No! Now was not the time to think about that.
As all kinds of ominous premonitions surfaced in his heart, Chiba quickly cast aside those unbelievable, incomprehensible thoughts.
What had happened, and why such an abnormal order had been issued, no longer mattered. What mattered most was whether, now that he was no longer an assistant, he would become someone in Naruto's era whose mention or omission made no difference.
If he could become someone whose omission did not matter, or rather, someone whose absence created no inconsistency, then his existence would be reasonable. All that talk of a death date or dying before the Nine-Tails' Rampage was merely him overthinking things. If his existence did not obstruct the course of the greater trend, then there would be no such thing as an inescapable death.
But if he was bound to be mentioned, then his existence would be in grave danger. Those possibilities of his death drawing near, of dying before the Nine-Tails' Rampage, would have a high chance of happening—perhaps more than ninety percent.
After all, now that he no longer needed to serve as an assistant, the attention on him would naturally decline. And if that attention declined, he might be forgotten, or blend into the ordinary people of the village and become just another passerby.
As long as he became a passerby, it would be perfectly normal for him not to be mentioned.
That was Chiba's highest priority right now.
"Good night."
At that moment, Kakashi returned from the bathroom. Seeing Chiba staring blankly at the scroll in his hands, he murmured sleepily, then crawled beneath the desk. Soon, faint snores drifted out.
"Heh..."
Hearing that, Chiba raised his head and watched Kakashi crawl beneath the desk. Only after the soft snores began did he let out