"Celebrate? I do have great confidence in your abilities, but the test results won't be out until tomorrow. Isn't it a bit premature to celebrate now?" Hearing the reason for Nohara Rin's visit, Namikaze Minato was briefly taken aback. He scratched his head with a wry smile.
However, his gaze inadvertently fell on Obito, who didn't seem the least bit surprised. If he ended up failing the written exam tomorrow, this guy would definitely be bitter about celebrating in advance.
Sigh... this is troublesome. Why is Rin so impulsive…
"Eh? What's with that look, Minato-sensei? I got Rin's answers, so I'm definitely passing the written test!" Already a little irritated, Obito snapped the moment he saw the strange look in Minato's eyes.
Damn it! There's no way Rin's answers are wrong!
"Ohhh, no wonder a certain someone in last place is suddenly full of confidence. Turns out you're cheating," Minato hadn't even spoken yet before Kakashi, standing nearby, cut in with another disdainful jab.
"Cheating? What are you talking about, Kakashi?! This is called helping each other—teamwork between comrades!"
"Helping each other, huh? Then what exactly did you do to help Rin? You were dead last."
"You damn bastard, Kakashi…" Obito felt like his last shred of dignity had been ripped away, but he couldn't find anything to refute it with.
He cursed himself for blurting out the truth without thinking. If Minato-sensei finds out I cheated… will he ask the examiner to cancel both my and Rin's test scores?
Damn it, damn Kakashi...
Thinking that, Obito quickly turned to Minato with a pitiful expression. "Minato-sensei, please don't tell the examiner! Even if it counts as cheating, it's my own fault—please don't cancel Rin's score!"
"Well, written tests are also a form of intelligence-gathering. As long as the examiner doesn't catch on, the method doesn't matter." Minato smiled, somewhat reassuringly, though his brows remained slightly furrowed.
What he said wasn't wrong. If the cheating was too obvious, the examinee would be eliminated anyway.
Still, judging from the current state of the ninja world, the higher-ups would likely turn a blind eye and let more Genin pass the written test, letting the practical combat assessment determine who truly deserved to become Chunin.
In that sense… It's fine to celebrate in advance. Still, these three really need some work on their team spirit.
"Alright then. I'll wish you all an early congratulations. Dinner's on me tonight." After a pause, Minato gave them a bright, sunny smile and nodded.
Nohara Rin lit up instantly. "Minato-sensei, I haven't seen Sister Kushina in ages! Why don't we invite her too?"
"Kushina?" Hearing Rin's suggestion, Minato glanced at Kakashi and Obito, then nodded.
To handle these two handfuls, his hot-blooded girlfriend Kushina was probably better suited than he was anyway. Besides, it'd be a good chance for her to unwind a little, too.
"Eh? That red-haired berserker?? No way!" Obito froze. Just thinking about how thoroughly Kushina had crushed him the first time they met sent shivers down his spine.
Kakashi didn't say anything, but his slightly uneven breathing betrayed his unease…
"You two, come with me. Minato-sensei wants you to go fetch Sister Kushina." Rin wasn't about to let Obito off the hook. She immediately dragged the two toward the restaurant they frequented.
"Something's definitely different about Rin lately…" Watching the three of them leave, Minato murmured to himself, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
Just what happened to that child...?
—
Nighttime, Space-Time Room
"I finally made it… until now!" Ishikawa stood before the reappearing space-time portal, sweat dripping from his forehead, his face pale as if he'd been toyed with by dozens of femme fatales. He staggered forward, trembling.
Even though the Military pills gave him a way to cheat through his training, the side effects were no joke.
Honestly, if it weren't for the golden finger granted by the doorknob, Ishikawa would never have dared to force his body through such reckless overdraft training.
"Crack…"
Following the familiar hum of an electric current, Ishikawa collapsed onto the sofa with a satisfied smile, feeling the rapidly replenishing energy surging through his cells.
Although he wasn't certain whether this form of body tempering stemmed from the door handle's energy conversion or was simply a self-destructive act that consumed his lifespan, Ishikawa couldn't bring himself to reject this golden finger that was allowing him to grow stronger so quickly.
If his lifespan was shortened, it could still be restored—but without strength, he'd truly be finished!
"Crack." Less than two minutes after he collapsed, the door beside him creaked open from the outside, and Nohara Rin hurried in.
"Phew, I finally made it back!" Seeing Ishikawa lying motionless with wide eyes and limp limbs, Rin patted her chest, panting and sweating heavily.
After dinner, she had been completely drained from training her superhuman strength. Without much thought, she had gone straight to the opposite door and touched the door handle.
A few minutes later—
"Miss Rin, you're late today." Ishikawa, now fully recovered, greeted her with energy, preparing to grab the carp he'd bought for today's training.
"Ishikawa, there's a problem with the sealing technique you asked me to get!" Rin stepped forward quickly, blocking him, an embarrassed expression flashing across her face and causing Ishikawa to pause.
"A problem? What kind of problem?"
"Well… today I asked Minato-sensei to teach me the Memory-Concealing sealing jutsu, using the excuse of protecting Konoha's intel during wartime in case of capture. But… but…"
"But what?" Seeing Rin hesitate, Ishikawa felt a surge of unease rise in his chest and urged her anxiously.
Please… don't let anything have gone wrong!
Facing his worried expression, Rin lowered her head like a child who'd made a mistake. "Minato-sensei said it would be a waste of time for me to learn sealing techniques, so he didn't agree. He said if the goal was only to prevent the enemy from reading my memory, he could set the seal for me himself."
"I couldn't really refuse that logic, so I had to agree. After that, Minato-sensei asked Sister Kushina—who's more skilled in sealing—to handle it. So… you probably won't be getting the sealing technique you wanted."
"…I see." Upon hearing that, Ishikawa exhaled, and most of his anxiety faded away.
What Minato Namikaze said made sense, and he truly had no grounds to argue with it.
He had been too naive to think someone would teach a Genin such an advanced sealing technique during wartime.
There was also the possibility that Rin was now under suspicion or even surveillance by Namikaze Minato!
Thankfully, Nohara Rin hadn't done anything to endanger Konoha. Even if Minato had his doubts, he would only investigate discreetly, so her safety shouldn't be at risk.
Still, this was a wake-up call for Ishikawa. He could never afford to underestimate shinobi!
He needed to proceed cautiously and stay alive!!
"Let's not worry about the sealing technique for now. Let's start today's training." Nodding to Rin, Ishikawa moved to the table, placed the fish down, and began forming hand seals.
No matter what, as long as Rin had the seal, his own safety would be guaranteed. After all, in the original timeline, Nohara Rin had endured Genjutsu torture at the hands of Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and even Madara himself.
Seeing that Ishikawa wasn't upset, Rin quietly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stepped forward to guide him in practicing the Mystical Palm Technique.
---
As the two immersed themselves in focused training, a blond figure stood not far from Rin's door, frowning as he watched the scene unfold.
She wanted to learn a Memory-Concealing sealing jutsu… Was he just overthinking things? Or had something bad already happened to Rin?
After monitoring the situation for over an hour and seeing no signs of her leaving the room, the blond youth suddenly had a thought. He placed one hand on the ground and activated his sensory jutsu.
As expected, Rin was the only one inside. ...Am I just worrying too much?