I know I said this before, but I'll probably say it every chapter. Thank you for the positive response.
Thankfully, I can guarantee this chapter to be angst-free, but I don't know how long I can hold that particular beast back.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one, and if you have any critiques or thoughts feel free to leave a review or to PM me.
Chapter 3: Computers are Hard
After his run-in with the 'enemy' Obito quickly realised just how little he knew about this new world. Things were mostly the same. People had (for the most part) human bodies. They needed to eat, to socialise, to drink, and so on. Gravity, weather—hell, even the sky was blue here—were all almost exactly the same. While this world still followed similar rules to his own, it was the amalgamation of little differences that led to a quagmire of impossibility. For example, even a small change in the pronunciation of a word was enough for it to have an entirely different meaning.
For Obito, this manifested as 'enemy'.
Unable to decipher this world's usage of that word, he decided to instead nab a few books and go from there. Using this world's version of a dictionary—if such a thing even existed—would be much easier than going Tobi on anyone that looked intelligent.
Thankfully, libraries also existed in this place.
Flashing through the requisite seals for a simple henge—Dog → Boar → Ram—Obito infiltrated society in a more traditional shinobi method.
His disguise was simple enough. His robes and mask were gone, replaced instead by baggy pants and a baggy long-sleeved shirt which covered his pale and paler torso and arm. The transformation also smoothed out the circular scars on his right side, gave him two ordinary brown eyes, and slightly altered his facial structure. He still kept his gloves and sandals though.
If people can have wheels for feet and feet for hands, then I think I can get away with my sandals and gloves.
All in all he looked like an average person—not at all like the all-powerful shinobi he truly was. He still carried several metres of wire and an ample amount of kunai on him, more out of habit than out of necessity.
Setting aside his Tobi persona, he swirled out of Kamui and into an empty bathroom stall. Exiting, he soon entered the library, ignoring the librarian that cheerfully greeted him. Quickly navigating the shelves, he found what he assumed was a dictionary. Miraculously, the letters themselves were easy enough to understand. Swiping a few other books—about geography, history, and the like—he discreetly sealed them away into a scroll he had brought for that exact purpose.
Taking the time to wander around the large library, he noticed that oddly enough, most people were not reading. Instead they sat in chairs facing towards smooth, square viewing screens.
Obito was not totally unfamiliar with the concept of a camera or a screen. Orochimaru's lab had used them very extensively to remotely view test subjects. Those screens were curved and not good for much else but monitoring a single spot. These were different. They didn't seem to monitor any singular place.
Curious and wanting to know more about the world he was trapped in, he took a seat in one of the empty chairs. The people here hadn't reacted at all to the advanced technology, which could only mean one thing.
This technology is commonplace among them. If this is common, what would they consider to be astonishing?
Orochimaru's lab had been the very best in the entire world—filled with cutting edge technology that would make anyone pause—the lab itself being built upon secrets on top of more secrets. And yet, here, in this world, a publicly accessible library was more advanced. It was fascinating. If this was the technology available to the public, what sort of technology was being kept secret?
Now, how to turn it on?
Todoroki Fuyumi sighed as she rested her head on her hands, her mostly white hair flopping down onto the desk in front of her.
She had chosen to volunteer at the library near her University for extra credit—hoping to use it as a good chance to practice her social skills. To be a teacher was to be patient and kind, while also being firm of countenance. Working with people—helping them in any way, really—would be a good stepping stone to the more complicated skills required to become an effective teacher.
Two birds with one stone and all that.
The only problem with her plan was that nobody needed any help. She had been volunteering for nearly a week now, and most people that came didn't need much more than a general pointer towards the appropriate section.
That, or they needed the wifi password.
Sure, I'll get the required credit. But that's not why I'm here.
Feeling a metaphorical cloud raining over her head, she perked up when she heard the door open. A plain-faced, bored-looking and decidedly grumpy man stepped into the library. What stood out to her the most was the fact that he had open-toed sandals and gloves.
What kind of person leaves the house wearing that?
