"When I didn’t die on that mission years ago, I encountered the legendary Uchiha Madara, who saved me.

At first, I was grateful to him as he was a fellow Uchiha and had saved my life. But Madara didn’t save me out of kinship. He wanted to groom me as his successor to fulfil his own goals.

He orchestrated events so that I would see Rin killed by Kakashi’s Chidori, filling me with hatred and plunging me into darkness. I committed many atrocities afterwards, including the attack on Konoha, where the masked man almost killed you. That masked man was me."

Obito confessed everything and knelt on the ground again, bowing his head.

"I don’t mean to shift all the blame to Madara. I bear significant responsibility for what happened. Now, realizing my actions, I feel I deserve death. I don’t seek your forgiveness. If you wish to kill me for revenge, I will not resist."

This was Obito’s true feeling. He believed his actions were unforgivable, and if Kushina decided to kill him, he wouldn’t defend himself.

"That masked man was you," Kushina said, surprised but not particularly hateful. She frowned, looking more displeased than angry.

"You’ve become quite articulate after being out there for so long. I remember you used to get flustered and couldn’t respond when Kakashi teased you."

"But thinking you can atone for your actions just by dying is too naive. You need to be punished first." Kushina removed her apron and flexed her wrists as if preparing to strike.

She walked outside, passing Obito, and said, "Follow me. I don’t want bloodstains in the house."

Obito got up and followed her obediently. Minato quickly finished his breakfast and followed them outside.

Kushina led Obito to a large tree near the residential area. Since it was early morning, there were few people around.

Standing behind Kushina, Obito kept his head down, silently awaiting his punishment.

"You brat! I treated you so well, and you tried to kill me!" Kushina’s chakra flared as she delivered a powerful punch to Obito’s abdomen.

The impact embedded Obito into the ground, shattering the surrounding area. He coughed up blood, struggling to stand but unable to straighten his back, eventually vomiting more blood.

Had this been the old Obito, this punch might have killed him. But now, with his rigorous training and enhancement from Hashirama’s cells, the punch, while injurious, wasn’t lethal.

As Obito managed to stand correctly and was ready to take more hits, Kushina did not continue.

She clapped her hands to remove the dust, took a deep breath, and smiled contentedly.

"That felt good," Kushina said, seemingly done with her punishment.

"Sensei..." Obito tried to speak.

"You didn’t develop any strange fetishes while you were out, did you? Don’t pass them on to Minato," Kushina interrupted bluntly.

Obito was speechless.

"Now that you’ve taken my punch and are injured, let’s say it balances out a bit. If you truly regret your actions, help your teacher protect Konoha instead of trying to escape through death."

"I understand. Thank you for forgiving me," Obito said, coughing up blood and thanking Kushina.

Kushina’s actions had already told him she had forgiven her errant student.

Seeing this, Minato also smiled. Though his disciple had returned with a dangerous past, everything moved positively.

Kushina didn’t excel at lecturing; she trusted her fists more than her words. If someone bullied her, she would beat them up. If someone were kind to her, she would be kind in return.

"But Obito, you’ve improved significantly. Back then, you couldn’t even capture Minato. Did you slack off during training because you looked down on us?" Kushina wondered, comparing the current Obito to the past.

"I..." Obito needed help to explain. His strength had indeed improved dramatically.

While his performance in the academy wasn’t bad, his peers were exceptionally talented, making him seem average and earning him the title of Uchiha’s weakest.

But he hadn’t slacked off during Kushina and Minato’s training. He had trained earnestly, though not the most diligent.

His rapid improvement was due to Madara’s training, the Mangekyo Sharingan’s awakening, and Hashirama’s cells.

"Obito did train seriously back then. He might not have found the best method for himself," Minato interjected.

"Maybe. He’s been through a lot," Kushina said, looking at Obito’s scarred face, feeling sympathetic.

Obito was a bright, sunny boy, but now he looked like this, which might make finding a wife difficult.

Nagasawa, watching from the shadows, came out and used healing ninjutsu on Obito.

"This went better than I expected. I thought you might lose a limb," Nagasawa joked.

