Chapter 2: Jiraiya
After burying his mother, Rubik returned alone to the small house where he had lived for eight years.
The once familiar room now felt strangely unfamiliar, as if every item in it were covered by an invisible barrier. He collapsed by the bed, his mother's last words still echoing in his mind, those revelations rampaging through his head like a thousand birds.
His thoughts were still a tangled mess. The things his mother had said before she died had hit him like Hiroshima and Nagasaki playing catch with those two bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man—utterly explosive.
No, I need to sort this out first.First, let's summarize the information. Mom was a survivor of the Uzumaki clan—that part he had known from the beginning. The "Tobi" big brother she mentioned… hmm~~ that's definitely that special White Zetsu, right? Haha, there's no way it's Uchiha Obito, hahaha… uh.
Rubik looked at the mirror by his bed: short spiky black hair, big eyes, a baby face.
He lowered his head."Open!!!"Staring at the double-tomoe Sharingan in the mirror, Rubik finally nodded in satisfaction.
"Now that looks right."
"Like hell it does!!!"
"So what happened to 'Kamui hides tears, and all he sees is Rin'? Wasn't Rin's body still warm at that time? Kakashi, that repressed guy, stayed pure his whole life and only loved Thumbelina! How did you, with your thick eyebrows and righteous face, end up letting your 'little brain' control your big brain instead? Why didn't that big rock at Kannabi Bridge crush your 'little head' flat!"
"Oh, right, he was only fourteen then. That's fine, I guess." Rubik sprawled on the bed, completely done with life.
It wasn't like he had never tried to guess who his father was. After all, for someone's genes to be strong enough to completely suppress the signature red hair of the Uzumaki, that already said a lot.
The last monster who pulled that off was that guy who "stabbed Yellow Third," body purity head-on against the dark-skinned A—the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.
But he had never imagined that the father he had never met would turn out to be that man named Obito, borrowing the name of Madara, awakening the Mangekyō for love, releasing the Nine-Tails, battling the Fourth, controlling the Mizukage, deceiving Nagato, uniting the Akatsuki, gathering the Tailed Beasts, starting the Fourth Great Ninja War, becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, gaining the Rinnegan, fighting Sasuke and Naruto, and living his entire life as a warhorse for Rin—Uchiha "Second Sage" Obito.
"You've got to be kidding me. Why is heaven doing this to me? I just queued up in rank with an Arrancar carrying a White Zetsu mask, and this is what I get? How does that turn into my dad??? Aren't those three just one Obito in a Hollow mask? Weren't the other two Vergil and Uchiha Madara? I'd even take either of those…
Oh, right. Actually, no, I really wouldn't."
"Forget it. Look on the bright side."
After the anger faded, his reason slowly returned. Rubik suddenly realized that his starting conditions were actually pretty damn good—top-tier hybrid bloodline of Uchiha and Uzumaki, and maybe even Hashirama cells thrown in for good measure.
With a setup like this, he would be at the absolute top of the ninja world…Aside from those two walking cheat codes, his starting stats were basically among the very strongest.
One day he could go full "chakra tons," complete-body Susanoo, plus Wood Release Sage Body. Ruling the ninja world as Lord Rubik didn't sound impossible at all.
Ooh! With a start this amazing, he could already picture a happy life: Hinata in his left arm, Ino in his right, Tsunade at his back, Mei Terumī beneath him! Then he'd have a whole brood of little potatoes—so many he could power a gaming rig with them.
"What the hell do you mean 'have potatoes'!!!"Rubik shot up from the bed.
This was no time for daydreaming.
He didn't even bother putting on his shoes and ran downstairs, straight into his mother's room.
He opened the second drawer of the cabinet. Inside were a slightly worn blue notebook and three scrolls.
He squatted on the floor and impatiently opened the little blue book. On the first page, a line was written:"Before you train, remember to eat on time.
—Love, Mom"
Rubik's face froze. He rubbed his eyes and said nothing more.Just as he had expected, the blue notebook recorded a method for refining chakra.
According to his mother, this was left behind by Old Tobi before he finished farming and ran off.
That meant that even if this chakra refinement method wasn't an Uchiha-custom version, it was at least an official Konoha product. It might even have been improved by Uchiha Madara himself.
No, with that old fossil's personality, there's no way he'd bother putting effort into something like this.
Rubik couldn't wait to start training his chakra, taking the first step on the path to becoming strong.The next day.The village was as lively as ever in the morning.
Snack stalls along the roadside were, as always, crowded with drooling kids, and fishermen heading for the nearby river had already set out.
Breathing in the same slightly damp air as usual, Rubik, his spiky hair a mess, sleepwalked his way down the street.
