If it were Nohara Rin's work, he would say it's simply unbeatable, as awesome as can be, and just like the real thing. But this is Kakashi's work, so Obito can only say it's okay and still needs practice.
"Obito, your standards are too high. I feel like compared to mine, it's already very impressive." Nohara Rin said as she placed her sculpture on the table.
Obito looked at Nohara Rin's statue. Compared to Kakashi's, Rin's did appear somewhat rougher; the facial depiction was decent, but the clothes and other details were far off from Kakashi's.
"I think you did pretty well, Rin, not much worse than Kakashi's, just a different style," Obito praised.
Kakashi: ...
"With all this talk, Obito why don't you let us see yours?" Kakashi asked plainly.
His sculpture was meticulously crafted using Earth Release, so he didn't believe Obito could do better.
"Ahem, mine's got a different style from both of yours and is a bit more rugged," Obito said as he felt Rin's curious gaze and placed his statue on the table too.
Kakashi looked towards Obito's statue. Obito had carved himself using Fire Release, with the statue's palms together, pinky and ring fingers crossed, and the remaining fingers upright—just like the tiger seal, which is usually the last seal for fire techniques.
But Obito had only managed to carve the fingers well. The face was quite rough, and the goggles he wore daily didn't appear.
"It looks quite good too; the hand seal gesture is very precise," Nohara Rin smiled and complimented.
"Not as good as yours, Rin; after all, I hadn't tried it much before," Obito chuckled bashfully.
"The hand-seal is about the only decent thing. The rest is too rough, and did you forget your goggles?" Kakashi sharply critiqued.
Since his work was only deemed okay by Obito, he judged Obito's statue by Obito's own standards.
"I sculpted myself on a day I didn't feel like wearing goggles," Obito said, pretending. In fact, he'd avoided doing it because he wasn't confident he could handle that part well, plus, he'd spent a long time getting the hand-seals just right.
"Really? I thought if you were having trouble, I could help out, but oh well," Kakashi said, pretending to be disappointed.
Despite his sharp words, Kakashi still wanted the gift for Mokgetsu to be as good as possible, with a likeness for each of them.
"Uh... I..."
Obito wanted to see how Kakashi would handle it, but he found it hard to ask. Having to beg Kakashi was truly unbearable.
"Actually, I think you forgot to wear them that day, instead of not wanting to. Kakashi, could you help me out here?" Eventually, Obito asked.
Though pride was significant, the gift for Mokgetsu was always a priority.
"Friend, you've waited long enough!" Might Guy came in and greeted them at this moment.
Kakashi acknowledged Might Guy, then turned to Obito and asked, "What did you just say? I didn't catch that."
Obito thought Might Guy's timing was really off; saying it once was awkward enough, but now he had to repeat it.
"I said, please help me out with the goggles on the statue, thanks," Obito said with all his might, feeling like ants crawling all over him once he had.
Kakashi's mouth curled into a smile, his face lighting up—he had actually heard Obito the first time and was just messing with him.
Seeing the amusement in Kakashi's eyes, Obito felt deceived, but he was helpless, only able to shoot Kakashi a 'you better remember this' look, watching how he'd proceed.
Just then, Kakashi took out a lump of earth and used Earth Release Ninjutsu after forming the seals, quickly completing a set of goggles. He then placed them on Obito's statue, adjusted the size with Earth Release, and finally merged them together.
"Turns out you did it with ninjutsu!" Obito was shocked, like seeing someone cheat their way through an assignment he had painstakingly done.
"What's wrong with using ninjutsu? Do you think manipulating fine details with Earth Release is easy?" Kakashi said nonchalantly.
Obito couldn't argue back—being able to use ninjutsu was indeed a skill.
Finally, all five brought out their sculptures, and Obito noticed one that was even rougher than his—Might Guy's.
Might Guy had carved himself using the Leaf Whirlwind technique, with one leg kicked out.
