Chapter 119: Kamishiro's Concerns
Kamishiro's Kanna is now successfully crafted.
Kushina Uzumaki asked, "So your Puppet is done. Are you ready to meet up with Kakashi and the others?"
At the thought of leaving the peaceful life in Konoha and going to [The Battle] to face death, Kamishiro was very reluctant. So he perfunctorily replied, "I've been tired for so long. I need to rest for a few days. Anyway, the [mission]s of Kakashi and the others usually don't directly involve [The Battle]. Moreover, Kakashi and Obito are quite strong now, and Rin can support them. It won't make much difference whether I'm with them or not. So I'll go after I've had enough rest."
Kushina Uzumaki pursed her lips and said, "Minato really guessed it right, just as he expected."
Kamishiro asked curiously, "Huh? What do you mean?"
Kushina Uzumaki explained, "Before Minato left to carry out a [mission], he told me something. He said that after your Puppet was finished, you might not want to leave and would find all sorts of reasons to stay in Konoha. So, Minato told me that once your Puppet was done, I should inform the [Third Hokage] and force you to meet up with Kakashi and the others."
Kamishiro's expression gradually turned into one of shock: "This is so unfair! It's so unkind of him! How could he do this! He's not treating me like a person at all! This is just too much!"
Kushina Uzumaki coughed and defended [Lord Minato], "Hey, how can you talk like that? It's wartime now. You're also an honorable Konoha [genin]. Minato specially went to the [Third Hokage] to plead for you so that you could do your research at home in peace.
Otherwise, during wartime, any [ninja] has to obey the orders and go to [The Battle] at any time. How could you be allowed to do your research so comfortably? And Obito and the others have been waiting for you to return to the team. Can you bear to let them keep looking forward to fighting side by side with you while you're hiding in Konoha?"
Kamishiro muttered under his breath, "What's so honorable about being a [genin]? And I'm not really hiding. I just want to have a good rest. Alright, alright, I'll go. Sister Kushina, how's the situation in the [ninja world] now?"
It had been about two months since Kamishiro came to Konoha from the [Land of Grass] last time. He guessed that the situation should have changed by now.
Kushina Uzumaki said seriously, "The situation in the [ninja world] is changing every day. I heard that Minato had several battles with A from [Kumogakure] and the new [Eight - Tailed Jinchuriki], [Killer B], in the [Land of Fields]..."
Kamishiro exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't [Kumogakure] locked in a fierce battle with [Iwagakure]? Why are they fighting with [Lord Minato] and the others?"
Kushina Uzumaki shrugged, "Who knows? As I've heard, it seems that [Kumogakure] looted a lot of supplies from Konoha, so Minato was sent there. And since the [Cloud Ninjas] couldn't do anything to Minato, [Kumogakure] had no choice but to send A and the [jinchuriki]. But now, [Kumogakure] has almost withdrawn from this [war]."
Kamishiro asked blankly, "What happened?"
How did Kumogakure almost pull out of this war?
Kushina Uzumaki recounted, "The Third Raikage of Kumogakure died. I heard that the Third Raikage led a ninja unit to launch a surprise attack on Iwagakure, but their plan was seen through by Iwagakure. The Third Raikage and his ninja unit were ambushed by over ten thousand Iwa - nin."
"To let his comrades escape, the Third Raikage fought alone, luring the enemies away. To buy time for his comrades to get away, he fought continuously for three days and three nights before finally succumbing to exhaustion and dying."
"Because of this, the morale of Kumogakure was greatly damaged. They fought back desperately against Iwagakure for revenge, but this kind of battle driven by hatred surely couldn't last long. Soon, the high - ups in Kumogakure began to recall their Cloud Ninjas from the outside, seemingly planning to withdraw from this war."
Kamishiro opened his mouth slightly. He had thought the situation would change, but he never expected such a drastic change. The Third Raikage actually died!
Kamishiro asked curiously, "Hey, were there really ten thousand Iwa - nin?"
Kushina Uzumaki let out a scoff. "How could that be? It must be an exaggerated number. It would be good if there were a few thousand Iwa - nin."
Kushina Uzumaki continued, "Iwagakure also suffered a great setback because of this incident and has become much more low - key. I heard that they avoid direct confrontation with us on The Battlefield. They'll avoid battle whenever they can. But surely they're recuperating and might attack Konoha at any time."
"Right now, the most troublesome ones for us in Konoha are Sunagakure Village and Kirigakure. They were originally in a melee in the Land of Tea, and then the battle spread into our Land of Fire. So, our Konoha ninjas had to join their melee."
"Judging from the situation, this war might end in as little as a year."
Kamishiro thought for a while.
Indeed, as Kushina Uzumaki said, the war might end in a year.
Because Kakashi was about to turn 12 years old.
When Kakashi turned 12, he'd become a real jounin. Then, in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, he'd transplant Obito's Sharingan. Later, Rin Nohara would become the jinchuriki of Isobu and head back to Konoha to destroy it, but Kakashi would stop her.
In the end, it seemed that Konoha would be under attack at its doorstep. After winning this battle, the Third Ninja World War would almost be over.
Kamishiro looked at Kushina Uzumaki strangely. "Hey, it's not right. Sister Kushina, you've always been in Konoha. How do you know so much about the situation?"
Kushina Uzumaki gave an embarrassed smile. "You've found me out. Minato sends me letters from time to time. He tells me about the situation, so I know a bit."
"Okay."
Kamishiro's expression turned solemn. He wasn't at all happy about the possible end of the war, of course, because of Obito and the others.
Obito, Rin Nohara, and Kakashi were his good friends now.
Kamishiro really didn't want Obito to become that masked man who discarded his true self and lurked in the shadows. He preferred this clumsy and cheeky Obito.
He also didn't want Rin Nohara, who was extremely kind - hearted and nice to him, to become a sacrifice and a catalyst for pushing Obito into the abyss of darkness.
Similarly, he didn't want Kakashi to be severely devastated by losing Obito and Rin one after another, and to be constantly tortured both physically and mentally.
As a good friend, Kamishiro didn't want to see them in pain and plunge into the endless abyss of darkness.
Actually, as long as Obito was saved, those tragic chains of events might not happen later.
But... should he really change things?
Kamishiro wanted to change Pakura's future because Pakura wasn't of great significance in the grand scheme of the future.
However, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were all extremely significant.
What if the whole future got completely altered?
One of the sources of Kamishiro's sense of security stemmed from his knowledge of the future.
Although these memories were gradually growing faint, he still had a general idea of the direction.
If he changed things, he would lose his sense of security.
Moreover, if the future took a turn for the better, that'd be fine. But what if it took a turn for the worse?