Yoncher finally understood why he'd felt uneasy earlier.
Tsunade had completely ruined his plan of collecting emotional value!
He had originally planned to stay low at the Ninja Academy for another year.
Now this was a huge problem.
Was there any place safer than the Ninja Academy?
Was there anywhere more convenient for collecting emotional value?
Once he graduated and gained his teacher's approval, he would officially become a Genin.
And once he became a Genin, he'd have to start taking missions—possibly even fight on battlefields.
By staying at the academy messing around with brats, he could steadily increase his emotional value. Why should he leave school and go out into dangerous waters?
Yoncher almost cussed out loud in frustration.
Might Guy continued, "Yoncher-san, as soon as Team 9 is formed, you'll be able to take missions. Have you decided what kind of mission you want?"
As expected, Yoncher felt like he was about to blow a gasket. "Who else is in Team 9 besides me?"
Guy answered, "There's also Momiji Uchiha, Shizune, and Rin Nohara."
"Boom!"
His butt slipped, and he tumbled headfirst onto the ground.
"Huff!"
He quickly jumped back up, asking in disbelief:
"What did you say?"
"Rin Nohara?!"
Guy nodded. "That's right! She personally asked Tsunade-sama to join this team."
"As for Momiji..."
"I heard that Tsunade-sama knows her parents quite well, so she specifically requested Momiji be added to Team 9."
Why did it come to this?
Ya Mei Die!
Yoncher's heart instantly became chaotic.
The butterfly had already stirred the winds of fate.
The story seemed to be deviating from its original path.
At this rate, am I going to turn into the Masked Madara?
Lately, he'd kept his distance from Rin, but still used her to stir up Obito's jealousy and gather emotional value.
How had things turned out this way?
With this setup, Rin wouldn't be in the same team as Obito and Kakashi anymore.
In the Kannabi Bridge incident, would Obito still fall into darkness?
Don't tell me fate intends for me to star in the Kannabi Bridge incident?
Over my dead body—that's not happening!
Absolutely not!
Yoncher felt like his head had doubled in size.
Before growing powerful enough, he only wanted to remain hidden safely for a while longer without changing the main storyline.
If the original plot line remained unchanged, then with his godlike perspective, he could foresee all upcoming major events and easily avoid danger, giving himself twenty years to grow strong in peace.
But if the story changed, everything might spiral out of control.
What if the Nine-Tails attack happens tomorrow?
Or maybe Madara decides to initiate Infinite Tsukuyomi decades early?
Or worse—Kaguya might crawl out of someone's body next month!
How was he supposed to handle that?
He hadn't even gotten [Wood Release techniques] yet!
"Yoncher-san?"
Seeing him spaced out, Might Guy asked with concern, "Why do you look so frightened? Why is your face so pale?"
"I..." His voice sounded hoarse.
After a long pause, he finally snapped back to reality and asked, "Guy, who is in Obito's squad anyway?"
"Oh, Obito Uchiha's class," Might Guy said. "It's Obito Uchiha and Kakashi, along with Akihara Rin."
"Akihara Rin?" Yoncher's pupils slightly constricted.
This name — Akihara Rin — had been appearing quite frequently over the past two weeks, mostly in system notifications related to Emotional Value gains.
In reality, Yoncher had never gone near her or provoked her.
Her intense emotional fluctuations almost always coincided with Obito Uchiha's emotional changes.
Every time Yoncher tugged at Obito's emotions, played pranks on him, this girl's emotions would violently surge.
She seemed to constantly keep a close watch on Obito.
Each time Yoncher teased Obito, she'd grow angry at him — full of hatred and disgust.
Even with Obito, Yoncher usually needed to actively provoke and pull at his emotions before seeing any reaction.
Yet with Akihara Rin, it was different. Even seeing Yoncher from a distance would fill her with loathing — sometimes even outright hatred.
As for emotional volatility, even the Uchiha clan might have felt outmatched by her.
For Yoncher, this was good news.
Who doesn't love fresh new targets?
But now things were starting to get weird.
Akihara Rin had replaced Rin Nohara as teammates with Obito Uchiha and Kakashi?
Then during The Third Great Ninja World War, who would be the one to push Obito Uchiha toward his dark transformation — Rin Nohara or Akihara Rin?
If it was still Akihara Rin, the main storyline wouldn't change significantly.
However, Rin Nohara would survive instead.
Ebisu once told Yoncher that Akihara Rin liked Obito.
At the time, he hadn't paid much attention.
Now, looking back, it truly seemed that way.
