On the first floor of the Amegakure building, Rii was leisurely trimming her toenails during her daily shift.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed as the double doors were violently thrown open.
Rii, who had nearly cut into her flesh, immediately looked up with a darkened expression, only to see a panting Sakumo.
"Sakumo-nii, what's wrong?"
"Where's your brother? Where did that guy run off to?"
Hearing this, Rii instinctively asked back:
"My brother isn't at home?"
"He's not." Sakumo spoke rapidly.
"He's not at the gate either—I just came from there!"
Seeing Sakumo with sweat uncontrollably dripping from his head, Rii tentatively asked:
"Sakumo-nii, is there something urgent? If not, I can have the city guard help you look for him?"
Hearing this, Sakumo's expression instantly became conflicted.
This wasn't about being anxious or not—it was that kind of... that kind of...
How to put it? He just felt incredibly panicked!
"I don't know either, but I keep feeling like Kakashi's going to be in trouble. I'm terrified!"
Upon hearing this, Rii immediately frowned.
Kakashi?
That cocky little brat who came with Sakumo to her brother's wedding last time?
Uh... better confirm this situation!
Thinking this, Rii's expression became serious as she waved at Sakumo:
"Sakumo-nii, step back! I'll bring my brother back!"
Hearing this, the anxiously burning Sakumo quickly retreated several steps.
Seeing this, Rii instantly formed hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof~ White smoke exploded.
Rinjin appeared wearing boxer shorts, holding a bath towel, looking innocently at Rii.
"This..."
"..."
They stared at each other speechlessly, wide eyes meeting wide eyes.
At this moment, Sakumo couldn't care less about Rinjin's appearance. He grabbed Rinjin's arm and shouted in his ear:
"Rinjin, I have a really bad feeling—Kakashi might be in trouble!"
Hearing this, Rinjin frowned and without wasting words, grabbed Sakumo by the back of his collar and formed a one-handed seal.
Whoosh~
A spinning sensation overwhelmed them.
The next second, the dizzy and disoriented Sakumo's eyes blazed with fury as he roared:
"No!"
In the dense forest, a white-haired kid lay powerlessly collapsed, while directly in front of him, a man wearing an Iwagakure flak jacket held a kunai, stabbing toward the white-haired boy's heart.
Around them, a large number of Iwagakure ninja had gathered.
Sakumo struggled desperately, trying to regain his balance, but the dizziness from the Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't something ordinary people could handle.
Especially teleporting from Amegakure to Kannabi Bridge in northern Grass Country—such a long-distance spatial transfer made him even more dizzy and disoriented.
Just as the kunai was about to strike mercilessly, an infinitely extending arm appeared, instantly grabbing the white-haired boy by his collar.
"Off you go~"
Rinjin gave a low shout.
At the same time, a cold young voice rang out simultaneously:
"Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"
In an instant, the arm rapidly retracted as blinding golden light exploded in the air.
The next second, the golden light vanished, and the Iwagakure ninja who had been stabbing at Kakashi clutched his continuously bleeding throat and collapsed heavily.
On the other side, a speechless Rinjin stood in his boxer shorts, holding Sakumo and his son, one in each hand.
A cold wind carrying two leaves brushed past the hair on his thighs, making him suddenly feel a chill on his butt~
This... damn it, this is just too speechless!
However, Sakumo didn't think so. Coming to his senses, he felt his head filling with blood—he had to find something to cut.
With a slight effort, he broke free from Rinjin's grip on his collar. His eyes bloodshot, Sakumo instantly drew the short blade from his back.
"You all... deserve to die!"
This man was no longer the so-called White Fang of the Leaf. Now he was just a gatekeeper of Amegakure.
But! More importantly, he was a father who wholeheartedly cared for his son.
For this very reason, his killing intent was incredibly pure.
The short blade unsheathed, and a deadly white whirlwind instantly ravaged the entire forest.
Sakumo, enraged to the extreme, completely abandoned his once-precise swordsmanship. In wide, sweeping strikes, countless heads flew skyward.
The White Fang—the one who could make anyone "abandon their mission upon encounter"—had awakened.
Every flash of blade light was inevitably accompanied by the chilling low sound of blood spraying.
Sakumo had gone completely berserk~
On a massive tree trunk, Minato Namikaze, wearing a green flak jacket, quickly landed beside Rinjin.
He politely called out "Rinjin-sensei," then carefully took the already unconscious Kakashi from Rinjin's hands.
On the other side, Rin, her hands covered in blood and holding a kunai, leaned powerlessly against a tree trunk thick enough for three people to embrace, her eyes filled with tears.
She wasn't afraid of death—she was just heartbroken.
Just moments ago, Obito had been... had been crushed to death by a boulder while trying to save Kakashi.
And she couldn't stop any of it.
Thinking this, tears silently streamed down her cheeks as Rin slowly crouched down, burying her dust-covered face deep into her knees.
If... if I were as strong as Mei...
I... I could have saved Obito, and we could still... still do missions together, still bicker and play around...
Obito, please come back. Please don't die!
Tears flowed freely down her knees, soaking her dark red over-the-knee socks.
Meanwhile, Rinjin's gaze pierced through the dense forest, looking toward the southwest.
There, beneath the ruins of Kannabi Bridge, that boy had probably already been rescued.
Thinking this, Rinjin let out a long sigh and murmured silently:
"Kamui cannot hide blood and tears; everywhere I look, all I see is Rin.
Sigh! May you still be a youth when you return~"
Sighing again, Rinjin silently withdrew his gaze.
Sorrow is like briefs—it always slides toward the abyss after intense movement, making one both painful and unable to escape.
That's why I choose boxer shorts!
Just as Rinjin stood in his boxers, melancholy in the wind, Rin slowly stood up and walked to his side.
"Uncle Rinjin, I... I want to become stronger."
"Your path isn't with me."
"Mei said you're the strongest, Uncle. No matter how difficult the training, I can accept it!
Please, tell me how I should become stronger, how I should... protect my comrades."
"..."
Looking at the girl beside him with tears streaming freely, somewhat disheveled, Rinjin fell silent.
If he had once only wanted to use this girl, now he was truly moved by this stubbornness.
After an unknown amount of time, Rinjin looked up at the gray, overcast sky before finally speaking:
"Let me think about it. When I've figured it out, I'll tell you."
Hearing this, Rin pressed her lips together and nodded with a dim expression.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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