"Naraku! Kakashi! Hurry, hurry!"
Obito stood at the school gate for a long time, finally seeing the people he was waiting for appear at the intersection, eagerly jumping up and waving.
Today was the graduation ceremony for Obito's class, and as one of the outstanding student representatives, he was going to receive an award on stage.
He didn't want to waste such a rare occasion. Not only did he reserve a seat for his grandmother in the parent section, but he also pestered Naraku and Kakashi for two days until they agreed to come and watch.
However, his words still didn't match his true feelings: "Hmph, you guys who graduated early haven't seen a ceremony, right? I'm letting you come back to experience what it's like, no need to thank me."
Naraku looked at him with an unreadable expression, feeling that this wasn't the Obito he knew.
--Is it my imagination?
--Why do I feel like Obito is becoming more and more tsundere?
But he didn't voice these two thoughts. He and Kakashi followed Obito through several turns to the seats Rin had helped them reserve.
He glanced to the side and, good heavens, his old acquaintance Might Dai was also there, his bottom not even touching the chair, suspended two centimeters above it.
--What a grind, still thinking about horse stance at a time like this.
After exchanging greetings, they had barely sat down when the graduation ceremony officially began.
First, the principal and teachers gave a brief speech, congratulating and encouraging the graduating students, urging them to work hard after leaving school and not to show any slack.
Next was the award ceremony Obito had been eagerly anticipating. Although he stood in a position near the edge, he was still grinning from ear to ear, frequently waving to Rin, who was applauding in the crowd.
As for the Hokage's speech at the end, Naraku was too lazy to listen. He pretended to be too sleepy and leaned on Kakashi's shoulder, falling asleep, which made Kakashi nervously pull him home to rest.
Perhaps due to the tight schedule, on the afternoon of the same day the ceremony ended, the graduates received their team assignments before even leaving school.
Obito heard Teacher Hoshino, the homeroom teacher, announce that he and Rin were in the same team, and he happily jumped onto a desk, cheering with joy.
In his excitement, he didn't care who the remaining teammate was, nor did he bother to wonder why the homeroom teacher told them that their Jonin leader would meet them at the training ground. He quickly dragged Rin to the location.
Then he was dumbfounded.
"Ka-Kakashi?!"
The white-haired young man, arms crossed and a ninja sword on his back, was already waiting there. Seeing them, he gave Obito a speechless glance: "You didn't know, did you?"
Rin couldn't help but laugh: "Obito ran off before listening to the end."
Obito wouldn't admit that he was happy about it. He pouted: "Why is our teammate you? Aren't you already a Chunin?"
"Hokage-sama's latest order: Ninja like Kakashi who don't have fixed teammates have all been reorganized."
Minato appeared beside them from who knows where, straightened up, and smiled: "Hello everyone, I am your Jonin team leader, Minato Namikaze. Please take care of me from now on."
"Yes, Teacher Minato." × 3
Even though Kakashi was used to calling him'senior,' now that he was in Minato's team, he still had to follow the rules and call him 'teacher.'
"Well then, without further ado, shall we begin?"
Minato smiled radiantly, shaking the two bells in his hand... Meanwhile, Naraku, who had returned home and was helping Mikoto with the children, was shaking a rattle, making Little Itachi giggle.
The warm sunlight on his back made him genuinely a bit drowsy. His head involuntarily drooped for a moment before he suddenly woke up.
Drowsiness came and went. Naraku yawned, found a blanket and a pillow, and lay down on the tatami, hugging Little Itachi and quietly catching up on sleep.
The scene Mikoto saw when she came in was two children, one big and one small, snuggled tightly together, both with their eyes closed, sleeping soundly with even breaths.
She picked up the camera she had bought a few days ago from the cabinet, somewhat unskillfully aimed the lens at her target, and pressed the shutter.
After a faint click, this scene was clearly imprinted on the film, becoming a tangible memory.
In fact, ever since she bought this camera, Mikoto had taken many photos under the pretext of practicing: the flowers and plants in the courtyard, a table full of delicious dinner, the magnificent sunset clouds filling the sky... Without exception, Naraku's figure was present in every single one.
She always felt that time passed too slowly, somewhat impatiently longing for that beautiful future where Little Itachi had grown up and the family sat together flipping through photo albums.
Yet she also feared that time would pass too quickly, causing the happy days to quietly slip away before she could fully appreciate them.
Gently placing the camera back in its original spot, Mikoto looked lovingly at the children still soundly asleep, and chuckled, complaining, "Honestly, they'll be hungry again when they wake up."
Then she turned to prepare sweet snacks and a specially formulated medicinal soup.
Putting various tonics and ingredients into the pot, turning on the stove, and watching the blue flames, Mikoto kept thinking about developing the photos, wondering if she should wait until this roll was completely shot before getting them developed.
As she pondered, she habitually sighed again.
When would Naraku's illness show improvement?
Even after two months of recuperation, compared to before his fall, Naraku's body was inevitably much weaker.
His energy was no longer full and abundant; he often felt drowsy during the day and occasionally coughed and experienced difficulty breathing.
But as long as he was in front of her, Naraku always hid it well, and when asked, he would say he was fine.
Lady Tsunade had been troubled by this, but she couldn't do anything about him; she couldn't really punch him... She also wondered if Lord Orochimaru had made any progress...
"Fugaku, it's time to tell the truth."
Orochimaru was still observing cells under a microscope as he spoke, then looked up, took a record board, and started writing and drawing on it.
Only the "shush" sound of the pen tip rubbing against paper was heard in the laboratory.
"According to the experimental data, Uchiha Naraku's cells still have room for evolution, indicating that there is still a certain form beyond the Mangekyo Sharingan."
After writing the last word, Orochimaru tilted his head slightly: "Right, Fugaku? This is very likely his only chance of survival."
Fugaku hesitated repeatedly but finally relented: "Indeed, there is more. Please forgive me, I wasn't deliberately hiding it, but it's highly unlikely to be achieved."
"To evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, one needs to sacrifice the Mangekyo Sharingan of a close relative."
"But Naraku has no siblings, his mother died early, and his father never even awakened a One-Tomoe."
"Oh?" Orochimaru revealed a cold smile, his eyes glinting with investigative interest, "That's an interesting subject."
The Uchiha bloodline is actually so fascinating?
Sacrifice, huh... As the Second Hokage said, it is indeed "evil."
"Where there's a will, there's a way."
Orochimaru gave Fugaku a meaningful look and said, "I still need more samples, preferably every form of Sharingan."
Compared to Danzo's clandestine acts of eye-gouging, Orochimaru's straightforward request at this moment seemed much more acceptable.
Fugaku composed himself, nodded, and agreed: "Alright, I will have someone send them over shortly."
The Uchiha clan has a thousand-year legacy; how could they not have preserved Sharingan? Taking a few for experiments is not a big deal.
Moreover, Orochimaru's superb research ability, being able to discover the secret of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in such a short time, also gave him a glimmer of hope for curing Naraku...