97 Chapter 97

The number of people in Group B is much larger than that of Group A, so when Obito passed by, Group B was still conducting the combat test.

Obito glanced at the onlookers and quickly found Nohara Rin.

Obito walked towards Nohara Rin with an excited smile and said, "Rin, you don't know how powerful I was just now. Gai had the upper hand but was defeated by me."

Nohara Rin heard Obito's words and turned around, asking with some confusion, "Is the exam over in Group A?"

"Yes, it's over. I'm in second place. I only lost to Shisui," Obito said, unable to contain his excitement.

"You finally defeated Gai. That means you have made great progress, Obito. In the previous exams when you were in school, you never defeated Gai," Nohara Rin said with a gentle smile, praising Obito's progress and making him feel happy.

In the last semester, Obito's strength improved by leaps and bounds, and he even defeated the previous number one, Uchiha Ikunori. However, Might Gai, who also advanced significantly, became a stumbling block on Obito's path to being ranked first.

With Might Gai around, Obito was consistently ranked second in his class and never managed to secure the top spot.

So, Nohara Rin was very happy for Obito after hearing that he had finally defeated Might Gai, which showed significant improvement in Obito's strength.

"Hehe, actually, I had a chance to defeat him before, but every time I was just a little bit short," Obito explained with a smile, happy to receive Nohara Rin's praise.

His victory was due to his strategy during the battle rather than pure strength.

"By the way, how did you perform? Did you make it into the top ten?" Obito asked.

"No, it seems like everyone is improving very quickly," Nohara Rin replied, shaking her head.

Her actual combat ability was at the middle level in Class B, so it was unlikely for her to be in the top ten.

"That's okay; I'll teach you how to become stronger," Obito said enthusiastically, noticing that Nohara Rin seemed a little disappointed with her own strength.

"Okay," Nohara Rin nodded and smiled, willing to learn from Obito's rapid strength improvement.

Obito took Nohara Rin aside and thought about what to teach her. He decided against teaching her techniques like Soru, the Dragon Fire, and Leaf Whirlwind, as those were taught to him by Makoto and required Makoto's consent.

Obito thought of the Fireball Technique, which Makoto had helped him master, and decided to teach it to Nohara Rin.

"Let's start with the seals," Obito quickly demonstrated the seals for the Fireball Technique.

"Next, you need to convert the chakra in your body into flames and then release a large fireball, just like blowing up a balloon," Obito explained while using hand gestures.

Nohara Rin looked at Obito with a puzzled expression. "Don't you understand, Rin?" Obito scratched his head, thinking he was explaining it clearly.

"Just do this first, then that, and finally blow it out like a balloon," Obito gestured again.

Nohara Rin didn't know how to evaluate Obito's teaching level, but she could tell he genuinely wanted to help. She said, "Obito, thank you for your kindness, but I don't even know my chakra attributes yet."

Everyone in the ninja world is born with a chakra attribute, and training the nature of the innate attribute makes it easier and faster to learn techniques.

"That's true," Obito scratched his head, a little disappointed that he couldn't help Nohara Rin.

He decided to ask Makoto for guidance on how to help others become stronger during his practice later that night. He was confident that the all-knowing Sage Makoto would have a solution.

When the teaching attempt failed, Obito continued chatting with Nohara Rin until there was a commotion on the training ground.

"It looks like Teacher Makoto is announcing the results after the exams," Nohara Rin said as she observed a crowd gathering in front of the bulletin board.

"Rin, let's go take a look," Obito led Nohara Rin to the bulletin board with great interest.

Although he was aware of his achievements, Obito wanted to hear people praise him for his accomplishments.

However, when they arrived, Obito discovered that the most discussed person was not him, nor even Shisui, who had not secured the top spot, but Ebisu, who had only joined Group A last week.

"You wouldn't believe what went down during the Group C exam just now. Two participants created sexy clones to distract their opponents in battle."

"Oh, I remember this, but it wasn't their idea, right? I recall it was Ebisu, who got his promotion to Group A, last time."

"Yes, it was his brilliant idea."

"I know this guy. He usually looks all serious, but who would've thought he's a man of culture?"

"I can't believe people fell for this stupid technique!"

"Those clones were so convincing; I almost forgot it was a battle!"

"Those clones definitely stole the show, and my heart."

Listening to the discussions of the people nearby, Obito looked confused and didn't understand what had happened.

Moreover, as Obito listened, the story became more outrageous, with claims that Ebisu uses the clone technique to....

Obito couldn't understand what they were saying at all. He thought about approaching Ebisu to ask about the situation, but he soon discovered that Ebisu had probably left after his first-round loss and he couldn't find him.

After the exam results were announced, Makoto returned directly to his home in the main city.

Back at home, Makoto began preparing to make the Mapo Tofu.

The key difference between the Mapo Tofu recipe given to him by the system and the traditional Mapo Tofu was the use of soybeans.

More precisely, it involved creating a "meat" substitute from soybeans. The soybeans were soaked in water, cooked in stock, then flattened and seasoned with sauce to mimic a meaty texture.

Finally, they were quickly fried to lock in the flavor of the sauce.

These fried soybeans were then added to the Mapo Tofu to impart a unique flavor.

Upon completion, Makoto covered the dinner plate with a lid to add a sense of ceremony.

Soon, Kushina and Minato knocked on Makoto's house door.

After entering, Minato and Kushina noticed the cover on the dining table, which was not usually there.

"Why did you use a cover?" Kushina asked casually.

"Perhaps it's to keep the food warm? He might have started cooking earlier than usual today," Minato speculated.

"Stop guessing; you'll find out as soon as you open the cover," Makoto said with a smile, bringing the remaining two plates to the dining table.

"I'll do it," Kushina quickly stepped forward and lifted the cover.