Naruto: I'm in Konoha, my name is Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 548 Kakashi and Kabuto Yakushi

For the next few days, Kakashi was still not put back into service and remained idle in the village.

His daily life became extremely regular. He would sleep until he naturally woke up in the morning, then go to the rice dumpling shop at the entrance of the village to buy a string of glutinous rice dumplings for breakfast. After that, he would climb up the Fire Shadow Rock, find a comfortable spot on the viewing platform, sit down, and stare blankly at the village below.

I went home for lunch and quickly cooked some instant noodles to tide me over. In the afternoon, I continued to sunbathe on Fire Shadow Rock until evening before leisurely strolling home.

Meanwhile, a large force of Konoha Village's troops had been mobilized. When Kakashi was lost in thought on the observation deck of Hokage Rock, he would often see groups of Konoha ninja, led by Jonin, setting off and heading north.

Under the preaching of the Will of Fire, their eyes were firm and filled with hope for the war.

But Kakashi knew that a significant portion of these people might never return.

The war has begun.

Just like during the Third Shinobi World War, ninja units will continue to march to the front lines. It is believed that within a few days, wounded soldiers will be transferred back. At that time, the shadow of war and the pain of losing loved ones will engulf the entire village.

All that laughter and the warmth of everyday life will be swallowed up by the shadow of war.

"Today's challenge is to run ten laps while doing a handstand!"

That afternoon, after Kakashi finished sunbathing, he walked home as usual when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

With his hands in his pockets, Kakashi slightly raised his head and looked towards the intersection. He saw two green figures, one large and one small, walking upside down from the street corner.

"Teacher! Don't worry! I won't run ten laps handstand! Today I'll add another two hundred laps of regular running!" The younger figure shouted, his voice full of youthful energy and fighting spirit.

"Ah, it's Kai and Li!"

Kakashi turned his dead fish eyes away, preparing to avoid the two watermelon heads.

He didn't want to get entangled with Akai and have to engage in some kind of "fated showdown".

He's not in the mood for that at all right now.

However, Guy, like Kakashi's destined rival, locked onto Kakashi's direction with just one glance. Then, with a forceful rub of his hands that were originally upside down, he flew up, spun around in the air a few times, and landed steadily next to Kakashi.

"Yo, isn't this Kakashi!" Guy flashed a wide, white smile that shone in the sunlight, making Kakashi almost squint.

"Since we've met, let's have a fateful duel! Kakashi! This is our 107th duel!"

"Ah, it's Kakashi-senpai!" Lee also ran over quickly, standing upside down in front of Kakashi, still in the upside-down position, but looking up at Kakashi.

"I refuse." Kakashi rejected Guy's invitation without hesitation.

Then he turned to look at Xiao Li, who was standing upside down, and asked, "I heard you were interrogated by the Dark Guard after you came back? You're out so quickly?"

"Ah, I was rejected again—" Kai felt a pang of disappointment, and his whole demeanor seemed to darken.

But Kakashi ignored him and continued to look at Lee.

He had been feeling listless and lacking fighting spirit lately, but he was curious about what had happened to Xiao Li and his group.

"Ah, it was just some routine questioning. We were released the next day." Li, who was standing upside down, smiled slightly, revealing the same big white teeth as Teacher Kai, which shone brightly in the setting sun.

"Speaking of which, what kind of place is the Land of Stars?" Kakashi's one eye was silent for a moment, then asked slowly and lazily.

Although he had been tasked by the Third Hokage to investigate the Land of Stars a few years ago, the Land of Stars was newly established at that time, and the strength of Shura and the mysterious Uchiha Hikaru was unfathomable. Even Shisui, the strongest fighter in the Uchiha clan, was seriously injured and forced to retreat.

Therefore, for safety reasons, he only operated in the border areas of the Star Kingdom, obtaining some books on "The Will of the Stars," without venturing deep into the Star Kingdom or discovering anything different about it.

"The Land of Stars?"

Xiao Li's expression turned serious as he tried to recall his journey in the Star Kingdom, with all those experiences flashing through his mind.

Then, he slowly said, "It's a very peculiar place, like a vibrant sunrise, full of vitality and the vigor of all things thriving. And the ninjas there are very—how should I put it, very caring—to ordinary people."

"Even ninjas who don't know each other treat ordinary people like family and protect them—and those ordinary people also support the ninjas of the Land of Stars—"

As he spoke, Xiao Li recalled several missions he had carried out in the Land of Fire.

During those missions, he saw commoners oppressed by nobles, farmers oppressed because they couldn't pay taxes, and homeless people starving to death on the roadside.

