"Rin…"
Kakashi softly called her name, his voice carrying a trace of tension and expectation that was hard to notice.
However, Rin showed no reaction at all to Kakashi's call. She didn't even lift her head, as if she hadn't heard him speak.
Seeing this, Kakashi couldn't help but frown slightly. There was a bit of disappointment in his heart, but after hesitating for a moment, he gathered his courage and continued, "It's noon already. Let's go eat."
You had to know, ever since Rin came back to life, she had always been the one to take the initiative to invite Kakashi. Today, however, it was the first time Kakashi had ever invited Rin to lunch.
But to his surprise, Rin still had her back to him. Only the hands that had been organizing surgical tools paused for a brief moment.
Then, she replied faintly, "No. I'm going to eat with Chizuru in a bit."
After saying that, she continued her work as if nothing had happened.
Kakashi stood there, stunned, not knowing how to respond for a moment.
"Rin… are you…"
He had just opened his mouth to ask why she was being so distant when a crisp "click" sounded, and the door was pushed open from the outside.
A girl with a few cute freckles on her face walked in quickly. It was Chizuru.
She went straight up to Rin with a bright smile and said cheerfully, "Rin, let's go eat together."
Hearing this, Rin immediately stopped what she was doing, turned around, and walked to the sink to wash her hands.
At the same time, she completely dropped the cold attitude she had shown toward Kakashi and replied to Chizuru with a smile, "Sure, let's go."
Then she stepped toward Chizuru without hesitation, not looking at Kakashi even once the entire time.
As Chizuru affectionately hooked her arm around Rin's, ready to leave together, she suddenly turned her head and glanced at Kakashi.
The corner of her lips lifted slightly, letting out a cold snort with unclear meaning. Then she gave Rin a tug, and the two of them walked out side by side, leaving Kakashi standing there behind them.
Before, Rin would always go find Kakashi, and Kakashi would always treat her coldly.
He kept pushing her away for all kinds of reasons. The most common excuse was that Rin was still too young.
Even after Rin turned eighteen, Kakashi was still hesitating and wavering.
Chizuru held some resentment toward Kakashi because of that.
So what if he was good-looking? Dragging Rin along like that all this time, he really wasn't much of a man.
Now, seeing that Rin seemed ready to give up, Chizuru felt a bit of satisfaction.
As Kakashi watched Rin walk farther and farther away until she disappeared from sight, the expression on his face looked somewhat lost.
Then he lightly shook his head, as if trying to throw off all the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and turned to go find something to eat first.
He had already been protecting Rin for several days. Inside the hospital, Kakashi was relatively more relaxed, since there were all kinds of barriers here.
Especially those related to detecting space-time fluctuations. There were quite a few of them, making it impossible for Obito to sneak in silently.
———
Forest on the outskirts of Konoha—
Black Zetsu brought Disonasu here.
Not long after, a vortex appeared out of thin air, and Obito showed up.
"Where are Kazuma and the others?", Obito asked.
Black Zetsu looked toward Konoha, "They went from the east and the south."
"The timing on the Sky Ninja side is set, right?"
Obito nodded, "Their warships are already at sea. The timing is about right."
Black Zetsu looked toward Konoha and said in a relaxed tone, "Don't forget what your objective is."
Obito let out a cold snort and didn't reply.
Black Zetsu didn't mind. He signaled to Disonasu, who formed hand seals and then slapped a palm onto the ground.
Four coffins rose up from the ground.
The coffin lids opened, revealing four reanimated bodies: Kitane, Seito, Tou, and Nauma.
Obito looked them over. These four were the Lightning Release Four.
"Moryo is in the southern direction. Let him command these people."
———
On the sea, eight warships were sailing forward. This was the entire accumulation of the Sky Ninja over the years.
The ninja world was cruel. A man is innocent, but possessing a treasure invites trouble.