"Guy, maybe you should refine the face a bit—it's a bit blurry," Obito advised.
"No need, I think it's a good resemblance," Might Guy waved it off.
"Indeed, with those thick eyebrows and watermelon haircut, it's unmistakable," Kakashi affirmed.
Though coarse, Might Guy's had all the key features—notably clearer than Obito's prior to adding goggles.
Shisui's statue depicted him practicing with a short blade, his right hand aiming the blade forward.
"Shisui, your weapon's intricately detailed," Nohara Rin noted the fine details of the short blade in Shisui's statue.
"Spent a lot of time on it," Shisui nodded. The short blade on the statue is the same one Mokgetsu had gifted him for his birthday—most of his effort went into that.
"Leave the head to Kakashi, hands to Obito…," Nohara Rin suggested dividing the tasks based on everyone's sculpting strengths.
Other than Mokgetsu's body, there were additional elements like the statue's base and some environment pieces—Rin, for instance, wanted a big broken tree next to her statue to enhance the training scene's authenticity.
With their combined effort, Mokgetsu's statue was finally complete, with the scene enriched.
Mokgetsu was centered in the whole piece with a warm smile, surrounded by the five disciples: Shisui in the north practicing with his short blade next to a severed wooden figure.
The south had Obito, the base in front of him showing explosion marks, while the west featured Might Guy kicking towards several big trees; in the east was Kakashi, with a sawn-off stump in front, and in the southeast, Nohara Rin stood beside a broken tree.
"Finally done, but carrying something this big around would be too complicated," Obito said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Let's set it at the Southern Border Forest, then give it to Teacher Mokgetsu there," Kakashi suggested.
The others agreed, reasoning that carrying such a large piece around would surely give Mokgetsu a clue, ruining the surprise.
Thus, the five of them went to the Southern Border Forest at night, and Kakashi used Earth Release to hide the gift, packed in a large box.
...
Land of Earth, The Hidden Rock Village, Tsuchikage Building, conference room.
"Third Tsuchikage, can such an operation really lead to the Hidden Cloud increasing their forces against Konoha?" asked an elder with a long beard, puzzled by Onoki's plan.
Both Jinchuriki's had been deployed, yet many ninjas were also hidden within the Ninja Village.
"Rest assured, given my understanding of the Hidden Cloud, they'd think we're truly unable to contend with Konoha. To prevent us from withdrawing from the war, they'll definitely send stronger forces to attack Konoha," Onoki replied with a grin from his high chair.
"Once the Hidden Cloud, Konoha, and the Hidden Sand are all bogged down in the war, that will be our prime time to strike."
"However, our relations with the Hidden Cloud aren't good. They may be wary of our intentions," another elder pointed out.
The Ninja World was already in chaos, and conflict between the Hidden Cloud and the Rock Village was ongoing.
"Precisely why they need to underestimate us more. The Hidden Cloud is reckless; they wouldn't expect we still have an army of over ten thousand ninjas," Onoki elaborated on the advantage of feigning weakness.
The geography of the Land of Earth makes it a difficult invasion target, and even if they appeared weaker, any invaders must consider this. For a weak and tough-to-chew Land of Earth, the Hidden Cloud would naturally opt to target the Land of Fire and Konoha.
Once the capabilities of the other Great Ninja Villages were clearer, that would be when the Rock's army would move.
"The Hidden Sand is weak, the Hidden Cloud is reckless, and Konoha shows signs of decline. This war will ultimately be won by our Hidden Rock!" Onoki said confidently.
In the past, when the Rock Village allied with Konoha, they had been humiliated; Onoki and his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, had both been severely injured. This time, he wanted Konoha to witness the strength of the Rock Village and force Konoha to come seeking peace.
"Until then, we must not withdraw from the war and continue dispatching ninjas to the conflict," Onoki laid out the next moves.
If he were to suddenly end the fight, the other Ninja Villages would surely keep an eye out for them.