Why is Kakashi here?
Obito's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Kakashi, who had appeared at the entrance to the rooftop.
He simply couldn't think of any reason why Kakashi would be here.
More importantly, he had cried on Kakashi's back just this morning. The last person he wanted to see right now was this guy!
Although Kakashi had been surprisingly considerate by not calling him out at the time, it was clear that he knew about it.
Just the thought of Kakashi, whom he disliked, witnessing his weak side made Obito want to dig a hole in the ground out of embarrassment.
He had thought that he'd probably not run into Kakashi anytime soon and that time would help ease the awkwardness. He even planned to avoid Kakashi on the street until he could laugh it off.
—Like, maybe after Kakashi had sacrificed himself on a mission, he could reminisce in front of the memorial stone...
But he never expected that only a few hours after their farewell, Kakashi would appear before him again!
This is too fast!
How is he supposed to handle this?
Moreover, Obito suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility that might explain why Kakashi was here now...
—Could it be that Kakashi had been so considerate earlier just to humiliate him in public in front of everyone?
Just imagining everyone learning that he cried after losing to Kakashi made Obito break out in goosebumps.
No!
He couldn't let that happen!
"Kakashi, come here for a second... I have something cool to show you."
To preserve what little image he had left, Obito quickly walked over to Kakashi and, using a random excuse, tried to pull him into the stairwell to get some answers and find out why he was there.
However, to his surprise, Kakashi wasn't interested at all. With a quick move, he dodged Obito's attempt and even managed to roll his eyes at him mid-motion.
Feeling a pang of anxiety from his failed attempt, Obito quickly turned around, only to find that Kakashi had already walked straight over to Natsuhiko-Sensei.
Kakashi was here to see Natsuhiko-Sensei.
What kind of relationship do they have?
Obito was utterly confused.
At this moment, Natsuhiko looked at Kakashi, who had approached him and smiled kindly.
First, he casually swatted away kushina's hand as she reached for some food on the table, then smiled warmly at Kakashi:
"Kakashi, it seems you've made up your mind."
Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Natsuhiko-Sensei, please let me join this research group."
"As you wish."
Natsuhiko smiled, then clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.
Once everyone was looking, he announced loudly:
"I have some good news. Starting today, Kakashi is a member of our Sealing Techniques Research Group!"
"Let's all give him a round of applause."
Clap, clap, clap...
Although surprised, the members of the research group quickly applauded, looking at Kakashi with curiosity.
Kakashi remained calm, simply nodding to everyone as a greeting.
Only Obito, still standing by the rooftop entrance, was utterly dumbfounded.
"Huh?"
"Wait..."
"What—!!"
After his brain went through a few restarts, Obito finally snapped back to reality.
Still unable to grasp what had happened, he ran over to Natsuhiko and pointed at Kakashi, asking:
"Teacher, Kakashi has already graduated. How can he still become a member of the research group!?"
Natsuhiko pretended to think for a moment before suddenly realising:
"Oh, right, I forgot you didn't know about this, Obito."
Seeing Obito's confused expression, he began to explain with a smile:
"As a member of the research group, you should know that starting next school year, our ninja school will undergo a series of curriculum reforms."
"The simplified version of the morning exercises you've been practising and testing will be rolled out to the entire school..."
"In addition, there will be various after-school training classes, and even the original courses will gradually introduce more runic teaching aids to improve teaching quality."
"It's not hard to imagine that the average level of ninja students will significantly improve in the future."
"—And that's not even counting my sealing techniques class, which will begin formally teaching Projection Techniques next school year."
"While the curriculum reform will greatly benefit future students, it won't be as favourable for those who have graduated in recent years."
"Because those who received the old curriculum might find themselves surpassed by the new batch of students who went through the reformed courses by the end of the next school year."
"So, after being reminded by several sixth-year students who chose to study sealing techniques, I discussed this issue with Lady Biwako several times."
"Finally, we decided on a solution: some of the elective courses at the school will also be open to graduated students in the future."
"They can attend the classes at the school when the corresponding courses are being taught or learn through textbooks on their while still doing missions as before. This won't take up too much of their time."
"If the response is good, some courses might even have evening classes, making it more convenient for them to manage their time..."
Natsuhiko's idea was actually similar to adult education from his previous life.
After all, most Konoha ninjas only have an elementary education and start working at a young age.
So, compared to full-time study, flexible scheduling, like adult education, might be more suitable for these freelancers.
Seeing Obito's utterly bewildered expression, Natsuhiko felt he might have said too much and chuckled:
"Our sealing techniques class is also an elective, so even if Kakashi has graduated, he still has the qualification to choose this course."
"It just so happens that after his sparring match with you, he seemed very interested in this research group that helped you improve so rapidly, so I invited him to join."
Kakashi pursed his lips but didn't refute this.
At this point, Obito, whose mind wasn't very sharp, finally understood Natsuhiko's explanation. He began to look back and forth between Kakashi and Natsuhiko with a look of disbelief.
He never imagined that while he was unconscious, Kakashi had cosied up to Natsuhiko-Sensei!
I was here first...
Who would have thought Kakashi would be so shameless?
Obito gave a deep look at Kakashi, whose face remained expressionless.
It's important to know that this research group was his greatest asset, as he transformed from the bottom of the class to a recognised genius in just a single semester.
If Kakashi had also joined the research group, wouldn't that have eliminated his advantage and restored the gap between him and Kakashi to what it was before?
Kakashi, where's your pride as a genius?
Why would you copy someone else's path like that?
Unfortunately, Obito didn't know that if the original storyline had continued, Kakashi would become famous in the ninja world as the "Copy Ninja," and copying was a routine for him.
Moreover, Obito himself had given Kakashi the Sharingan, which was his greatest asset in copying techniques.
Aside from realising that his most significant advantage over Kakashi was gone, Obito also recognised a bigger problem.
Since Kakashi had decided to take the sealing techniques class and participate in the research group's activities...
Although he had become a ninja and was no longer in the same class as him, he would still see him in the sealing techniques class and research group activities.
If you round it all up...
Damn it!
This is practically the same as before!
(End of Chapter)
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