Chapter 46: Minato Namikaze
"Are you doing okay?" Yuu asked softly. "Getting hurt at a time like this might not actually be a bad thing."
"Yeah," Kakashi replied, staring off into the distance, his gaze unfocused as if he were thinking about something far away. "At least I don't have to go back to the battlefield anymore."
"The war will probably be over soon," Yuu said after a moment. "I heard Kumogakure is already preparing to withdraw."
Recently, major news had been spreading through every camp.
On the battlefield against the Land of Lightning, Minato Namikaze had displayed terrifying power, fighting alone against the Eight Tails jinchuriki and the son of the Third Raikage, forcing both to retreat.
After that battle, Minato's fame skyrocketed. The name Yellow Flash echoed across the nations, completely laying the foundation for his future candidacy as the Fourth Hokage.
Seeing that they could not gain an advantage, Kumogakure shifted course. They reached a temporary agreement with Konoha and even joined the fight against Iwagakure.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Sand Village had already withdrawn, and now Kumogakure had effectively changed sides. The pressure on Konoha had been greatly reduced.
Anyone with eyes could tell this war was entering its final stage. If nothing unexpected happened, it would end soon.
But even if the war ended, the dead would never return.
Kakashi fell silent again.
Obito. Rin.
Just remembering their faces made his eyes go faintly misty, like the past was replaying itself in front of him.
And yet…
I am still alive.
As the two of them sat in silence, footsteps sounded outside.
Yuu and Kakashi turned at the same time.
A young girl approached, holding a small bundle of flowers.
It was Kurenai, walking straight toward Yuu's room.
"Yuu, you can already move on your own?" Kurenai looked him over, and joy flashed across her face.
"Yeah." Yuu smiled. "It still hurts, but I can barely move around now. What brings you here, Miss Kurenai?"
"Since you're finally back, shouldn't you take the chance to get proper rest?" Yuu added.
"My mission has already ended," Kurenai said with a smile. "For now, I'm free."
Without the pressure of an assignment, her shoulders looked lighter.
"What about Fu?" Yuu asked.
Of the three of them, Fu's condition had been the worst. His heart had nearly been pierced.
Fortunately, Yuu's treatment had been fast enough to save him.
"Fu already woke up," Kurenai said. "Before I came, he even wanted to come and thank you."
"If you hadn't been there this time, Yuu, he really would have been in danger."
"It was nothing," Yuu said with an easy smile. "We were teammates. Helping each other is normal."
"And I believe that if there ever comes a day I'm the one injured, you'd risk your lives to save me too."
Kurenai froze for a beat, then nodded.
"Of course."
"We're comrades, after all."
"Comrades…"
Kakashi murmured the word under his breath, and a quiet sigh slipped out.
He had once had comrades like that. People he could trust with his life.
Then the war came, and they were buried on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, inside the Iwagakure camp, Yamame Choshin sat alone in his room, eyes hollow.
After parting with Yuu that day, he had slipped back into the camp.
To avoid suspicion, he chose a method similar to Yuu's.
Self harm.
As a jonin, he had experience with this. He injured himself in a way that looked convincing, then returned with a story that fit the chaos of battle.
No one suspected him.
He was a shinobi raised in Iwagakure, and a high status jonin. Spy checks were not something they casually used on him.
Even so, Yamame remained terrified, constantly fearing someone would notice something wrong.
But whatever measures Yuu had planted on him were clearly different from ordinary methods.
He had stayed in the camp for a long time now, and no one had discovered anything unusual.
That finally let him breathe a little easier.
Still, there were changes. Real changes he could feel every moment.
"My chakra has increased… and my healing has become stronger…"
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Yamame lifted his arm and stared at it, lost in thought.
"What is this power…?"
To him, Karma was far beyond anything normal. Even small changes to his body were enough to leave him in awe.
Things that increased chakra were extremely rare, and usually priceless.
Yet it had been used on him.
Yamame understood that the other side had made arrangements. If he dared betray them, he would face retaliation immediately.
But right now, that was not what filled his mind.
He no longer cared about pride or village loyalty.
He cared about living.
"Whether I'm an Iwagakure shinobi… or a spy…"
He took a slow breath, forcing himself to stay steady.
"I have to keep living."
At that moment, someone arrived with fresh orders.
They were to move to another battlefield and fight Kumogakure.
Yamame inhaled, then stood up and left.
On the other side, after some time passed, Yuu's body gradually recovered.
His injuries had been severe. Even with medical ninjutsu, full recovery would take a long time.
But regaining basic mobility was not difficult.
After a few days of rest, Yuu threw himself back into work.
Murakami Se and the others tried to persuade him to rest longer, but Yuu did not budge. He insisted on returning.
In response, Murakami and the rest could only sigh, moved by his persistence.
In truth, Yuu simply wanted more chakra.
At this stage, there were not many places where he could reasonably build reserves. Since the opportunity was right in front of him, he had no intention of letting it slip away.
While healing the wounded, he also did not neglect Kakashi and Kurenai, visiting them often to deepen familiarity and quietly harvest another wave of reincarnation points.
Because there was not much stimulation, the points he gained were not as high as before, but compared to normal days, it was still decent.
One day, as usual, he carried medicine into Kakashi's room.
But this time, there was a new figure inside.
"Are you Yuu?"
The person looked up.
It was a young man with blond hair and a warm, sunny smile. The kind of presence that made people relax without realizing it.
.....
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