Those images formed a stark contrast to the landscape of the Star Kingdom.

"Furthermore, the Land of Stars doesn't have nobles like daimyo and lords, and the oppressive conditions I saw in some parts of the Land of Fire are basically nonexistent. In general—"

Lee paused, then said something that shocked Kakashi: "If it weren't for the ninjas of Konoha—I might have stayed there—"

Kakashi was stunned.

He knew his disciple Akai's personality; like Akai, Akai was very straightforward, saying what he meant without lying or exaggerating.

That's why he took the initiative to ask Xiao Li.

The information I obtained from him was intelligence that I had never collected years ago.

I don't know if it's because of the changes over the years, or because I didn't really understand the Star Country back then.

"The Land of Stars is a formidable opponent, which is why we need to go all out!" Guy didn't care about what his disciple said. For a traditional ninja like him, the strength of the Land of Stars would not affect his loyalty to Konoha.

On the contrary, it will arouse Akai's competitive spirit and fighting will.

"That's right! Teacher is right!" Lee perked up again, his eyes seemingly burning with fire, and shouted, "So, in order to defeat the ninjas of the Land of Stars! Let's do ten more laps of handstand running today, Guy-sensei!"

"Xiao Li!" Akai was moved to tears by his disciple and hugged Xiao Li tightly. The two embraced and wept.

"Knowing the enemy's strength only makes us more courageous in challenging them! That's the spirit of youthful passion!"

"Teacher Kai!!"

"Little Li!!"

Then, the two released each other, stood upside down again, and ran quickly in the sunset.

Two figures, one large and one small, cast long shadows in the golden sunlight.

Kakashi watched the two running in the sunset, speechless.

He sighed, looked up at a few geese flying overhead, and muttered, "Let's go home and just have some instant noodles."

By the time Kakashi returned to his apartment building, it was already getting dark.

His apartment building is an ordinary five-story building with somewhat old exterior walls covered in vines.

Kakashi went up to the third floor, took out his key, and opened the door.

The house remained as ordinary as ever. There were only three pairs of shoes on the shoe rack in the entryway, all of the same style: ninja boots and indoor boots.

Kakashi took off his shoes in the entryway and put on indoor shoes, but as soon as he stepped into the living room, he suddenly stopped.

A figure was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

The man was wearing a dark coat, had short white hair, and wore round-framed glasses. He was sitting leisurely on the sofa, casually flipping through a copy of "Icha Icha Paradise" that Kakashi had placed on the coffee table.

His relaxed and leisurely demeanor made it seem as if this was his home and Kakashi was the intruder.

Kakashi's pupils contracted, and he immediately entered battle mode. He pulled a kunai from the ninja tool pouch on his thigh, lowered his body slightly, and his Sharingan under his mask was eager to fight.

"Kakashi-senpai, don't be nervous." Despite the fighting stance of an elite Jonin, the figure on the sofa spoke very gently and naturally.

Then, he slowly turned his head, pushed up his round-framed glasses, and wore a slight smile.

"Yakushi—Kabuto—" Kakashi narrowed his eyes, recognizing the person.

Kakashi has always had a good memory. He remembered that this young man named Kabuto Yakushi seemed to be one of the participants from Kusagakure during the Chunin Exams, but he mysteriously disappeared after the Chunin Exams.

"Ah, Kakashi-senpai still remembers me." Kabuto Yakushi was slightly surprised, slowly rising from the sofa, placing the book he was holding back on the coffee table, and said, "I don't recall I've shown my face in Konoha very often, have I?"

"I remember you were a ninja from Kusagakure during the Chunin Exams, right?" Kakashi didn't let his guard down; instead, his body tensed up even more because he noticed that the headband on the other person's forehead was actually a Konoha headband.

Is he a spy? Or—

Kabuto suddenly realized and smiled, "Oh, so that's when it was. As expected, you are indeed an elite ninja who appears lazy on the surface but is actually very meticulous, just as Menma said."

Upon hearing the other person mention Menma, Kakashi paused slightly, then immediately realized what was happening and tried to press further, "You're a spy sent by Menma—from the Land of Stars?"

"Hmm, actually I was originally a Konoha ninja too." Kabuto Yakushi pointed to his headband, then spread his hands and said in a relaxed tone, "But I used to serve Root."

Roots —

Kakashi felt that the person in front of him was even more mysterious and unpredictable. Was the other person a multi-faceted spy?

Or perhaps—the Root spy planted in the Land of Stars was turned against them?

"Alright, alright, let's not dwell on those old stories." Kabuto Yakushi waved his hand, maintaining his smile.

Then, his eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses, and his expression became serious.

