Obito entered Shindai's tent, pressing him about what he meant by 'inflatable doll'.
Shindai wanted to read his book in peace, but with Obito's interruption, he couldn't focus at all.
Shindai was forced to get off the bed, rolled his eyes at Obito, and asked, "Where's my food?"
Obito placed the bento box on the table: "Here, it's ramen today. I got you a big bowl."
Shindai sat at the table, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.
Obito sat across from Shindai, still not giving up, and asked again, "Shindai, tell me, what was that 'inflatable doll' you mentioned?"
After swallowing the food in his mouth, Shindai asked, "You really want to know?"
Obito retorted impatiently, "Of course, why else would I be asking until now?"
"Actually, you misheard. I didn't say 'inflatable doll'; I said 'puppet'. These materials were given to me by Lord Jiraiya for me to help him build a puppet."
Shindai answered Obito this time, mainly because if he didn't, Obito would keep pestering him relentlessly, which Shindai found a bit troublesome.
Obito's eyes immediately lit up, then his cheeks began to flush slightly. He rubbed his hands together and asked, "Shindai, there seem to be a lot of materials here. Look, can you make one for me with the scraps? Please!"
Obito stood up from his chair and bowed 90 degrees directly to Shindai, appearing full of sincerity.
Shindai sighed, "Obito, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that I can't harm you."
Obito asked confusedly, "Harm me? What do you mean by that?"
Shindai misled, ah no, he explained, "Obito, the puppet you want me to make, you must want me to make it look like Rin, right?"
Obito flushed and quickly waved his hands, "No, no, I didn't say to make it look like Rin."
Shindai nudged Obito with his elbow, "It's just you and me here. Why are you pretending? You like Rin; even an idiot can tell."
Obito's face instantly turned as red as a monkey's backside.
Obito awkwardly scratched his cheek, "Is it, is it really that obvious?"
Shindai nodded very seriously, "Very obvious. As I said, even an idiot can tell!"
Obito's toes curled in embarrassment, "Even an idiot can tell, so does that mean Rin has also figured it out?"
"Uh..."
Shindai was stumped by Obito's question.
Did Rin Nohara know Obito liked her?
Definitely not.
So, was Rin Nohara an idiot? Obviously not.
The current Obito was a hot-blooded simpleton, while Rin Nohara was much smarter than Obito.
"Don't worry, Rin doesn't know you like her."
Obito asked blankly, "Huh? But Shindai, didn't you say even an idiot could tell?"
Shindai coughed, "That's not important. What I want to tell you is, you won't be able to win Rin over like this!"
Obito asked somewhat puzzled, "What does my ability to win over Rin have to do with you making a puppet harming me? Is there a connection between the two?"
Shindai's face stiffened, and he said seriously, "Let me explain the stakes, and you'll understand. You are not like Lord Jiraiya. Lord Jiraiya has frequented entertainment establishments for years, and everyone knows he's a playboy, so even if others knew, they wouldn't care, and Lord Jiraiya wouldn't care either, because he's thick-skinned.
But you, Obito, are different. You are a pure-hearted young boy right now. If others found out you had something like that, how would they see you? You would be seen as a perverted brat in their eyes, and Rin would also consider you utterly disgusting.
Your original chance of winning Rin over was 10%, but after being discovered, your chance of winning Rin over would be negative 100%."
Obito was stunned, "There's a negative for that?"
Shindai said matter-of-factly, "Of course. Because Rin would treat you like something dirty and want to stay away from you. Wouldn't that be a negative?"
After thinking for a moment, Obito nodded in agreement, "It seems to make some sense."
Shindai said discontentedly, "Eh, what do you mean'some sense'? It *is* the truth! Tell me, would making a puppet for you be harming you or not?"
Obito nodded again, "It seems so."
Shindai patted Obito's shoulder and said earnestly, "So, this is for your own good. By the way, if you want to win over Rin, I can give you some advice. Do you need it?"
Upon hearing that Shindai would help him with advice to win over Rin, Obito immediately became excited: "Yes! Of course, yes!"
Shindai sized up Obito: "To win over Rin, you currently have no chance of success. First, there's Kakashi, an excellent person in the team. If I were Rin and compared you two, I would definitely like Kakashi. What's more, there's an even more excellent me than Kakashi, so your hope is even slimmer."
Obito automatically ignored Shindai's 'there's an even more excellent me' and grumbled, "What's so good about Kakashi anyway? I just think Kakashi is much worse than me!"
Shindai scoffed, "You? You're really full of confidence and fearless. It seems I need to put you in your place to make you sober up."
Obito immediately covered his cheeks, "Why do you want to hit my face?!"
Shindai's eyes became the same dead-fish eyes as Kakashi's, "I meant 'put you in your place' not physically!"
Shindai began to list Kakashi's strengths: "Kakashi has high intelligence, is mature and calm, acts decisively and doesn't procrastinate. He's an absolute genius among Ninja, with both brains and strength, and he looks cool and aloof. Young girls nowadays fall for that kind of guy."
Then Shindai started listing Obito's weaknesses: "And you? I won't even mention your intelligence. You're childish and impulsive, you like to procrastinate, you're not decisive at all, your strength is weak, yet you constantly say 'I'm an Uchiha' all day long. You have no brains, no strength. A young girl would have to be blind to like you."
Obito's face turned green as he listened: "I'm not as bad as you say! Do I not have any good points at all?"
Shindai rubbed his chin, "Good points, huh..."
Obito looked at Shindai expectantly, hoping to hear words of praise from his mouth.
However, half an hour passed, and Shindai seemed stuck, maintaining his chin-rubbing posture, looking as if he was deep in thought.
Obito's mouth twitched, "Is it that hard to think of one good point about me?"
Shindai narrowed his eyes and thought for a long time: "This could work, for example... for example... you're a pretty good person."
Obito gave up. He finally understood what Shindai meant by 'putting him in his place'.
Although his face wasn't physically hit, it was burning with pain.