And the tip of Qingyuan’s kunai had already come to rest lightly against his throat.
The battle was over.
The training ground fell silent.
Even Kakashi’s perpetually languid gaze flickered with a trace of surprise.
Chapter 5: How Do You Get Stronger Without Drugs?
Qingyuan put away his kunai, extended a hand toward Obito lying on the ground, and said:
“It seems I won.”
Qingyuan’s tone was calm.
Obito had Uchiha blood, and he had his own urn.
Everyone had a bright future.
It was just that his present self was slightly ahead, while his future self might be ahead by even more.
As long as he rolled a powerful future, Qingyuan could fulfill his last wishes and take off.
Of course, the more powerful the future, the harder those last wishes might be to fulfill.
Obito lay on the ground, looking at Qingyuan’s outstretched hand, then at Rin beside him with her face full of concern.
His face instantly flushed red.
This was the shame of the Uchiha!
Fortunately, Obito was already used to being the dead last, having grown accustomed to losing to others back at the Ninja Academy.
The first time he took the Chunin Exams, he had even lost to Might Guy.
In the end, Obito talked himself through it, then sullenly grabbed Qingyuan’s hand and stood up, muttering:
“…Damn it, I’ll definitely win next time!”
Minato Namikaze looked at Qingyuan, the admiration in his eyes growing even stronger, and said with a gentle smile:
“An excellent tactic and shuriken technique, Qingyuan. Your combat ability far surpasses that of an ordinary genin.”
This made Minato Namikaze somewhat curious about why Qingyuan had never taken the Chunin Exams.
“With your strength, you should be able to pass the Chunin Exams easily.”
“I’ve been busy training all this time, so I never got around to taking them.”
“I see.”
Minato Namikaze nodded.
But it was wartime now, and chunin promotions did not necessarily have to follow peacetime rules.
If one performed well, it was not impossible to be granted an early chance to take the Chunin Selection Exam.
Otherwise, one could only wait for the fixed time each year to take it.
“Qingyuan, if this mission succeeds, I’ll recommend you for chunin.”
He looked at his students and felt some guilt as well.
This was not a mission they should have been carrying out.
But Konoha had no other choice now.
The situation at the front lines was already extremely dangerous, and Konoha had reached a moment of crisis for its very survival.
If they succeeded in cutting off Iwagakure’s supply lines this time, it could give Konoha an enormous advantage in its war against Iwagakure.
It was precisely because Iwagakure also believed that no one could break through that this mission could only be assigned to an ordinary squad.
If overly powerful ninja were sent, they would inevitably be discovered by Iwagakure’s scouts, who would then call in reinforcements.
“Yes.”
Qingyuan nodded to show that he understood.
After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, if he became a chunin, his strength would probably surge.
In the war that followed, his ability to stay alive would increase considerably.
As long as he was not killed, Qingyuan could receive help from more versions of himself who had died along different timelines.
As that snowballed, he would be able to face the crises that came later with far greater composure.
The Nine-Tails Incident, the Chunin Exams Collapse Plan, Pain’s assault on the village, the Otsutsuki invasion, and so on.
At any of these turning points, if one’s strength was lacking, they were obstacles one simply could not clear.
Soon, Minato Namikaze was the first to leave.
The mission’s departure time was set for the afternoon three days later.
He was busy every day and had many matters to deal with.
After Minato Namikaze left, Kakashi walked over to Qingyuan.
“You’re not bad. It seems you won’t be a liability on this mission.”
Kakashi said this flatly.
Ever since his father died, he had cared about only one thing.
That was following the ninja code and completing every mission, no matter what.
A ninja who could not complete a mission was trash.
Given the strength Qingyuan had displayed, he would not drag everyone down and lower their chances of completing the mission.
“Mm.”
Qingyuan nodded.
Kakashi was still in his tunnel-visioned phase, so saying anything more would be useless.
After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, this would also become a turning point that changed Kakashi.
But in the original work, it was merely a brief dawn before he stepped into darkness.
After personally killing Rin, he became so utterly bereft of any desire to live that he even contemplated suicide.
Honestly, if Kakashi had been called Uchiha Kakashi instead of Hatake Kakashi, he could at least have gotten himself a Mangekyo Sharingan to play with.
That way, not only would he avoid kidney deficiency, he could also reach new heights.
“Kakashi, want to go train together?”
Rin Nohara asked.
Ninja could not afford to slack off; they had to train constantly to keep their strength from declining.
Once they grew accustomed to comfort, even the slightest decline could cost them their lives during a mission.
“No need.”
Kakashi’s reply was terse.
He planned to train alone.
He had recently succeeded in developing a particularly powerful technique.
This was a good opportunity to refine it a little before completing it.
“If I remember correctly, Kakashi becomes a jonin the day before the mission.”
Qingyuan thought to himself.
Kakashi’s strength was, in fact, only that of a newly promoted jonin.
His current situation was somewhat awkward.
He had not properly inherited his father Sakumo Hatake’s swordsmanship, nor had he gotten the hang of Lightning Release ninjutsu.
No matter how powerful the current Chidori was, it had a fatal flaw.
It required the dynamic vision of a Sharingan to control, which was why, in Boruto, Kakashi developed Purple Electricity after losing his Sharingan—a Lightning Release ninjutsu of the same level that did not require a Sharingan.
At critical moments, Qingyuan figured he would still have to have Renegade Qingyuan possess him.
Though Renegade Qingyuan had only just become a jonin as well, there were vast differences even among jonin.
Kakashi could not compare with more than thirty years of training and accumulated combat experience.
“That’s just how Kakashi is.”
Obito said, resting his head on his hands.
At the moment, he did not know that Kakashi’s father had killed himself after being slandered by his former comrades.
He only felt that Kakashi was being a bit pretentious.
“I also think it would be better for us to train individually, each focusing on our own weaknesses, these last few days.”
Shiranui Genma picked up the senbon that had fallen on the ground, wiped it clean, and put it back in his mouth.