章節 227: Chapter 227: Mutsuki's Gift
"It's really rare to see such a lively gathering today," Obito's grandmother said cheerfully, seeing so many friends who had come to celebrate Obito's birthday.
"Hello, I'm Mutsuki Yumi, Obito's sensei," Mutsuki smiled and greeted Obito's grandmother.
"Grandma, Yumi-sensei has been really good to me. My grades have improved so quickly because of Yumi-sensei's excellent teaching," Obito added beside them.
"In that case, thank you very much, Yumi-sensei. Let me pour you a cup of tea," Obito's grandmother thanked Mutsuki and began to get up to pour tea for them.
"You stay seated, grandma. I'll do it," Obito quickly poured tea for everyone, including Kakashi, without exception.
"Obito must have given Yumi-sensei quite a bit of trouble. I've watched Obito grow up. Sometimes he does slip up, but it's never intentional. Obito has a kind heart," Obito's grandmother said with a squinting smile.
"Well, actually, Obito is diligent in all respects. He truly is kind-hearted and a student I'm proud of," Mutsuki praised with a smile, taking a sip from his tea cup.
Before he became a madman, Obito was indeed warm-hearted.
"Grandma!" Obito couldn't help but exclaim. What does she mean by 'sometimes he slips up'? He's reliable!
"I remember when Obito was three years old..."
"Grandma, did you forget to bring in the laundry hanging outside? Let's go get it together, or it'll be troublesome if it rains," Obito broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, hastily suggesting. If this got out, he'd have to learn Earth Release to bury himself in the ground.
"I think I did forget," Obito's grandmother thought for a moment, realizing she had indeed forgotten something.
"I'll go by myself; Obito, you stay here and chat with Sensei and your friends," Grandma said with a squinting smile.
Obito initially wanted to help, but Grandma repeatedly refused. Thinking the laundry was in the yard, Obito followed Grandma's words and sat down to continue chatting with everyone.
"What exactly happened when you were three?" Guy rubbed his chin, showing a strong curiosity.
"It's nothing. I just hadn't learned how to write when I was three," Obito casually replied.
"I've always thought Obito and his grandma have a great relationship. Their daily life must be very warm," Rin softly smiled.
"Hehe, after all, Grandma raised me," Obito scratched his head and chuckled.
Kakashi had wanted to ask what Obito was doing at three years old, feeling Obito's answer was evasive. However, considering it was Obito's birthday today, he decided to temporarily abandon the inquiry and ask later if necessary.
Shisui found it difficult to join this topic because he wasn't raised by his direct relatives. After he started to remember things, his grandparents, parents, and mother were all no longer around.
"Obito, do you want to guess what gifts everyone has prepared for you?" Mutsuki noticed the silence from Shisui and Kakashi, then smiled and spoke up.
Whether it was because the ninja world was too harsh or they were all just unlucky, among this group of people, there were four who had lost both parents. Guy had lost his mother, while only Rin had both parents alive.
"Guy, yours should be a spandex suit," Obito guessed first, knowing it was the easiest guess for Guy.
"Indeed, Obito, you've guessed it right! I'm impressed!" Guy said, looking shocked.
"Because every time, Guy, you seem to like giving that," Kakashi couldn't help but quip. Ever since they met in school, every time Kakashi saw Guy, he was wearing that green spandex suit, just in larger sizes as he grew taller.
"Is that so?" Guy scratched his head, lost in thought.
Since Kakashi beat him to the punchline with a comment, Obito moved on to guess the next person's gift.
"Rin-chan, is yours something like flowers you grew yourself?" Obito asked somewhat uncertainly.
"No," Rin shook her head to indicate Obito's guess was wrong.
"Could it be a handmade craft?" Obito continued guessing.
"That's too broad. Sorry, not this time," Rin smiled and shook her head again.
"Forget it, I can't guess. I'll just wait until you give it to me, Rin-chan," Obito scratched his head, deciding to guess the next person's gift.
"Shisui, is your gift related to training?" Obito asked first.
"No connection," Shisui replied with a slight shake of his head.
"Could it be a notebook documenting training experiences?" Obito pondered, considering Shisui's status as a super genius.
"No, you might as well just ask Yumi-sensei directly," Shisui continued to dismiss Obito's guesses.
Failing again, Obito felt overwhelmed. He switched to Kakashi and asked:
"Kakashi, your gift must be related to training, right?"
