Chapter 223: Changes in Everyone

"I'm back!" Guy shouted energetically as he walked to the front door.

"Welcome home, did you have a youthful day today?" Duy greeted and asked upon hearing Guy's voice.

"Of course," Guy replied with a brilliant smile, giving himself a thumbs-up. "Today, I completed all the recovery training perfectly."

"Hahaha, my son is truly amazing!" Duy laughed proudly. "Come and eat. I've prepared a feast for you today to help you recover sooner."

Curiously, Guy walked to the dining table and glanced at it. It was filled with all kinds of meat dishes and a medicinal soup brewed from precious herbs.

"This table must have cost quite a bit," Guy couldn't help but remark.

He felt that this meal's expenses might exceed the budget for the entire previous month.

"Nothing is more important than a healthy and strong body. Now that I'm a Chunin, I can earn more money. Guy, just eat to your heart's content," Duy said proudly.

His situation was different now compared to before. Previously, he was not only a Genin but also had a poor reputation, which meant fewer missions were available to him.

Due to demonstrating his strength and promotion to Chunin, Sarutobi Hiruzen specially allowed him to undertake B-Rank and lower missions solo.

Even the lowest-paying B-Rank mission fetched a gross income of at least eighty thousand Ryo, with the highest reaching up to two hundred thousand Ryo.

"I won't disappoint your expectations, Father!" Guy said with a determined expression, facing the table filled with food, and then began eating at lightning speed.

Although Duy's cooking wasn't as delicious as Mutsuki's, which could induce hallucinations, it was still food that Guy never grew tired of.

As he continued eating, Guy didn't touch the rice anymore, instead drinking the medicinal soup and devouring the meat. Finally, after two satisfying burps, he cleared the table of all the dishes.

"By the way, the mission commission fee came in today. Since I don't have much use for it, Dad, you can have it," Guy said, handing over a hundred and ten thousand Ryo to Duy.

"Guy, you're really thoughtful. I feel I've owed you for a long time," Duy couldn't help but sigh.

He had always felt somewhat indebted to Guy. Unlike other ninja parents, his ability to assist Guy was severely limited, and the Eight Inner Gates technique he could teach was an extremely dangerous forbidden jutsu.

"I don't feel like I've been owed anything. Besides, things are slowly getting better, aren't they?" Guy smiled and replied.

"Yeah, the spring of youth is all about looking forward!" Duy agreed with a big laugh, without dwelling on it too much.

"I owe the success of this mission to you, Father-sama, and Yumi-sensei teaching me the Eight Inner Gates, which gave me the strength to protect my comrades," Guy recounted his experience from the previous mission.

"Originally just a regular C-Rank mission, but on the way, we encountered a strong group of Hidden Cloud Ninja. I activated the Second Gate of the Eight Inner Gates and together with my comrades, we defeated the Jonin-level enemies."

"To defeat Jonin-level enemies, even with teamwork, is quite remarkable. I'm amazed," Duy expressed surprise as he listened to Guy's account.

Jonin are elite members of each village, recognized for their strength, achievements, and qualifications for promotion.

"I'm so proud of you!" Emotionally moved, Duy hugged Guy, tears of joy streaming down his face. "I have full confidence in you, but I never expected you to progress so quickly on the path to becoming an outstanding ninja. Until now, I haven't even had a record of defeating Jonin."

"It's all thanks to you, Father, and Yumi-sensei. Without you both, I wouldn't have this kind of strength," Guy said earnestly.

"No, most of it is due to your own efforts, and Yumi-sensei's excellent guidance. I've only contributed a little," Duy corrected modestly.

He knew very well that Guy's current strength was mainly due to Mutsuki's guidance and Guy's own efforts, not so much because of his relationship with him.

"Guy, in the future, when you have the chance, you must repay Yumi-sensei's kindness. Youth should be righteous and grateful," Duy said sternly.

"Of course, I will never forget Yumi-sensei's kindness!" Moved to tears, Guy said passionately.

He hadn't forgotten that back in third grade, he was trailing behind, and without Mutsuki's help, he wouldn't have progressed this far in such a short time.

...

After dinner, Obito went to Rin's house to invite her out to play.

"Hello, uncle and auntie," Obito smiled as he greeted upon entering.

"Oh, it's little Obito. Are you here to play with Rin-chan? Let me call her down," Rin's family recognized the boy who often played with Rin.

"Rin-chan, Obito is here to see you. Come down quickly!"

Rin, upon hearing the sound, quickly descended the stairs.

"I heard there's been some activities recently. Rin-chan, would you like to go play together?" Obito grinned as he invited Rin.

"Sure, you've been tired from your missions lately, so it's good to relax," Rin agreed with a smile.

