One Year

A year later.

At the border of the Land of Fire.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The two masses of flame howled toward the enemy, exploding with a thunderous boom and dyeing everything around them in fire.

The instant their opponent melded into the ground—

"Three meters underground, fifteen degrees eastward. He's moving fast, Kakashi, move!"

Genitsu opened his eyes. A vast cloud of radiation seeped madly into the earth, continuously disrupting the rapidly moving enemy.

Lightning Blade!

Amid surging lightning, Kakashi moved swiftly, his cold face filled with nothing but endless killing intent.

Screech!

His powerful burst of speed erupted as Kakashi viciously thrust into the ground. After a tremendous crash, the earth split apart, dirt flew everywhere, and blood spurted forth.

"D-Damn it... I never thought I'd run into bastards like you... the genius ninja of Minato's team and Shibi's team..."

An Iwa ninja stared in disbelief at his pierced chest. In the end, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and died unwillingly.

"That's enough. He was the last one."

Genitsu swept his gaze across the scattered corpses around them and spoke calmly.

At those words, everyone's taut nerves finally began to relax.

Rin hurried over, intending to treat the five of them with medical ninjutsu. She went to Genitsu first.

"No need, Rin. These injuries are nothing to me."

Genitsu smiled faintly as he spoke and began forming hand seals.

Super Regeneration!

The wounds on his body began healing at high speed. One wound that had been pierced by a kunai even gave off a barely audible sizzling sound.

Though she had seen it many times before, every time Rin witnessed this terrifying healing ability with her own eyes, her heart still pounded in alarm.

"G-Genitsu, your body is far too powerful. This healing ability is practically an all-around Mystical Palm Technique..."

Rin looked at Genitsu with undisguised envy.

Such a body was simply too formidable. Combined with his astonishing amount of Chakra, it allowed Genitsu to quickly spring back to life no matter what kind of injury he suffered.

It was simply, simply... so enviable it made her turn green. It was the kind of body every medical ninja dreamed of studying.

"Rin, don't forget that he only developed this self-healing jutsu after learning some basic medical ninjutsu from you!"

Obito ran back from afar with his usual carefree manner, unhappy that Rin's attention had been stolen by that hateful Genitsu.

"Heh, idiot. Not everyone is Genitsu. Even if you studied medical ninjutsu for your whole life, you still wouldn't develop a jutsu suited to yourself," Kakashi sneered.

"W-What?! You smug bastard, Kakashi, don't underestimate me! Rin, if you teach me medical ninjutsu now, I can do it too!"

Obito instantly lost it. Shouting furiously, he rolled up his sleeves and charged over, ready to settle the score with Kakashi.

This had happened many times over the past year. Even though the six of them often fought together, allowing their enemies to learn much of their intelligence and place them near the top of the kill lists, Obito and Kakashi were always arguing.

At that moment—

Whoosh!

Genitsu suddenly pulled out a kunai and hurled it viciously, pinning it into the ground before Obito with a thud.

"Before coming any closer, give the password. You were the farthest away when we attacked the enemy just now. It would have been easy for the enemy to kill you in secret and replace you. If you really are Obito, you'll definitely know our internal password."

Before Obito could speak, Genitsu spoke first, then recited the password with a solemn expression.

"Eyes wide as copper bells, shooting out lightning-bright rays!"

Uh...

Obito's old face actually reddened. "Ah, ah, ah, Black Cat Sheriff..."

What kind of garbage password was that?!

That hateful Genitsu always came up with things no one could understand!

And every time they exchanged passwords, for some reason, Obito felt an inexplicable sense of shame. Black Cat Sheriff and all that...

Damn it!

Beside them, Might Guy nodded with a pleased expression. "Obito, it's wonderful that the weakest among the six of us has once again returned safely."

"Bastard! Guy, do you want to fight too?!"

Obito felt deeply insulted and flew into a rage.

The group bickered noisily. This was the daily routine of their six-person team. With Obito around, there was no chance of peace and quiet.

"Honestly, idiot Obito, cold-eyed Kakashi, and dense Guy... those three are such a perfect match. They should form a team together."

Kazue coughed softly. Watching the scene, a long-lost smile appeared on her pale face.

Over the past year, there had been nothing but mission after mission. As the war grew increasingly tense, great numbers of the younger generation had officially entered the battlefield, where blood and corpses were the eternal theme.

Companions died every day. Every day, they walked a path where they either killed or were killed.

Only when she saw these few squabbling fools did Kazue occasionally feel that she was not a corpse without warmth.

As Rin treated Kazue's wounds with medical ninjutsu, she said worriedly, "Kazue, your complexion is getting worse and worse. Your skin is pale, which is a sign of a sharp decline in red blood cells. You're coughing more and more often too. I'm afraid there's a problem with your lungs and your entire respiratory tract..."

"It's fine, Rin. I know my own condition very well." Kazue spoke calmly, her gaze shifting toward Genitsu.

But Genitsu merely gazed calmly at the distant scenery.

Over the past year, all of them had risen to fame. Following Minato and Shibi, they had shocked Konoha with a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate and were repeatedly promoted by the village internally.

The name Uchiha Kazue had also soared to prominence. Alongside Genitsu and Kakashi, she was regarded as one of the three strongest of the new generation.

Outsiders only saw Kazue carrying the banner of the new Uchiha generation and once again spreading the Uchiha name far and wide. Yet only a handful of people knew that Kazue's life had already entered its countdown.

"Though I don't know what illness you have, if you keep delaying this, then when you can no longer control your own body... you'll lose your qualifications to be a ninja."

Rin looked conflictedly at Kazue, who coughed from time to time.

The Uchiha's greatest genius was about to become a second Gekko Hayate.

If her symptoms worsened any further...

"That's enough, Rin. Don't interfere in this matter, and don't tell anyone. Even if Lord Hokage asks you, you absolutely cannot say anything."

Genitsu finally spoke, saying this calmly.

Rin froze, becoming even more conflicted. If Kakashi had spoken to her like that, then despite her gentle exterior and inner strength, she would never have backed down. No matter what, she would have resolved the matter.

But the one speaking now was Genitsu, the leading figure of the new generation—a man of wisdom, conviction, and courage, valued and praised by the Hokage, said to have carried the Will of Fire to its utmost limit.

Since he said so, Genitsu and Kazue must have already come up with a plan.

"I understand..."

Rin sighed.