After training, the five gathered again at the Dango shop.
"Kakashi, where did you run into Minato-san this morning?" Obito asked eagerly.
"Did you ask Minato-san about Yumi-sensei's preferences? You didn't forget, did you?"
Today was the last day they had agreed upon to finalize the gift, and they had to settle on it today no matter what.
"Do you think I'm like you? The reason I was a little late is because of that," Kakashi said, nodding and showing a bit of irritation due to the morning's events.
Hearing this, the others also looked at Kakashi, but what he said next left them a bit disappointed.
"I asked, but Minato-san didn't have the kind of information we were looking for," Kakashi replied.
"Minato-san doesn't know either. Maybe Yumi-sensei only has two interests: calligraphy and education, and doesn't have any deeply hidden hobbies," Obito sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.
He thought about it and realized that if even as his disciples who interacted with him every day, they didn't know, then Minato Namikaze wouldn't know much either.
"However, I think Minato-san said something very sensible, just like Rin-chan mentioned before. As long as we convey our heartfelt intentions, that's enough," Kakashi said seriously.
"Think about it: did Yumi-sensei teach us just so we could give him a good gift? No. As long as we practice diligently, he would be very happy."
The disciples fell into deep thought. Mutsuki had told them this before.
"As long as you improve your skills, that is the best reward for me." Guy's thoughts drifted back to when he first took first place in the practical exam. At that time, Mutsuki had said this to him.
The longer he interacted with Mutsuki, the more he felt that Mutsuki's words were sincere and not just empty flattery.
"That's right. The most important thing is to convey our heartfelt intentions," Guy said, giving Kakashi a thumbs-up with a look of approval.
"Indeed. Yumi-sensei wouldn't want us to get bogged down with this and delay our training," Shisui agreed, nodding.
"Then let's quickly decide on what to give," Obito said, no longer dwelling on it.
Rin looked at the faces of the four and suddenly had a great idea. Smiling, she said, "How about we make a few small sculptures for Yumi-sensei? Each of us can make one of ourselves, and then we can all work together to make one of Yumi-sensei. We can do it just like we do during our training, and once they're all done, we can put them together."
Kakashi thought for a moment and agreed, seeing that it was a good idea both in terms of division of labor and the meaning of the gift. "I think it's a good idea."
"That's wonderful! Rin-chan, are you a genius?" Obito praised with a grin.
Guy and Shisui considered it and nodded in agreement, thinking it was a great gift.
"I just suddenly thought it would be really nice. Even if we're not with Yumi-sensei, our sculptures will be there with him," Rin said with a smile.
With unanimous approval, the gift plan for Mutsuki was set: they would each make their own sculpture in the first three days, and then spend the last two days working together to complete Mutsuki's sculpture.
The choice of gift was resolved, but Obito soon faced a new problem: this thing was hard to make.
After buying the materials and equipment and returning home, Obito looked at the sculpture he had made of himself and sighed before tossing it into the trash can.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Obito ultimately decided to use Ninjutsu to help himself. Since the gift was to be left with Mutsuki, he didn't expect it to be perfect, but it had to at least resemble him.
Considering this, Obito bought extra tools, and his Shadow Clones got to work immediately without any complaints.
In addition to the collective gift, Obito also didn't forget his personal gift. He finally finished the blueprint before going to bed.
"Fortunately, Rin-chan came up with a great idea, otherwise, I would have been quite overwhelmed," Obito thought to himself.
Practicing sculpture also helped him with making the inkstone. If it had been something else, he would definitely have struggled to get it right.
"I wonder how the others' sculptures turned out?" Obito thought as he lay in bed.
First, there was Rin, who had experience and was unlikely to have done poorly.
For Kakashi and Shisui, Obito felt they might be similar to his own since they also used Shadow Clones.
As for Guy, Obito wasn't sure.
Three days quickly passed, and on the fourth day, the five disciples gathered together with their finished products to prepare for making Mutsuki's sculpture.
Since they needed a workspace, they chose Kakashi's home instead of the Dango shop.
"Kakashi, you're amazing! How did you manage this?" Rin exclaimed when she saw the lifelike Kakashi sculpture on the table.
