Kakashi's hollow gaze shifted almost imperceptibly.
He slowly turned his head.
Half a step behind him stood Higashino Shinichi, quietly holding an ordinary dark-colored umbrella, shielding him from the torrential rain pouring down.
Shinichi did not look at Kakashi. His gaze was likewise fixed on the brand-new gravestone ahead, calm and distant.
"You…"
Kakashi's lips moved slightly beneath his mask, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He cast his gaze back toward his father's gravestone, as though that was the only place where his world could anchor itself.
Shinichi did not speak. He did not offer comfort, nor did he ask any questions. He simply stood there in silence, holding open a temporary, wordless shelter for a former opponent—now perhaps a classmate who needed an umbrella more than ever.
The curtain of rain violently scoured the cemetery, yet in this small corner there was only the dense sound of raindrops striking the umbrella, and a stillness between the two boys that felt almost frozen.
"For a ninja…"
After a long while, Kakashi's voice finally cut through the rain, hoarse and dry.
"…is completing the mission more important, or protecting one's comrades?"
Hearing this, Shinichi fell silent for a moment. His gaze remained on the cold gravestone as he slowly spoke: "The First Hokage was born in the Warring States Period, an era rife with constant conflict. In that time, ninja clans slaughtered one another, and even children were forced onto the battlefield. Life was as fleeting as morning dew… the sacrifice of comrades was an ever-present reality."
"Even someone as strong as the First Hokage—later revered as the God of Shinobi—experienced, in that cruel era, the pain of being unable to protect those most important to him." Shinichi's voice was very soft. "Historical records say that the First Hokage lost several close relatives in his youth, personally experiencing the helplessness of watching loved ones die before his eyes. Precisely because of this, he understood more deeply than anyone how difficult and how precious protection truly is."
"And so, the First Hokage devoted everything to building a different world—a world where children would not have to rush onto the battlefield at a young age, and where comrades could entrust their backs to one another. At the core of this vision was what later came to be known as the Will of Fire: cherishing the village, protecting comrades, and safeguarding the next generation who would carry on that legacy."
"So you're saying comrades are more important?" Kakashi turned his head, his gaze sharply piercing into Shinichi.
Shinichi still did not answer that forced either-or question head-on. He continued: "As a profession and a system, the reason ninja can function at all, and the reason mission rules are so strictly observed, is because they collectively uphold the order and credibility that allow the village to endure. Completing missions and protecting the client's interests is maintaining Konohagakure's reputation and stability. That, too, is protecting the village—protecting all comrades who live within it."
"So you think the mission is more important?" Kakashi's voice lowered.
"No, Kakashi." Shinichi gently shook his head. For the first time, he lifted his gaze from the gravestone and looked at the rain-blurred cemetery around them, as though he were also looking toward a more distant future.
"What I want to say is, I don't know."
"I have never lived through the desperate situation Sakumo-sama faced, nor have I borne such a heavy choice. Perhaps only when I am truly pushed to that point, in a lightning-fast instant, will I know what my instinct will choose. Before that, any judgment made from the outside, when it has nothing to do with oneself, is rash."
"But." Shinichi's tone shifted, calm yet firm. "Before that day might arrive, I will do everything I can to do one thing."
He turned his head and met Kakashi's eyes directly.
"Work to become stronger! Strong enough to avoid being forced into that kind of either-or dead end as much as possible."
"Strong enough that, even in a desperate situation, I can still struggle to find a way to complete the mission and also protect every comrade; strong enough that perhaps one day in the future, I can have enough power and wisdom to influence, or even change, certain rules—so that I, the comrades I cherish, and our next generation can face fewer such cruel predicaments."
"That is what the First Hokage did. Perhaps he did not fundamentally change the cruel nature that comes with being a ninja, but he used all his strength to try—to build a framework that could protect what mattered as much as possible, and to push the world in a better direction."
"And the Second Hokage, the Third Hokage, and countless unnamed seniors of Konohagakure who inherited his will have all done the same, each doing their utmost in their own posts."
"I don't know whether Sakumo-sama's choice was right or wrong, because I wasn't in it. But I do know that if we only stay stuck arguing over missions versus comrades, we won't change anything. The only path forward is to become stronger than we are now—strong enough to be qualified to rewrite the premise of the question."
"What if you face that dilemma before you have gained enough strength?"
Kakashi's tone suddenly became aggressive. Without waiting for Shinichi to answer, he rapidly pressed on, as if intent on sealing off every possible retreat: "Suppose you are the team captain right now. I and several others are your teammates. Our mission is to escort a critically important piece of classified intelligence back to Konohagakure. At this moment, we are being hunted by the enemy and have fallen into a desperate situation."
"As the captain, if you choose to abandon the mission, it will cause severe losses to the village. If you choose to complete the mission, then you must abandon one—or even several—teammates to stay behind and cover the retreat. You might even have to personally kill a captured teammate to prevent any possibility of the intelligence being leaked."
His gaze locked onto Shinichi, his voice filled with urgency.
"Higashino Shinichi! Tell me—what would you do?!"
"I'll stay behind."
Shinichi's voice was not loud, but it was resolute.
"If that day truly comes, then the one who covers the retreat and bears the greatest risk should, of course, be me—the captain." He looked straight into Kakashi's eyes and said, word by word, clearly: "And you, Kakashi, from this moment on, are the captain. You'll take charge of protecting the intelligence and lead everyone back."
In that instant, the air beneath the umbrella seemed to freeze.
After a long while, Kakashi snapped back to himself and let out a cold laugh. "You… you're still avoiding the question!"
Before the words had even finished falling, it was as if he could no longer endure the space beneath the umbrella or the person in front of him. He suddenly turned around and plunged headfirst into the torrential rain, running off without looking back, quickly disappearing into the gray curtain of rain.
Shinichi did not chase after him.
He remained standing where he was. Yet the subtle, intuitive premonition that had faintly surfaced in his heart since arriving at the cemetery did not dissipate. Instead, it grew clearer—stronger.
[Auspicious Sign (Green): Your fortune has just begun to touch upon the subtle and mysterious. At times, you will sense small auspicious omens and favorable signs of development.]
Just as he had anticipated, after hosting a lively, rolling-banquet-style farewell feast for his teacher—so different from this world's usual tone—his [Swordsmanship Apprentice] soon advanced to [Swordsman], and he gained one opportunity to draw a green entry.
Auspicious Sign was the new entry he drew—one that seemed to involve that elusive and abstruse aspect of fortune.
However, when he first obtained this entry, Shinichi noticed no change whatsoever—until just now…
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