While working through his test sheet, Obito caught fragments of conversation nearby and instinctively looked up—then froze.
He recognized Shisui.
After all, the Uchiha clan lived together in the same district within Konoha, and most children of the same generation knew of each other, if not personally. Shisui, in particular, was impossible not to know. His name often came up in family discussions, praised as the prodigy every parent compared their kids to.
Why is Shisui here? And why does he seem so familiar with Hoshino-sensei? Obito wondered. Wait, could Hoshino-sensei be his distant relative or something?
"Sensei! I'm finished!" Might Guy suddenly yelled, his voice full of energy.
Obito blinked, stunned. Already? We just started!
He peeked over at Guy's paper—only the first three multiple-choice questions were answered. The rest of the sheet was blank.
There were only ten questions total—four multiple choice and six written. Even Obito, who didn't understand much of it, had filled in all the blanks just to make it look better.
Takuya walked over to Guy's desk, glanced at the answers, and smiled gently. "You got two wrong. Only the first one's right."
Guy's face flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry, sensei…"
"Don't worry about it," Takuya said warmly. "It's normal not to know everything. If you already understood it all, you wouldn't need me."
He patted the boy on the shoulder. "Besides, look at it this way—your room for improvement is enormous. Going from a five to a twenty-five is way easier than going from an eighty to a hundred."
Guy straightened up, his eyes lighting with newfound motivation. It was the first time, outside of his father, that someone had encouraged him instead of dismissing him.
"You're right, Sensei! I do have a lot of room to grow!"
He tackled the next round of explanations with full focus, even when it didn't immediately make sense.
Obito's results weren't much better. He'd answered six questions and only gotten two correct. Takuya treated him the same—encouragement first, then corrections.
After finishing his explanations, Takuya handed them both another test each.
"…More?" Obito groaned, glancing over at Shisui, who was now practicing fire-style jutsu by the riverbank.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Shisui completed the hand seals in a blur and released a blazing two-meter-wide fireball that shot across the clearing and exploded into the water.
Obito watched, wide-eyed. Damn… that's impressive.
He knew the jutsu himself—it was a classic among the Uchiha—but his own version barely qualified as a "fireball." Shisui's was like comparing a torch to a bonfire.
Another genius like Kakashi… he thought bitterly.
Guy, too, stared in awe. He didn't recognize Shisui, but just looking at the boy's size and face, he couldn't be more than six or seven years old. And yet, here he was performing high-level ninjutsu like it was nothing.
It reminded him of his longtime rival—Kakashi Hatake. The Academy had three semesters a year, and Kakashi had already applied for early graduation before even finishing his second. A prodigy through and through.
And now, this kid… felt the same.
But Shisui wasn't done.
He moved on to practicing the Dragon Flame Jutsu.
Watching him guide flaming serpents through the air, Guy was dumbfounded. He'd struggled with the basic Clone Technique for three years. Shisui made it all look effortless.
Obito, meanwhile, couldn't take his eyes off the display. If I could pull off something like that in front of Rin, she'd definitely be impressed…
"You've already made noticeable improvements in shaping the flames since yesterday," Takuya commented. "The dragons are moving faster now. You must've practiced a lot last night."
Shisui gave a humble smile. "It's thanks to your handbook, Sensei. It really helped."
"I'll show you again—watch carefully."
Takuya stepped forward. With a sharp clap of his hands, his chakra surged and condensed. He inhaled and released—
Whoooosh!
Three enormous fire dragons erupted from his mouth, twisting into the sky like serpentine comets, each one several meters long and burning bright. The air sizzled, the ground trembled.
Obito's jaw dropped.
A moment ago, he'd thought Shisui's jutsu was cool. But compared to Takuya's? It was like comparing a garden hose to a flamethrower. And the speed—he barely even formed seals!
The dragons soared high, swirling in synchronized arcs, leaving behind blazing trails that burned in the air, spelling out glowing characters:
"Stop staring. Do your homework."
"Stop staring. Do your homework," Obito read aloud, then flinched when he saw Takuya smiling at him like a fox who'd just caught a chicken.
"I was just… resting my eyes," Obito said quickly, grabbing his pen again.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Guy—who'd also been watching—had already resumed writing the moment the words appeared.
"Seen enough?" Takuya asked.
"Yes, sir!" Obito snapped back into focus.
After a few more minutes of scribbling, he couldn't hold his curiosity any longer.
"Sensei," he asked, "what's your relationship with Shisui?"
"What else? Teacher and student," Takuya replied while reviewing Guy's answers.
"Heh, yeah… I thought so," Obito muttered, not daring to mention his earlier theory about distant relatives.
"If I pass the next exam," Obito asked eagerly, "will you teach me that jutsu you used just now?"
He was already imagining Rin's reaction, fantasizing about her eyes lighting up in admiration.
"Of course," Takuya said.
"Really?!" Obito grinned like a kid on his birthday.
"Really."
"Sensei, do you know any good taijutsu?" Guy asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
He was impressed by the fire jutsu, sure—but his goal was clear. He wanted to master taijutsu.
Takuya didn't answer. He just walked up to a nearby tree, gathered chakra into his foot, tensed his leg, and—
WHAM!
A spinning kick blasted the tree in half, sending it crashing to the ground.
Dust billowed into the air.
"This one suit your taste?" Takuya asked, brushing off his pant leg and smiling at Guy.