Chapter 446: Pain Makes People Grow
Worried about being late, Obito left early and arrived under the cherry tree in the park ahead of time.
He clutched the snacks he had carefully chosen for Rin, glanced around, and waited with quiet anticipation.
Unlike him, who was famous for arriving late, Rin was always punctual. Most of the time, she showed up exactly when she said she would, never making anyone wait.
But today felt different.
Obito checked the time in his head. It was almost the agreed hour, yet Rin still had not appeared. Instead, he caught sight of a few familiar figures in the distance.
"Is this park suddenly popular or something?" Obito muttered as he walked closer. "Why are Asuma and Kurenai here too?"
As the gap closed, he confirmed it.
It really was them.
Then his eyes widened.
"Guy is here too? Is he just jogging past?" Obito stared at the green figure in disbelief.
In his impression, Guy was not the type to casually stroll through a park like this.
What confused Obito even more was that Guy and the others were all heading toward the same cherry tree.
"What a coincidence," Obito said, lifting a hand and greeting them with a smile. "You guys are here to visit the park too?"
Since he still did not see Kakashi anywhere, Obito's mood remained relatively stable. He forced himself to stay optimistic about whatever was coming.
"Visit the park?" Kurenai shook her head. "No. Rin told me to come because she has something important."
Obito's expression stiffened.
The smile on his face slowly faded.
So it was not the two person date he had imagined.
"Me too," Guy said, nodding firmly. "Rin also asked me to come."
"Then she invited all of us," Asuma said, rubbing his chin. "That's rare. If she called everyone over, it must be something serious."
Asuma scanned the group and realized it was all friends, people who knew each other. No strangers.
"Ahaha… probably," Obito said, scratching his head with an awkward grin.
Without thinking, he subtly shifted the snacks behind his back.
"Maybe she ran into some trouble."
Even though Obito was so embarrassed he wanted to melt into the ground, he did not blame Rin at all. Instead, worry rose in his chest.
Rin never said it was a date. Obito was the one who assumed it.
"Besides, Kakashi wasn't called," Obito told himself. "That means Rin trusts me more."
Not seeing Kakashi was a blessing.
If Kakashi showed up, there was a very real chance he would figure out what Obito had been thinking and mock him until Obito's soul left his body.
"Sorry, everyone. I'm late."
Rin's voice suddenly came from behind them.
Obito turned and saw Rin running toward the cherry tree, breathing hard, a stack of papers clutched against her chest.
"It's only a few minutes," Obito said quickly, seeing how out of breath she was. "You're not really late. Rin, you don't need to rush like that."
At his words, Rin slowed down, jogging the last few steps until she reached them.
"Making these took longer than I expected," Rin said, finally catching her breath as she lifted the papers. "So I ended up late."
Rin had been practicing Breathing Techniques for a long time. For her to be this winded meant she had been sprinting at full speed the entire way.
"So that's why," Obito chuckled, staring at the culprit in her hands.
Then he read the giant words printed across the poster like paper, one by one, in his mind.
"Kakashi Hatake's Jonin Promotion Celebration Gift Planning… Confidential Mission…"
Obito fell silent.
The poster even had a carefully drawn Q version portrait of Kakashi on it.
For some reason, the snacks in Obito's hand suddenly felt unbearably heavy. Heavy enough that even someone who could punch down a tree could not hold them anymore.
Thud.
The snacks dropped to the ground.
Obito did not even react.
His face burned, stinging as if it had been scorched by flame, and his embarrassment hit a new peak.
The two person date he imagined was actually Rin gathering everyone to plan how to celebrate Kakashi becoming a jonin.
He thought Kakashi was not invited because Rin trusted Obito more.
In reality, Kakashi was not invited because Rin wanted to surprise him.
Obito came early to make a good impression, even picking snacks he thought a girl would like.
Rin was late because she was drawing a poster for another boy.
Pain.
It was too painful.
Standing under the bright sunlight, Obito somehow felt cold to the bone.
Seeing the girl he liked working so hard for someone else was the kind of heartbreak that made his lungs feel tight.
He almost could not bring himself to look at her.
Instead, he tilted his head up at a forty five degree angle and stared at the sky, filled with sadness he did not know how to describe.
"Obito," Rin said as she stepped closer, "you dropped your stuff."
She bent down, picked up the bag of snacks, and handed it to him.
She heard the sound immediately, but she did not expect Obito to just stand there spacing out instead of picking it up.
"Oh… oh, thanks, Rin," Obito said automatically, snapping back like someone waking from a nightmare.
Rin sighed, helpless.
"Seriously. You're almost a jonin. You can't just zone out like that during a mission."
"Mhm. Mhm." Obito nodded quickly, and a bit of a smile returned.
Rin was worried about him.
Rin had him in her heart.
That thought alone was enough to keep him from collapsing on the spot.
Then Rin casually asked, "By the way, Obito… did you buy these snacks to treat everyone?"
Obito froze for a heartbeat.
Then he nodded firmly.
"Yes, Rin. You're right."
They were bought for Rin.
But in this situation, he could not possibly give them to only her. Either everyone ate together or no one did. Anything else would be too obvious, too strange.
Rin's eyes widened slightly. She covered her mouth with one hand, genuinely surprised.
"That's unexpected, Obito. You can be so thoughtful."
Obito puffed out his chest.
"People improve," he said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
No matter what, being praised by Rin was still good.
He handed the snacks out to everyone.
And as he watched them eat, bite by bite, the strange melancholy in his chest only grew heavier.
"They're really good," Kurenai said, smiling. "Obito, you're surprisingly good at picking snacks."
Obito felt like his heart had been pierced by a sharp arrow.
