Time flowed slowly, and the New Year of Konoha Year 47 was approaching.
The war was in full swing, and even though Konoha had not been invaded, the New Year atmosphere was quite subdued.
A large number of young people were conscripted. Except for the garrison forces, the ninja army was almost completely deployed. Even civilians were not spared—they had to be responsible for transporting food and supplies to the front lines.
However, the high mobility of ninja warfare made it difficult to distinguish between the front lines and the rear. Elite squads often infiltrated the Land of Fire and wiped out transport teams.
Although not every family was in mourning, there were very few people in the mood to celebrate the New Year.
Fortunately, Otonashi had been living alone since five years ago and was used to it. The house, which hadn't been cleaned much and looked extremely messy, was just a place to sleep.
Since that day he met with Danzo, his training schedule had become even more intensive, almost busy every day.
After that day, he seemed to understand a truth. Not to mention individuals, even ninja villages could hardly be relied upon. If one wanted to live comfortably in the ninja world, one must have overwhelming power.
The so-called 'cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and pacify the world.'
Even the 'world peace' problem that troubled Shisui and others, the history of his previous life had already told him the answer.
It's just that this answer requires power to achieve.
During the days and nights of cultivation, three major events occurred in Konoha.
First, the Third Hokage returned victorious. Otonashi guessed that he and Danzo seemed to have reached some kind of deal. Anyway, those eyes in the dark all disappeared.
Second, Tsunade finally left Konoha a few days ago, and took Shizune, who was in the same class, with her. This departure seemed to be permanent.
At the time of parting, the three members of Team 17 didn't even have a chance to meet. Only Otonashi sighed at Tsunade's great face.
This act, which could be called defection, was forcibly labeled as a long-term mission by the Third Hokage. And this statement was more like a public statement. Who among the Konoha Jonin and above didn't understand the inside story? It caused a lot of complaints.
Others were dying by the hundreds on the front lines, but Tsunade, one of the Sannin, abandoned Konoha, which greatly affected morale. But what could they do? They still had to accept this "long-term mission."
Otonashi originally thought that Danzo would take advantage of this to make trouble, and he slept with a knife for several days. But later he found that there was no movement, and he was relieved.
Shimura Danzo probably wished Tsunade would leave sooner. How could he obstruct it?
The departure of his classmate and good friend also made Otonashi a little sad. Shizune didn't even come to see him, only leaving a box containing a few pills and a letter.
The letter said that these were antidote pills made by Tsunade herself, which could be regarded as a parting gift.
Fortunately, the third event diluted these resentments and sorrows. That was the marriage of Jonin Namikaze Minato, who had made great achievements on the western front. He had outstanding military exploits and excellent connections. All the families were busy preparing gifts, and they left an incompetent old man behind.
In the forest, snow was flying, touching the horizontally held blade and being cut into pieces. A layer of high-speed airflow could be vaguely seen wrapped around the blade.
Otonashi's shoulders were already covered with snow, and he looked at the sword in his hand with bright eyes. Suddenly, he formed a seal with one hand, and the high-speed airflow suddenly gathered into a beam, like a long spear, piercing the big tree several meters away.
"Finally succeeded." The teenager looked at the fist-sized round hole in the tree trunk and nodded with satisfaction.
During this time, Otonashi had been very low-key, almost becoming an invisible person, but he was studying ninjutsu every day, and he had not slackened even when others were celebrating the New Year.
He shook off the snow on his body and said to himself, "The Second Hokage is indeed a genius. The speed of using ninjutsu with one-handed seals is slightly slower, but it can be integrated with swordsmanship and taijutsu, adding a killing move."
The airflow on the blade was nothing more than a change in the form of Wind Release, similar to the ninjutsu of Sarutobi Asuma's team, Yuhi Kurenai, but it could make the sword sharper, giving it a feeling like sword qi.
This was different from the nature of chakra infusion by samurai. It could leave the sword and catch the enemy off guard.
"It's a pity that the shadow clone will shatter with a shock from the Lightning Body. Fortunately, this wind blade can be used."
He sheathed his sword and looked around at the messy forest. During these days, he had almost become a lumberjack, cutting down a large area of the forest outside Konoha.
It was still daylight, but today was the end, because soon there was a sound of footsteps in the forest. Uchiha Shisui, holding a little boy, came following the sound.
"Otonashi, if you stay here for a few more months, I'm afraid there will be no forest in Konoha." The teenager had a wry smile on his face, and patted the boy's head, "Itachi, say hello."
"Otonashi-senpai." The boy's soft voice sounded, but Otonashi noticed that his feet left no trace on the snow.
