before the Four Finals, he would most likely have been eliminated.

“Itachi, this is also something you need to learn from Shisui. Even being so excellent, Shisui remains humble and continues to strive forward.” Uchiha Fugaku showed an appreciative expression and said to Uchiha Itachi.

Whether one was humble or not wasn’t particularly important in Uchiha Fugaku’s view, but diligence was a very rare quality.

Even in the Uchiha Clan, which valued strength, not everyone diligently trained every day.

Uchiha Itachi nodded. Although there were many things he didn’t understand, he indeed felt that Shisui was very excellent and subconsciously yearned to be like him.

“Uncle Fugaku, you flatter me. Perhaps Itachi will be even more excellent than me in the future.” Shisui said with a smile, walking over to Uchiha Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi would be a genius Ninja; this was something Shisui could confirm.

If he wasn’t a genius, how could he have possessed the strength to wipe out the Uchiha Clan at such a young age, and how could he have joined the Evil Akatsuki Organization, which was filled with strong individuals?

Whether he could surpass Shisui, Shisui couldn’t say, after all, he was Konoha’s unprecedented eight-year-old Jonin.

Shisui just felt that praising Itachi like this would make Itachi happy.

As expected, Itachi smiled.

Being praised by the admired older brother was indeed a happy thing.

“Not to mention surpassing, if Itachi had the same talent as you, Shisui, I would be very happy.” Uchiha Fugaku also appreciated this.

Who wouldn’t want their child to be more excellent?

“Uncle Fugaku, I have some family matters I’d like to discuss with you.” After exchanging pleasantries, Shisui stated his purpose.

He wasn’t here today to guide Uchiha Itachi; his main goal was to gauge Uchiha Fugaku’s thoughts.

“Mikoto, take good care of Itachi.”

After instructing Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Fugaku prepared to take Shisui to the study.

“Itachi, Zorua is temporarily entrusted to your care, okay?”

Shisui had Zorua go to Uchiha Itachi’s side.

“Even Shisui shouldn’t underestimate me. Shouldn’t I be taking care of him?” Zorua puffed out its cheeks slightly.

“The fox spoke…” Uchiha Itachi’s eyes widened, greatly shocked.

Although it wasn’t the first time he had seen Zorua, this was the first time Zorua had demonstrated its telepathy in front of Uchiha Itachi.

Zorua’s “speaking” was essentially a form of mental communication. Zorua only used it when communicating with companions or encountering interesting creatures; it didn’t use telepathy all the time.

“Indeed, a brat who needs looking after, making a fuss.” Zorua pouted.

Uchiha Fugaku also looked curiously at Zorua.

He had seen Nin-Beasts that could speak; they were rare but not too unusual. However, Zorua’s method of communication reminded Uchiha Fugaku of the Yamanaka Clan’s secret techniques.

Uchiha Fugaku was a man who had seen many things. Suppressing the slight curiosity in his heart, he invited Shisui into the study for a conversation.

“I hope it’s not that matter again.” Uchiha Fugaku vaguely guessed Shisui’s purpose and felt a headache coming on.

Although he valued Shisui greatly, the Police Force involved too many vested interests.

Even if Uchiha Fugaku, the biggest beneficiary of the Police Force, was willing to reform, other high-ranking Uchiha or the Uchiha Ninja below might not agree.

“Zorua is so cute. Can I hold him?” Looking at the adorable Zorua, Uchiha Mikoto asked gently.

Whether it was a young girl or a young woman, they found it hard to resist cute things.

“Hmph, I, Zorua, am not someone just anyone can hold, but seeing as you can speak, I’ll specially allow you to hold me for one minute.” Zorua snorted, agreeing because of the word “cute.”

Uchiha Mikoto held Zorua in her arms, gently stroking the fur on Zorua’s back.

Then, like petting a cat, she scratched Zorua’s chin.

Zorua squinted its eyes. Oh no, this feels a bit too good.

“I’ll make Shisui try this when we get back.” Although enjoying the service, Zorua didn’t forget Shisui.