"It has nothing to do with training," Kakashi replied calmly.
Obito felt his head itching; why weren't things going as he had thought? Kakashi and Shisui were pragmatic, yet he kept guessing wrong.
"Aren't you going to guess my gift?" Mutsuki asked cheerfully.
"No, no, it feels too difficult to guess. I'll leave it as a surprise," Obito gave up guessing gifts. However, after this round, he was even more curious about everyone's gifts.
Next came dinner preparations. Although Obito's grandmother said Mutsuki and the others were guests and didn't need to help in the kitchen, Mutsuki successfully persuaded her. He took charge and prepared some dishes, with the other disciples doing their best to help. Kakashi, being good at cooking, handled ingredients, while those who weren't skilled helped with washing vegetables and dishes.
"I didn't expect you, sensei, to have this skill. If Obito could learn even a third of your cooking ability, I wouldn't worry about him finding a wife in the future," Obito's grandmother exclaimed in awe after tasting Mutsuki's cooking.
She isn't clear about Mutsuki's ninja abilities, but this cooking skill is indeed the most exaggerated she's seen in her lifetime.
"Grandma, this is delicious. Have some more," Obito said, feeling overwhelmed and quickly serving some of Mutsuki's cooking into his grandmother's bowl, hoping she would enjoy the food and have a pleasant birthday.
"Having a partner like Yumi-sensei would be really nice. Every meal would be so joyful," Rin said with a happy smile after tasting a bite.
"Yumi-sensei, I want to learn this!" Obito exclaimed inwardly.
Hearing Rin's words, Obito really wanted Mutsuki to add cooking to their training program.
"After eating Yumi-sensei's cooking, I feel even more fired up than when I train" Guy said, giving a thumbs-up.
Kakashi, who had some cooking skills himself, nodded. Mutsuki's cooking was so delicious that he suspected there might be some Ninjutsu specifically for cooking.
"Yumi-sensei's cooking makes you truly appreciate the essence of the ingredients," Shisui commented. Each time he ate Mutsuki's cooking, it was a genuine pleasure for him.
"Everyone enjoying it is what matters," Mutsuki said with a warm smile.
His cooking skill was more helpful than some Mastery-level skills, truly an impressive way to win favor.
After finishing the meal and tidying up the table, they brought out the cake and started the gift-giving ceremony.
"A custom-made spandex suit, specially tailored for you. Wearing this during training will surely double your efficiency!" Guy presented a green spandex suit that was slightly different from his own while explaining to Obito.
"Thank you, Guy. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, and I'll treasure it," Obito smiled as he accepted the gift.
He could tell that Guy genuinely wanted him to wear the spandex suit for training, but the daunting green color made Obito hesitate.
"Here, happy birthday," Rin smiled and handed a paper to Obito. "It's a drawing I made"
Obito curiously took it and examined it closely, realizing it depicted scenes from a few days ago when they were playing together.
There were scenes of him and Kakashi competing to catch fish, as well as their rivalry in Shuriken throwing.
"Rin-chan, why didn't you include yourself in the drawing?" Obito looked around but couldn't find Rin in the picture, only himself and Kakashi. Puzzled, he asked.
With only him and Kakashi in the drawing, it might as well have been just him alone.
"Because that day, you and Kakashi were so into your game together that you forgot about me, so I didn't include myself," Rin puffed her cheeks slightly, sounding a bit miffed.
"Huh? Rin-chan, don't be mad. It's just that..." Obito was at a loss for words, waving his hands awkwardly before giving up on an explanation.
Then Obito noticed Rin smiling.
Rin gently placed her left hand over her mouth and with her right hand, she took out a small palm-sized sculpture and handed it to Obito with a smile.
"I'm not really upset, just teasing you. This is the real birthday gift. Obito, you want to become Hokage, right? I believe you will succeed. So, I made an early sculpture of you as Hokage," she said warmly.
Obito looked at Rin's palm. Though the sculpture was small, it was lifelike, perfectly capturing his smile.
Obito's mood instantly changed from bewildered to ecstatic.
"Rin-chan, thank you so much. I'll treasure it!" Obito nodded emphatically after receiving the sculpture.
Obito carefully placed the sculpture alongside the hand-drawn picture. Even though Rin wasn't in the drawing, since it was drawn by her own hand, he wanted to preserve it.
"Obito, happy birthday. This is my gift," Shisui handed Obito a silver Kunai.