"Hello! Is there anything I can do to help you?" she asked cheerfully, as she secretly wished that, yes, he did need her help. She had never seen him before. Maybe he needed to know where a very difficult-to-find book was. Maybe he was here to conduct some serious research and would need help gathering the required reading material—that would at least explain why he looked like he was dead on his feet, and why he left the house with such strange footwear.
Maybe…
The man hardly glanced at her as he robotically marched past her and towards the book section, destroying her fantasies in a single instant.
Laying her head down, but keeping her eyes up—she watched as the man walked through the isles, idly picking out books.
She sighed again, a little more loudly than before.
This time, she was met with a poke to her ribs.
"What's the matter dearie?"
That was the elderly librarian she was supposed to be working with. Truthfully it seemed as though she didn't need it. Her quirk was called "Reach", and with it she could stretch out her arms and legs to reach quite high, which was useful for someone who worked with shelves.
Following her co-worker's gaze, she saw the newcomer, and a sly grin formed on her face as she realised Todoroki wasn't lamenting over work or over school—but rather, over a young man.
"Oh, I see," she said with that teasing voice only the elderly could manage, "he is the matter."
Fuyumi nearly choked at the implication.
"Wha—no! It's not—you!" she protested. Straightening her glasses, she narrowed her eyes at the older woman.
"Hmph. He looks rather grumpy to me… perhaps you should cheer him up?"
Fuyumi burned in embarrassment as the older woman laughed softly at her mortification. After what felt like an eternity, the old bat stopped her teasing. Fuyumi took the chance to look back at the man.
He was seemingly stuck at one of the computers.
After careful analysis of the machine in front of him, as well as making several logical deductions (mainly, the fact that the device was available for all civilians to use freely without any sort of identification, and the fact that people were looking at him weird for staring at a black screen for five minutes) Obito decided it was safe for him to attempt to use the contraption. It also lacked chakra, like everything in this world did.
Directly in front of his gloved hands were two devices: a long, thin, rectangular device with more than one hundred individual buttons covering its surface, and a tear-dropped shaped object to the right of the rectangle.
Not wanting to do anything strange, his Mangekyou began to spin lazily behind his transformation as he copied the actions of the man that sat opposite of him, easily operating his own machine.
Even if it is "safe" to use, it would be best that I copy someone that already knows how to use this, so I don't stand out. Or there may even be a hidden protocol I am unaware of that is obvious to everyone else.
With seemingly supernatural ease, Obito turned the computer on, and opened what was called a "search engine".
Fascinating.
He decided to stop copying the man and simply make use of his discovery. Given the name of the thing he was using—namely, "search engine"—Obito gathered it was used for searching.
Now, what to search for?
By copying the man opposite of him, he gained a basic insight of how the machine worked. The rectangle was used to input letters onto the screen, and the tear-shaped object was used to point at things, almost like a finger.
The voice of a woman interrupted his musings.
"Hi! I couldn't help but notice you seem a little stuck. Can I help you with anything?" She asked, one hand shyly behind her back and the other poised to wave.
She had grey eyes behind small glasses, and white hair with splotches of red mixed in. Her clothes, while strange to Obito, resembled what most of the people here seemed to wear. Pinned to her shirt was a tag that read, 'Hi, my name is Todoroki'.
Quietly scoffing at the idea of presenting your name publicly, he did not answer her.
Have I been found out already?
He had, of course, heard her very heavy, civilian footsteps coming from the other side of the room. It was still odd to him that she had no chakra at all—looking at her was like looking at a statue.
She blushed under his scrutiny.
Deciding she was a non-combatant and most likely not a threat, he turned back to look at the blinking cursor on his screen. Ignoring her further protests at being ignored, he wondered what he should "search" for.
What is the least conspicuous thing I could input?
Growing tired of the woman's complaining, Obito ran through what Madara had taught him. He quickly realised that Madara had never taught him how to deal with an angry woman—aside from killing her outright—that is.
"Shut up. I'm trying to think of what to use this 'search engine' for," he spoke with his Madara-voice, hoping to intimidate her into leaving him alone.
