"Huh?!"
Obito jerked in shock. His brain hadn't fully caught up yet, but his body reacted on instinct—he shot out a hand, grabbed the rope tightly, and with one hard pull from Mikami Yuu, he was dragged out of the sinking quicksand.
"I'm leaving this side to you—I'm going after the other one!"
Before Mikami Yuu even finished speaking, he was already gone like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging straight at the Wind Release ninja from earlier! That man had already finished another set of hand seals, his chest swelling high:
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!!"
Fwoooosh—!!!
A violent gale erupted from the ground, forming a visible gray-white wall of air. But Mikami Yuu tossed his short sword upward, sprinted forward at the same time, and completed the seals for a second Great Fireball!
BOOM—!!!
Wind fed the flames!
This Wind Release ninja was stronger than Asuma, so the gale he unleashed was even fiercer. But at that moment, all of it became fuel for Great Fireball, causing the already massive flame sphere to roll and expand into a blazing inferno!
Meanwhile, Mikami Yuu caught the short sword as it dropped from above, leapt forward, burst through the heat waves, and slashed. At the brink of death, the Wind Release ninja exploded with survival instinct. He rolled on the ground to smother the flames on his body, then brought up a kunai to block!
Clang—!!
Kunai and short sword collided, sparks flying.
The two clashed at close range right in the middle of the firestorm. Under Mikami Yuu's full-force assault, the chūnin managed to hold for only a few exchanges before being steadily driven back!
…
On the other side,
Minato watched Mikami Yuu from afar. Once he confirmed the situation was fully under control, he relaxed a little—then couldn't help thinking: even though this test was something he'd deliberately arranged… wasn't this kid's killing intent a bit too heavy?
Sure, ninja were meant to kill, especially in a stormy era like this one on the brink of war. But… someone this smooth on their first kill was still pretty rare. And this Great Fireball's growth rate was honestly kind of absurd…
At that point, Obito got fired up too.
He was still shaky in this situation, but after watching Mikami Yuu's performance, a competitive fire rose in him. Adrenaline surged, and he quickly pulled out kunai and shuriken from his pouch, hurling them at the Earth Release ninja not far away.
"You bastard! You dared attack Rin and Minato-sensei?! Die!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
That Earth Release chūnin was already injured and not moving well. He got hit in the thigh and shoulder on the spot, and fell over again.
Then Obito tightened his grip on his kunai, turning all his fear and lingering panic into anger as he rushed forward.
"You piece of crap, die!"
Only a few minutes later,
the entire Mountain Bear Gang, along with the two chūnin, was down. The two chūnin ended up the worst off—one burned to death, the other half-burned and then cut down—while the weaker bandits actually had slightly better survival odds.
Once the dust settled,
Kakashi grabbed the bandit leader Kumada and started interrogating him about their origins.
Obito moved over to Rin's side, anxiously asking how she was.
Minato, meanwhile, walked over to Mikami Yuu. He looked at the charred remains on the ground, then at the white-haired boy standing amid the flames, lit up like some god of fire, and his expression turned subtle.
"Yuu, it's over."
"You performed excellently—honestly, beyond even my expectations. The enemies are all dealt with now. You can stop and rest."
"…Okay, Minato-sensei."
Mikami Yuu let out a long breath tinged with smoke, then sheathed his blade, his face calm and unreadable.
But inside, he was ecstatic—
[Ding! Special event "Clear Great Fireball's Name" complete!]
[Great Fireball Jutsu Affection +10! Current affection: 90/100 (Infatuated)]
[Great Fireball Jutsu: You did well, Mikami-chan!]
As expected, special events were the fastest way to raise affection—nothing else came close.
Before this, while sparring with Kakashi back in the village, Mikami Yuu had already pushed Great Fireball's affection past 80. Now it had jumped another 10 points in one go, almost reaching the 100-point Hearts Aligned stage.
With a bit of luck, by the time this mission ended, he might max out his fourth fully-romanced jutsu.
Because of the sudden attack, the team had to stop and regroup.
"…Minato-sensei, according to that bandit leader, those two ninja were rogue shinobi from the Land of Rivers. They'd been working with the bandits, specializing in roadside robbery. This attack was purely because they got greedy when they saw our supplies. That information should be reliable."
"I understand."
Minato nodded. "We're still some distance from the border, so it shouldn't be enemy ninja from another nation this early… But even if they're just rogue ninja, that still bumps this mission up to B-rank. Everyone needs to be much more careful for the rest of the journey."
"Also, Yuu and Obito did well just now—especially Yuu… When you suddenly appeared behind that Earth Release ninja, was that done with Substitution Technique? When did you place the substitution medium?"
"Well…"
Mikami Yuu smiled slightly. "Isn't it pretty normal to throw out a few substitution mediums around you the moment you sense danger?"
—In reality, what Mikami Yuu used was Pseudo-Realm Instant Cast. In theory, he could've swapped directly with that Earth Release ninja. But that would've been a little too obvious, so instead he casually tossed a pebble at his feet first, then blinked behind the ninja and killed him.
That tiny trick could fool Kakashi and the others, but it might not fool Minato.
Still, Minato showed no intention of pressing the issue. He had only asked casually, then shifted topics and started reviewing Rin's and Obito's actions.
"…The moment you notice someone attacking from behind, the first thing you do is open distance. At the same time, gather chakra under your feet and stabilize your center of gravity. That helps you avoid being controlled by most immobilization-style techniques. The more dangerous the situation, the more important it is to stay calm…"
"And like Yuu said, placing substitution mediums in advance when you suspect combat may happen is a very good habit. You just have to be careful where you place them, so you don't put yourself in a worse position…"
"Got it."
Obito and Rin both nodded.
After that, the atmosphere quieted again, with only the crackling of the burning flames.
Then,
Obito slowly shuffled over to Mikami Yuu, who was wiping down his short sword. His gaze stayed fixed on the ground, one foot absentmindedly grinding a loose pebble, and he said a little awkwardly:
"Hey… um, thanks for earlier, Yuu."
~~~
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