"Do you really think I’m that violent?" Kushina retorted, feeling a bit offended. Minato often praised her as gentle.

"Who knows?" Nagasawa looked up at the sky as if something precious were attracting his attention.

"Whatever. I’m going to wake Naruto for breakfast," Kushina said, not bothered by Nagasawa’s comment. She had enjoyed herself enough and was ready to return.

"Oh, by the way, finish the story about Madara and Hashirama soon. Naruto keeps bugging me about it," she added before returning inside.

"Naruto does love your stories. Why not finish them?" Minato asked, remembering how Naruto had been bugging him for details.

"Stories should be told in segments to keep them engaging. Some things are too complex for Naruto to understand now," Nagasawa explained.

"Alright," Minato said, feeling helpless. He could already imagine Naruto’s disappointed face.

"But now, Obito, you can rest assured. Kushina has forgiven you," Minato said, patting Obito’s shoulder.

"I know. I’m grateful for her forgiveness," Obito said, his expression complex.

His earlier worries had been unfounded. There were no deadly blows or harsh scoldings. Both Minato and Kushina had easily forgiven him.

’They’re such good people, yet I...’ Obito felt even more guilty, vowing to protect Konoha and the people he cared about.

"Work hard. We hope you can regain your optimism and love for Konoha," Minato said encouragingly.

After Obito left, armed with documents from Nagasawa, he went to investigate those who had perished on the night of the Nine-Tails’ attack. Despite Nagasawa’s intervention preventing significant damage, there were still casualties.

Meanwhile, Nagasawa and Minato headed to the Chunin Exam venue. Today was the day of the semifinals.

When they arrived, the other Kage were also just taking their seats.

"Konoha truly is a cradle of talent. I brought so many of Iwagakure’s elites, yet none made it to the top eight," Onoki praised.

Three of the four semifinalists were from Konoha, and the others were from Sunagakure.

"It’s just home-field advantage. You’re being too kind, Tsuchikage," Minato replied politely.

Such compliments were just for show. While Onoki might have brought some good ninjas, it didn’t mean Iwagakure lacked young talent. Hiruzen didn’t buy it.

Luck also played a part in tournaments. If the Explosion Release ninja from Iwagakure had faced someone other than Kabuto, he might have advanced to the semifinals. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Seeing Onoki and Minato chatting, Rasa joined the conversation, praising each other. Despite only one of his ninjas making it to the semifinals, he felt better knowing Iwagakure and Kumogakure had none.

With Nagasawa’s presence, Rasa had no thoughts of opposing Konoha, at least as long as Nagasawa lived. Sunagakure would remain Konoha’s loyal ally.

Though the Fourth Raikage disliked the insincere exchange, he played along for his village’s sake, participating in the conversation.

From the outside, it seemed the leaders of the four significant villages were having a harmonious discussion, though a few years ago, they had wished death upon each other.

"The first match: Yakushi Kabuto versus Hayate Gekkō," Kakashi announced.

Walking through the contestant tunnel, Kabuto felt calm.

This fight would be easier for him than the last, as he was familiar with his opponent, a Special Ops squad friend.

He knew Hayate’s Wind Breathing well. But no matter how tricky the techniques, they would be fine since Hayate wasn’t as strong as him.

Meanwhile, Hayate also felt at ease. He had already exceeded his expectations by reaching the semifinals. Initially, his goal had been just to make the top eight.

Hayate smiled and waved to Yugao Uzuki in the audience as he walked out.

When both reached their positions, Kakashi raised his hand, beginning the countdown.

But when Kakashi signalled the start and stepped back, neither combatant moved.

"I didn’t think I’d face you, but here we are. I really don’t want to fight someone like you," Hayate said, looking troubled.

"Do you want me to tell Itachi you want to fight him instead?" Kabuto joked.

"No, thanks. I don’t want to face him either," Hayate waved dismissively. He didn’t want to fight either of these prodigies.

Kabuto drew his chakra scalpel. "I’ll give it my all."

"Bring it on. Just try not to hit my face," Hayate said, drawing his sword.

His girlfriend and Wind Breathing mentor were watching, so he wanted to give his best, even if it meant losing.