Kakashi not only stepped down as the Jonin Squad Leader but also requested to withdraw from frontline ninja work, citing health reasons and being unfit for continued combat.
When Shikaku moved from a frontline advisor to a secondary one, it was considered a promotion, akin to retiring and being rehired in the ninja profession. Kakashi's situation, however, was more like an outright resignation.
All previous honors and benefits were, at this moment, completely relinquished.
Aside from retaining his status as a Konoha ninja and his registration number, he had nothing left.
"It was my responsibility from the start, so there's nothing to regret. My personality is completely unsuited for being Hokage. That position... ugh, just thinking about it is terrifying." Kakashi said with a relaxed expression, taking his three subordinates out for one last bowl of ramen in his capacity as the leader of Team 7.
The three of them sat there, each with a complex expression.
Ninjas generally have good analytical skills. Coupled with a relatively comprehensive mission report submitted by Gekko Hayate, the truth of the entire incident officially came to light as information from all sides converged.
What Madara and Obito did throughout all this was still a mystery to ordinary ninja, but the higher-ups in each village could piece together most of the story.
Madara left with Kaguya, claiming it was to search for Momoshiki and Kinshiki, but in reality, it was also for the sake of his own pride. Good heavens, thirty years of planning had ended up as a huge joke. A man as proud as him couldn't stand being gossiped about, so to avoid social suicide, he could only flee far away.
Sasuke now knew about the series of events secretly orchestrated by Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. Thinking of the misfortune that befell his clan and parents, his feelings were quite complicated for a moment.
Sakura was simply thinking about her money... The Flame Uchiwa she had finally managed to buy was "gone" again, and now she had to buy a scythe as well. The hand holding her chopsticks was trembling slightly.
Ino knew she was broke and was willing to give her a loan, even extending the repayment period from age 60 to 85! Sakura really didn't know if she could live to be 85. After she died, would this debt be passed on to her descendants? Was this the legendary generational debt?
For heaven's sake, she was planning to buy a house after getting married! The old Uchiha estate was just too far from the village center. They were building a Kaminari Company tram station over there, and the constant "BOOM, RUMBLE" was really not suitable for living.
Naruto's expression was the most complicated of all. He had barely touched his favorite ramen today.
He had been completely unaware of the world-ending catastrophe, having slept through it in a daze.
After waking up, everyone felt as if he had grown up overnight.
Obito had killed his mother, making him the true culprit behind all the hardships he had suffered since childhood. At the same time, Obito was Kakashi's best friend and his own father's student. The complexity of these relationships was simply too much for him to sort out.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I've failed my teacher, and I've failed you," Kakashi formally apologized to Naruto at the end of the meal.
Just as Ino had said before, this matter had little to do with her. She completed her mission, took her payment, and left; it was purely business. Kakashi's private decision to help Obito was what had harmed Minato Namikaze and Naruto.
He knew his apology felt powerless at this moment, but there was no other way to make amends.
He waved goodbye to Sasuke and Sakura and left the ramen shop alone.
...
December 27th was Hinata's 17th birthday. On the 28th, Ino and Hinata held a relatively simple wedding ceremony.
Every household in Konoha Village was in mourning, so it was hardly a suitable time for a grand celebration.
Moreover, "Obito" had absconded with all the money from the wealthy clans, leaving the various powers short on cash. Ordinarily, it wouldn't be a good time for a wedding, but who was Ino? The savior of the ninja world. If she wanted to get married, she didn't need to pay attention to the general situation.
No money? If you have no money, figure it out yourselves!
She sent out the Three-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Seven-Tails. They didn't have to do anything else, just stage a sit-in at the gates of the daimyo and major temples.
The daimyo and abbots were left with no choice. They scraped together their savings and private funds once more, managed to assemble wedding gifts, and sent them all to Konoha Village.
Sakura also came to Ino and Hinata's new home. After signing a new loan agreement, she took the uchiwa and the scythe.
Since Sakura had bought the uchiwa before, Ino didn't go too overboard, giving her a 50% discount for 50 million ryo. The scythe didn't have the same symbolic significance as the uchiwa and was priced at 80 million ryo.
Sakura kept muttering, "Other people are the 1% who amass 99% of the wealth, but you're the 1% who amasses 200% of the wealth." Ino, being extremely magnanimous, just chuckled merrily and pretended not to hear.
...
After a two-month honeymoon, Ino went back to clocking in at work. Hinata, following tradition, changed her name to Hinata Yamanaka after the marriage.
Before the wedding, they had only indulged secretly a few times, but after getting married, they completely let loose.
The two spent their days and nights together, oblivious to the outside world. Aided by the repeated refinement and enhancement of Yin-Yang Release, they fused their bloodlines. Ten months later, Hinata gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Himawari Yamanaka.
The child was too young, her chakra pathways still developing, so many things weren't apparent yet. However, Ino's cells had undoubtedly been dominant during gestation, and the probability of the child inheriting her Rinnegan and Sage body was very high.
A year passed, and the ninja of their generation had all turned eighteen. Those with earlier birthdays, like Sakura, were already approaching nineteen.
Choji and Karui got married in June. Shikamaru, just as in the original timeline, married Temari in September.
Sakura and Sasuke planned to wait another year and marry when they turned twenty. For now, they were both working hard to pay off their debts.
There was still no news from Naruto's side. It was worth mentioning, however, that he participated in another Chunin Exam hosted by Shikamaru and was eliminated during the written test phase.
...
Little Himawari was crawling on the floor. The child was a bit restless; seeing Ino writing, she would grab for the brush in her hand.
Ino would put her back on the floor, and a minute later, the child would crawl back up.
She finally gave up writing, held the child in her lap, and they watched the moon outside the window together.
"Sigh, this whole environment is really in bad shape..." Ino sighed by the window. It wasn't obvious from the outside, but the ninja world was actually becoming more and more dilapidated, like a leaky ball, constantly losing natural energy. This caused the starting point for newborns to be much lower.
Back in Indra's time, he was born with a three-magatama Sharingan. Himawari's bloodline wasn't much inferior to Indra's, but she was constrained by the general environment. The overall energy level in the ninja world had dropped, rendering even the strongest bloodlines less effective. The little Himawari now was like the Uchiha Sarada from another timeline; she would have to awaken her eyes on her own through training in the future.
"Is it ready?" Hinata asked out of the blue from within the room.
Without thinking, Ino replied, "The general environment is what it is. I'm afraid it'll be hard for it to get better."
Hinata's voice paused for two seconds. "I was asking about the soup on the stove."
"Oh, oh... I'll go check!"
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 50 advanced chapters available on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/GirlsLove1