Jealousy. Anger.
Seiji rolled those words around in his head, then glanced at Obito, lips curling into a silent smile.
Anger made sense. After all, the girl he liked—Rin—had just scolded him because of Seiji. Of course he'd be pissed.
But jealousy? That was far more interesting.
What are you jealous of, Obito?That you've never held Rin in your arms?That you've never had her slender neck within reach, never seen her blush up close, never toyed with her emotions the way I just did?
Uchiha Obito. Seiji never had a good opinion of him.
Sure, right now Obito was just a cheerful, sunny kid—but deep down? He was a dog that could never be tamed.
In the original timeline, Minato might not have paid him much special attention, but Kushina? She treated him like family. She cooked for him, encouraged him when he was down, worried for him before every mission.
And how did Obito repay that kindness? By showing up on the night of her childbirth as a masked monster—slaughtering Kushina, killing Minato, and even trying to snuff out Naruto.
One night. That's all it took for him to destroy his teacher's entire family and curse Naruto with a lonely, gray childhood.
And no, it wasn't just Rin's death that pushed him down that path. If it hadn't been Rin, it would've been someone else. In a world this brutal, tragedy is inevitable—and with Madara lurking in the shadows, Obito's fall was practically carved in stone.
So what's the smarter play?Waste time trying to win over a rabid dog… or cut him down early, like harvesting a crop of weeds?
Seiji had already chosen.
Maybe Obito really was exactly what Tobirama feared most: an Uchiha who claimed to act "for love," but let that same love spiral into hatred and destruction—until nothing remained but a madman, devoid of reason or logic.
Rin's scolding still rang in the air when Obito suddenly pressed both hands over his face, trembling.
Then, slowly, he lowered them.
And there it was: a pair of crimson Sharingan, glowing with twin tomoe, burning with an eerie, intoxicating light.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Obito's laughter ripped through the air, wild and manic, his emotions spiking with his new power.
"Rin, I really am a genius!"
With a shove, he knocked Kakashi aside and stomped forward, pointing at Seiji like a man possessed.
"You bastard! How dare you do that to Rin? Just wait—I'll show you!"
"Hmph! I'll prove it! A true Uchiha genius is the one who awakens his eyes!" Obito's tomoe spun slowly, deliberately, flaunting the raw power now coursing through him.
The crowd froze. No one—except Seiji—had ever imagined that loud, clumsy Obito would awaken the Sharingan in such a dramatic fashion.
Shisui narrowed his eyes, fists tightening, his voice dangerously low:"If it weren't for my brother forbidding me to reveal my Sharingan… you dead last, so what if you awakened double tomoe?"
Silence pressed down for a few heartbeats. Then the arena exploded.
"That's the Sharingan! And two tomoe already!"
Kurenai's crimson eyes locked onto Obito's, her lips tightening as she clenched her fists. She had trained tirelessly in genjutsu, desperate to grow stronger… but the cruel truth? Against a Sharingan, even the finest illusions crumbled like paper toys.
And Obito—of all people—just awakened his, as if it were some cosmic joke.
Her heart sank. Was effort even worth it? If a boy could unlock elite-chūnin-level power just from a single hug with Rin… then what was the point of her endless training?
Beside her, Asuma squinted grimly. For the first time, he truly felt the oppressive weight of the Uchiha clan's power.
Meanwhile, the civilian students had none of that depth. They just gawked, wide-eyed.
"Whoa! Even that clown Obito awakened his clan's bloodline limit?!""Could he really be a genius after all?""Unbelievable—the Uchiha really are full of hidden monsters.""Seiji's screwed now. My dad says a grown Uchiha with eyes like that could wipe out a chūnin in seconds!"
What was supposed to be a simple final exam had just been blown wide open. This wasn't an academy scuffle anymore—it was the awakening of a power on par with a jōnin.
And Obito? He basked in it.
He closed his eyes, savoring the taste of genius, of strength. When he opened them again, he shot Seiji a venomous glare—then spun on his heel and flashed Rin what he thought was his coolest smile.
"Don't worry, Rin. I'll protect you from now on. No one will ever hurt you again!"
His Sharingan glowed red, his excitement twisting his face into something almost feral.
Seiji chuckled softly. "Perfect. I love that look on your face."
His own Sharingan tomoe spun, tugging at the faint chakra residue in Rin's body.
Rin's chest tightened. Looking at Obito—the boy who just confessed his determination to protect her—she suddenly felt… uneasy.
And under Seiji's subtle genjutsu, that unease swelled into raw terror.
Her vision warped. In her eyes, Obito loomed over her, half his face twisted in rage, the other half painted with false tenderness. A heavy chain clinked in his hands as he shackled her to a wall.
"Rin!" he growled, voice breaking between love and madness. "Why did you talk to Seiji? Why did you talk to Kakashi? Why did you talk to anyone else?!"
Rin's breath hitched. She stumbled back a step, horror plastered across her face.
And Obito froze.
Her retreat wasn't far—but to him, it was a blade straight to the heart.
"…That tiny step back—was that real? Even the smallest movement… hurts this much?"
Seiji's lips curled, a hum slipping out like he was singing to himself:"♪ Even half a step back cuts deep… oh, what a lovely sound. ♪"
A cold, mechanical chime rang in his head:
[Confrontation target: Uchiha Obito. You have obtained Uchiha bloodline enhancement!]
Obito's talent, huh? I'll need to think carefully about that…