CHAPTER 174
Obito's excited laughter echoed across the training ground for quite some time.
He was so overwhelmed with excitement that he could barely contain himself.
Both fists were clenched tightly, and the single tomoe in each of his newly awakened Sharingan spun rapidly as his emotions surged.
Seeing Obito finally awaken the Sharingan, everyone present sincerely felt happy for him.
After spending more than two years together, the Konoha Shinobi stationed in the Land of Grass had long accepted this loud, hot blooded Uchiha boy as one of their own.
Compared with most members of the Uchiha Clan, Obito was exceptionally approachable.
He would always volunteer to help transport supplies.
Whenever someone had snacks, he would happily share them.
If anyone was injured, Obito was almost always among the first to rush over and lend a hand.
Although he was noisy...
Quite a few people genuinely liked him.
However...
Just as everyone was enjoying the happy atmosphere...
An extremely untimely voice suddenly rang out.
"By the way, Obito."
Guy folded his arms while wearing an innocent looking smile.
"Shouldn't you consider changing your trousers first?"
"...Eh?"
Obito froze.
Then...
As though struck by lightning...
He instantly spun around before desperately covering his backside with both hands.
That particular location had just suffered the full force of Guy's Taijutsu Secret Technique.
At this moment...
There was already a large hole torn through the seat of his trousers.
Fresh blood had even begun soaking through the torn fabric.
The moment everyone noticed...
Soft laughter immediately spread throughout the crowd.
Even Rin couldn't help covering her mouth as she giggled.
Obito's face instantly turned bright red.
He slowly turned back toward Guy.
His expression was incomparably complicated.
There was anger.
There was embarrassment.
There was gratitude.
And...
There were countless emotions mixed together.
Did he want to curse Guy?
He couldn't.
After all...
In a certain sense...
Guy really had helped him awaken the Sharingan.
Did he want to thank him?
That was even more impossible.
The current situation was simply too humiliating.
In the end...
Obito could only glare fiercely at Guy.
"You..."
"Just wait!"
Leaving behind those harsh words...
He immediately covered his backside again before fleeing the training ground as quickly as possible.
Everything else could wait.
Changing his trousers came first.
Guy merely shook his head before laughing quietly.
At that moment...
Kakashi slowly walked over before stopping beside Guy.
His visible eye narrowed slightly as he carefully studied Guy's face.
After a long silence...
He finally spoke.
"You did that on purpose."
It wasn't a question.
It was a statement.
Guy shrugged without denying it.
"I just wanted to give it a try."
"It wasn't going to kill anyone."
"Judging from the result..."
"It worked pretty well."
He answered casually.
Hearing that...
Kakashi's pupil contracted slightly.
Just as he had expected.
Guy had done it deliberately.
And that was indeed the truth.
Guy understood very well what was required for an Uchiha to awaken the Sharingan.
They needed intense emotional stimulation.
In the original course of events, Obito first awakened his Sharingan during the Kannabi Bridge mission after witnessing Kakashi lose his left eye while trying to rescue him.
The overwhelming guilt...
Combined with anger and desperation...
Caused both of Obito's eyes to awaken directly into the Two Tomoe Sharingan.
Awakening both eyes simultaneously...
And beginning with two tomoe...
Even within the Uchiha Clan, that was extremely rare.
It was enough to prove that Obito had never truly been talentless.
His potential had always been astonishing.
Later...
After witnessing Kakashi apparently kill Rin...
His emotions exploded once again.
Instead of progressing naturally to the Three Tomoe Sharingan...
He skipped straight to the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even among the Uchiha Clan...
Such an awakening speed could only be described as monstrous.
Therefore...
Although Guy's attack looked like nothing more than a practical joke...
It actually wasn't.
The One Thousand Years of Death he had just performed incorporated some of the principles of the Great Vajra Finger.
Even the Chakra condensed at his fingertips carried traces of that technique's terrifying penetrating power.
If he had shown even the slightest lack of restraint...
That strike really could have endangered Obito's life.
If it had merely been an ordinary prank...
There would have been absolutely no reason to use that level of force.
The reason Obito became so enraged wasn't solely because of the humiliation.
It was also because...
For a brief instant...
He genuinely felt the threat of death.
Although deep down he knew Guy would never intentionally kill him...
The instinctive fear his body experienced in that moment couldn't be faked.
Of course...
That life threatening sensation was only the first layer of emotional stimulation.
The second...
Was even more important.
Right in front of the girl he loved...
His greatest rival...
And his closest friend...
He had completely lost face.
The unprecedented humiliation rapidly transformed into overwhelming anger.
Those powerful emotional fluctuations...
Combined with the fact that Obito had already been standing at the threshold of awakening for quite some time...
Finally shattered the last invisible barrier.
Thus...
His Sharingan awakened.
Although it was only the One Tomoe Sharingan rather than the Two Tomoe Sharingan from the original timeline...
He had awakened it over two years earlier than before.
Kakashi quietly stared at Guy.
There wasn't the slightest trace of doubt left in his eyes.
As someone who had witnessed everything from beginning to end...
He understood the entire process even more clearly than anyone else.
Finally...
Kakashi gave a quiet snort.
"I'll give you that."
He didn't ask any further questions.
At that moment...
Rin happily stepped closer.
Her eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Guy-kun is amazing."
"Before this, we tried all kinds of methods."
"Even Minato-sensei deliberately created dangerous combat situations to stimulate Obito."
"But none of it worked."
"And yet..."
"You managed it the very day you arrived."
"If Kushina-san heard about this..."
"She'd definitely be delighted."
Guy grinned broadly.
"Actually..."
"It was just a sudden idea."
"My original target for that technique..."
"...was someone else."
As he spoke...
He deliberately glanced toward Kakashi.
Then his smile became even more mischievous.
"But then again..."
"If Obito watched Kakashi suffer such a serious injury right in front of Rin..."
"He might have awakened his Sharingan from the shock as well."
The moment those words left his mouth...
Both Kakashi and Rin changed expressions simultaneously.
Rin's face immediately became scarlet.
Her eyes instinctively drifted toward a certain location behind Kakashi.
For just an instant...
There seemed to be the slightest trace of curiosity.
Then she hurriedly looked away before Kakashi could notice.
Unfortunately...
Kakashi had already noticed.
His expression instantly darkened.
He glared fiercely at Guy.
His eyes clearly warned...
"Don't even think about trying it."
Just as everyone continued laughing together...
Obito finally came running back from the distance.
He hadn't actually changed his trousers.
Instead...
He had somehow found a piece of dark coloured cloth.
It was tightly wrapped around his waist, barely concealing both the large tear and the bloodstains.
Although the result looked rather awkward...
It was certainly much less embarrassing than before.
Seeing Obito return...
Rin immediately smiled and waved.
Obito awkwardly scratched the back of his head before grinning foolishly.
However...
The instant his eyes landed on Guy...
His expression immediately changed.
"Guy!"
"You bastard!"
"Where did you even learn such..."
"...such a shameless technique?!"
"And you actually used it on me!"
Guy simply laughed.
"This technique..."
"I inherited it from White Fang-sama."
"So..."
"You'd better be careful."
"If White Fang-sama hears you insulting it..."
"He might personally come back to teach you another lesson."
"What?!"
Obito's eyes widened in disbelief.
"White Fang-sama..."
"Taught that technique?"
"How is that possible?!"
He instinctively turned toward Kakashi.
His face was completely filled with shock.
His expression clearly asked only one question.
"Kakashi..."
"Your father really knew such a shameless technique?"