---
It's not strength or physical power that determines a person's way of acting, but intelligence.
It's not the action itself, nor the evaluation of a third party, but one's own understanding that determines whether this action has meaning or what that meaning is.
So, although he had been involved in the war for several years, in Haori's self-understanding, there weren't many things he had done that he considered "meaningful."
He had carried out many ordinary missions and many important missions. He had even participated in several events that changed the course of the war. But the meaning and benefits of those missions after they were successful were for Konoha, not for him personally.
For Haori, many things were more like "interesting" than "meaningful."
Looking at the entire shinobi world, if you were to divide classes by strength, Haori would be considered upper-class. But the things he did in the war, the missions he carried out, were no different in terms of mentality and thought from most ordinary ninjas. He was just going with the flow. Perhaps his thoughts and consciousness were even below most.
It's just that his strength was indeed good. In the process of going with the flow, he could occasionally stir up a few big waves.
Ninjas die on the battlefield. This is a rule and a theorem. Although Might Dai had died, the feeling he gave Haori was that ninjas didn't die on the battlefield.
A person's thoughts will always change unconsciously as they experience things. For Haori at this moment, certain parts of his mind seemed to have suddenly become clear.
For the first time, he had the idea of participating in this war – to end this war.
This idea probably started from a certain event, a certain moment not long ago. It started during the process of a battle that condensed a ninja's entire life into a single moment.
If you could sum up a person's life with a meaningful sentence, then that person's life would often be incredibly brilliant, perhaps from beginning to end, perhaps for a brief moment.
Haori's thoughts didn't change because of someone's death. They changed because of the process of someone's death.
Did he have a close relationship with Dai? Haori only knew him. But a person's influence on another person often has nothing to do with how well they know each other.
For the Raikage, who dared to face 10,000 ninjas to buy time for his village, Haori felt a moment of respect. But for Might Dai, who could open the Death Gate to protect something, Haori felt an emotion that was more than respect, an emotion that was hard to express.
And this emotion lasted much longer than "a moment."
But if Might Dai's death had this kind of impact on Haori, then it would only have a greater impact on Might Guy. Before, Dai's teachings to Guy were just words. At first, Guy might not have understood his father. Then, until Haori's fight against Guy before the Chūnin Exams, because of the war and other factors, Guy had already come to understand his father's thoughts and actions. But he had only understood them.
Now, Dai wasn't teaching him with words, but with actions. So, Dai left Guy with more. His shadow would probably forever be attached to Guy.
"Right, Haori, there's a letter from Konoha for you. I brought it for you." Guy said. He probably didn't want to continue talking about his father.
But Guy's expression was clearly more lively now. He didn't look as lifeless as before. Although he didn't deliberately comfort Haori, some of Haori's words had clearly had a comforting effect.
"A letter?"
Haori took the letter from Guy's hand, confused. He had never received anything like this before. Was this really a letter, or was it some kind of intelligence or mission from someone?
Haori immediately tore open the envelope, then… okay, it really was a letter.
If anyone in Konoha would send Haori a letter, it would probably be Kushina. Although this had never happened before, you couldn't rule out the possibility that Kushina had gone crazy again.
Unfolding the letter, seeing the familiar handwriting, Haori confirmed his judgment.
The letter was only one page long. Plus, Haori's reading speed was fast. He finished reading it almost instantly. The main content of the letter was to inform Haori that Kushina-sensei, her old self, would occasionally write to him to express her concern for her disciple… A person writing a letter to tell another person that she would write to him… This was a roundabout way of doing things. Was she professionally being cute?
Even writing about her daily life would be better than this! And this letter also had an additional request. Haori had to write back to her whenever he had free time.
Of course, there was some real content in the letter. But the content that should have been the main point was summarized by Kushina in one sentence.
Haori folded the letter back up, then said to Guy, "It's a letter from Kushina-sensei. She told me something. Kakashi Hatake was promoted to Jōnin. It happened just a few days ago."
Guy didn't say anything for a moment. After a moment of silence, he continued, "Kakashi, he's only 12 years old, right?"
Yes, Haori was 14 years old now, Guy was 13, and Kakashi was only 12.
And in terms of ninja rank, Haori was a Jōnin, Guy was a Genin, and Kakashi had originally been a Chūnin… now, he was also a Jōnin.
He was following in Haori's footsteps. After all, it hadn't been long since Haori had been promoted to Jōnin.
"A 12-year-old Jōnin, that's probably unprecedented. As expected of Kakashi."
"Really?" Haori didn't actually know. He had been promoted to Jōnin after the Raikage incident. A 14-year-old Jōnin was fresh, but not that unusual. But becoming a Jōnin at 12 was a bit too dazzling.
It wasn't surprising that Haori didn't know. Many of the people he knew had taken a cheat-coded path through life. They all seemed to have been incredibly powerful since they were young. But based on his personal experiences in Konoha, including all kinds of so-called "geniuses," 99% of Jōnin were 16 years old or older. Haori had never seen a 12-year-old Jōnin before.
"Jōnin… I will become a Jōnin one day." Guy's face didn't show envy. His tone only held determination.
Haori nodded at Guy's words, without saying anything more. After Might Dai, not only Orochimaru would re-evaluate the power of the Eight Inner Gates, but the Hokage would too. So, it was only a matter of time before Guy, who was training in the Eight Inner Gates, was promoted to Jōnin.
Although Guy's taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu were extremely unbalanced, as long as his body matured, in the Six Gates state, he would definitely reach the level of a Jōnin. The Seven Gates would be enough to instantly kill most Jōnin. The Eight Gates… let's put it this way, the Eight Inner Gates jutsu, Might Guy was more talented and more suitable for it than Might Dai.
So, if the Hokage had any brains at all, he wouldn't let another Eight Inner Gates user become a perpetual Genin.
It was clear that the Third Hokage's IQ was still online. So, Guy didn't need to worry about being promoted to Jōnin. He didn't even need to make it a goal. Because it was something that would happen naturally for him.
Just like Haori. Although his rank was always suppressed, he still quickly reached the maximum level in the general sense.
Guy's future would only be more hardworking. Soon, he would become the iron-blooded man, Might Guy, just like the meaning of his name.
---
P@TREON
You get 3 Fanfics when you join.
One payment for 3 fics
p@treon.com/ShixT9
CURRENT PATREON CHAPTER : Chapter 251
=> TIER 1 you'll get +10 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 2 you'll get +20 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 3 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 4 you'll get +60 ADVANCE CHAPTERS