Judging by how things stood, he should probably try helping them grow closer somehow.
That way, while changing Akihara Rin's fate, the core story wouldn't shift dramatically.
Yoncher sorted through his memories of Akihara Rin.
Yoncher couldn't recall such a character ever existing in the original plot.
Usually, characters who didn't even get a name in the original story were nothing more than cannon fodder — pure, unremarkable cannon fodder.
In another recollection though, Akihara Rin had indeed grown up alongside Obito and the others.
The problem was her personality; she was somewhat introverted, with an easily agitated temper. She'd often been punished for petty thefts, nearly expelled from the Ninja Academy, so most classmates avoided her.
Only the kind-hearted Obito Uchiha still spoke to her.
Because Obito had helped her and was willing to play with her, she developed feelings for him.
Unexpectedly, she had filled the gap left by Rin Nohara?
Yoncher quietly exhaled in relief.
Perhaps if he got involved, he really could help Akihara Rin completely replace Rin Nohara?
Regardless, he needed to grow stronger quickly.
This world offered absolutely no sense of security.
His first step must be acquiring Wood Release.
Come to think of it, there was something odd about the damn System — it hadn't issued a single mission in half a month.
Therefore, he still only had four Hashirama cell fragments.
Currently, his Side Quest list still carried the task: [Teach Kakashi a Lesson].
But Yoncher had no idea how to start that mission.
Should he just punch Kakashi to vent his frustration?
Now this was a headache.
After exchanging a few casual words with Guy and getting rid of him, Yoncher began pondering how to collect Emotional Value.
Tsunade had pulled him out from regular school,
and after this, quickly gathering Emotional Value would become much more difficult.
If push came to shove, maybe he could harvest some Emotional Value from members of the Uchiha clan?
Yoncher immediately thought of Inabi Uchiha and Tetsuka Uchiha.
He absolutely adored those two chuckleheads.
But two people wouldn't be enough.
He needed to stir up some turmoil within the Uchiha clan.
Just as he was thinking this,
Yoncher saw Obito Uchiha running out of the Ninja Academy.
The guy was frantically scanning the area like he was looking for someone.
Yoncher snapped his hands into a seal and transformed into a hunched, white-haired old man.
Hunching over dramatically, he began laboring toward Obito.
When he was less than twenty meters away from Obito,
Yoncher suddenly dropped to the ground with a loud thud and cried out in pain.
Obito, who had been anxiously looking around for someone, rushed over immediately and tried to help him up: "Grandpa, are you okay? You should be more careful!"
Oh, innocent Shinji...
Today, I'll show you the cruelty of human nature!
Yoncher suddenly grabbed Obito's right leg, crying and shouting: "It's you! You're the one who knocked me down! You damned bastard, pay me compensation!"
Obito: "__!"
"Help!" The old man shouted loudly, transformed by Yoncher. "This kid hit me and wants to run away!"
Surrounding students gathered in a flash.
"I didn't hit him! I saw him fall, so I wanted to help him up!" Obito nearly started crying.
[Sadness and Injustice from Obito Uchiha, Emotional Value 19]
More and more people gathered. Momiji Uchiha and Rin Nohara also arrived.
Many people spoke up for Obito.
The "old man" became furious: "If it wasn't him, why would he help me up?! He must've knocked me down."
"Pay up!"
"My bones are broken!"
"Even if we drag you all the way to the Hokage himself, you're still paying!"
As Obito was about to cry, Akihara Rin stepped forward from the crowd and said: "How much do you want? I'll pay for him. But let me tell you, don't try to ask for an arm and a leg! And I advise you not to make this a scam!"
"Rin..." Tears streamed down Obito's face.
"Five thousand Ryō!" Yoncher opened his palm and said. "Unless the Hokage himself comes, otherwise I won't let go without that money!"
"Here!" Akihara Rin turned red with anger and thrust the money into Yoncher's palm.
For recent graduates, five thousand Ryō wasn't a small amount — that was more than most genin earned in a whole month!
After all, they hadn't even taken any missions yet.
Yoncher took the money and sprang back up with a grin.
Everyone present: ...…
Obito and Akihara Rin: '!!!'
Rin Nohara took a step forward and blocked Yoncher's path, saying: "Grandpa, don't leave yet. You're clearly not hurt at all, and it wasn't even Obito who pushed you over. Some classmates witnessed everything!"
"Rin, how smart you are," Yoncher smiled slightly, canceled his Transformation Jutsu, and returned to his original form.
"Yoncher-kun!" Rin Nohara cried out.
The surrounding crowd: "Sai!"
