Naruto : Ninja school teacher, I can become stronger by teaching

"I'm not the Uchiha dead-last! I ranked third in the last practical exam for my year!" Seeing that Kakashi's impression of him was still stuck before he started studying with Muyue, Obito immediately blurted out his last exam results.

"If third place counts as dead-last, then wouldn't only two people in the entire year not be dead-last? Besides, I was careless last time; next time I'll definitely be first!" Obito said, unconvinced.

Kakashi was slightly stunned. Third place certainly wasn't the dead-last. Considering Obito's performance in the Junior Ninja Tournament, he thought third place was quite normal. However, Kakashi couldn't stand Obito's arrogant attitude, so he spoke:

"I'm not sure if third place counts as dead-last, because I've always been first, so I don't know what third place feels like."

Obito opened his mouth but found himself unable to retort, because it was the truth. Kakashi had absolute dominance in school when he was a student, always taking first place.

"By the way, were you third in the theoretical exam? I was also first in the theoretical exam," Kakashi added, rubbing it in.

Obito felt an arrow pierce his heart. Theory was his eternal pain. Forget third place, he had barely passed thanks to Muyue's tutoring. Although his theoretical scores were truly terrible, Obito wouldn't admit it to Kakashi, so he stubbornly said:

"Last time during the theoretical exam, I didn't sleep well the night before, so I did a little worse than in practicals, but this time will definitely be different!"

"How much worse is 'a little worse'? You didn't even pass, did you?" Kakashi, who knew Obito very well, intentionally provoked him. As he expected, Obito immediately blurted it out himself.

"No way, I just barely passed!" Obito retorted. This was his first time passing, after all.

"Barely passing is a bit worse than third place, and your 'a bit' is quite significant." Kakashi said, a smile appearing on his face.

Obito fell silent. If he could become Hokage, he would definitely issue a decree to abolish the Ninja Academy's theoretical exams; they were too tormenting.

"Obito has been working very hard recently! I see him studying every day. His final exam scores might improve by leaps and bounds," Rin Nohara spoke up for Obito.

Obito, who had been a bit downcast, instantly recovered, feeling that the world was wonderfully beautiful. He even found the gradually receding figures of Might Guy and Shisui somewhat endearing.

"Wait, Guy and Shisui are training, and I'm here bickering with Kakashi, wasting time?" Obito suddenly thought of a problem. With one increasing and the other decreasing, Might Guy would definitely become stronger than him, meaning he would have even more questions to do, and even less time to spend with Rin Nohara.

"Playing with Rin means more questions to do, and more questions mean no time to play with Rin, so playing with Rin means no time to play with Rin." Obito's mind came up with this somewhat strange chain of logic.

Obito didn't quite understand why Might Guy and Shisui were training together at night. One was from his clan, the other his classmate, yet he felt like an outsider. Obito thought back and realized he might have been invited, but he had refused because he was going to play with Rin.

Obito was very conflicted at this moment, wondering how to solve this dilemma. Then he saw Kakashi, and an idea blossomed. No matter how much he denied it or how stubborn he was, Obito had to admit that Kakashi was truly amazing. Graduating at five and becoming a Chunin at six, Kakashi had already been promoted to Chunin, on the same level as the school teachers, while they were still in their second year of the Ninja Academy. If he could learn something from Kakashi, he might gain an advantage in his battles with Might Guy.

"Kakashi, how would you deal with an opponent who is faster and stronger than you?" Obito asked Kakashi.

"Create distance and then use ninjutsu," Kakashi replied.

"Only using taijutsu," Obito added a condition.

"Why wouldn't I use ninjutsu if I can?" Kakashi refused to answer.

Obito scratched his scalp, raging internally, "Damn Kakashi."

"Because at that time, you'd be low on chakra and couldn't use ninjutsu," Obito thought for a moment and said.

"Then clash with him head-on."

"Why? With disadvantages in both strength and speed, how could a head-on clash work?" Obito was very puzzled.

"That way you can die a more glorious death. Do you think taijutsu doesn't require chakra?" Kakashi replied bluntly.

Obito was getting exasperated; this annoying Kakashi completely ignored conventions. Feeling he had teased enough, Kakashi then said:

"Since your physical strength and speed are inferior to the enemy's, you need to focus on movement and technique."

"So-called combat is simply about how I hit the enemy and how I prevent the enemy from hitting me. Movement can help you avoid enemy attacks and injury, and stronger techniques can compensate for a lack of strength in offense."

Obito felt that what Kakashi said made a lot of sense, yet it also felt like he said nothing at all. Upon closer thought, he had heard similar words from Muyue.

"Are you participating in some competition where only taijutsu can be used? Is someone stronger than you?" Kakashi speculated.

"It's not a competition, it's a practical exam. Both of my rivals are good at taijutsu," Obito didn't tell Kakashi the truth. He felt that if Kakashi knew it was about doing questions as punishment for combat, he might not help him and instead just laugh while watching him do questions.

"If you're truly serious about improving your taijutsu, I don't mind helping you, but I'm just afraid you can't endure the hardship," Kakashi said.

"The one thing Obito Uchiha isn't afraid of is hardship." Obito smiled upon hearing Kakashi's words. What hardship could be worse than doing a hundred questions after one battle? My suffering is beyond yours, Kakashi.

Then Kakashi led the two of them to a nearby training ground.

"Next, I will fight you without using ninjutsu, but I won't hold back. Are you sure you want my help with training?" Kakashi asked one last time.

"Go all out," Obito said nonchalantly. He wanted to test Kakashi's strength anyway. Undoubtedly, Kakashi was more proficient in ninjutsu, so Obito thought that in a pure taijutsu duel, the gap shouldn't be too big.

"Alright, then I'm starting." Seeing Obito's resolve, Kakashi decided to grant his wish. The next instant, Kakashi appeared directly in front of Obito with a Body Flicker Technique and kicked Obito, who hadn't even reacted, flying.

Obito, who had just been chatting with Rin Nohara, was a little dazed. He patted the dust off himself and said, "I was careless and didn't dodge. Continue."

One minute later, Obito was covered in dust, with several shoe prints on him. Because Rin Nohara was watching nearby, even though he fell several times in a minute, Obito still managed to stand up casually and yell "Continue!"

Rin Nohara watched the two, who had already gotten into their rhythm, and seemed to want to say something but held back. She felt a bit superfluous here.