The Land of Whirlpool was destroyed because its sealing techniques were unmatched in the world. The Sky Ninja Village was also destroyed by Konoha because it firmly controlled the skies.
These remaining Sky Ninja all held deep hatred toward Konoha.
They had been preparing for a long time to destroy Konoha.
Today, the moment had finally come, and every one of them was filled with excitement.
"Port side, turn two points!"
As the fleet approached the coastline, all the ships turned sideways!
Inside the ships, personnel moved around rapidly, and loudspeakers overhead began broadcasting continuously:
"All pilots, begin boarding, begin boarding…"
The Sky Ninja equipped their flying gear and weapons and began boarding the deck.
The deck here was a massive lift platform. Once all the Sky Ninja stepped onto it and were raised to the top, they were launched out one by one.
Their flying equipment consisted of a pair of metal wings, one on each side. These wings could store chakra and enable flight.
After being launched, they quickly rode the air currents and began forming up.
In the sky, they organized into formation, like human-shaped kites, gliding toward Konoha.
At this time, the sky was clear, with excellent visibility.
As they passed over villages and farmland along the way, they cast large shadows on the ground.
The Sky Ninja were gliding, so their altitude wasn't high. People below could see them clearly.
And these areas had already been set up with Konoha's communication barrier units.
After spotting the large number of flying ninja in the sky, Konoha personnel immediately sent the information back to headquarters through the communication barrier that had just been connected.
Konoha received the intel of the Sky Ninja attack almost immediately.
———
[Konoha Office]
Minato, who was sitting and reviewing documents, suddenly received an urgent transmission from the Yamanaka clan, ["Fourth Hokage-sama, the communications unit has detected a large number of flying ninja heading toward Konoha."]
Minato's expression sharpened. Although Konoha had foreseen this attack, there had been too few details in the vision, and they didn't know who would come.
Rengoku had mentioned possible enemies before. Upon learning that it was the Sky Ninja, they immediately activated the contingency plan.
"Activate the alarm immediately. Initiate Plan Four. Also notify Rengoku."
["Yes!"]
In a flash, Minato used Flying Thunder God to teleport directly back to his home.
Kushina was already used to Minato appearing suddenly like this.
But Minato immediately said, "The attack Shion foresaw is from the Sky Ninja. Be careful."
"I know," Kushina knew Minato would be busy now, so she didn't say anything unnecessary.
At that moment, the alarm outside finally began to sound.
Wooo! Wooo! Wooo! Wooo!
The bustling Konoha Village was suddenly filled with piercing alarm sounds. Whether villagers or outsiders, almost everyone was thrown into an uproar.
Many people didn't even understand what was happening.
Only the local villagers quickly reacted, rushing to find their family members and heading toward designated directions together.
At this time, the village loudspeakers began broadcasting.
["Konoha is about to come under attack. All villagers proceed to shelters according to your place of residence."]
["Non-Konoha residents, follow the guidance of Konoha ninja to designated shelters."]
["During this emergency, no one is allowed to run around. Anyone taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes will be executed on the spot!"]
Konoha had been peaceful for several years, but evacuation drills had been conducted often. The villagers were very familiar with the locations of the shelters.
The attack hadn't even arrived yet. Although people were somewhat panicked, under the order maintained by Konoha ninja, local villagers still moved toward shelters in an orderly manner.
But it wasn't the same for those in the outer city.
As mentioned before, after expansion, Konoha was divided into an inner city and an outer city. The outer city housed many newly relocated residents or merchants who came to trade.
These people generally hadn't participated in evacuation drills, so there was naturally more panic.
Although Konoha ninja were maintaining order, quite a bit of chaos still broke out.
Of course, among these people, some were genuinely panicked, while others might have been individuals with ulterior motives mixed in.
Konoha was a massive treasure. Now that it was finally under attack, spies from various factions, those trying to stir up trouble, and those hoping to steal Konoha's intelligence all came out.
For a moment, all kinds of shady figures surfaced, creating chaos on a large scale.
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