When Shindai left the Hokage Building, his head was spinning.
He thought he had clearly rejected Orochimaru earlier. Orochimaru was so smart—shouldn't he have understood what Shindai meant?
And what was that old fart Sarutobi thinking? Why did he suddenly decide to make him Orochimaru's apprentice?!
Worse yet, the old man didn't even listen to him and just accepted the nonsense from Obito and those other guys!
Obito stood there with a mocking tone: "Congratulations, Shindai! With the Hokage's recommendation, you'll definitely become Orochimaru-sama's apprentice. You know, he's one of the Sannin! Minato-sama himself was Jiraiya's apprentice, another member of the Sannin—it's super impressive!"
Shindai shot a glare at Obito, his teeth clenched tight. "Congratulate your big head ghost! Who told you to make decisions on my behalf like that?"
Obito looked confused. "Huh? I thought you were too excited to speak, so I helped say yes for you. Don't you want to be Orochimaru-sama's apprentice? That's impossible!"
Now Shindai had to bite his tongue. Could he really say no openly?
At this time, Orochimaru already had a lot of young admirers and female fans around the stationed camp. Back at the station, Shindai occasionally overheard people raving about how handsome Orochimaru was—definitely a disciplined darkly charming type of guy.
Well, that's fair enough. Orochimaru definitely embodied the disciplined darkly charming vibe—even to the point of transcending gender boundaries.
If he badmouthed Orochimaru now, those young admirers would drown him in spit—no fists needed.
Shindai felt absolutely humiliated. "Of course I want to be Orochimaru-sama's apprentice. Great move, Obito—I'll remember this. Definitely gonna get you back good!"
Obito shivered suddenly. If this wasn't sarcasm, he'd drop to his knees and let Shindai treat him like a pet.
But why? This was clearly great news!
Then Shindai cast a glare toward Kakashi and Rin Nohara too. "I remember both of you as well!"
After throwing those words out, Shindai stomped off ahead angrily.
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin exchanged glances.
Kakashi muttered, "What's wrong with him now?"
Obito shook his head. "No idea. Shindai's mind is pretty hard to read sometimes—he randomly flips moods—happy one second, furious the next. He's even harder to deal with than Kushina-sama's temper."
Rin spoke up softly, "I have a theory though. Orochimaru-sama is a very serious person, but Shindai is completely opposite—he's totally unserious, always making all sorts of nonsense jokes, sometimes even really awkward cold jokes. Maybe precisely because Orochimaru-sama is so serious and strict, Shindai doesn't want to become his apprentice."
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara tilted their heads trying to imagine it.
They pictured Shindai joking with the ever-so-serious Orochimaru: "Orochimaru-sama, do you know why I don't like making jokes behind people's backs?" [Cold Joke Incoming]
Orochimaru didn't respond, continuing to stare at Shindai expressionlessly.
Shindai continued, "That's because instead of wasting time chatting, you'd be better off poking him from behind. Hahaha, isn't that hilarious?"
Orochimaru remained silent, still staring at Shindai with an unreadable expression.
At this moment, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara suddenly understood why Shindai didn't want to become Orochimaru's apprentice.
Although Shindai was socially awkward around strangers, he became extremely talkative around people he knew, constantly playing pranks on them.
All three of them had been victims of Shindai's pranks—no exceptions.
Being so outgoing only around familiar people, staying with someone as cold and reserved as Orochimaru would surely be torture for Shindai.
So...
"I think this is great!"
"You're right! Maybe studying under Orochimaru-sama could finally fix Shindai's annoying personality!"
"That's right! We should definitely make Shindai become Orochimaru-sama's apprentice. I believe only Orochimaru-sama can handle him!"
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara exchanged glances again, seeing determination reflected in each other's eyes.
It was much more determined than even the day they'd sworn to become ninjas and protect Konoha!
...
Shindai, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin arrived at Minato Namikaze's doorstep.
Obito knocked on the door, "Minato-sensei! We're here!"
But the one who opened the door wasn't Minato Namikaze—it was Kushina Uzumaki.
Wearing an apron and holding a spatula in her left hand, Kushina clearly had been cooking.
Seeing the four young ninjas, Kushina smiled happily, "You're back already!"
Shindai looked Kushina up and down teasingly, "Oh my oh my, big sister Kushina has really turned into a homemaker! You actually pull it off pretty well~"
Blushing slightly from being teased, Kushina glared at Shindai, "Little brat, always acting so cheeky when we meet. Looking to get smacked?"
Kushina raised her fist threateningly.
Instantly, Shindai took a quick step back and swiftly ducked behind Obito.
"Eh?"
Obito panicked. Here we go again—the little brat always hid behind him whenever trouble came. Why not hide behind Kakashi for once?
Obito quickly stepped back too, positioning himself behind Kakashi.
Yet Shindai followed closely like a shadow, mirroring Obito's movements precisely.
Now it was Kakashi's turn to feel annoyed—here came their routine again.
Watching the two of them, Kushina couldn't help but laugh, "Obito, you and Shindai really are becoming more alike every day."
Obito sighed helplessly, "What can I do? After getting tricked by him so many times, I've got tired of falling for it."
Kushina turned her gaze toward Kakashi, "And what about you, Kakashi? Why don't you try hiding behind Rin for once?"
Kakashi turned his head away. "I'm not as shameless as those two!"
"Who're you trying to fool?"
"Next time I'll have Kannazuki's lightning give you a little zap, brat!"
Obito and Shindai immediately started calling out Kakashi for showing off.
"Kushina, who is it?" Minato Namikaze stepped out of the room. When he saw it was Shindai and the others, his face lit up. "You're back! So the situation out there must've settled down."
Shindai couldn't resist a sarcastic remark: "Oh wow, Minato and Kushina Sister both said the exact same thing when they saw us—'You're back!' Talk about being cut from the same cloth.
Sigh, while we were risking our lives out there, Minato and Kushina were all lovebirds with each other. How utterly enviable."
Minato, who had always been rather sensitive to teasing, blushed instantly.
The rather shy Minato stammered, "Th-that's not true at all!"
"Duang!"
Kushina Uzumaki blew on her fist and gave Shindai—who now had a bump on his head—a threatening glare. "If you keep yapping, there won't be any dinner for you!"
"Huff..."
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara felt like they'd just tasted a cool ice cream on a hot summer day—refreshingly satisfying.
But honestly, Shindai had it coming. He knew he'd probably get smacked but just couldn't help himself.
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