Land of Fire, Konoha Main Camp.
Inside a specially designated medical tent.
Ren Uchiha opened his eyes.
Above him was the deep green fabric of a tent ceiling. A heavy scent of blood, intensified by the sunlight filtering through the canvas, hung in the air. Outside, a cacophony of construction—hammers pounding, saws cutting—mingled with some very familiar young voices.
"Pair of Threes!"
"Joker Bomb!"
"Kakashi! You can't play your cards like that!"
"But it's a pair of threes!"
"Is there a problem? I only have one card left."
"As expected of my eternal rival, Kakashi! Fine, I shall do five hundred push-ups! If I fail, twenty laps around the camp!"
"Argh! You idiot! Why didn't you split his hand?!"
Listening to the noise, Ren's brow twitched. What kind of Naruto-themed theater is this? Just from the voices, he knew it was Obito Uchiha, Kakashi, and Might Guy. The real question was: why were these three at the Land of Rain front together, and why were they playing cards?
"Oh, you're awake?"
A girl with short brown hair and two purple markings on her cheeks walked over, carrying a medical tray. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt with a light pink skirt and leggings. Her smile was warm and bright. The tray held relatively modern medical equipment: gauze, a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, and various ointments.
As she approached, Ren felt a dull ache in every fiber of his being, as if he had run ten marathons back-to-back. His internal organs felt like they had been put through a blender.
But that didn't matter. He raised an eyebrow. Isn't this Rin Nohara, his "bro" Obito's crush?
Rin set the tray on a cabinet next to the bed and called out to the tent entrance:
"Obito! The friend you wanted to visit is awake!~"
There was an immediate commotion outside. "Eh! Rin's calling me! I haven't played my last card yet, so this match doesn't count!"
Soon, a boy with a wide grin, goggles on his forehead, and a Konoha headband pushed his way into the tent. He wore an athletic jacket with a ninja tool pouch strapped to his thigh.
"Rin, I'm so grateful to you!"
The moment he entered, Obito didn't even look at Ren on the bed. He immediately grabbed Rin's hands, showering her with concern. "Hehe, if it weren't for you, Ren definitely wouldn't have recovered this fast! How are you lately? Is the work in the Medical Corps too tiring?"
Ren watched in stunned silence. Even Rin seemed overwhelmed by his intensity and gave a helpless, gentle smile.
"Obito, go check on your friend. I have work to do~" With that, she picked up her tray and scurried out, her head peeking around as if searching for a certain white-haired boy.
Obito stood frozen like a statue, staring at the spot where she disappeared. Only after she was long gone did he scratch his head and remember who he was supposed to be visiting.
As the two Uchihas locked eyes, a long, toe-curlingly awkward silence filled the tent. Finally, Ren broke it, staring expressionlessly at Obito.
"Tobi..."
"You didn't come here to see me at all."
"Let me give you some advice: you should probably give up on this doomed romance as soon as possible."
Obito coughed twice, pretending he didn't hear Ren's barking. He laughed loudly, walked over, and slapped Ren on the shoulder. He flashed a thumbs-up and pointed arrogantly at his own headband.
"Ren! You don't have the seniority to lecture me anymore!"
"So what if you have experience with hundreds of D-rank missions!"
"I, Obito Uchiha, just led a team to complete a B-rank mission!"
"You've never felt it—that tense atmosphere behind the smoke-filled front lines, escorting emergency supplies for the vanguard, constantly on guard against Sand squads... it's intense!"
"Impressive, right? As I keep training, I'll become a Chūnin, a Jōnin, wake up my Sharingan, get Three Tomoe—"
"And finally, I'll become the greatest Fifth Hokage in Konoha's history!"
Ren stared at Obito, genuinely shocked. This guy came here just to flex on me?
Actually, it was hard to answer. He really hadn't done a B-rank mission. How was he supposed to put it?
Should I say I just took on three hundred Sand shinobi alone, then followed it up with a life-and-death duel against a Kage-level powerhouse? And then fought alongside your teacher, Minato Namikaze, to kill the supreme commander of the Sand forces?
What rank would that be? S-rank? SS-rank? No, that sounded like a fairy tale. Obito would just think he was bragging.
So, Ren decided to pivot. He caught the hole in Obito's logic and smirked.
"Tsk, Tobi... I recall B-rank missions require a Chūnin to lead. In your squad, only Kakashi is a Chūnin. So... doesn't that mean Kakashi carried you through the mission? Were you just there to make up the numbers?"
Obito's exaggerated grin froze. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He quickly grabbed an apple, sliced it, and shoved a piece into Ren's mouth to preemptively silence any further verbal fire.
"Enough! Don't say another word!"
"It's just Chūnin! Once I wake up these eyes, I'll surpass that arrogant white-haired brat! I'll even become a Jōnin before he does!" Obito huffed, pointing proudly at his wide, dark eyes.
Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps approached the tent!
A large hand pulled back the curtain. A young man in a black robe with sunglasses entered, accompanied by a man with a pineapple hairstyle wearing a deerskin coat.
Obito was stunned. He didn't recognize the one in sunglasses, but the pineapple-haired man was the camp's chief strategist, Shikaku Nara.
Obito was about to greet him, thinking it would be good to get on the strategist's good side for better missions, but Shikaku Nara ignored him completely.
He looked directly at Ren Uchiha and spoke with a grave, formal tone:
"Ren Uchiha."
"Come with us."
"It is time for your Jōnin promotion ceremony."
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