At the bathhouse near the inn, Young Obito Uchiha nervously watched Minato Namikaze and Rin Nohara.
At the same time, Adult Obito, hiding inside Kamui's Dimension, was also quietly waiting for the verdict.
"Obito…"
Rin's voice made Young Obito jump slightly.
Rin, who had just come out of the bath with Sakura, was wearing a light purple yukata. Young Obito didn't have many words in his head at that moment. All he could think was that she looked really cute.
Adult Obito felt much the same. Compared to his younger self, though, his thoughts carried a bit more of an adult perspective.
After all, he was already in his late twenties, close to thirty. If someone his age felt a kind of "cuteness" toward a teenage girl that went beyond what was normal, it would generally be called something else.
"Obito," Rin said hesitantly, trying to be as gentle as possible. "This… might not be a code."
Adult Obito froze inside Kamui.
Not a code?
Young Obito finally realized that Rin seemed to know what it actually meant.
Rin raised her finger and pointed at the row of numbers on the scroll, reading them out loud.
"Six, four, three, two, four, six, five, six. That's a total of thirty-six points…"
She clearly sounded like she was trying to give Obito a hint, hoping he would remember it himself.
But hearing it spelled out like that only made Young Obito look even more confused.
Naruto's expression was pretty much the same.
Sakura, dressed in a light pink yukata, was the first to react.
"Ah! Could this be…?"
"Huh?" Naruto squinted, rubbing his still chubby, baby-fat chin. "What are these numbers supposed to mean, dattebayo?"
"Six, four, three, two, four, six, five, six…" Sasuke silently counted through them. "So that's it."
That?!
Adult Obito, hiding in Kamui's Dimension, watched everything unfold in silence.
Young Kakashi leaned over and took a look.
"It's the Ninja Eight Attributes, you idiot!"
He tapped the fourth number, the '2' in the middle.
"Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina, Hand Seals. Now tell me what this intel means."
Obito answered blankly, "Genjutsu? I admit I'm not very good at genjutsu…"
Rin's smile turned a little awkward. "Kakashi, let Obito think it through on his own."
"Rin, I've told you not to keep spoiling him!" Young Kakashi snapped. "Your Genjutsu score is three. That two is your Intelligence score, idiot."
Only Sasuke was still thinking seriously.
"If this is intel, then what the mission scroll is trying to say might be…" He looked at his clansman with a complicated expression. "That you're easy to trick?"
That was…
Not very insulting on the surface, but absolutely brutal.
Adult Obito, listening to them analyze his intelligence scroll, seriously wanted to dig a hole and disappear, even though no one else was around him.
"Ahahahahaha! Your Intelligence is only two?!" At this point, brotherhood meant nothing. Naruto laughed so hard tears streamed down his face, nearly rolling on the floor.
He leaned on Sasuke's shoulder, mercilessly mocking the guy who had just been planning pranks with him a moment ago.
"So this scroll was just telling you to know your limits? Hahahaha! But isn't that number way too low? Hahahaha!"
"Get off me, you absolute idiot," Sasuke said coolly, shaking Naruto off his shoulder.
Inside Kamui's Dimension, Adult Obito nearly grasped the true essence of Deidara's art and wanted to explode on the spot.
With Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, Team Kakashi, and Team Minato all present, Young Obito felt his face burn with embarrassment. He wanted nothing more than to bite Young Kakashi to death.
At that moment, Adult Kakashi stepped forward to back him up.
"Four, three, two, two, four, four, eight, two. Total: twenty-nine points."
"Huh?"
Sakura exclaimed, "Ah! That's…!"
"Naruto, those were your Ninja Eight Attributes from when you first entered the Ninja Academy," Kakashi said with a gentle smile and the most merciless words imaginable. "Both of these are the scores you and Obito had back then. You've both changed a lot since."
This time, it was Obito's turn to relentlessly mock Naruto.
Young Kakashi and Sasuke stood together, shaking their heads and sighing. They honestly couldn't understand why two people with an Intelligence score of two were so eager to tear each other apart.
Naruto got so angry he started yelling and demanded to know Kakashi's own scores.
"Well, the most recent test should be ten, nine, eight, ten, seven, nine, six, ten. Total: sixty-nine points," Adult Kakashi replied casually.
Those nearly maxed-out numbers were a complete, merciless beatdown for Naruto and Obito.
Jiraiya sipped on some chilled coffee milk and recalled, "If I remember right, Minato's Ninja Eight Attributes were all maxed out except Genjutsu, which was only eight, right?"
"No, no," Minato Namikaze quickly corrected him. "Stamina and Taijutsu were only nine."
Only nine…
That "only" was used beautifully.
Now that was a true dimensional difference.
Naruto looked at his dad with eyes full of admiration, while quietly wondering how impressive his own stats would be one day when he became the Seventh Hokage.
...
Late at night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Young Obito Uchiha used the excuse of going to the bathroom to sneak out and meet his counterpart from this world.
The moment he entered Kamui's Dimension, he flung that damn intelligence scroll straight back at him.
"What kind of garbage intel is this?! You messing with me or what? I got laughed at by that dumb Kakashi because of this!"
"What do I gain from messing with you?!" Adult Obito was even more exasperated than he was. "What intel did you even get from your B-rank mission?"
