Obito stumbled toward his teammates, barely keeping his balance. His body swayed as if it had lost all control. Just moments ago, he'd taken a brutal whip-kick from Ruri. His forearms, which he'd used to block the strike, were still trembling from the impact.
"Don't get discouraged, Obito. Losing is totally normal" Mitsuki offered a casual bit of comfort.
"Relax, even if you lose, you'll still graduate" said Kakashi as he patted Obito on the shoulder.
"This assessment is all about performance, not just victory."
And that was true. Nobita wasn't just there to call names — after each match, he also took notes on every student's performance.
As the seconds ticked by, the matches wrapped up quickly, just as one would expect from shinobi battles. The graduation exam was over in no time.
And, just as expected, everyone passed.
Watching the smiles on his classmates' faces, Mitsuki didn't know what to say.
Graduation meant war. In just a month, many of these smiling faces could vanish forever.
Mitsuki wasn't particularly worried about his own safety though. On his last birthday, he had performed a ten consecutive wishes, something he could only do once every five years.
According to the system, a successful wish would grant the most suitable ability for his current state. The first gift, Six Eyes, had turned out to be incredibly useful, regardless of whether it was a "perfect fit" or not.
Now, with the battlefield looming ahead, he figured his next wish would grant something to cover his weak point — defense.
Originally, he'd hoped to get something that paired with Six Eyes, like the Limitless Technique from Jujutsu Kaisen—a combination of defense and offense. But when the wish succeeded, what he received wasn't that.
It was: Full Counter.
The very same skill used by Meliodas, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath from The Seven Deadly Sins.
And honestly? It was exactly what Mitsuki needed.
Unlike Limitless, Full Counter could protect not only himself, but also his allies in a real battle scenario. While it might not be as stable in terms of offense, its upper limits were potentially even higher.
Mitsuki realized then that the system's decisions weren't based solely on his stats or physical needs — it likely accounted for his subconscious desires as well.
Last year, before the team assignments were announced, he'd thought about what might happen if Rin—because of his reincarnation and the butterfly effect—ended up on the same team as him.
Protecting Rin was more important to him than winning any war.
He knew shinobi were essentially glass cannons — high offense, low defense. What he lacked most right now wasn't power, but combat experience.
With Six Eyes, his chakra pool was steadily growing as he aged, and his offensive capabilities were already more than sufficient for this phase of the Third Shinobi World War.
But with this new defensive ability, his survivability skyrocketed, which meant he could afford to make mistakes — gaining real combat experience without the same risk of dying.
In the end, he was very satisfied with the result of this wish.
In the future, once he had more data, he could probably break down the factors the system used to select skills even more precisely.
Just as he had seen using Six Eyes, the team assignments came through: Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were placed on the same team.
As for Mitsuki, he was grouped with Uchiha Ruri, assigned to a frontline squad that was short two members.
During wartime, Konoha would often assign freshly graduated Academy students directly to teams with casualties on the frontlines.
Once these squads were restored to full strength, their captains would lead them into battle within days.
At the moment, Konoha was engaged in combat on three fronts. The main enemies were Kirigakure from the east, and Sunagakure and Iwagakure from the west.
Meanwhile, Kumogakure was still waiting to pounce. If Konoha showed even a hint of weakness, it would be devoured by the pack.
After their final school day, Mitsuki walked home with Rin.
Rin walked with her hands behind her back, head slightly down. In a soft voice, she said,
"Mitsuki… we'll be parting ways starting tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah."
"It's... gonna take some getting used to. It all feels so sudden."
Mitsuki looked at Rin, clearly feeling down, and understood her perfectly.
Ever since they'd met in the Custody Center, they had rarely spent a single day apart.
His own feelings were complicated too.
On one hand, he had memories of a past life. He couldn't treat himself like just a kid. On the other, his biggest wish in this world had always been to live a calm, peaceful life.
But right after transmigrating, his mother died. A few years later, Kento left him too.
Back then, he had honestly felt a little hopeless.
After dying for such a ridiculous reason in his previous life, he was reincarnated just to start out as an orphan?
Why couldn't transmigrators have a loving family for once?
Humans are social creatures. Without strong willpower, it's hard to live in isolation. Mitsuki never saw himself as someone especially strong-willed.
Even living alone in a strange city was tough, let alone being thrown into an entirely different world. Once the novelty of reincarnation wore off, all that was left was loneliness.
If he hadn't known that Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi plan was a lie, there was a time he genuinely considered living inside that false dream.
Back then, Mitsuki was drowning in an unspoken emptiness.
But it was Rin's presence that changed that. She was the one who showed him that someone could care about his pain.
She was the one who filled that hollow space in his heart.
In truth, Mitsuki had spent more time with Rin in this life than even with Kento.
If saving Sakumo had just been a convenient side mission...
Then ensuring Rin's survival in this hellish Shinobi World War...Was his true, unwavering goal.
To protect this precious bond — that was worth more than any war.