Hearing the term "Mangekyō Sharingan," Jiraiya paused mid-step, turning back with an expression of disbelief to look at Takeshi.
"That kid... he's only thirteen this year, right?"
As one of the Third Hokage's disciples and a pillar of the village's strength, Jiraiya certainly understood what the Mangekyō Sharingan meant.
These were the very eyes once possessed by Uchiha Madara, who had co-founded Konohagakure alongside Senju Hashirama. Even within the Uchiha clan, they were extremely rare.
At the very least, in recent years, there hadn't been a single case of a new Mangekyō Sharingan user among the Uchiha.
"You should already know the relationship between the Uchiha and the village. Now that Obito has awakened those eyes, it's not exactly good news for Konoha."
Takeshi was well aware of Jiraiya's character. Though he often stayed outside the village, his feelings for Konoha ran deeper than either of the other two Sannin.
Given his understanding of the tense relations between the Uchiha and the village, Takeshi knew Jiraiya wouldn't sit idly by.
"You mean..."
Jiraiya frowned, his tone becoming more serious as he looked at Takeshi.
"I've already told him not to reveal this news to his clan for the time being. At the same time, I hope you'll take him on as your disciple. With the Mangekyō Sharingan, he'll surely gain significant influence within the Uchiha in the future. And you know Obito's character—if he can become the one to lead the clan, it might not be a bad thing for the village."
Takeshi spoke in one breath—this was a speech he had long prepared, all for the sake of convincing Jiraiya.
"You little brat... you're surprisingly mature. Compared to your radical father, your plan actually isn't half bad."
After weighing the pros and cons, Jiraiya realized that Takeshi was right. If the one leading the Uchiha clan were that airheaded kid Obito, it really could be a great boon for the village.
As long as he guided the boy well...
"I'll agree for now. But I won't start formally training him until the war is over."
Seeing the anticipation in Takeshi's eyes, Jiraiya nodded in agreement.
Nice!
Hearing Jiraiya accept, Takeshi silently cheered in his heart.
Of course, a deeper reason was that he wanted to find Obito a powerful mentor.
Should he try to pitch Kakashi to Jiraiya too?
While Takeshi was busy scheming, Jiraiya issued a task:
"You've had enough rest lately. It's time for you to help out with something."
"Huh?"
...
"What were you talking about with that peeping pervert, Takeshi?"
Dragged out early in the morning by Takeshi, Obito looked curiously at him as he stepped out from behind the tent, his eyes full of innocent stupidity.
"Nothing much. Just asking Jiraiya-sama to take you as his disciple."
Takeshi waved his hand casually, acting indifferent.
"Become a disciple of that peeping pervert? No way! All he'll do is drag me around looking for places where girls are bathing."
Obito shook his head so vigorously he looked like a bobblehead.
Having once been trained by Jiraiya himself, Obito understood the man's nature better than anyone.
Takeshi stared at him with a stunned expression, which made Obito feel a little scared.
"W-What? Did I say something wrong...?"
Faced with Takeshi's intense stare, Obito nervously shrank his neck, unsure what he had done to upset him this time.
Is this really Obito, and not some Iwa-nin infiltrator in disguise?
Could it be that awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan actually increases your intelligence?
"Obito, what's 1 + 1?"
"Uh... 2?"
"You're definitely not Obito. Fess up—who are you really?!"
"What?! How did you come to that conclusion?!"
...
After some friendly and harmonious "discussion," Takeshi finally confirmed that the person in front of him really was Obito. Moved by Takeshi's "kindness," Obito also reluctantly accepted that Jiraiya was now his teacher.
Takeshi squatted down beside Obito, who was sitting on the ground in dejection, and patted his shoulder in comfort.
"But I'm supposed to be the future captain of the Konoha Police Force. With a perverted teacher like that, what are people going to think of me?"
Obito was still hung up on his dream.
"That's not a problem! Look—once you become Police Force Captain, anytime Jiraiya peeps, you can arrest him. Lock him up if needed. Execute him if necessary. Everyone will praise you for putting justice above family ties."
Seeing Obito obsess over such a trivial issue, Takeshi couldn't help but chuckle, but he also admired his innocence. He stifled a laugh and tried to reassure him.
"Alright, cheer up. In a few days, we'll be heading out on another mission. It's a long-term one this time, so stay sharp."
Thinking of the task Jiraiya had assigned him, Takeshi's smile faded, and he rubbed his temples with a hint of fatigue.
After several battles, Takeshi had noticed some issues with his team.
The biggest problem was Rin's role.
As a pure medical-nin, Rin didn't possess Tsunade's monstrous close-combat skills. Her taijutsu was barely at genin level. She had only become a chūnin thanks to her strong teamwork and exceptional medical ninjutsu.
A pure "healer" like her made for an easy target, forcing Takeshi to constantly stay on alert to protect her.
Tsunade's proposal to standardize medical-nin training had indeed saved many lives, but it also meant that these combat-weak medics were being pushed to the front lines to directly face enemy attacks.
In Takeshi's view, medical-nin should form a mobile unit, escorted by elite shinobi, to move around the battlefield providing support—rather than being scattered into teams that had to protect them individually.
"I'll talk to Tsunade-sama about this once we get back. At the very least, those medics who can't defend themselves should stick with the main forces."
Even though he had already prevented Obito from being crushed by the falling rock, who knew if Madara would still try to target him again?
Rin, as Obito's weak point, had to be properly protected.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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