Obito's dramatic transformation caused the old lady, who had been close to him, to fail to recognize him at first.
After revealing his identity, Granny Tsuchimura started praising him.
"Wow, Obito, your new look—didn't even recognize you at first! You're so handsome now, much better than before."
"Hehe, come on, I've always been pretty good-looking."
Obito began grinning like an idiot. Getting called handsome for the first time just felt amazing.
After chatting with Granny Tsuchimura for a bit, Obito scratched his head, still smiling foolishly, and walked over to Shindai and the others.
Kakashi quipped sarcastically, "What are you so happy about? That just proves you weren't considered good-looking by Granny Tsuchimura before."
Obito's good mood instantly vanished. He frowned in annoyance, "What are you talking nonsense for! Didn't you hear Granny Tsuchimura say I'm handsomer than before? That means I was already handsome—just even more so now!"
Shindai rolled his eyes. "Obito, I can't just stand here and listen to you making stuff up like that. Back then, you looked no different from a complete airhead—'handsome' doesn't even come close. If it hadn't been for me, you'd still be acting like that airhead today!"
Obito flushed red with anger but was about to argue back when Shindai suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Hold on!"
Obito actually stopped mid-retort. Shindai turned his head toward Rin Nohara beside him. "Rin, tell us—is Obito handsome now or not?"
Rin Nohara nodded, "Mm, he is."
Obito immediately pulled off a master-level facial expression shift, his face lighting up into an extremely bright smile.
Then Shindai continued, asking Rin, "How about before—what about how Obito used to look?"
Faced with Obito's expectant gaze, Rin could only politely respond, "He had his own look."
Not catching the subtle implication in Rin's tone, Obito mistook her words as praise and immediately stood tall with pride, like he'd just won a major victory.
Shindai and Kakashi exchanged glances, both curling their lips slightly.
The two silently agreed there was nothing more to say—they simply had no words left.
At first, during the initial days, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara took Shindai around Konoha to help him get familiar with the place and navigate the streets.
In the following days, they focused on taking Shindai out for food, drinks, and fun.
Thankfully, Minato Namikaze had given Shindai a substantial amount of money—a reward for delivering goods continuously for months in Grass Country. Otherwise, the little pocket money Obito and the others had wouldn't have nearly covered Shindai's spending.
They also assigned a house already. Because he was reluctant to part with Minato, Shindai wanted to continue sharing meals with the Namikaze family. So, at Shindai's strong insistence, their new home ended up right next door to Minato's.
Now, Shindai had a new home in Konoha, and with help from Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara, all the furniture inside had been arranged properly.
To show his thanks, Shindai took them out for some Three Coloured Pills.
Because it was dirt cheap.
As for why Minato wasn't invited along...
Because Minato Namikaze had been leaving early and returning late these days, Shindai hadn't found an opportunity to treat him to a meal.
Shindai could have guessed where Minato Namikaze went without even thinking—he was obviously meeting Kushina Uzumaki again.
Every morning when Minato Namikaze left, the dazzling smile on his face nearly blinded Shindai.
But when he returned in the evening, that smile had vanished. He looked so exhausted that Shindai even hesitated to drop by and bother him.
The reason Minato Namikaze was so tired was because he'd been learning sealing techniques from Kushina every day.
If he were only studying sealing techniques, Minato Namikaze wouldn't be this worn out. He also spent his nights at the training ground working on developing the Rasengan—that's what made him so fatigued.
As for Jiraiya, no one could track him down—so even if Shindai wanted to treat someone, he couldn't.
Having played enough already, Shindai had originally planned to stay home today doing things he enjoyed.
For instance, reading books, studying puppets, or exploring different metals.
Since Kannazuki's legs were destroyed earlier, Shindai had been troubled. He wanted to find stronger, more resilient metal to reinforce Kannazuki's frame.
Plus, Shindai hadn't had time alone like this in a long while. This feeling of solitude was really comfortable—it gave him a sense of complete freedom.
However, ideals are always full-bodied, while reality is painfully thin.
Although yesterday when parting ways, he clearly told Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara that he wouldn't be leaving the house today, judging from the forceful knocking sounds at the door, Shindai immediately knew it must be that kid Obito.
Shindai opened the door and said irritably, "Hey, Obito! Didn't I tell you yesterday? I'm not going out today!"
Obito responded solemnly, "I need your help, Shindai!"
Seeing how serious Obito looked, Shindai asked suspiciously, "What kind of help?"
Obito seemed slightly embarrassed as he replied, "In three days it'll be Rin's birthday, so I wanted to…"
Immediately catching on, Shindai revealed a knowing grin and teased, "You want my advice on what gift to get Rin?"
Nodding, Obito said, "Yes, I want to give her something different this year."
Curious now, Shindai asked, "Then what did you give her before?"
Obito recalled thoughtfully, "Last year I gave Rin a kunai—not an ordinary one, though. Mine had my name engraved on it. The year before that, face paint; two years before that, protective goggles…"
He recounted each gift fondly to Shindai.
Shindai's expression darkened instantly: "Stop, stop, stop! What do you mean you don't like them? These were all carefully chosen gifts. Take the face paint, for example—Rin loves drawing on her face, so I chose my favorite orange-yellow color to give to her."
"Then that Kunai... since it has my name engraved on it, whenever Rin uses it, she'll think of me. It's like fighting side by side with her..."
As he spoke, Obito felt himself blushing.
Shindai was speechless, nearly choking at the sheer absurdity.
"Have you ever seen orange face paint on Rin's face? Have you seen Rin wearing protective goggles? Have you ever seen Rin use a Kunai engraved with your name? She might have used Kunai before, maybe even thrown them at an enemy."
Shindai's questions left Obito completely at a loss for words.
Because truthfully, he had never actually seen Rin Nohara wear protective goggles or smear orange face paint across her face.
Obito tilted his head in confusion. "Why is that?"
Shindai retorted, "Idiot! Who gives someone else gifts based on their own preferences? You should give her things she actually likes!"
Obito clenched his right hand into a fist and slapped it against his palm. "That actually makes sense! So does that mean all my previous gifts were wrong?"
"Drop the 'does that mean' already, you idiot! With this kind of thinking, you still want to pursue Rin romantically? The only reason she's still friends with you shows just how incredibly nice she is!"
Shindai was completely exasperated. If Obito truly wanted to win Rin over using this approach, he'd be better off going straight to the Adult Human Puppet shop he planned to open in the future and spending some money to commission something more promising.
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