"When will we ever be able to live a life of constant peace?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too."
After a brief moment of happiness came the reality they had to face. Safety was merely an illusion; the two of them, currently in the Land of Lightning, had not yet escaped the destiny brought about by war.
Any chess piece, before it grows into a player—be it a chariot, a pawn, a general, or a minister—must follow its predetermined path. So-called freedom was merely roaming about the chessboard; when the player made their move, the dust would settle all the same.
Kakashi let Mei Terumi buy anything she wanted. She first bought many snacks she'd never seen before, then two crudely made children's toys, and finally, a necklace.
Kakashi had suggested buying the necklace after the girl had eyed it for a moment. To put it plainly, it was just an ordinary glass ball pendant, not particularly valuable nor especially beautiful, but Mei simply liked it. She bent her head like a child, allowing Kakashi to remove the Kumogakure forehead protector from her neck and put on the necklace.
The glass necklace looked harmonious against her neck. The girl's skin was fair, and the pendant reflected the flickering lights of the surrounding vendor stalls. Kakashi infused a tiny bit of lightning-nature chakra into its center. After a brief, tingling sensation, the three characters for "Mei Terumi" appeared within the glass.
"What's this?"
"Kanji."
"Is there such a script?"
"Of course."
The skeptical tone in her voice couldn't hide the smile on her face. This was the first gift she had ever received from Kakashi; she wouldn't lose it for anything.
She then bought an amulet from a vendor and fastened it to the silver-haired boy's waist, nestled beside his ninja pouch.
"Don't you dare lose it!"
"Yes, yes."
Promising perfunctorily, Kakashi patted the dark brown wooden amulet, shifting it to a more concealed position behind his ninja pouch.
"It's safer here."
"Mhm."
Nodding, Mei Terumi contentedly withdrew her hands. This time, she didn't loop her arm through the boy's but gently took his hand, their fingers intertwining.
"Kakashi, do you really want me to become the Mizukage?"
"It's not what I want; it's inevitable."
"Why? I went through so much trouble to escape the Land of Water and become a rogue ninja. What makes you so confident that Kirigakure will accept me if I go back?"
"You being a rogue ninja is only temporary. Kirigakure is a mess, its internal strife even worse than Konoha's. As long as you want it, there will definitely be a way to make them accept you."
"That sounds like too much trouble."
"Trouble? You don't seem like the type to be afraid of trouble, are you?" Kakashi scanned the orange-haired girl up and down, confirming she wasn't being sarcastic.
"I just feel... it's not necessary. The two of us can live well just like this. Kirigakure..."
"If you genuinely don't want to be the Mizukage, then don't."
He had indeed somewhat neglected the girl's own feelings. Simply guiding her onto her original trajectory seemed meaningless. If the goal was to change the Land of Water, this was just one method; there was no need for her to bear such immense pressure.
Kakashi didn't understand what the girl was thinking, and likewise, Mei Terumi didn't understand Kakashi's thoughts.
«Why can such nonsense about me definitely becoming Mizukage sound so convincing?» Mei Terumi thought dazedly, unable to comprehend where his confidence came from.
"If, and I mean if, I remain a rogue ninja for my entire life, then what?"
"Simple."
Mei Terumi looked up at Kakashi's profile, awaiting his answer.
"Then I'll just become a rogue ninja too."
"What a casual answer. I thought you'd say something different."
"Like what?"
"Like becoming a civilian, maybe a farmer, or even setting up a small stall like them. As long as we stay away from being shinobi, can't we live like this forever?"
"Mhm."
Without immediately refuting her words, Kakashi wanted to gently make the girl understand the disasters that might occur in the future.
"Then an evil person appears, wanting to kill us. We've been out of training for years."
"Why would an evil person appear?"
"The appearance of evil people doesn't need logic. Remember the legend of the moon I told you about? People from the same clan as the one who created the moon might come here one day. He will kill everyone and destroy this world."
"...That's a pretty far-fetched reason."
"It's the truth."
"Will it really happen?"
"Mhm."
"Then I guess I should find a way to become Mizukage."
Mei Terumi sighed softly. The dream of an ordinary life that had just begun to sprout was mercilessly crushed by the person beside her. This dampened the joy of receiving the gift considerably.
Kakashi tightened his fingers. The warmth of their palms transferred between them, becoming somewhat fervent in the gradually warming weather.
"Let's call it a day. We'll head back to the hospital. Kumogakure ninja should arrive tomorrow to liaise with us. Now that we're ostensibly Kumogakure ninja, we need to be careful with our words and actions."
"Understood."
Finally, she bought a skewer of dango. After finishing it on the way, the girl felt she would never eat such dango again, because it wouldn't be necessary; there would surely be a substitute for this feeling.
Returning to the hospital, the two embraced and slept. The girl fell asleep quickly, but Kakashi still felt no drowsiness.
If the system had a favorability rating, the silver-haired boy felt Mei Terumi's affection for him definitely exceeded ninety.
Thinking of this, Kakashi summoned the system. After much hesitation, he clicked into the "Combat" category, one of the four major areas that had never been opened before.
Once a person had to consider others, they had to become stronger. His current pace of improvement was somewhat slow, and he sensed he was already touching a bottleneck.
This bottleneck might be in his chakra reserves, his combat awareness, or perhaps his fighting style. In any case, to take another step forward and become one of those standing at the pinnacle of the shinobi world, his current training methods were too inefficient.
In the original story, Kakashi's strength only saw a significant leap after obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan. Now, without that eye, while his early progress was faster, he was inevitably feeling a lack of power in the later stages.
The options within the "Combat" category were far more numerous than in the other three areas. The range of choices, from low to high chakra requirements, was astonishingly vast—from abilities costing as little as 0.1 large calories of chakra to those costing hundreds of thousands. For a moment, the boy couldn't make up his mind.
After repeated deliberation, Kakashi spent 3 Chakra Units to acquire "Permanent Physical Activation."
An aching soreness spread from head to toe, nearly causing him to collapse the bed.
An unprecedented surge of pure physical power made Kakashi grow slightly taller.
«Combat Category Unlock Message»
«Only by understanding the pain of others, and making the perpetrators shed the same tears, is it possible to advance towards the true world.»
«Shed the same tears... does that mean revenge?»
«No, it means mutual understanding.»
«That doesn't exist.»
(End of Volume 1)
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