Watching Makoto's incredibly fast and clean whirlwind kick, Might Guy 's eyes lit up instantly.
It felt like he had just discovered the perfect taijutsu of his dreams.
Simple.
Fast.
Powerful.
And extremely cool.
"I love it! Please teach me this technique when the time comes!" Guy declared energetically, clearly thrilled with the Leaf Whirlwind.
"I'm glad you like it," Makoto said with a smile, nodding.
Guy's reaction was exactly what Makoto expected.
After all, this was the very taijutsu that Guy himself would develop in the future, eventually creating an entire series of techniques—Leaf Whirlwind, Leaf Great Whirlwind, Leaf Strong Whirlwind, and more.
If anyone would love this technique, it would definitely be Guy.
After receiving Makoto's promise, both Obito Uchiha and Might Guy were delighted.
Even the test papers that usually gave them headaches suddenly looked much more pleasant.
"Watch me go all out! This time I'll definitely get more than four correct!" Obito cracked his knuckles enthusiastically, looking as if he were about to charge into battle.
"I must get at least three correct! Otherwise I'll run five hundred laps around Konoha tonight!" Guy declared fiercely, imposing strict self-discipline on himself in order to learn his dream technique.
Once he mastered it, he planned to challenge Kakashi Hatake and see how much stronger he had become.
However, their sudden burst of motivation faded quickly.
After struggling through several questions, Obito realized something.
If he pushed himself hard enough, he might be able to produce a larger Great Fireball.
Or perhaps throw five shuriken into the bullseye in one go.
But when it came to exam questions—
No matter how desperate he became, it made absolutely no difference.
Resting his head on one hand, Obito absentmindedly spun his pen with the other in various ways.
His mind grew increasingly irritated.
Even the leaves swaying gently in the wind annoyed him.
It felt like they were mocking him for being unable to solve the questions.
Obito glanced at Guy beside him.
Although they had been classmates for more than three years, and shared Kakashi as a mutual acquaintance, they had never really spent time together.
They weren't strangers.
But they weren't exactly friends either.
More like friends-of-a-friend who just happened to be classmates.
When Obito thought of Guy, the first thing that came to mind was always "dead last."
Even though Obito himself had been called the same thing, he believed his situation was different.
He considered himself specialized rather than incompetent.
His ninjutsu and shuriken throwing were actually decent.
It was only his theory classes that were terrible.
The problem was that most other Uchiha students excelled at everything, which made Obito—the imperfect Uchiha—look like the class's worst student.
But Guy was different.
Guy was bad at theory and ninjutsu.
Most of his grades ranked near the bottom.
He was universally acknowledged as the true dead last.
Yet at this moment, Guy displayed far greater patience than Obito.
Even though he was scratching his head in frustration, he still kept trying seriously to solve the problems.
Obito suddenly remembered something Guy had once declared when others mocked him.
"I believe that if I keep working hard like this, one day I'll become the strongest taijutsu ninja!"
Obito hadn't been among those mocking him.
But when he first heard those words, he hadn't taken them seriously either.
He didn't believe Guy could truly become the strongest taijutsu user.
Now, however, his thoughts were starting to change.
Whether Guy could become the strongest was uncertain.
But he would probably become far stronger than the people who laughed at him.
"Maybe being friends with him wouldn't be so bad," Obito muttered quietly.
That way, they could team up to deal with that annoying Kakashi.
Watching Guy continue working hard, Obito finally picked up his pen again.
He began writing quickly, squeezing his brain for answers.
Observing this scene, Makoto revealed a thoughtful expression.
He hadn't expected the two of them to create this kind of positive influence on each other.
Even the normally impatient Obito had become capable of calmly working through problems.
Perhaps he could use similar methods in the future to motivate Obito's training.
After the two finished their papers, Makoto graded them.
Obito got three correct.
Guy got two correct.
"Sigh… still not four. I tried my best," Obito groaned, collapsing onto the desk as if all his energy had been drained.
"I'll add another five hundred laps to tonight's training," Guy said firmly, immediately incorporating the punishment into his exercise routine.
Seeing their reactions, Makoto comforted them.
"You're actually only about five questions away from passing."
"And in just one hour, you already improved by one correct answer."
"If you think about it that way, doesn't it seem much better?"
Obito and Guy thought about it.
That actually made sense.
Passing the exam—and learning those techniques—suddenly seemed within reach.
After offering encouragement, Makoto smiled and calmly placed two more test papers on the desk.
Looking at the brand-new papers, Obito suddenly remembered there were still three weekends left before the exam.
His vision went dark.
But he still picked up his pen and continued working.
After all, if he gave up now, all the previous effort would have been wasted.
Meanwhile, Shisui, whose chakra had recovered, began another round of Fire Release training.
Fire dragons danced through the sky again, constantly attracting Obito's attention.
"Teacher Hosokawa ," Obito suddenly asked while writing, "if we learn your techniques… does that mean we'll become your disciples like Shisui?"
"If that's what you want, then sure," Makoto replied vaguely.
"Hehe. Since we'll become your students sooner or later anyway… why not teach us now?" Obito revealed his true intention.
Makoto gave him a suspicious look.
Although this was exactly the situation Makoto had intentionally arranged…
Your 'map of Yan' is a little too short, he thought.
(A Chinese idiom meaning someone reveals their intentions too quickly.)
Obito patted his chest confidently.
"Teacher Makoto, I'm definitely not trying to avoid studying! I just think the two things can be done at the same time."
After saying that, he nudged Guy.
"Right, Guy?"
"I think Obito is right, Teacher," Guy said.
He also wanted to learn Leaf Whirlwind as soon as possible so he could challenge Kakashi.
"And what if you still don't pass the exam?" Makoto asked calmly.
"Then whatever punishment you decide, Teacher—I'll accept it," Obito replied confidently.
"I'm the same," Guy nodded.
"I see…" Makoto said, looking hesitant, as if still considering.
"Teacher Makoto, please believe me! I'll definitely study hard and won't embarrass you!" Obito quickly added.
"Me too," Guy said firmly, clenching his fists.
"…Alright," Makoto finally said, appearing convinced.
"I believe you'll keep your word. Once you finish this test paper, I'll teach you Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique and Leaf Whirlwind."
"Awesome! I knew you were the best teacher, Teacher Makoto! I won't disappoint you!" Obito shouted excitedly.
In his mind, today was his lucky day.
Not only had his theory improved, he had also gained a powerful teacher for free.
He had truly hit the jackpot.
"Teacher Makoto, I'll definitely train hard in your taijutsu!" Guy said seriously.
He also felt extremely lucky.
Someone was actually willing to become his teacher and teach him taijutsu.
At that moment, two system notifications appeared before Makoto.
[Establish master–disciple relationship with Obito Uchiha?]
[Establish master–disciple relationship with Might Guy ?]
Looking at the two pop-up prompts, Makoto smiled with satisfaction.
Yes.
You two are the ones hitting the jackpot.