By evening, they completed the reconnaissance mission and returned to camp.
Only then did the humiliation of having completely lost face slowly rise up in Taguchi's chest.
Hmph! A person like that will get what's coming to him sooner or later!
He could only patch his fragile pride with thoughts like that. Yet the moment Kakashi seemed to notice his gaze drifting over, Taguchi immediately turned his head away again.
"Pfft."
Uchiha Naka leaned against a tree, chewing on rations, contempt written all over his eyes.
Taguchi snapped his head around and glared at him. "What are you laughing at?!"
"I thought of something funny. Is that not allowed?"
"You—!"
"What?" Naka's Sharingan lit up. "You think you can tell me what I'm allowed to laugh at?"
Taguchi wanted to explode too, to let loose just once—but in the end it only came out as a heavy, resentful: "Hmph!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, the moment Kakashi returned to camp he went to find Uchiha Shisui and report the results.
"Kumogakure's main force hasn't entered the Land of Moon. Most of them are stationed along the Land of Lightning border—so the likelihood of a direct offensive is low. But they have a lot of reconnaissance teams operating in the Land of Hot Water. I recommend strengthening defenses and patrols. If they find the right opening, who knows what could happen."
"I understand." Shisui nodded. "I'll report to Tsunade-sama immediately and make targeted adjustments."
"Mm." Kakashi paused, then said, "There's one more thing."
"What is it?"
"About a chūnin in my unit named Taguchi." Kakashi's tone turned serious. "During the mission, he proposed a suggestion that violated orders, and he tried to incite other members to act together and proactively attack Kumogakure's scouting team."
Shisui understood the emphasis on the word "proactively." "Why did he do that?"
"He wanted merit."
Shisui was silent for a few seconds, then sighed. "No matter what, we don't need ninja like that here—self-righteous people who drag their teammates down. I'll report it to Tsunade-sama and have him pulled back to Konoha for punishment."
"Thank you."
"It's my duty."
Two more days passed, and the border remained in a strange kind of calm.
It looked as though Kumogakure's movements were more like a response to Konoha. But whether they would truly attack—no one could say. All they could do was keep strengthening patrols and reconnaissance to guard against the possibility.
Likewise, Konoha's unusually large mobilization made Kumogakure uneasy too. They suspected Konoha was creating a diversion or appear to be doing one thing while secretly achieving another—a feint. Until they understood Konoha's real intent, they didn't dare move rashly.
So a delicate balance formed.
Both sides were walking on thin ice, and under the shadow of that high-intensity alert, it was the buffer countries—the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Moon—that suffered.
On the third day…
With the troublemaking chūnin gone, the camp atmosphere actually felt much lighter. The remaining members still had their complaints about Kakashi, but at least the petty underhanded behavior had completely died out. Missions also ran far more smoothly.
Today's task was to go to a designated point and receive supplies being transported from the rear.
And when the squad reached the location, someone appeared—someone Kakashi never expected to see there.
"Yo! Kakashi!"
Along with a shout bursting with energy, that signature green jumpsuit appeared right in front of him.
"My lifelong rival," Might Guy flashed a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, "aren't you surprised to see me here?"
Kakashi sighed. Before he could say anything, Guy rushed up and threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Wait, there's more! Didn't your squad lose a member? I went and begged the Hokage, and I successfully got myself transferred here to fill the vacancy!"
"Kakashi, we can fight side by side again! Let youth burn to its fullest!"
Kakashi turned his head slightly, looking at Guy's face practically glowing with excitement, and couldn't help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"…Do whatever you want. I'm going to check the supplies."
…
In the Fire Capital, Konan pushed open the gate to the courtyard where she was staying temporarily.
A few bare cherry trees stood in the yard, their branches swaying in the night wind with a soft rustle. She walked to the main room's door and was about to push it open when—
"Who's there?"
Paper-like cracks surfaced across Konan's skin. Several paper-thin sheets slid out from her sleeves, revealing the patterns of explosive tags.
The next moment, a flytrap-like leaf rose from the ground, unfolding to reveal Zetsu—half black, half white.
White Zetsu called out in his usual flippant tone, "Yo, Konan, you're finally back? I thought you were going to wander around until midnight."
Konan ignored the teasing and simply looked at him coolly. "What is it?"
Black Zetsu's low, hoarse voice took over. "Kumogakure has massed troops at the border. Konoha has also strengthened its defenses. The two sides are like beasts ready to bite at any moment—war could erupt at any time. Pain can't decide what to do, so he sent me to notify you to return to Amegakure."
Konan nodded. "Understood. But… I still have a few things to wrap up here."
"How long?" Black Zetsu asked.
"At most, I'll leave in two days."
"Fine," White Zetsu shrugged. "War won't break out that fast anyway. I'll go back and tell Pain."
With that, Zetsu's body slowly sank into the ground, as if nothing had happened.
Konan entered the house and sat on the tatami, quietly watching the moonlight through the window.
After waiting a long time, she figured Zetsu was completely gone. Only then did she pull out the logbook from inside her clothes and open it with a trace of hope.
"So there really… is new content?"
[The geothermal device has finally been installed. The workers from the Land of Snow only charged a symbolic cost price, and even generously allowed us to delay payment for the time being.]
[I know this preferential treatment was because of Hyuga Kiyonari's relationship with Kazahana Koyuki. But no matter what, I am sincerely grateful to them.]
[With the geothermal device, the Land of Rain once again has a stable source of electricity. Kiyonari and I worked together to dig out the streetlights that had been abandoned for years, replace them with new bulbs, and reconnect the wiring to the geothermal power.]
[At dusk, the villagers still living near the ruins of Amegakure gradually came from every direction, gathering on their own beneath the streetlights, looking up and waiting.]
[When night fell and the lights slowly came on, a bright, warm glow pierced the darkness that had hung over everything for so long. Waves of cheers erupted through the crowd.]
[They just kept looking up like that.]
[It was only an ordinary streetlamp.]
~~~
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