"Let's go find Kakashi and Guy together. They might want to go out too," Rin continued.

Obito wanted to say they probably wouldn't, but instead, he found himself saying, "Sure, let's ask them."

Following Obito's suggestion, they first went to Guy's house.

"Play? As long as you're having fun. I need to continue my recovery training," Guy declined their invitation.

"Then we wish you a speedy recovery, Guy," Rin said softly.

"Thanks for the support!" Guy gave Rin a thumbs-up before returning to his training.

"Should we just go play then? I feel like Kakashi should also be practicing," Obito took the opportunity to suggest.

"Obito, that's not nice. We haven't asked, so how do we know what he's thinking?" Rin lightly chuckled and wagged her finger at Obito.

Obito took a closer look and found Rin's eyes so deep and clear, it made his heart skip a beat.

"Obito, what are you looking at?" Seeing Obito suddenly lost in thought, Rin curiously leaned closer to check on him.

As Rin's face drew nearer, Obito felt even more drawn to the clarity in her eyes.

When he could clearly see himself reflected in Rin's eyes, Obito snapped out of it, quickly stepping back with a slightly flushed face. "You're too close, Rin-chan! Why are you suddenly leaning in like that?"

"Well, you were spacing out, not listening to me. It's only natural to startle you," Rin replied with hands on hips, a small hint of pride in her smile.

In the end, the two of them still went to Kakashi's house.

When they arrived, Kakashi was in the yard training to improve his reaction speed.

"I told you Kakashi would be training. Rin-chan, let's go," Obito said, his eyes gleaming when he saw Kakashi training.

"Since we're here, we can't just leave without asking," Rin said helplessly, looking at Obito who seemed eager to leave.

Kakashi noticed the two of them and stopped to ask, "What's up? Is there something you need?"

"Didn't you just finish a very tiring mission recently? I thought we could all gather and play games to relax a bit," Rin explained with a smile.

Originally, Kakashi wanted to refuse as he was focused on resolving issues with his Thunderclap and Flash technique. However, Obito spoke up first.

"Kakashi, I understand you. You want to train, right? We won't disturb you; let's go right away," Obito said, as if he understood Kakashi's intentions.

Kakashi changed his mind. Obito didn't want him to go, but Kakashi insisted, so he calmly said, "Then let's go play together."

"Rin-chan, did you hear that? Kakashi refused," Obito quickly said to Rin.

Rin imitated Mutsuki by tapping Obito's forehead with her index and middle fingers together, then said, "Obito, you need to listen carefully to others. Kakashi didn't refuse; he agreed."

"Huh?" Obito was a bit dumbfounded. According to Kakashi's usual habits, this shouldn't have happened.

"Kakashi, are you sure you want to stop training and go play with us?" Obito couldn't help asking again.

"I'm sure. Didn't Yumi-sensei also say that training should include rest?" Kakashi affirmed.

Seeing Obito's frustrated expression, Kakashi felt a sense of satisfaction. His mood, dampened from losing the battle during the day, suddenly improved.

"If you don't train properly, you deserve to be defeated by me," muttered Obito as they walked along the road.

It's so hard to get a chance to be alone with Rin, and it's been ruined like this.

Next, they went to the street where the event was held to play.

Due to his resentment, Obito's main focus in the following actions was "I can be uncomfortable, but I definitely can't let Kakashi have it easy."

At a large goldfish scooping stall, the three competed to see who could scoop more goldfish.

At first, they were each scooping seriously, but later, Obito saw Rin often observing how Kakashi was scooping. Feeling dissatisfied, Obito started grabbing the same goldfish Kakashi was going for.

If Mutsuki hadn't forbidden him to use the Sharingan outside, Obito was ready to activate his Sharingan to scoop goldfish.

With Obito's interference, Kakashi, who was initially leading, gradually fell behind, and in the end, Rin emerged victorious.

Next, the three went to a booth for shuriken target practice and prizes.

This time, all three participated together. Obito used Uchiha shuriken throwing techniques to deflect Kakashi's shuriken while hitting the target with his own shuriken.

Feeling Obito's malicious intent, Kakashi didn't hold back either. His shuriken throwing was also precise, and in the standoff, both of their shurikens missed.

"You guys, why do you have to compete like this when playing games?" Rin showed a helpless smile.

"Yumi-sensei said occasional competition is beneficial for improving strength," Obito brought up Mutsuki.

"That's true," Kakashi said casually.

Next, Obito competed with Kakashi in everything, making Rin feel somewhat redundant.

"They really are as Yumi-sensei said, enjoying themselves in it," Rin watched the two constantly bantering and competing without showing signs of boredom, unable to help but smile.

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