In Training Ground 13 of Konoha, Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin were standing in a row, waiting for their newly assigned squad leader.
"Kakashi, do you know who our new jōnin leader is? It's so weird, why are they giving us a squad leader now of all times?"
Obito chattered nonstop at the side, but Kakashi was leaning against a wooden post with his eyes half-closed, answering with a lazy "mm" or "oh" every few sentences, clearly not listening.
"Kakashi! Are you even listening to me?"
"Instead of running your mouth here, you'd be better off running through your taijutsu drills a few more times," Kakashi replied without opening his eyes. "As for why they're assigning us a jōnin squad leader… you should be able to figure that out with your toes."
"We're about to—
go to the front lines."
The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere between the three immediately grew heavy. Obito scratched his head, and seeing Kakashi's stiff expression and the worry on Rin's face, he forced out a big goofy grin.
"It's fine, it's fine, just the battlefield, right… Even Uchiha Feiyu managed to make a name for himself there as 'Konoha's Ghost.' I'll definitely be way more amazing than him!"
"Don't worry, Rin. I'll protect you on the battlefield!"
Rin's worried expression instantly turned into one of helpless amusement. As for Kakashi, still leaning on the post, his eyes were already rolled up so far they were practically all white.
"Idiot."
"Who are you calling an idiot, Kakashi!?" Obito shouted.
Kakashi, who already knew some intel and was aware who their squad leader would be, only gave Obito a pitying look.
"I'm talking about a certain loudmouthed daydreamer who thinks he can surpass Uchiha Feiyu. That's the idiot."
"Damn you, Kakashi, just you wait! I'll prove it to you! Just a measly Uchiha Feiyu—once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll surpass him easy!"
"Oh? Really? You sure are confident, Obito…"
A quiet voice sounded right behind Obito. He suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. He turned around stiffly—
and saw Uchiha Feiyu crouching on the tree behind him.
"Ha… ha ha… F-Feiyu-nii, it's you! Why are you popping up out of nowhere like a ghost? What are you doing here?"
"Hehehe…"
The soft chuckling sounded by his ear again. Obito turned back with a jerk, only to see Kakashi's masked face—eyes curved into crescents, brimming with schadenfreude.
"Still haven't figured it out, Obito? Who do you think we're waiting for here?"
"Who? Our jōnin squad leader, obviously."
Obito looked at Kakashi like you're the idiot here, asking such a dumb question.
Kakashi's mouth twitched. He decided there was no point continuing to talk to this fool. In the end, it was Rin, standing on the side, who couldn't bear it and whispered a reminder:
"Obito… Feiyu is already a jōnin now."
"I know Feiyu is a jōnin now… Uh… wait… no way…"
Obito finally processed it. His eyes went wide in disbelief and snapped toward Feiyu. Feiyu just shrugged lightly, nodded, and gave him a big bright smile.
"That's right… I'm your squad's jōnin leader now."
Obito's shoulders visibly flinched, his face twisting into a smile uglier than a cry.
"Uh… Feiyu… can you not hit my face…?"
Back when Feiyu entered the Academy, he'd been quite a bit older than the others and had taken a lot of bullying for it. After that, anyone who dared provoke him head-on had ended up beaten until they looked like pigs, at which point things finally quieted down.
Obito had personally witnessed this cousin of his handing out beatdowns. Now that he realized he'd just been trash-talking Feiyu and the guy was his squad leader, it was no wonder his heart was pounding.
"Relax… I'm your superior now, not your former classmate. I'm not going to beat you up that casually."
Feiyu patted Obito's shoulder with a smile. Obito, who'd been shrinking back, immediately brightened in relief. Off to the side, Kakashi rolled his eyes hard enough it almost hurt. In his opinion, his teammate's stupidity was beyond saving.
He just said he won't beat you up outright. As your squad leader, if he wants to mess with you, he has a thousand ways to do it that don't involve a straight punch.
"AAAHHHHHH!! HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP!!"
In the middle of the training field, Feiyu watched Obito run around in utter chaos as several large snakes chased him, his own face calm and smiling.
Kakashi stood at his side with an indifferent expression. Only Rin looked a bit distressed, but she still didn't speak up.
After all, Feiyu had called this a "test." And even if he went a bit overboard, he wasn't going to actually maim Obito. At worst, Obito would suffer, learn his lesson, and that was that.
And that was indeed what Feiyu had planned. The big snakes he'd summoned were all non-venomous, and their orders were only to scare and nip at Obito, not to actually swallow him whole.
Even so, by the time the "test" ended, Obito was a mess—mud-covered, panting, and full of bite marks.
Fortunately, Feiyu also knew medical ninjutsu. He calmly healed Obito's injuries, saving him from needing ten days to half a month of recovery time.
The Third Hokage hadn't given Feiyu much prep time. The next day, he'd be leading these three to the front lines with the main force. Of course he wasn't going to let Obito head out already injured.
The next morning, at Konoha's main gate, a large ninja force had gathered.
The front line had been completely wiped out and torn open; this wasn't like before, when sending one or two hundred ninja as reinforcements would suffice. To rebuild a defensive line and resist Kumo's advance, they'd need at least two to three thousand shinobi.
The one leading this force was Feiyu's "discount" teacher, Orochimaru. Right now, his face was grim as he swept his gaze across the formations.
"Is everyone here? Squad leaders, confirm your team members."
Feiyu rolled his eyes, then raised his hand.
"Report: Squad 73 is still missing one person."
"Wait, wait, wait! I'm here, I'm here!!"
With a string of panicked shouts, Obito came tumbling up in a mad dash, gasping for air, his face full of panic.
"Ch, you did make it…" Feiyu said lazily. "The column's about to move and you're still not here. I thought you'd defected already—I was just about to have ANBU raid your house."
Obito exploded.
"Who's defecting!? I just helped a granny look for her cat, that's all…"
"All right, enough. We're moving out. No more chatter."
Seeing Obito rejoin the ranks, Orochimaru gave him a cold, snake-like look that instantly snapped the boy's mouth shut. With a sweep of his arm, Orochimaru gave the order, and the ninja force began its march.
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