Fuyumi blinked as the man finally answered—albeit, quite rudely. The inherent rudeness was greatly overshadowed by the fact that the man clearly had no idea what he was doing with the computer. That, and the fact that his voice was probably the sexiest sounding one she had ever heard.
Who thinks of what to use a search engine for? And that voice? Is he a voice actor?
"Well, what do you want to look up?" she asked, politely not addressing the fact he had clearly never touched an electronic device in his life.
That confused Obito.
Look up? The fuck? If I wanted to look up surely I'd turn my head towards the sky? Is this code of some sort?
He was considering using Kamui to get the hell out of there—hiding his abilities be damned. The woman—Todoroki?—if he remembered correctly, giggled slightly at his confusion.
A faux pas, then, not a failure to recognise some secret code.
The lack of a murder attempt on his person solidified this belief.
"I mean, whatever you want to know about, you can just type into the computer," she clarified, amused by the fact that the man didn't know what she meant.
That makes more sense than 'looking up'. Who the fuck decided to call it that, anyway?
Obito decided the best thing to 'look up' was the strange man Tobi had encountered the day before. Somehow, he could use the extinct wood-style technique, which by now Obito was suspecting was not wood-style at all, but rather this world's version of it.
What was his name? His companion called him Kamui. Let's start there.
Entering in the kanji for Kamui, he was surprised to see that nothing happened. The woman behind him was barely containing her mirth.
"Press that button once you want to get a result," she said as she pointed to the key on the right of the rectangle that had an arrow on it. Pressing it, he felt his eye widen as a seemingly infinite amount of information was put onto his screen.
Kamui Woods: Popular pro hero, Kamui Woods, was recently shown up by popular up-and-comer Mount Lady…
Next to the text was a clear image of the two people he had jumped the day before, at the 'Hero Con'. On and on and on similar information and images appeared.
Can this machine answer any and all questions I have?
Todoroki smiled as the man quickly picked up how to use the search engine.
"If you need anything, just let me know, ok? I'll be at the counter," she said as she left the strange man to his own devices.
Obito did not trust that statement. He was simply too paranoid. Most likely it was an attempt to gain his trust—something he could not allow. In spite of that, he spent the next several hours simply 'looking up' any and all questions he had. The more questions that were answered by the machine, the more he generated.
Omake—Porn
Not wanting to do anything strange, Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan began to spin lazily behind his transformation as he copied the actions of the man that sat opposite of him, easily operating his own machine.
With seemingly supernatural ease, Obito turned the computer on, and opened what was called a "search engine". This man seemed to know everything about the strange machine, so Obito decided to continue to copy him.
His fingers flew over the buttons on the rectangle at a pace that was truly astonishing. It was impressive to see a civilian have such fine motor control over their hands.
It was a pity they had no chakra.
His slight admiration quickly faded as a box of horror appeared on his screen.
A large, thick, tentacle suddenly pierced the woman on-screen. The woman herself was of comical proportions, and as she moaned in ecstasy and excitement, she was suddenly penetrated by many, many more.
Embarrassed at what was quite clearly this world's version of pornography, Obito panicked and tried to turn it off.
See, Obito had the right idea in copying the man opposite of him. It was a perfectly natural, even intelligent thing to do in his situation. However, that man had two things that Obito could not account for.
While the man opposite had the wall of the library to his back and had nobody behind him to see his sins, and headphones so only he could hear. Obito had neither, and therefore his pornography was both visible to all and audible to those around him.
In his attempt to turn it off, he only raised the volume until it peaked, the now very loud sounds of orgasms and fluids squelching filling the stunned library as the old librarian laughed in the background.
Worst of all, his Mangekyou Sharingan had been active the entire time, meaning he would never be able to forget what he saw.
It was burned into his memory in more ways than one.
Chapter End
Seems like I haven't responded to any reviews, which is something I normally do. I'll respond to all of the new ones at the end of the next chapter.
Nanonano15243: I'm glad you're enjoying this one so far!
diamondteel4: I hope you won't mind the lack of Tobi in this chapter, but he'll be returning.
Guests: I'm glad both of you (or the one, I can't tell) like what I've made.