Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 371 Obito's Creativity

"Wow……"

Obito let out a pure exclamation.

He stood on tiptoe, his chubby little hands gripping the smooth edge of the table, craning his neck to see the intricate patterns on it.

"Brother Fugaku, what is this? It looks so good!" He turned his head and looked up at the tall Uchiha Fugaku beside him, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Looking at the little guy who wasn't even as tall as the table, Fugaku Uchiha's usually serious face softened unconsciously.

He crouched down to be at eye level with Obito and patiently explained, "These are fireworks for the Winter Festival, Obito."

"fireworks?"

Obito's eyes instantly brightened several degrees, like stars that had been lit up.

"Is it one of those things that—whoosh—bang!—blooms in the sky?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his little hands and forcefully made an explosion shape, his little body even trembling slightly. His lifelike appearance amused several of the usually stern Uchiha elites.

Fugaku nodded solemnly, a smile in his eyes: "Yes."

Obito lowered his head again, carefully examining the blueprint, looking at the majestic Hokage portrait, the intricate clan crest, and the powerful, vigorous characters.

He watched for a while, his small brows furrowing slightly, as if he were pondering some important matter in life.

Then, somehow he pulled out a small piece of charcoal pencil used for drawing, probably the one that Fugaku had used and dropped on the ground.

Before anyone could react, he stretched out his little hand, stuck out his bottom, and used all his strength to reach the end of the scroll that embodied the glory and ambition of the Uchiha clan, next to the four large characters "Eternal Life"...

It drew a big, round, and somewhat crooked shape...

A smiling face.

A simple, pure smile, with a wide grin and eyes that curve into crescent moons.

"Brother Fugaku,"

After finishing his masterpiece, he looked up and said in a tone of earnestness bordering on the naiveté:

"Fireworks look better when they're smiling! Everyone will be happy when they see smiling faces!"

"..."

For an instant.

All sound was silenced from the entire conference room.

The sounds of discussion, conversation, and breathing all vanished completely at that moment.

Uchiha Kagami, Uchiha Tekka, and all the Uchiha elites present, known for their coldness and power, stared blankly at the childish yet dazzlingly bright smiling face on the scroll.

They discussed glory, history, and the bigger picture.

They wanted to use flames to depict their achievements, to intimidate foreign enemies, and to proclaim their will.

But this three-year-old child used the simplest and most direct way to pierce through all this grand packaging and point directly to the most authentic meaning of the celebration.

—To make everyone laugh happily.

Fugaku stared intently at the smiling face, then turned to look at Obito's clear, unadulterated black eyes.

Those eyes reflected her own astonishment.

A moment later, he suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a polite, composed smile, but rather an uncontrollable chuckle, which grew louder and louder until it finally became a heartfelt, relaxed, and relieved laugh.

"Hahaha...you're right!"

He stretched out his large hand and, just like Minister Tetsuka had done earlier, vigorously ruffled Obito's soft, messy hair, making his already unkempt hair even more disheveled.

"Obito, you're right, fireworks are only beautiful when they're accompanied by smiles!"

Uchiha Kagami also burst into loud laughter, his gentle and refined face now filled with joy and delight.

"Alright! We'll do as Obito says!"

He made the final decision.

"The final, grand finale fireworks display will be this! The biggest and brightest smiley face firework in Konoha's history!"

The serious atmosphere in the conference room was completely dispelled, replaced by a relaxed and warm ambiance.

A group of powerful figures, capable of stirring up bloodshed in the ninja world, were actually gathered together, excitedly discussing how to use the most precise chakra control to create a perfect, giant smiling face in the night sky that the entire village could see.

"To create the perfect smile, the upward curve of the corners of the mouth must be in the golden ratio! Leave that to me; my Sharingan can pinpoint it to the millimeter!"

"How should we treat the eyes? I suggest using continuous Phoenix Fire Techniques, which can create a twinkling star effect!"

"No! That's too stiff! A smile must come from the heart; it has to be dynamic! I propose that at the final moment of completion, all casters simultaneously micro-investigate their kra output, creating a 'blinking' effect in the eyes of the smiling face!"

"This is great! This is high-class!"

Uchiha Yogen looked at his colleagues, who seemed to be on steroids, and began to frantically scrutinize every detail of their smiles. Then he looked at Obito next to him, who was puffing out his chest and looking incredibly proud of himself for contributing a brilliant idea. He could only shrug helplessly.

……

In the courtyard outside the shrine, beneath an ancient cherry blossom tree, deep in the shadows.

Madara Uchiha's figure stood silently, like a statue blending into the night.

The laughter, the arguments, and even the childish words of the boy whose head he had touched all reached his ears clearly.

He could easily imagine the group of younger generations he had watched grow up in the hall, racking their brains over a childish, smiling firework.

I looked up and gazed through the tangled bare branches at the bright moon in the distant night sky.

In this bustling, vibrant village, one seems to see a possibility of achieving peace.

A night breeze blew by, and the cherry blossom trees rustled, like a soft sigh.