Can he already release chakra to walk? He is indeed a genius.
Otonashi nodded. He had been staying in Konoha for almost half a year, and the two of them were considered familiar. He had instructed Uchiha Itachi on some sealing techniques, and he knew the boy's potential very well.
Not everyone could say that sentence, 'My foolish little brother.'
"It's not that exaggerated." Otonashi smiled, picked up a ball of snow and wiped his face, feeling refreshed. "Let's go, it's not good to keep Lord Hiashi waiting."
"Okay, let's go congratulate Minato-sensei together! But are you going like this?"
It turned out that Shisui had come to find Otonashi to attend the wedding. The latter looked at his dirty vest and smiled awkwardly.
"Then I'll go home and change clothes first."
The three returned to the village and went to Otonashi's house first. Stepping into the entrance hall, the mess made Shisui gasp. It seemed that it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
Except for the weeds in the yard, the house was also covered with a layer of dust. The blankets and dirty clothes on the sofa were also not put away. It seemed that he had just slept recently.
"Make yourselves at home." Otonashi took out two cups from the pool, poured them water, and went back to the inner room to change clothes.
Itachi looked around, really not daring to drink the cold water in the cup, and said quietly, "Does Otonashi-senpai not usually clean up?"
"That's just how he is. He doesn't want to waste a single moment on unimportant things." Shisui smiled wryly, thinking that this friend probably needed to find a wife like Minato-sensei.
"Should we help tidy up?" Itachi offered kindly.
"Don't bother. Even if it's cleaned up, it'll just get messed up again." Shisui shrugged. At this moment, he heard the sound of a door pushing open, and Otonashi came out in a change of clothes. Seeing the teenager, his eyes lit up.
Otonashi was wearing a dark blue kimono, his spiky white hair seemed to have been styled, and a smile graced his handsome face, bearing some resemblance to the Second Hokage in the photos.
To be honest, the teenager, stripped of his battlefield sloppiness, was indeed very handsome.
"Shisui, I'm sorry, I'm not interested in men." Otonashi's words made the appreciative expression on Shisui's face freeze, and then he burst out laughing: "Just kidding, but if you have any older female cousins, you can introduce them to me."
"You'll have to ask Itachi's father for that. He definitely has candidates." Shisui recovered and retorted sarcastically, and then said meaningfully, "And he'll definitely be happy to."
Glancing at the bewildered five-year-old boy, Otonashi laughed loudly: "Then forget it. I might as well ask Lord Hiashi. White-eyed girls are also quite cute, making people very creative."
Shisui was dumbfounded, and couldn't help but recall what Shizune had said to him back then, cursing inwardly, Pervert.
He was not yet ten years old, and he didn't dare to talk too much about men and women with a human body artist. His face turned red, and he quickly stood up.
"Let's go, the wedding is about to start."
Ending the small interlude, the three rushed to the Konoha South District Shrine. As soon as they stepped onto the steps, they saw many important figures on the road, almost all of them Jonin or clan heads.
It was said that Namikaze Minato didn't want to disturb everyone, but it was obviously not up to him. After the Orochimaru incident, discerning people could see that Namikaze Minato might take over as the Fourth Hokage. It would be strange not to come and pay respects at this moment.
Otonashi looked around and didn't see any sign of Orochimaru or Danzo, but he met a group of partners. With Namikaze Minato's personality, he only invited his students and Team 17, who had fought alongside him, among the younger generation. He really didn't want to show off.
"You guys are really slow."
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were standing at the intersection. The Otonashi in front of them couldn't help but make their eyes light up, and then Obito, who reacted, quietly stood in front of Rin.
"Sorry, I just changed clothes and got delayed." Otonashi smiled, but noticed the little actions of this kid Obito, and felt sad for him.
That Nohara Rin was obviously comparing who was more handsome between me and Kakashi. But this Kakashi, too, wearing a mask to attend a wedding.
The two white-haired teenagers looked at each other in the air and saw each other's helplessness.
"Let's go in." Otonashi waved his hand, crossed the red torii gate, and saw that there were already many people standing and chatting on the road ahead.
He looked around and saw a third person with white hair, and his heart moved.
Jiraiya?
This was the last of the Sannin he had never met. Thinking about it, it made sense. How could this uncle not come to his disciple's wedding? But seeing him looking around with obscene eyes, it seemed like he was collecting the body data of the female guests.
"I'll go take a look." Otonashi, also a human body artist, wanted to join in the fun, but just as he took a step, a headache-inducing voice sounded beside him.
"Otonashi-senpai!" A girl bounced over, her ponytail swaying left and right.
It was Anko, who had just turned eleven.