"Isn't this the one I gave you before, Shisui? You don't have to do this. Although this Kunai has sentimental value to me, giving it to you gave it new meaning," Obito waved his hand, explaining.
When he had given the Kunai to Shisui before, he had indeed felt a bit reluctant because it was his first, earned when Kakashi was competing and under Rin's gaze.
However, since the gift had already been given, that Kunai now symbolized the proof of friendship between him and Shisui, and it wouldn't be right to take it back.
"It's not the one you gave me; it's the one I won when I participated in the competition and got first place," Shisui explained.
"Isn't the Youth Ninja Competition held once a year?" Obito was puzzled. Shisui's age would certainly allow him to participate without issue.
"Maybe because the last time was quite effective, now it's held twice a year. I remember you seemed to like this Kunai a lot. I happened to pass by and saw it, so I joined to get a first place," Shisui replied with a relaxed smile.
Listening to Shisui's explanation, Obito felt that Shisui didn't participate in the competition to win, but rather to stock up like shopping at a store.
"I appreciate it; I really like it. Thank you," Obito thanked him sincerely.
With Shisui's skills, his explanation was indeed flawless. If he were to participate in the Youth Ninja Competition now, it would be like going shopping; he could easily dominate the field with just a casual use of Fire Release.
"Now we both have first place Kunai as rewards, carrying the bond between two Uchiha prodigies!" Obito exclaimed, throwing a punch in excitement.
Suppressing the desire in his heart to compete with Obito, Kakashi also presented his gift.
"Happy birthday," Kakashi said lightly, handing over a camera to Obito.
Obito's eyes lit up at the sight of Kakashi's gift. He had been wanting a camera to capture landscapes during missions and daily life.
"I wasn't sure what to get, but I saw cameras on sale at the store, so I bought one," Kakashi explained as if anticipating any misunderstanding from Obito.
Obito was momentarily unsure whether Kakashi's words were sincere or not. Last mission, he had mentioned wanting a camera, and now Kakashi had gifted him one.
If it were Rin, Obito would have thought she was being modest. But with Kakashi, it was hard to tell.
"My gift is also a Kunai, but I made it myself. With the experience from last time, the appearance has improved a lot," Mutsuki smiled, taking out his own gift—a white Kunai engraved with a dragon pattern.
Obito took the Kunai and before he even began to examine it closely, he could already sense Mutsuki's sincerity in this gift.
The shape of the Kunai was generally similar to a standard one, but its appearance far surpassed ordinary Kunai. Both sides of the blade were adorned with intricate and stylish flying dragon patterns, finely detailed with vivid expressions. Upon closer inspection, Obito noticed that his name "Obito" was engraved on both sides of the Kunai, with the Uchiha clan emblem carved on the handle.
"Yumi-sensei, I really appreciate it. It must have taken you a long time to prepare such a complex Kunai, especially while spending so much time training us every day," Obito thanked Mutsuki earnestly.
In truth, when Shisui received his gift, he had hoped for something similar himself. Last time when Mutsuki asked him what he wanted as a gift, Obito actually wanted to answer that he wished for Mutsuki to forge a ninja tool personally.
But considering how much Mutsuki had already done for him, Obito couldn't bring himself to say it, so he simply said he liked whatever Mutsuki gave him.
"Fortunately, I used a Shadow Clone to forge it, since there were indeed many other tasks to attend to," Mutsuki explained with a casual smile.
This explanation from Mutsuki touched Obito even more. After all, Obito was not unfamiliar with Shadow Clone techniques. Did he not know what that was?
Creating with Shadow Clones was just as exhausting as doing it oneself, and in the end, the fatigue would return to the original body. Moreover, because the original body was occupied with other tasks, it was even more exhausting.
Then Mutsuki handed four photos to Obito and smiled, saying, "During the previous mission, Obito, didn't you regret not bringing a camera? I managed to take a few photos there using a Shadow Clone. From now on, you can record whatever you want to remember."
These photos were taken by Mutsuki's Shadow Clone after he returned to Konoha to buy a camera and sent the Clone to the Land of Rivers. The location was the same, but there were only landscapes without people.
"Yumi-sensei, I really appreciate it! I love your birthday gift so much!" Obito couldn't help but hug Mutsuki, his eyes misting with tears.
Obito hadn't anticipated the matter about the desert scenery at all; he had indeed just casually mentioned it. A splendid Kunai forged personally plus four photos—Obito deeply felt Mutsuki's care for him.
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