Soon, the excitement brought by the system dissipated, replaced once again by a shroud of loneliness and helplessness.
Kakashi covered his head with the quilt, silently curling into a ball.
He was homesick.
In his daily life, no matter how busy he was, he would always make a phone call home every day.
If no accident had occurred and his time off had been approved, he would currently be on a high-speed train heading home.
So, in my original world, am I already dead?
Kakashi didn't dare think further. As an only child, he didn't know how his parents, who were in their fifties, would face such an outcome.
"Kakashi~"
A tender voice drifted over, and Kakashi felt someone gently nudge him.
Quickly wiping away his tears, Kakashi pulled down the quilt covering his head.
A young girl with short brown hair was right in front of his eyes. Her large, dark brown pupils were full of concern, and her small face, marked with purple patterns, was filled with worry.
"Rin?"
The girl before him quickly matched the memories in his mind.
"Hokage-sama sent someone to the class to request leave for you. I snuck out to see you as soon as I heard the news. Are you... okay?"
"Yeah."
Kakashi felt a warmth in his heart and nodded gently.
Rin looked at the dim, lifeless eyes on Kakashi's pale face, and her heart ached.
She said nothing more, but silently sat to the side, slicing a washed apple into thin pieces and feeding them to Kakashi's lips.
"Ah~"
Kakashi was amused by the young girl mimicking adult behavior and cooperatively opened his mouth.
Taking a gentle bite, a fresh, sweet and sour taste spread through his mouth.
"Mhm, it tastes good. You should eat some too."
The intake of sugar cheered him up slightly, and Kakashi sat up halfway on the hospital bed.
"Mm-mm~"
Rin shook her head gently, continuing to offer the sliced apple pieces to Kakashi's lips.
Kakashi stopped insisting.
He could feel Rin's kindness; this was the first time in this strange world that he had felt such heartfelt care.
At that moment, two more young boys burst into his hospital room.
One wore goggles and had the Uchiha Clan crest printed on his athletic clothes.
The other wore a green jumpsuit, with a strikingly bright bowl-cut hair style paired with thick eyebrows and large eyes.
As expected, Obito and Guy arrived, albeit late.
Before Kakashi could even say hello, Guy gave him a tight hug.
"Kakashi!"
Guy was streaming with tears.
Kakashi, who was trying to break free from this tiger-like pounce of a hug, heard the sobbing by his ear, and his body gradually relaxed.
He patted Guy on the back with his left hand: "Alright, alright, I'm fine, you don't need to worry~"
Hearing this, Guy released the hug and stood beside Obito, who had a complex expression on his face.
"Um, Kakashi, although your father chose to leave, you still have us. Look at me, I'm doing fine without parents, so if you need anything..."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Kakashi smiled and interrupted Obito's concerned words.
Was he really such an awkward kid as in the original work?
It was hard to imagine that such a kind-hearted, sensitive person who valued his comrades would blacken to that extent because of Rin's death!
"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile, I'll be fine. Thank you, really."
Kakashi said to them seriously.
"Yosh! As expected of my fated rival, Kakashi!"
Guy, who had just been crying like a man, instantly flashed a blinding smile and gave Kakashi a thumbs up.
Obito also let out a sigh of relief.
To the side, Rin quietly turned her head away, wiping the tears sliding from her red-rimmed eyes.
Soon, a nurse came over after hearing the noise to chase them out, citing that the patient's spirit had been severely stimulated and needed proper rest.
Obito and Guy were kicked out for being too loud, while only Rin insisted on staying.
She said she wouldn't talk, as long as she could stay to take care of Kakashi.
The nurse had a good impression of the well-behaved and cute Rin, and considering the patient's condition did indeed require company, she tacitly allowed it.
So, Rin asked Obito to tell her parents she would be back late to save them from worrying.
It wasn't until around eight o'clock in the evening, when her parents came looking for her after she hadn't returned, that Rin reluctantly bid Kakashi farewell.
Perhaps Rin's company had worked, as Kakashi's originally anxious emotions gradually calmed down.
He gradually realized that he was not alone in this world; there were comrades around him who cared about him.
This gave him quite a bit of peace of mind.
Kakashi's body was actually fine, but he just didn't want to go back yet, so he began to think about his future development.
In his previous life, for the sake of work, he had been trapped in a never-ending cycle of competing and being competed against.
If possible, he hoped to just 'lie flat,' be an ordinary Ninja, and earn a little money.
If he had to have an ultimate dream, it would be to marry a gentle and kind woman and live a cozy life with a wife and kids.
Unfortunately, Kakashi, who knew the plot, knew that whether it was the Third Ninja World War, the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack on the village, Pain's destruction of Konoha, or the Fourth Ninja World War...
In this world, ordinary Ninjas were pure cannon fodder!
True, in the original work, Kakashi lived until the finale.
But with the arrival of him as a butterfly, everything in the future could change!
If he relaxed his training because of that, he might not be able to survive those near-death situations!
Compared to the cannon-fodder status of ordinary Ninjas, the survival rate of elite Ninjas was significantly higher.
In his memory, except for those killed by the plot, elite Ninjas who died were either not strong enough, too reckless, lacked intelligence, or were brainwashed into having extreme ideologies.
In his previous life, he had already developed the habit of always having a backup plan at work to prevent various emergencies.
Not to mention that this was now a matter of life and death.
Since it was impossible for him to 100% avoid danger, the only path was to continuously become stronger.
Then there was the issue of the development path.
The Kakashi in the original work didn't actually have that little Chakra.
It was only because he had transplanted a Sharingan with severe rejection reactions, causing him to be in a constant state of mana drain, that he always looked like he had a kidney deficiency.
Now that he had the system, the greatest value of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan no longer existed!
As for the single Kamui obtained after awakening the Mangekyo, it was indeed a good thing.
But because it wasn't original, not only was the activation speed slow, but using it a couple of times would leave him exhausted.
He would also face declining vision and even the risk of total blindness!
So unless he transplanted Hashirama cells to solve the energy consumption problem, he would not repeat that mistake!
As for why Kakashi was so weak when he encountered Zabuza Momochi...
That was because after the successive blows of the deaths of his father, best friend, and mentor, he had lost the will to become stronger, wasting those years of rapid growth in Ninja strength!
Otherwise, with his supreme talent—graduating from the Ninja Academy at 5, becoming a Chunin at 6, and a Jonin at 12—how could he still only be at the level of an elite Jonin by the time Naruto graduated?
Even if he only focused on the Hatake Sword Style, he should have at least reached the Kage level like his father, the White Fang!
So according to his thoughts, he should seek breakthroughs in the following areas:
Namely, the Hatake Sword Style, his self-created Lightning Blade, the Flying Thunder God, the Eight Gates, and Sage Transformation.
From the current perspective, only the Hatake Sword Style and the Eight Gates were the easiest to access.
The Flying Thunder God would have to wait until the Minato Squad was formed, Sage Transformation required going to the Three Great Sage Regions, and his self-created Lightning Blade was basically impossible before reaching Jonin strength.
The Eight Gates were the easiest to copy, but Guy probably hadn't learned them yet.
Furthermore, the physical requirements for it were not something he could meet right now.
Combined with the Hatake Sword Style, did it mean that what he currently needed most was to continuously break through in physical fitness?
Kakashi pondered silently, and before he knew it, it was already late at night.