Chapter 215: Team Minato
"Welcome, please come again, Obito, Rin."
Sara's sweet voice rang out, but to the ears of the two children, it sounded like the voice of a devil.
Logically speaking, based on Sara's current skill level, she wasn't ready to man the station alone. However, as her father, Masahiko personally requested that his daughter cook the noodles, and Teuchi didn't refuse.
In short, after eating a bowl of ramen with a "unique texture," Obito expressed that he never wanted to come back. Even Rin felt a bit unwell... mainly because Sara watched them with such a bright smile that they couldn't bring themselves not to shout "It's delicious!" and finish every drop.
"Master, it was just a portrait, wasn't it? Did you really have to drag me down to hell with you?" At this point, Obito finally realized what was happening.
"What do you mean 'drag you down to hell'?" Masahiko glared at him. "Your Sister Sara's craftsmanship isn't something an ordinary person gets to taste."
"I want to be an ordinary person."
...
It took a good while for the two children's expressions to return to normal. Masahiko, on the other hand, felt nothing strange. Human habituation is truly a terrifying thing...
"Master, are you very familiar with Lord Hokage?" Obito recalled that Hiruzen had given the portrait to Masahiko.
"En, reasonably familiar," Masahiko responded indifferently, fully displaying the air of a hidden expert. But then, he suddenly felt something was off.
"Why am I relying on knowing Hiruzen to act cool? That's not quite right, is it?"
Before Masahiko could think further, Obito spoke up with pleasant surprise. "Then Master, can you do me a favor? When the teams are assigned, I want to..."
As he spoke, Obito stole a glance at Rin.
"Want to what? If you don't say it, how would I know what you want?" Masahiko teased.
"I want... Rin is a girl after all. If she can be assigned to the same team as me, I can take care of her, and you can rest assured too, right, Master?"
Masahiko paused, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He looked at Rin, who was covering her mouth and giggling. "I don't know who will be taking care of whom yet!"
Obito's face flushed red, and Rin spoke softly.
"Obito, we are already in the same team."
"Huh? Really? Dan-sensei didn't say anything," Obito said with a face full of surprise.
"He told me to be at the photo studio at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Isn't that your time too? The photo times for other people are separated."
"Oh, is that so?" Obito suddenly realized. "What about the other teammate?"
Rin shook her head gently. "I don't know."
Obito turned to Masahiko again. Masahiko smiled. "Your teammate might be a surprise for you..."
Seeing the bewildered expressions on their faces, Masahiko waved his hand. "Assemble tomorrow. Go back early and prepare. Obito, don't be too late."
"How is that possible..." Obito started to refute, but finding he lacked confidence in himself, he could only leave quickly in a "gloomy" state. Rin chased after him with a light laugh.
Masahiko shook his head and returned to the Taobao Shop. Instead of carving, he started practicing the Gentle Fist (Jūken). His Gentle Fist was getting closer and closer to the max level of 10.
Gentle Fist LV9 (9,132,243/10,000,000)
"At this rate, I guess by this time next year, it should be about maxed out. I wonder how much it will improve my strength."
Early the next morning, after dropping Sara off at Ichiraku Ramen next door, Masahiko walked a few steps to the Konoha Photo Studio. The new batch of graduates all had to take photos here, roughly one group per hour.
From before seven o'clock, Masahiko watched familiar and unfamiliar children having their photos taken under the leadership of familiar instructors.
"Guy is Choza's student?" Masahiko frowned. He couldn't remember if it was like this in the original story, but it probably hadn't changed.
"Why isn't Dai leading a team?" Masahiko muttered, then quickly understood. With Dai's mission IQ, he probably couldn't lead a team. Even as a Jonin, he needed other Jonin or even Chunin to lead him on missions...
As for Guy's teammates, they were two characters somewhat familiar to Masahiko. One was Genma Shiranui, who always had a senbon in his mouth. The other... he couldn't remember the name.
As for the class at eight o'clock, Masahiko didn't recognize the three students, but the leading teacher was very familiar to Masahiko: Inoichi Yamanaka.
"It seems the Ino-Shika-Cho trio have been split up to lead teams. I wonder who Shikaku is leading. Could it be Asuma..."
"It's possible. Minato leads Kakashi, Kakashi leads Naruto. Shikaku leads Asuma, Asuma leads Shikamaru. It fits perfectly."
Before Masahiko could continue his musings, a few minutes past eight, Kakashi arrived. He still had that familiar look: carrying a short sword on his back and wearing a pair of... sandals?
Only then did Masahiko notice that Kakashi's shoes actually exposed his toes, presumably for greater convenience during training.
About ten minutes later, Minato also arrived and greeted Kakashi. Kakashi was somewhat excited. The trip to Roran earlier had made him trust Minato, so having him as his Jonin instructor was perfect.
Actually, Sakumo would have been the most suitable instructor, but Sakumo was already the Deputy Captain of the Anbu and couldn't easily leave his post.
"Sakumo?" Thinking of this, Masahiko suddenly remembered. "In the original story, shouldn't Sakumo be dead by now? That mission..."
"Whatever, it's best if nothing happened."
Then, at eight-thirty, Rin arrived. First, she greeted Kakashi with pleasant surprise, then apologized repeatedly to Minato, saying that Obito would probably be late... With half an hour left until assembly time, Rin already felt Obito would be late.
Sure enough, as nine o'clock drew nearer, there was still no sign of Obito.
Masahiko, who had been squatting nearby for two hours, shook his head gently and walked over.
"Master!"
"Boss Hagoromo."
"Obito is probably lost on the path of life again. You guys are in for a wait."
"That dead-last (dobe), he's always like this." Kakashi seemed naturally incompatible with Obito... though perhaps all best friends are like this on the surface.
Past nine-thirty, Obito still hadn't arrived. The owner of the photo studio was getting anxious; he had a lot of work to do later.
"You go do your business; I'll take their photos." The photo studio owner looked bewildered as Masahiko pushed him away.
"Then I'll trouble you, Boss Hagoromo," Minato said.
Masahiko nodded and waited with them. It wasn't until nearly ten o'clock that Obito came sprinting in.
"Sorry, I... Eh? Master? You own this photo studio too?"
Masahiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The owner was scared off by your lateness. Say hello to your teammates."
Only then did Obito notice Kakashi's existence. He looked instantly despairing... he had originally been happy to be in a team with Rin.
Arguments are proof of friendship... probably. Anyway, under Minato's guidance, the group finally successfully took a "team photo," and from multiple angles with different expressions... This was Masahiko's idea.
Because the formation of Team Minato had changed slightly compared to the original story, it brought Masahiko a full 20 Witness Points.
Witness Points: 997
"I'm 3 points short of 1000. No, my OCD is acting up. Where can I get three points?"
☆☆☆
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