Of course they tasted good.
He picked them for Rin.
Rin clapped her hands lightly and brought up the real reason everyone was there.
"So," she said, "what kind of gift do you think we should give Kakashi?"
"For Kakashi," Kurenai said after thinking, "we should probably give something practical."
She felt Kakashi was the type who valued usefulness. Compared to romantic or flashy gifts, he would prefer something he could actually use.
"That makes sense," Guy said, nodding seriously. "On my birthday, Kakashi gave me a training elixir."
Guy reflected for a moment and realized Kurenai was right. Kakashi rarely did anything showy.
"How about this," Obito said with a perfectly serious face, as if he was speaking with pure logic and absolutely no personal feelings at all. "We find the best tempura in the village and give it to Kakashi together. Food is practical, right? You die if you don't eat."
Rin looked at him with a helpless expression.
"Obito, stop messing around. Kakashi doesn't even like tempura."
Kakashi only ate tempura made by Mugetsu.
"I just wanted Kakashi to understand how good tempura can be," Obito said, forcing an explanation. "But never mind. Mugetsu sensei's tempura is already peak. There's nothing better."
He said it out of spite, not expecting anyone to actually agree.
Still, if it somehow became the plan, Obito would not complain. He had a strong feeling Kakashi's expression would look exactly like Obito's did earlier.
After more discussion, Kurenai's suggestion won out.
They would give Kakashi a practical gift.
When the group disbanded, Obito did not leave with Rin.
Instead, he quietly followed Guy.
Even Obito could not keep hovering around Rin after that kind of humiliation.
"Guy," Obito asked, "how's your recovery?"
Guy smiled, then flexed his arm like he was presenting proof.
"Steady recovery, just like the ever rising spring of youth."
"That's good," Obito said, deliberately casual. "Without you, Guy, Kakashi seems kind of lonely."
"This is the bond between me and my best friend," Guy said proudly, giving a thumbs up and laughing.
Obito's eyes narrowed slightly, pretending to be serious.
"I think I heard Kakashi say he really wants to fight you when you activate the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing Chakra Mode."
Guy accepted it instantly.
"Of course. That state is extremely powerful, and my best friend naturally wants to challenge a stronger me."
Then Guy sighed, looking almost regretful.
"But I'll have to disappoint him for now. I can't let him experience my peak strength yet. Right now, I can only use the Fifth Gate with Rock Breathing Chakra Mode. I can't open the Sixth Gate."
Back then, it had been a life or death situation. Guy forced open the Sixth Gate.
But for normal sparring, he would never force a higher gate. If he fought once and then collapsed for two months, how would he train?
"I'm sure Kakashi will understand," Obito said, smiling despite himself.
In his mind, he was already seeing Kakashi get completely beaten down.
Eight Gates plus Rock Breathing Chakra Mode was terrifying. Even if it was only the Fifth Gate, it was not something the current Kakashi could overcome.
"For my best friend's expectations," Guy declared, fists clenched and eyes blazing, "I will train even harder. I'll strive to let him experience the Sixth Gate with Rock Breathing Chakra Mode as soon as possible."
"That's the spirit," Obito said, giving him a thumbs up.
…
Deep beneath Konoha, inside a hidden underground laboratory, a quiet sigh echoed.
"Failed again," Hiruko muttered, staring at the experimental data with a furrowed brow. "Is this direction wrong?"
"A ninja's talent should be in their body," he said through clenched teeth. "So why can't I extract talent from the body itself?"
Dissatisfied with his own ability, Hiruko had been conducting human experiments in secret, developing a technique meant to enhance ninja talent.
He did not want to be mediocre.
He wanted to become someone like the Sannin, a figure feared and respected throughout the ninja world.
Even though they came from the same generation, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were already the terrifying Sannin.
Meanwhile, Hiruko was still an unknown jonin inside Konoha.
The gap made him sick.
Minato and Mugetsu becoming famous only made him anxious.
But Kakashi was what truly shattered him.
A ten year old jonin.
A child promoted at an age that broke Konoha's record.
"How long will this take at this rate?" Hiruko's thoughts spiraled. "Even a child like Kakashi is the same rank as me."
His mind cracked.
"I have to speed up," Hiruko decided, eyes dark. "If I only succeed after I start aging, it will be meaningless."
Even the most gifted shinobi weakened with age.
He wanted to complete his technique while he was still young.
From that point on, Hiruko stopped prioritizing caution. He began acting more aggressively, capturing people more frequently, running larger and harsher experiments to find the errors faster.
As the experiments continued, a new idea sparked in his mind.
"If stealing talent is so difficult," he whispered, "then why not fuse people together?"
He shifted his research toward fusion.
He had no intention of fusing himself with a ninja beast. Hiruko still wanted to remain human.
Besides, he believed ninja beasts had lower potential than humans. He had never heard of a true top tier powerhouse who relied purely on a ninja beast.
As his human fusion research advanced, Hiruko discovered something that made his breathing quicken.
Fusion could preserve many characteristics of the fused individuals.
Including bloodline limits.
"This path is correct," Hiruko said, trembling with excitement. "If I master every bloodline limit, who can defeat me?"
He could already see the road to becoming the strongest.
Maybe it was because Konoha's wartime security had become stricter.
Maybe it was because Hiruko's actions were too reckless.
Either way, his abnormal activity was noticed.
An investigating shinobi discovered the experiments.
But Hiruko was not foolish. He had planned an escape route from the very beginning.
He could not compare to the Sannin, but his strength was still beyond what ordinary shinobi could stop.
In the end, Hiruko escaped Konoha with his Chimera Technique, becoming a rogue shinobi wanted by the village.
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