Obito looked up at the sky, the black smoke constantly drifting from the volcano's crater had covered the sky, and coupled with the gray land, he seemed to be in a monotonous world of only black and gray.
"So hot, so spicy!" Obito breathed in large gulps to make his tongue feel a little more comfortable.
Boom!!
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and an indescribable terrifying flow of lava flames shot from the volcano's crater like a fountain, rushing towards the sky.
The scorching black smoke, the sky-high flames, the dark red magma, the originally black and gray world gained a touch of dangerous red at this moment.
Then the terrifying lava descended from the sky, engulfing Obito, and Obito's eyes regained focus.
"Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!" As he regained consciousness, the feeling of high temperature gradually weakened, but the spiciness lingering on his tongue still hadn't disappeared.
Yet Obito didn't stop eating.
Although spicy, it was just too delicious, completely irresistible.
"High temperature, burning." Obito couldn't help but think of the inexplicable illusion, the flames erupting from the ground, and the high-temperature lava that melted him.
Huff, huff, huff!
The next moment, Obito stuck out his tongue and breathed, directly spitting out a stream of crimson flames from his mouth.
While shouting about the spiciness, Obito spat fire while fanning his tongue with his hand, like a performer showing off a fire-breathing trick.
"Ah ba..." Obito was a bit bewildered.
"Stop the Chakra output," Mokgetsu said calmly.
Only then did Obito realize that he didn't know when he started using Chakra, so he cut off the Chakra supply, and the flames disappeared.
"Before the state fades, hurry up and cultivate." Mokgetsu took out a palm-sized ice block and put it into Obito's hand.
"Remember the sensation just now, the high temperature and burning," Mokgetsu reminded.
Recalling Obito's lost expression just now, Mokgetsu roughly guessed something.
"Didn't expect culinary skills that come with illusions could have such an effect," Mokgetsu was also a bit surprised.
"Looks like I should cook Obito something with a bit more zest recently," Mokgetsu thought to himself.
A simple stir-fry with hot peppers could have such an effect, what if Obito eats Mapo Tofu every day, wouldn't his progress be rapid?
"Teacher Mokgetsu, look!" Obito excitedly shouted to Mokgetsu as he watched the ice block in his hand quickly melt.
Mokgetsu gave a small nod, the originally palm-sized ice block had shrunk in size in just a minute.
"Very good, keep it up, don't forget this feeling," Mokgetsu nodded in affirmation, also reminding Obito not to get carried away.
"M-hm!" Obito nodded rapidly, focusing all his attention on the ice block, consistently releasing Chakra.
He was very excited with the significant progress he'd made.
Sometimes it's hard to endure monotonous and tedious cultivation because there's no feedback.
If every cultivation session led to such progress, Obito thought he might also become a cultivation fanatic.
"Obito, you probably don't hate eating spicy food, right?" Mokgetsu suddenly asked with a smile.
"Spicy? If it's as tasty as the one just now, a little spice is no big deal," Obito said, unconsciously licking his lips, reminiscing about the delicious meal earlier.
It was his first time tasting such a delicious stir-fry, even though the peppers were a bit spicy, it was truly tasty.
"Don't worry, it'll definitely be delicious." Mokgetsu patted Obito on the shoulder, after all, it's his call.
An ominous premonition suddenly crept over Obito, who was diligently melting the ice block.
Could it be, could it be...
Clearly holding the ice, Obito couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, actually, I rather enjoy fried rice too," Obito tried to backtrack.
"Ah, chili fried rice, is it? I'll make it for you." Mokgetsu offered a gentle smile.
"Could you make chili fried rice without the chili?" Obito asked, eyes wide with hope.
He once had a bad experience, after eating something especially spicy, he learned what it means to have spice on both ends.
If he were to eat Mokgetsu's "a little spicy" meals each day, Obito feared he wouldn't be able to come out of the bathroom once he goes in.
"Fried rice without fried rice? Didn't expect you to have such a bold taste, but it's not impossible," Mokgetsu selectively misheard.
Hearing Mokgetsu's words, Obito's eyes turned black, and his legs went weak, nearly fainting on the spot.
He looked for help to Shisui, who was still savoring his meal, but Shisui, upon sensing Obito's gaze, looked up at the sky, pretending not to notice.
It wasn't that Uchiha Shisui was indifferent to the bonds of the clan, but it was a situation he couldn't afford to get involved in.
After all, Obito did indeed improve his training efficiency after eating, so it's possible that eating spicy food had a unique effect on training fire nature transformation.
And Obito himself said it was delicious, shouting about the spiciness while eating it ravenously.
Of course, the main reason was he knew the result of speaking up would mean he and Obito would be eating it together.
Though Shisui didn't mind spicy food, he didn't want to eat it every day, not having a pressing need to rapidly enhance nature transformation.
Obito looked toward Might Guy.
Might Guy sensed Obito's gaze and gave him a thumbs up with a smile, saying, "Fiery youth should embrace a spicy diet!"
Obito: ...
At this moment, his hand was cold and his heart even colder – where was the brotherhood of the clan, the camaraderie of the school, at this crucial moment?
Obito burst forth with Chakra, instantly melting all the ice in his hand and adjusted his Goggles with his hand.
"Teacher, I think it's way too much trouble for you to prepare three separate dishes, how about you just make one dish a bit larger and divide it into three portions for us, it's much easier that way." Obito suggested, feigning thoughtfulness for Mokgetsu.
If that's the case, then everyone should suffer together, if we're to perish, let it be as one.
"Seems like a good idea," Mokgetsu showed a thoughtful expression.
He obviously knew what Obito was up to, but Mokgetsu chose to go along with the entertaining option.
The calm expression on Shisui's face could no longer be maintained; who would've thought this seemingly dull cousin would have such quick wit in dragging others down with him?
"Fiery youth should mean everyone eats spicy food together," Might Guy laughed and said.
"So he really thinks that way," Obito and Shisui silently thought to themselves.
Mokgetsu thought for a moment and decided it wasn't a bad idea; after all, the taste was guaranteed, Obito and Shisui both needed to practice Fire Release, and Might Guy was willing to eat.
From this day forward, Obito, Shisui, and Might Guy started living a literally fiery life.
"So spicy, so delicious!" Obito cried as tears streamed down his face, still unable to stop himself from devouring the Mapo Tofu in his lunchbox.
"So spicy! So delicious!" Might Guy, tears streaming down his face as well, ate Mapo Tofu; except his tears were from being moved, not from the spiciness.
Continuously panting from the spiciness, Shisui quietly distanced himself from the other two a little.
The three of them went to the bathroom together, walked in upright, and came out hunched and leaning against the wall.
At school, Rin noticed Obito constantly arching his back inexplicably, so she asked worriedly:
"Obito, are you feeling unwell?"
Obito showed a wistful expression and said, "No, it's just a small side effect from diligent cultivation."
"Rin, you have no idea how much my Fire Release has improved, I'm going to beat Kakashi in this upcoming junior Ninjutsu competition," Obito said confidently.
One of the reasons he persevered with grueling practice was to wash away the previous humiliations, to defeat Kakashi in front of Rin, and take the first place.
"But Kakashi probably won't sign up for the competition, since he's already a Chunin, and usually only we Ninja School students participate in such contests," Nohara Rin said.
She believed Obito indeed worked hard and had improved significantly, but what sense was there for a ninja like Kakashi to join this kind of civilian competition?
"What?" Obito was dumbfounded; he had always assumed that Kakashi would participate.