She took a closer look and noticed that Kakashi had completed all the details, including a mask on his face, his right hand holding a White Fang short blade, and a pose as if he were sprinting and swinging forward.
"Let me take a look." As soon as Obito heard Rin praising Kakashi, he rushed over.
After seeing Kakashi's sculpture, Obito swallowed the words he had prepared; the level of skill was indeed impressive.
"Obito, what do you think? It really looks like Kakashi, doesn't it?" Rin asked with a smile.
"It's pretty good and resembles him well, but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement," Obito replied.
If it had been Rin's work, he would have said it was unbeatable, incredibly impressive, and just like the real thing. But since it was Kakashi's work, Obito could only say it was okay and needed more practice.
"Obito, your standards are too high. I think it's already really good compared to mine," Rin said as she placed her sculpture on the table.
Obito looked at Rin's sculpture. Compared to Kakashi's, Rin's was indeed a bit rough. The facial details were okay, but the clothing and other aspects were far from Kakashi's.
"I think Rin-chan, you did really well. It's not much worse than Kakashi's, just a different style," Obito praised.
Kakashi: …
"After all that talk, Obito, why don't you show us yours?" Kakashi asked calmly.
His sculpture had been carefully carved using Earth Release, and he didn't believe Obito could do better.
"Ahem, my style is quite different from yours. It's more rugged," Obito said, sensing Rin's curious gaze as he placed his own sculpture on the table.
Kakashi looked at Obito's sculpture. It depicted Obito using Fire Release, with his palms together, the pinky and ring fingers crossed, while the remaining fingers were upright—this was the Tiger Seal, the final seal for Fire Release.
But Obito had only managed to get the hand position right. The face was very rough, and Obito's usual goggles were missing.
"It still looks pretty good. The hand seal gesture is very standard," Rin said with a smile.
"It's not as good as Rin-chan's, since I haven't had much practice," Obito said with a grin.
"Well, the hand seal is decent, but the rest is too rough, and didn't you forget your goggles?" Kakashi said directly.
Since Kakashi's own sculpture was only decent, he used his own standards to evaluate Obito's.
"I sculpted a day when I didn't want to wear goggles," Obito said stubbornly, actually because he couldn't handle that detail well and decided to skip it. He had spent a long time getting the hand seal right.
"Really? I was thinking if you couldn't manage it, I could help you out, but since that's the case, forget it," Kakashi said with a look of regret.
Although he was harshly critical, Kakashi still wanted the gift for Mutsuki to be better, with everyone having their own likeness.
Obito wanted to see how Kakashi would handle it but found it hard to ask. Asking Kakashi for help felt like a huge challenge.
"Actually, I must have forgotten to wear them that day, not that I didn't want to. Could you please help me out, Kakashi?" Obito finally spoke up.
Though maintaining his pride was important, the gift for Mutsuki was even more crucial.
"Friends, sorry to keep you waiting!" Guy walked in at that moment to greet them.
Kakashi acknowledged Guy and then turned to Obito, asking, "What did you just say? I didn't catch it."
Obito thought that Guy's timing was terrible. Having to repeat himself made him uncomfortable.
"I asked you to help out with the statue. I forgot to include the goggles. Thanks." Obito managed to force out the sentence with great effort, feeling as if ants were crawling all over him.
Kakashi's lips curled into a smile, with a strong hint of amusement. He had actually heard him and was being deliberately difficult.
Seeing the smile in Kakashi's eyes, Obito felt instantly deceived but had no choice. He could only give Kakashi a look that said, "You better remember this," and watched Kakashi work.
Kakashi took out a block of earth, performed hand seals to use Earth Release Ninjutsu, and quickly created a pair of goggles. He then adjusted the size of the goggles using Earth Release to fit Obito's sculpture and fused them together.
"So you used Ninjutsu to do it!" Obito was stunned, feeling as if he had painstakingly completed an assignment only to see someone else finish it in minutes with a cheat.
"What's wrong with using Ninjutsu? Do you think using Earth Release for such detailed work is easy?" Kakashi replied calmly.
