Obito staggered back toward his teammates, his steps unsteady as if he could barely keep his bance. His arms were still trembling from the brutal whip-kick he’d just taken from Uchiha Ruri, the muscles visibly twitching from the blow.

  “Don’t be too down, Obito. Losing’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Miketsuki offered some half-hearted comfort to his teammate.

  “Yeah, don’t worry. You can still graduate even if you lose. The exam’s more about how you perform than whether you win,” Kakashi added, patting Obito on the shoulder.

  It was true. Morino-sensei wasn’t just there to call names—he’d been carefully observing and recording everyone’s performance after each bout.

  Seconds ticked by, and as expected of shinobi battles, the matches were swift and decisive. The exam wrapped up quickly.

  The results held no surprises—everyone passed. They were all officially graduated.

  Miketsuki gnced around at the smiling faces of his cssmates, unsure how to feel.

  The Second Great Ninja War had already come to a halt when he first entered the Academy. Most people had believed peace would st a while this time.

  But just a few short years ter, the Third War had erupted like a storm.

  Now, with their graduation complete, it meant that every one of them would soon be sent to the front lines. A month from now… who knew how many of these smiling faces would be gone for good?

  Miketsuki wasn’t particurly worried for himself, though. Last year, on his birthday, he’d made use of the system’s once-every-five-years tenfold Wish Summon.

  According to the system, a successful summon would yield a skill best suited to the user. The first ability he got was the Six Eyes—whether it was the perfect match or not, it had served him exceptionally well.

  And now, with war looming and danger close at hand, the second ability granted by the Wish Summon had been unlocked.

  He’d expected the next skill to be Limitless, to complement the Six Eyes—a technique offering both offense and defense. But surprisingly, the system gave him something else entirely.

  Full Counter.

  The unique ability of Meliodas, the Sin of Wrath from The Seven Deadly Sins.

  Unlike the complex, multi-faceted Six Eyes, Full Counter’s description was blunt and simple:

  [Full Counter: Reflects all non-physical attacks in their entirety.]

  No doubt about it—this ability perfectly patched up the one hole in his current combat style: defense.

  And unlike Limitless, Full Counter didn’t just protect him. On the battlefield, it could shield his teammates too.

  In terms of sheer defense, it outcssed Limitless. Its offense was a bit more situational, maybe even unreliable—but its potential ceiling was even higher.

  Miketsuki suspected that the system's Wish Summons weren’t just based on what he cked, but also on what he desired most deep down.

  Before he knew who he'd be teamed up with, he’d considered the possibility—if his transmigration had caused some butterfly effect and led to him being grouped with Rin…

  Then protecting Rin would become more important than winning the war itself.

  He understood well that most shinobi were gss cannons—high damage, low durability. What Miketsuki cked wasn’t power. His ninjutsu was already strong enough for this stage of the war. And thanks to the Six Eyes, his chakra capacity was only going to grow over time.

  What he did need was survivability. Full Counter gave him that—raising his margin for error, making trial and error far less dangerous.

  All things considered, he was pretty satisfied with the outcome of this summon.

  Later, when he had more data, he’d probably be able to reverse-engineer the variables that affected the system’s choices.

  …

  As he’d seen through the Six Eyes earlier, the team assignments turned out just as expected—Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were grouped together.

  Miketsuki, meanwhile, had been assigned to a frontline squad that was missing two members—alongside none other than Uchiha Ruri.

  During wartime, Konoha often dispatched new graduates to fill out damaged squads on the front lines. Once full, these reformed teams would head to battle under their captains in waves over the coming days.

  Currently, Konoha was fighting on three fronts—its primary enemies being Kirigakure on the eastern front, Sunagakure and Iwagakure in the west.

  And then there was Kumogakure, lurking in the background like a hungry wolf. If Konoha showed even the slightest sign of weakness, the only fate waiting for them would be to be torn apart.

  …

  That afternoon, after their final dismissal from the Academy, Miketsuki and Rin walked home together.

  Her hands were csped behind her back, head bowed slightly as she spoke in a soft voice. “Miketsuki… we’re gonna be separated starting tomorrow, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It feels kinda strange… sudden, I guess.”

  Miketsuki looked at her, understanding exactly how she felt.

  Ever since they’d met in the orphanage, the two of them had barely spent a single day apart.

  His own emotions were complicated, too. On the one hand, he was a reincarnator with memories of a past life—he couldn’t truly see himself as a normal child anymore.

  On the other hand, the biggest dream he had for this new life was simple: a quiet, peaceful existence.

  But that dream had been broken the moment he arrived—his mother died shortly after, and a few years ter, Kenji left him too.

  Back then, he’d been on the verge of giving up. After all, in his past life, he’d died in some absurd, pointless way… and now his new life had started with the cssic orphan protagonist route.

  Seriously—was it too much to ask for a transmigrator to have living parents and a happy home?

  Humans are social creatures. Without a strong will, it’s hard to live in isotion. Miketsuki didn’t see himself as someone with unwavering resolve.

  Living alone in an unfamiliar city was already tough—living alone in another world was pure torment. The novelty wore off fast, and all that was left was the crushing loneliness.

  If he hadn’t known that Uchiha Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi was a lie, he might’ve honestly considered letting himself drown in its dreamscape.

  It was Rin who changed that.

  When he was lost in that unspoken darkness, Rin had appeared—and showed him that someone in this world genuinely cared when he was hurting.

  She filled something hollow inside him with something warm and real.

  In this life, he’d spent more time with Rin than he had with Kenji.

  If saving Sakumo Hatake had been a convenient detour along the way, then making sure Rin survived the nightmare of the Third Shinobi World War…

  Protecting that bond above all else—

  That was his true goal now.

  The thing more important than winning any war.

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