"I've come to find you on the orders of Menma and Lord Minato."

"It's information about—Obito—"

The name "Obito" startled Kakashi.

His body stiffened as if struck by lightning, his shoulders trembled, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The hand holding the kunai also began to tremble slightly.

He hadn't heard anyone mention the name "Obito" for over a decade.

That comrade who sacrificed himself in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, that teammate who entrusted his Sharingan to him, that person who changed his life—

Best friend ————

"Lord Minato said you have the right to know those secrets." Kabuto slowly walked up to Kakashi, patted him on the shoulder, and gestured for him to put down his kunai.

Kakashi's hand, holding the kunai, trembled slightly as an unbelievable thought popped into his head.

But the idea was so absurd, so incredible, that he began to tremble.

"Obito—could it be—?"

"Hmm, he's still alive." Kabuto Yakushi smiled slightly, confirming Kakashi's guess.

In that instant, Kakashi felt the world spinning around him.

The kunai slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a crisp sound.

When Kabuto appeared in Kakashi's room.

On the other side of Konohagakure lies the Hyuga clan's territory.

-

The Hyuga clan of Konoha has now abolished the system of main and branch families, and no longer imprints the Caged Bird Seal on their children.

Other members of the clan, including the elders of the ancestral families, were all marked with the image of a caged bird.

However, since the Caged Bird technique was sealed away by the new clan leader Hinata Hyuga, the Caged Bird now carries a greater symbolic meaning than its previous meaning of confinement.

Furthermore, because Hyuga Hizashi, the head of the Hyuga branch family, led a group of branch family members to rebel against Konoha a few years ago, the Hyuga clan in Konoha still considers itself the main family.

Those former members of the branch families, because the new clan head abolished the branch family system, now consider themselves the main Hyuga family, and refer to the deserters taken away by Hizashi as the branch family.

Hinata, the eldest sister, also vaguely noticed this trend emerging in the clan, but she didn't know how to deal with it.

"Sister!" A childish voice startled Hinata, the eldest sister, from her deep thoughts.

In the indoor training grounds of the Hyuga clan, Hinata, the eldest sister, dressed in a white training uniform and with long black hair, gently stroked Hanabi, who was nuzzling her.

"What's wrong, Hanabi?" Hinata, the eldest sister, indulgently let her sweaty younger sister snuggle up to her.

"Sister, what are you thinking about? Dad called you several times just now." Hanabi raised her head, tilted her head, and looked at her sister curiously.

Hinata, the eldest sister, then noticed that her father, dressed in a brown kimono, was already standing at the entrance of the indoor training ground.

From the serious look in the other person's eyes, Hinata, the leader, sensed that something seemed to have happened.

"Hanabi, you should go back and take a shower first, otherwise you'll smell bad all night." Hinata, the boss, patted Hanabi's sweaty forehead.

"Okay, let's sleep together tonight, sister!" Little Firework skipped away.

As he passed by the door, he bowed to his father, Rizu.

"Father, please!" Her movements were so precise that there was no fault with them, demonstrating the etiquette and upbringing of a young lady from a prominent family.

"Okay, go and get some rest." Only in front of the girls' softball team could Hiashi still maintain his fatherly authority.

"Yes!" Hanabi replied sweetly.

After Hanabi left, Hinata, the eldest sister, walked towards Hiashi Hyuga, who was standing at the door with his arms crossed.

"Father, is there something you've sworn an oath about?" Hinata, the eldest sister, asked, one hand on her hip.

Since the Chunin Exams, she has stayed in the clan compound and hasn't gone out. This afternoon, she has been here giving her younger sister Blade Fist instruction.

Looking at the women's softball team's dashing demeanor, devoid of any airs of a noblewoman, and their blunt, unreserved questions, Riji paused for a moment, then sighed, realizing that they were still quite different from the gentler, more reserved women.

However, compared to the Buddha's constant use of the word "pigeon," the current Women's Softball team's personality is much better.

After a moment of reflection, Hiashi spoke, "The formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces has been basically finalized. The Acting Hokage has requested that our Hyuga clan send about two hundred shinobi to the Land of Iron with the First and Second Units to join the Allied Forces."

Hinata, the leader, sneered, "Where did that rat get the guts!"

Hiashi didn't seem to care about the women's softball team's disrespect towards the acting Hokage, and continued, "Also, Shikaku was asking me about Minato's situation—"

Hinata, the eldest sister, had a slight glint in her Byakugan.

[PS: Getting ready to wrap things up, finishing up the plot and filling in the gaps. I can't even remember what plot holes I dug before...—), so please remind me if you're reading this far.]

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