Young Obito stayed on guard. "Why should I tell you?"
Adult Obito stared down at him from above. The pressure from the height difference alone was bad enough, not to mention the gap in combat experience and sheer strength. It felt like a complete dimensional crush, making Young Obito instinctively step back.
"A-Anyway, the intel says the Uchiha Stone Tablet was tampered with by Black Zetsu. Even the clan ancestor didn't know about it. There's no way you knew either!"
Adult Obito didn't argue.
He tossed Naruto Uzumaki's mission scroll to him, then casually kicked him out of Kamui's Dimension again.
Young Obito nearly stumbled as he landed, cursing nonstop under his breath.
Separated by a wall, a cold glint flashed through Minato Namikaze's eyes in the darkness.
...
At the same time, although Obito had obtained Naruto's mission scroll, he had no idea how to hand it over to him. He couldn't exactly tell everyone that Orochimaru had accidentally lost it and he just happened to pick it up.
There were still three days left until the agreed date.
Minato Namikaze laid out everyone's training goals clearly. Naruto Uzumaki had three days to learn the Rasengan. Sasuke Uchiha needed to become proficient with Chidori. Sakura had to summon slugs three times larger than before. Rin was to use this time to get used to the Three-Tails' chakra. Young Kakashi would continue developing Shiden. As for Obito, his focus was on improving Wood Release, and above all, he was not to suffer another backlash from Hashirama's cells.
"I've thought it through," Minato said. "Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan contains a White Zetsu from another world. Releasing it could cause unpredictable consequences. For now, there's no need for Obito to rush into practicing abilities beyond intangibility. He should focus on developing Wood Release."
"Oh, right. If you hadn't said that, I almost forgot," Young Obito said with a grin. "There weren't just two White Zetsu inside. I also moved out a whole pile of weapons and scrolls collected by the ancestor of that world."
Young Kakashi shot him a sideways glance. "You didn't leave a single thing behind."
Obito stuck his tongue out at him and didn't bother replying.
...
Jiraiya quietly pulled Minato aside.
"Putting everything else aside, asking Naruto Uzumaki to master the Rasengan in just three days is pushing it a bit too hard, don't you think?"
"I think he can do it," Minato replied.
He looked into the distance, where Naruto had already progressed from forming water balls to shaping rubber-like chakra spheres. His gaze was filled with absolute trust.
Jiraiya let out a sigh. "Don't forget, that jutsu took you three years to develop. It took me a long time to learn it as well."
"In three days, it'll be time for Tsunade-sama's deal with Orochimaru. While I don't believe Tsunade-sama would truly abandon Konoha's interests for someone she deeply loves, it's still necessary to give them more means of self-preservation."
Jiraiya continued, "With you here, I feel a lot more at ease. Orochimaru really isn't easy to deal with. After all these years away from Konoha, he's clearly researched a lot of forbidden techniques."
Minato Namikaze nodded. "For them, this is also a chance to grow. I hope it can bring some change to the future of Naruto's world as well, instead of only benefiting those who received the scrolls."
"Taking into account that stopping Orochimaru from placing the cursed seal on Sasuke was classified as an SS-rank mission, and combining that with what Naruto from the Fourth Shinobi World War mentioned before, I think there's a possibility," Minato said slowly. "After the Chūnin Exams, Sasuke followed Orochimaru. Just like Obito in this world, he may have grown more and more extreme."
Those words reminded Jiraiya of the Orochimaru he once knew.
He laughed at himself softly. "If I ever had the chance to travel through time…"
His voice was quiet, but as his student, Minato understood what he meant.
If he could cross time and space, he would want to save Tsunade and Orochimaru from their fates as well.
Minato looked over at Obito, who was repeatedly practicing Wood Release, forcing withered trees to bloom. After hesitating for a moment, he walked over.
"Minato-sensei? Is something wrong?"
"Is there something you want to hand over to me, Obito?"
Earlier, when he reminded Obito that there were still White Zetsu inside his space, it was also a warning not to store the scroll inside Kamui.
Now, that decision had proven correct. He could clearly sense the unique space-time chakra signature of a mission scroll coming from Obito.
He couldn't be sure whether it belonged to Naruto or Obito, but either way, the odds were fifty-fifty.
Seeing Minato Namikaze's gaze, Obito immediately understood what he meant by "something."
Not far away, the others who were practicing Chidori, Rasengan, Shiden, and summoning techniques all turned to look at Obito as well.
Under everyone's eyes, Obito reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out two mission scrolls.
"What's going on, dattebayo?!" Naruto jumped over in one motion. "Why does Obito have two mission scrolls?"
Sasuke, Young Kakashi, Rin, Sakura, and the others quickly gathered around.
Minato Namikaze opened both scrolls at once, scanned them, then handed Obito's scroll back to him.
Holding the other one, he gave it a small shake. "Naruto, you've got a new mission."
What?!
That meant…
One of the two scrolls Obito had taken out was Naruto's?!
"Wasn't my scroll with Orochimaru?" Naruto blurted out.
Minato looked at Obito, his expression calm and without any hint of blame.
Instead, he asked patiently, "Do you want to explain, Obito?"
"I…" Obito hesitated for a moment. "I met the other me yesterday."