Obito couldn't argue; using Ninjutsu was indeed a skill.
Finally, the five of them took out their sculptures. Obito noticed one that was even more rougher than his own—that was Guy's.
Guy's sculpture depicted himself performing the Konoha Whirlwind, with one leg kicked out.
"Guy, should you adjust the face a bit? It seems a bit blurry," Obito suggested.
"No need. I think it looks quite like me," Guy said, waving his hand.
"Indeed, with those thick eyebrows and watermelon head, it's instantly recognizable," Kakashi confirmed.
Guy's sculpture was indeed rough, but it captured all the essential features and was actually easier to recognize than Obito's without the goggles.
Shisui's sculpture depicted him practicing with a short blade, with his right hand thrusting the blade forward.
"Shisui, your weapon is so finely crafted," Rin remarked, noticing the intricate details on the short blade in Shisui's sculpture.
"Spent a lot of time on it," Shisui nodded. The short blade on the sculpture was the one Mutsuki had given him for his birthday; he had spent most of his time on that detail.
"We'll leave the head to Kakashi, and Obito can handle the hands…" Rin assigned tasks based on the details shown in each sculpture.
In addition to Mutsuki's figure, there were other elements to be done, such as the statue's base and the scene. For example, Rin wanted to add a broken tree next to her sculpture to make the training scene more realistic.
With everyone's efforts, Mutsuki's sculpture was completed, and the scene was enriched.
Mutsuki stood in the center of the entire piece with a warm smile, surrounded by the five disciples. To the north was Shisui practicing with the short blade, with a wooden dummy that had been bisected nearby.
To the south was Obito, with an explosion mark on the base in front of him. To the west was Guy, depicted kicking at several large trees. To the east was Kakashi, with a chopped wooden stump in front of him, and to the southeast was Rin, with a broken tree nearby.
"We've finally finished, but something this big would be too difficult to carry around," Obito said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Let's place it in the Southern Forest and then deliver the gift to Yumi-sensei from there," Kakashi suggested.
The other four agreed. Carrying such a large item would likely make Mutsuki suspicious, reducing the element of surprise.
So, the five of them went to the Southern Forest that night, where Kakashi used Earth Release to hide the gift in a large box.
…
Land of Earth, Hidden Rock Village, Tsuchikage's office.
"Third-sama, will such an action really increase Hidden Cloud's forces to deal with Konoha?" an elder of Hidden Rock with a long beard questioned Onoki's plan.
"Don't worry. Based on my understanding of Hidden Cloud, they will definitely think we don't have the strength to counter Konoha. To prevent us from withdrawing from the war, they will surely send stronger forces to attack Konoha," Onoki said with a smile while seated in a high chair.
"Only when Hidden Cloud, Konoha, and Sand are all deeply embroiled in war will be the right time for us to strike with full force."
"But our relationship with Hidden Cloud isn't good. They should be wary of us," another elder pointed out.
The ninja world has now plunged into chaos, with Hidden Cloud and Hidden Rock also in a state of war.
"That's exactly why I want Hidden Cloud to underestimate us. Hidden Cloud is reckless; they won't expect that we have an army of tens of thousands of ninjas," Onoki explained the benefits of feigning weakness.
Due to the terrain, it's very difficult to invade the Land of Earth. Even if he feigns weakness, the enemies must consider this factor. For a weak yet tough-to-crack Land of Earth, Hidden Cloud will likely choose to confront the Land of Fire and Konoha.
Once they have assessed the situation of the other major ninja villages, it will be time for the Hidden Rock army to strike.
"Sand is weak, Hidden Cloud is reckless, and Konoha is showing signs of decline. In this war, the final victor will be us, Hidden Rock!" Onoki said with confidence.
Previously, Hidden Rock Village was humiliated when they went to Konoha for an alliance. Both Onoki and his sensei, the Second Tsuchikage, were severely injured. This time, he wants Konoha to experience the might of Hidden Rock Village and be forced to seek peace with them.
"Before that, we cannot withdraw from the war; we must continue to deploy ninjas for combat," Onoki arranged the next steps.
If he were to stop fighting directly, other ninja villages would definitely become wary of him.
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