Obito and Akihara Rin: "Sai!"
[Emotional Outburst from Obito Uchiha and Akihara Rin, Emotional Value 18]
[From Genma Shiranui]
[From Ebisu]
[From Tetsu Hyuga]
The furious crowd's anger had reached a boiling point as they surrounded Yoncher!
This time, Rin Nohara was on the verge of tears.
She wanted to defend Yoncher, but couldn't find the right words to say.
Beside her, Momiji Uchiha covered her forehead with her hand.
Momiji knew Yoncher liked to fool around, but this time he clearly went too far—he'd provoked everyone's wrath!
Unexpectedly, Yoncher sighed and returned the money into Obito's hands.
Then he looked around at everyone, wearing an expression of profound sorrow as he spoke, "Do you know why I did this?"
Let's see how you pull this off, they thought grimly, glaring at him with dark expressions.
Swindling people in Konoha,
Right here within the village,
And his victim was none other than his own classmate.
Absolutely outrageous!
Clearing his throat lightly, Yoncher continued, "Today is graduation day!"
"Starting today, many of you will officially become genin—you've practically entered society!"
"He just wanted to teach all of you a lesson—especially Obito!"
Many people sneered coldly.
Yoncher declared passionately, "The ninja world is extremely dangerous!"
"The ninja world is also very complex!"
"Human hearts are treacherous, comrades!"
"Obito may be kind-hearted and pure, but if he cannot tell good people from bad, that's extremely dangerous!"
"Now I'm trying to make him understand the dangers of the ninja world!"
"If he doesn't abandon his naivety and sharpen his vision, sooner or later he'll face the ruthless lessons of society!"
"And it's the same for all of you!"
"Do you really think I care about such a measly amount?"
Pulling some money out of his wallet—the money he had scammed from Inabi Uchiha and others—Yoncher waved it in front of everyone: "Am I really short of such a petty amount?"
To many of them, his words actually made sense. The expressions on many people's faces became significantly softer.
Pointing toward a curious old man watching nearby, Momiji Uchiha continued, "Take this elder gentleman for example; at first glance, he seems like any ordinary old man."
"But we're ninjas—we must keep our eyes sharp and use our heads to think critically!"
"Who can guarantee he isn't a spy from another village?"
"You see, he's using a cane. If it were Obito, he would rush forward to help immediately. But what if this person is a spy from another village?"
"Enough!" shouted a student from the Hyuga clan, "Stop talking nonsense! To determine if someone is a spy, all I need to do is activate my Byakugan!"
With that, he activated his Byakugan.
Akihara Rin couldn't hold back any longer either. "You shameless creep! First, you used Transformation Jutsu to swindle Obito-niisan, now you're randomly accusing an elderly man of being a spy? Hmph?"
Before she even finished speaking, the old man Yoncher previously pointed at suddenly threw away his cane and darted away swiftly!
"Huh?" Everyone stood there stunned.
"What's going on?" Even Yoncher looked confused.
He hadn't used any Sharingan technique at all—his intention was merely to bluff Obito and the others.
How could just a random finger point expose a spy?
The Hyuga student suddenly shouted at the top of his voice: "Quick! Grab him! That old man is a spy! Watch out—he's about to use a Water Release technique!"
"This do you think we need you to tell us that?!" Chaos quickly spread among the crowd.
The fleeing old man suddenly transformed into a middle-aged man and spun around!
[Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu!]
A giant water sphere spewed from the mouth of this middle-aged ninja, charging fiercely toward them with ferocity.
An A-ranked Water Release attack jutsu?
Even Yoncher was slightly taken aback.
Most of the people watching were students from the Ninja Academy and ordinary civilians.
The Ninja Academy only taught extremely basic *Sanjin no Jutsu* (Three Body Techniques). Even those who had passed today's graduation exam had very few capable of directly resisting such a Water Release technique!
Yoncher shot forward like lightning, rapidly forming hand seals before slamming one palm onto the ground.
[Earth Release: Mud Wall!]
A massive wall of earth immediately rose up, blocking the incoming wave head-on!
With a deafening crash, the earth wall collapsed inwards. The water sphere exploded on impact, sending rain flying and floods surging forward!
Many were knocked off their feet, looking dazed and flustered!
However, after being obstructed by the earthen barrier, the water fragments no longer carried much destructive power.
Besides a few unlucky ones who were washed against walls and injured, everyone else sustained no significant harm.
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Thank you for reading, Your support will keep me updating!
~ **4 bonus chapters** this weekend if I get kind comments.