"You don't look so good, Feng Bai."
At their meeting spot, Obito looked at Feng Bai with curiosity.
[If you got whipped every day, you wouldn't look good either.]
Feng Bai grumbled inwardly, but outwardly said something different: "You don't look so great yourself—your face is all swollen like a pig's head."
"That's impossible! I just looked in the mirror this morning—the swelling should have gone down by now." Startled by Feng Bai's words, Obito began frantically touching his face and searching for something reflective.
"Alright, enough. Do you have any idea how long Kakashi and I waited for you, you slowpoke!" Feng Bai lightly punched Obito on the head, finally getting a true sense of just how chronically late this guy could be.
"Well, you see, life's journey always has moments of confusion..." Obito clutched his head, attempting to explain.
"Hmph, you just overslept, didn't you?" Kakashi stated his guess matter-of-factly.
"No way! Damn you, Kakashi!" Obito vehemently denied Kakashi's accusation. If only he could beat this smug bastard, he would have punched him ages ago.
Not far away, a girl with two streaks of face paint smiled as she watched their interaction.
"Ah, it's all your fault—you made me forget to introduce everyone. Rin, these are my friends: Feng Bai and Kakashi." Hearing the girl's laughter, Obito finally remembered his manners and began introducing them.
"Feng Bai, Kakashi, this is Rin—Nohara Rin."
"Hello, I'm Nohara Rin." Rin graciously extended her hand.
"Hatake Kakashi." "Shimura Feng Bai." Kakashi chose not to shake her hand, but Feng Bai, worried she might feel awkward, gently took her offered hand.
So this is Obito's white moonlight—she really is a good kid.
Feng Bai mused inwardly.
I suppose I'm officially entering the main storyline now—or is this still the prequel? After all, the protagonist Naruto Uzumaki is nowhere to be found.
Hmm, if I could somehow prevent Obito from being crushed by falling rocks in that bridge battle, maybe I could prevent the Nine-Tails incident entirely.
Feng Bai began daydreaming again.
Who knows when Madara first took notice of Obito? Well, I'm not even a genin yet, so why worry about events years in the future?
"A-anyway, let's all go have fun together! Come on!" Seeing Feng Bai still holding Rin's hand without letting go, Obito grew anxious.
"Ah, oh, right! Yes, let's go play." Snapping back to reality, Feng Bai quickly released Rin's hand. He wanted to explain but worried he'd only make things worse, so he simply echoed Obito's words.
Damn it, I hope Obito doesn't hold this against me. When the massacre night comes, he might show up specifically to give me a taste of eternal darkness.
Nervously glancing at Obito's expression, Feng Bai felt guilty. Heaven and earth as his witnesses, he'd been a pure romantic in his previous life—he'd simply spaced out just now, nothing more.
"Hmm? Isn't that Kakashi? Heading out to train again?" As they passed a dango shop, a slightly dark-skinned boy leaning against the doorway called out to Kakashi.
Kakashi merely nodded coolly, offering a noncommittal "Mm."
"You..." Shaking his head with a smile, the boy straightened up: "This guy's a new face—where'd you meet him?"
The "new face" naturally referred to Feng Bai.
"Come to think of it, I think I saw him yesterday, walking alone down the street." A kid sitting nearby with a long skewer in his mouth seemed to remember something and spoke up.
Kakashi reluctantly stopped, preparing to introduce Feng Bai, but the boy had already rushed over and begun his own introduction: "Hello, I'm Asuma—Sarutobi Asuma."
Sarutobi Asuma...
Holy shit, Old Ma!
No, right now he's Little Ma. In the future, he'll gradually become the "Task Force Guy," "Romance Guy," "Six Feet Under Guy," and the one mysteriously cuckolded by Shisui...
"I'm Shimura Feng Bai." This was Feng Bai's second self-introduction of the day.
"Shimura?" Asuma's expression grew somewhat strange upon hearing Feng Bai's surname.
Mentioning Shimura inevitably brought to mind a certain Hokage advisor...
Asuma knew Danzō—sometimes Danzō would visit his father to discuss work matters.
However, compared to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, Danzō's attitude was much colder.
"Yeah, the Shimura you're thinking of." Seeing through Asuma's thoughts, Feng Bai nodded.
"Someone from the Shimura clan? That's quite rare..." The boy with the toothpick was naturally Shiranui Genma.
As a kid he chews toothpicks, as an adult he chews senbon. What's even more amazing is that this guy can talk with something in his mouth—truly impressive.
"What, someone from the Shimura clan?" From the innermost table of the dango shop, a girl suddenly poked her head out, still holding a skewer of dango: "Where's this Shimura person? Let me see."
"Anko, you eat so much dango every day—aren't you worried about getting fat? Actually, haven't you already put on some weight..." Beside Genma, Ebisu, wearing round sunglasses, pushed up his frames and teased Anko.
"Bastard Ebisu, you looking for a fight?!" Anko swung her fist at Ebisu.
Kurenai Yuhi, sitting beside Anko, hurried to calm her down.
"Well, since you're here, let's all have some dango—my treat." With all the banter going on, Asuma didn't dwell on Feng Bai's surname and generously patted his chest.
"Well then, maybe just a little?" Even as Feng Bai spoke, his feet had already stepped into the shop.
"Thank you so much!" Seeing this, Obito also pulled Rin into the shop.
"Thank you very much." Rin politely thanked Asuma.
With all three of them inside, Kakashi could only reluctantly follow, taking the seat closest to the door.
"That's more like it, Kakashi. Auntie, four more plates of dango!" Asuma patted Kakashi's shoulder and called out to the shop owner.
"You really are quite cute." While waiting for the dango, Mitarashi Anko curiously approached Feng Bai, looking at his skin that was even fairer than hers with some envy.
"Uh, maybe it's good genes?" Feng Bai didn't really know how to respond, so he made awkward small talk.
"Oh, is that so..." Anko just kept sizing up Feng Bai while periodically popping another dango into her mouth.
🔥 Want to read the next 20 chapters RIGHT NOW? 💎 Patreon members get instant access! ⚡ Limited-time offer currently running... 👉 [Join on - patreon.com/GoldenLong]