Yesterday's training went very well. It had taken him only a few hours to successfully refine chakra. And, probably thanks to the Uchiha and Uzumaki blood in him, his chakra reserves were unexpectedly large.
After just one night of practice, he already had enough chakra to cast three or four Fire Style: Great Fireball Techniques without even panting.
Yes, one of the three scrolls Obito had left for Chino was the Uchiha clan's traditional Great Fireball Technique. As soon as he refined his chakra, he tried it once—and pulled it off easily.
That had let Rubik breathe a long sigh of relief."Looks like I didn't inherit that 'Second Sage's' IQ…" Rubik exhaled in relief, then grew excited again. "But if I could inherit Kamui, that'd be perfect."Rubik didn't actually look down on Obito's talent; he just couldn't stand Obito's intelligence level.
Obito's talent was absolutely not bad. Even though he's always compared to Naruto as the class dead last, Obito at the same age was way stronger than Naruto ever was.
That "dead last" label only existed because he was being compared with elite clan kids of his era.In Rubik's view, the real problem with Obito was never his talent.
Anyone personally chosen by Uchiha Madara and taught everything he knew could not be lacking in talent. His real weakness lay in his comprehension.
Judging from the flashbacks in the manga and anime, Obito trained as a kid with basically no guidance. Whether it was practicing the Great Fireball or any other form of training, he just threw himself at it headfirst.
With a brain that smooth and shiny it could be used as a bar of soap, how was he supposed to troubleshoot his own problems while training and learn by analogy? Of course he'd just train himself into shape by sheer brute force.
Ninjutsu training is not only about talent. Comprehension is critical. Naruto was the same way. Sure, the Nine-Tails' chakra interference was one reason, but his lousy fundamentals and inability to grasp the underlying mechanics of jutsu were another huge factor.
It wasn't until the Boruto era, after he became Hokage, that his brain started working a lot better.
Plus, Jiraiya had drilled the basics into him back when they trained together. Naturally, the number of jutsu he could master increased dramatically.
He and Guy are different. Those two are of the same type—ninjutsu talent absolutely not bad, but their brains just can't keep up.Just as Rubik was about to buy some good ingredients to reward himself, he heard a rush of footsteps nearby.
He tilted his head; the sound came from the street across from him.Could it be another squad from Kirigakure? No way his luck was that bad. Bandits then? No, this is a fishing village. Pirates? There's no One Piece around here.
"Move aside! Make way!!! Brats, don't block the road!!!"A gust of white dust swept past like the wind.
The kids who had been crowding around the snack stall spun a few graceful circles on the spot, and a couple of them, dizzy from spinning, fell over.
"Go after him! There's a pervert in the village!!! He was peeking near the women's bathhouse and got caught red-handed by one of the nearby aunties, but he's too fast—we can't catch up to him! Everyone, come help!!!"
"I told you, this is called 'collecting material'! And who could've guessed there wouldn't be a single pretty young lady in the bathhouse, only a bunch of eye-searing old hags? Who would want to peek at you lot?!"
"What did you say? Back in the day, I was the village's number-one beauty! The line of men chasing me went from this village gate to the next village over! Even now, among women in their fifties, I'm still the 'white moonlight' they talk about, you filthy creep with no taste!!!"
"Bah! Pervert! Folks, follow me! If we catch this out-of-town scumbag, whoever grabs him first can eat at my fish shop for free for a whole month!!!"
Ninja Art: Body Flicker Technique!!!
"Stop right there!!! All evil will be brought to justice!"To protect the peace of the village, the champion of justice, Rubik, struck a Wu Jing–style pose and used the Body Flicker Technique he had just learned to appear in front of the culprit.
"The Body Flicker Technique?"The culprit spoke in surprise.
"Hmph, so you know your stuff. Be good and come with me to apologize to Auntie Kyōko. I'll even put in a few good words for you, how about that?"
He had thought it was just some wandering pervert, but it turned out the man actually knew the Body Flicker. Could he be a tough opponent? But if he were really that strong, how could a bunch of ordinary villagers be chasing him this far?
Rubik took a careful look at the tall white-haired man in front of him: long white hair, wooden sandals on his feet, a tall and muscular figure, and two red lines running down from his eyes. And that forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" on it—there was no doubt about this pervert's identity.
"Jiraiya?!"
What thrilled Rubik wasn't just that this was the first major character from the story he'd met since crossing into this world. At the same time, a voice rang in his ears:
"Ding-dong, page loading… Recovering dropped kunai…
Hello, Host. The Naruto Mobile Game System has finished installing and is ready to serve you.
"Any other names or details you'd like me to adjust?