The classroom fell silent for a fleeting moment.
Then—
“Pfft!”
Aoki was the first to burst out laughing.
Followed by his two lackeys.
Then the whole class burst into laughter.
“Genius? Obito is a genius?”
“Makoto, are you out of your mind?”
“If Obito is a genius, then I am the Hokage!”
The jeers and laughter rose one after another.
Obito’s face turned as red as a tomato, and he lowered his head even further.
Makoto didn’t laugh.
He waited for the laughter to die down a bit before continuing, “Don’t believe it?”
“I’d have to be a ghost to believe you!” Aoki laughed so hard tears came out, “If Obito is a genius, I’ll eat this table on the spot!”
“Alright,” Makoto nodded, “Then let’s make a bet.”
“What are we betting on?”
“One month,” Makoto held up his index finger, “One month from now, Obito will be able to defeat you.”
The laughter abruptly stopped.
Everyone froze.
Obito froze as well.
He raised his head and looked blankly at Makoto.
“Y-You, what did you say?” Aoki thought he had misheard.
“I said, one month from now, Obito will be able to defeat you,” Makoto repeated, “Do you dare to bet?”
Aoki stared at Makoto for a few seconds.
Then he laughed, laughing quite exaggeratingly.
“I bet!
Why wouldn’t I bet!” He slammed the table, “If Obito can win against me, not only will I eat the table, but I’ll also call you grandpa!”
“There’s no need for that,” Makoto said, “If you lose, from now on, whenever you see Obito, walk around him.”
“Deal!” Aoki agreed readily, “Then what if you lose?”
“I lose?” Makoto thought for a moment, “I’ll call you grandpa.”
“It’s a deal!”
Aoki reached out and high-fived Makoto to seal the vow.
After the high-five, Aoki glanced smugly at Obito and walked back to his seat with his lackeys.
Murmurs broke out in the classroom again.
“How could Obito possibly win against Aoki?”
“Exactly, Aoki’s dad is a Jonin after all…”
Makoto paid no attention to those discussions.
He turned around to look at Obito.
Obito was still sitting there in a daze, his eyes wide open.
“C-Makoto, Makoto…” He stammered, “Y-You just…”
Makoto bent down, meeting the seated Obito at eye level, “Obito, do you trust me?”
Obito opened his mouth.
He thought of how Makoto beat Aoki with one hand yesterday.
He thought of the confidence Makoto showed when saying “Dealing with those three from just now, one hand is enough for me”.
He thought of Makoto standing up for him and blocking the way in front of him.
“I…” Obito took a deep breath, “I trust you!”
“That’s all that matters,” Makoto straightened up, “Starting today, see you at the training ground after school. I’ll teach you.”
“Teach me what?”
“Teach you how to become stronger,” Makoto said, “Teach you how to beat Aoki to the ground in a month.”
Obito’s eyes lit up.
But the next second, he hesitated again.
“But…
can I really do it?” he whispered, “Everyone says I’m the tail-ender…”
“That’s because they’re blind,” Makoto said, “If I think you can do it, you can.”
Obito stared at Makoto for a long time.
Then he nodded heavily.
“Alright!”
The voice wasn’t loud, but it was very firm.
Makoto smiled.
He reached out and patted Obito on the shoulder.
“Then it’s settled.”
Finished speaking, he turned to leave.
“Makoto!” Obito suddenly called out to him.
“Hm?”
Makoto stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at Obito.
The classroom was very quiet, with everyone pricking up their ears.
Makoto took a deep breath, then looked seriously at Obito and said:
“Because I think we are both geniuses.”
As the voice fell.
Obito froze.
Aoki froze.
The whole class froze.
Makoto chanted silently in his heart.
[Ding! Target ‘Obito’s trust evaluation for the lie ‘We are both geniuses’: 100%]
[Materializing the lie “We are both geniuses” by 80%. Materialization begins… The degree of materialization is dually influenced by character weight and trust level…]
[Materialization complete. Host acquires the talent ‘Genius’]
[Notice: Today’s usage limit for the ability ‘Lie Becomes Reality’ has been reached (1 / 1)]
It worked.
Makoto breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
80%!
Because Obito wasn’t the protagonist, it didn’t reach 100%, but it was enough.
This kid Obito really believed from the bottom of his heart that he was a genius.
“Makoto…” Obito’s voice pulled Makoto back to reality.
“Hm?”
“What you said just now…” Obito’s eyes sparkled, “We are both geniuses?”
“Right,” Makoto nodded, “I think we are both geniuses.”
“I think so too!” Obito suddenly stood up, his voice loud enough for the whole class to hear, “I think we are geniuses!”
The classroom fell into a dead silence.
Then!
“Pfft hahahaha!”
Aoki was the first to burst out laughing.
“Obito, are you really out of your mind?”
“A tail-ender calling himself a genius?”
“And ‘we’? Makoto aside, do you even deserve to be?”
Jeers surged like a tide, and Obito’s face turned red again, but this time, he didn’t lower his head.
He straightened his back and looked at Makoto, and Makoto looked back at him.
The two looked at each other for three seconds, then Makoto smiled, and Obito smiled as well.
It was a somewhat silly smile, but very earnest.