Naruto watched coldly as the gray silhouette gradually gained color. Rin's soul became more vivid, while Obito's shoulders sagged under the strain.
"Damn, does this thing come with shrinkage?"
Obito, who was performing the Ninjutsu, ignored Naruto's sarcasm and had no intention of checking his own deteriorating condition. At this time, his mind was entirely on Rin.
He knew that even after reviving her, he wouldn't die immediately. That's why he had summoned an army of White Zetsu, which is to seize the Rinnegan and prevent Naruto from causing troubles.
Rin's figure grew more tangible, her ethereal form flickering in and out of existence. Meanwhile, Obito's life force was getting weaker and weaker, aging like a man afflicted with a terminal illness.
Naruto looked up and squinted his eyes at Rin, who was floating in the night sky, and sighed in his heart, 'Obito, your goddess is literally glowing green. How poetic.' (T/N: In China, green is usually being related to NTR.)
He stood there waiting with his hands folded, without making any move. Konan hovered in the sky five kilometers away, her massive paper wings fluttering silently.
Faced with the endless sea of White Zetsu hidden in the darkness, Konan was powerless to act. There was no way she could eliminate them all without alerting Obito, so she could only bide her time.
As a result, everyone's eyes were focused on Rin, who was floating in the air. The faint green light on her pulsed like a firefly in the night.
…
In Konoha, the Hokage Tower is brightly lit.
The Rokudaime Hokage, Kakashi, lounged in his chair by the window, gazing out at the night. The village lights stretched into the distance, and the village was already on Level 2 alert.
The Anbu were fully deployed, securing key locations with layered defenses. Yet, for some reason, Kakashi couldn't shake a creeping sense of unease.
'The night outside felt unnaturally long.'
Knock, knock, knock.
There was an unexpected knock on the door, which brought Kakashi back to his senses. He told the knocker to come in, and Shikamaru entered, holding a pile of documents.
"Kakashi-sensei, since you are free now, you might as well get these done." Shikamaru dumped the files on the desk with a bang and said with a pair of dead fish eyes.
Hearing this, Kakashi's mentality was even more lazy than his, and he directly refused.
"The village is on level two alert now. As the Hokage, I naturally have to stay alert. How can I be distracted at such a critical moment? Take it away, take it away!"
He waved dismissively, looking at the pile of paperwork like it was some kind of hellish torture, 'What kind of hell was this? It was already bad enough there's an emergency in the middle of the night, but I also had to work properly?'
Now, Kakashi finally understood why Sandaime Hokage looked so old. This workload would crush even two people, let alone dumping it all on one person.
"If you delay these documents until tomorrow, they'll just double. Kakashi-sensei, there's no escape." Shikamaru said flatly.
"Then just handle them for me. Only leave the ones you can't decide on for me." Kakashi groaned, looking miserable. "Has Yugao returned yet?"
"No." Shikamaru shook his head, also feeling overwhelmed looking at the pile of documents.
The authority of the Hokage might seem alluring in theory, but in reality, it was just a title. Even if Kakashi delegated the paperwork to Shikamaru, all Shikamaru could do was filter it.
Subordinates dumped reports on them indiscriminately… big issues, trivial matters, everything in between. Kakashi was overwhelmed by them all, so the task of sorting naturally fell to his assistant.
Shikamaru found a seat and began processing the documents seriously. Then, the office returned to silence, with only the sound of pages turning.
Kakashi remained slumped in his chair, looking out the window at the night with unfocused eyes, but his mind was anything but calm. That unease grew stronger with each passing second, as if something was about to happen.
Moreover, his intuition told him that this matter was closely related to him. So, Kakashi simply squinted his eyes and began to recall various people and events related to him.
During this time, Shikamaru kept looking down at the documents, occasionally glancing up at Kakashi. When he saw the Rokudaime Hokage zoning out instead of working, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.
'Rokudaime is really worthy of being the direct successor of Godaime… Even the way he acts like a slacker when he is forced to work is exactly the same.'
Honestly, Shikamaru didn't want to work either. But now, he was sitting in the Hokage's Office, working overtime as the Hokage's assistant.
What was his goal?
To become the Hokage?
Whose dream was that again?
He vaguely remembered some idiot once saying their dream was to become Hokage, but at some point, they'd stopped saying it and just idled around instead.
'Has he given up?'
'What's so great about being Hokage anyway? You're worked to death. Is it just to make your elders happy? What's the point of living like this?'
Shikamaru clenched the pen tightly. The handwriting on the paper was almost blurred. He was getting more and more irritated, but just when he was about to snap, he suddenly heard Kakashi's voice.
"Uh… Shikamaru."
"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru suddenly snapped back to reality, and all the negative emotions in his mind disappeared instantly.
"Has… anyone been looking for me lately?" Kakashi rubbed his face and asked awkwardly.
Shikamaru had just come to his senses and didn't notice Kakashi's strange expression. He thought for a while and then answered, "No."
"I see…" Kakashi stroked his chin, frowning, "What about Naruto? What's that kid been up to? Has he mentioned me?"
The only people Kakashi could think of who might involve him were those two problem students, one of whom had defected, and the other was a constant headache.
He wasn't afraid of Sasuke showing up at his doorstep, but the thought of Naruto bringing him up made him uneasy.
'That guy was truly shameless… When it came to messing with his teacher, he didn't even blink.'
"Naruto? I've been too busy with work lately, so I haven't had meals with him." Shikamaru also frowned, "I don't recall him saying anything like that. If you want more details, you'd have to ask Choji."
"Forget it." Kakashi let out a sigh, "I was just feeling a bit restless for some reason. But I don't know what's going on."
Shikamaru didn't respond. This wasn't something he could comment on. In this office, he and Kakashi had a superior-subordinate relationship.
He knew that when a superior mutters to themselves, it's best not to chime in recklessly. Saying nothing means no mistakes, and speaking too much would just invite trouble.
…
At the border of the Land of Fire, Naruto watched as Rin Nohara's complexion gradually regained its color, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his lips, 'Uchiha Obito was still dreaming, wasn't he? Thinking Rin would open her eyes and see him?'
'Is he still fantasizing about some tearful reunion after years of separation? Heh, keep dreaming.'
'When Nohara Rin woke up, the first person she should see is Kakashi.'
'In her memories, Obito w was forever frozen beneath that massive boulder. To her, it was just a nightmare… she never actually chose to die by Kakashi's hand.'
'She had only been asleep for a long time, and now, after twenty years, she was finally waking up. In the blink of an eye, the Shinobi World had moved on two decades. Her former teammate, Kakashi, had become Hokage, carrying on Obito's dream.
'As for Uchiha Obito? She would remember him. But what was past was past… let it stay that way. Nohara Rin should pick herself up and start a new life.'
'A life in Konoha, surrounded by familiar comrades, in the village where Kakashi was.'
'Most importantly, there would be no Uchiha Obito. That name was already dead, and her resurrection has nothing to do with him.'
'Let him vanish into nothingness, as though he never existed these past twenty years.'