"Hey, didn't I tell you, Itachi, stop looking so gloomy all the time?"
Feeling the little guy's stiffness and awkwardness on his back, Kazashiro smiled and looked at the little head on his shoulder.
It was truly rare; he could actually see a shy expression on Itachi's face.
At this moment, Itachi had completely lost his usual calm demeanor.
He hadn't expected Kazashiro to carry him on his back so easily, without even asking for his opinion.
Only...
This was the first time I'd ever been carried on someone's back besides my parents...
Feeling the warmth of Kazashiro's shoulder, Itachi struggled slightly, but ultimately gave in.
Shisui wanted to help, but Kazashiro refused, so he could only walk ahead, glancing back every now and then.
Before long, Danzo received a message from his subordinate.
Upon learning that his son was carrying the Uchiha Clan brat around the camp, Danzo didn't say much, but continued to formulate his plans.
The last remaining force of Kirigakure on the land of the Land of Fire has been completely surrounded by Konoha Ninja.
At this moment, Danzo was contemplating whether to completely annihilate this force or leave them some hope to attract reinforcements from Kirigakure and gain more spoils.
Putting himself in the shoes of the enemy commander, Danzo examined the map before him, and after several checks, finally made up his mind.
"It's time to end the war here."
In his view, the remnants of the Kirigakure army had been completely abandoned, and if he were the commander, he would never send troops to save them.
"Send a message to Jiraiya: launch a general offensive first thing tomorrow morning!"
After issuing the orders, Danzo finally had the mind to think about his son's problem.
"This kid has been too relaxed lately, but the Tailed Beast haven't shown any signs of going berserk. It's time to get him back on the battlefield."
Feeling that Kazashiro had been too idle lately, Danzo decided to assign him combat missions to gain some merit on this final battlefield.
When the ninja responsible for delivering the order arrived at Kazashiro's camp, he was taking advantage of Itachi's injury and inability to move to further humiliate him.
Upon receiving the order, Kazashiro immediately released Itachi, inquired about his mission, and then looked at the two people behind him.
"It seems the remaining training can only be done after we return to Konoha."
Kazashiro shrugged. "I'm going to battle with my comrades. Shisui, thank you for your hard work these past few days. Please take care of Itachi while I'm gone."
Danzo's orders did not include Shisui and Itachi's names, so Kazashiro assumed that the two would remain at the camp on standby.
"But the orders I received were..."
Kazashiro Teuchi interrupt Shisui: "I don't know what Fugaku is thinking, but since he's entrusted his son to my care, he must act according to my requirements."
Seeing Kazashiro's insistence, Uchiha Shisui could only nod in agreement with his suggestion.
Nighttime, by the campfire.
Having received their orders, the members of the Team Seven finally reunited and sat together.
Uchiha Shisui and Itachi were sitting nearby.
"Has the wound fully healed?"
Kakashi, dressed in a suit, casually inquired of Kazashiro, who was standing to the side.
"Beating Obito is no problem."
With a mischievous grin, Kazashiro patted Obito's shoulder, who was sitting to his right.
"What happened yesterday has nothing to do with me, Kazashiro. It was all the peeping tom's doing!"
Obito hurriedly handed over the skewers in his hand with a fawning smile.
"Obito's IQ has really improved; he even knew I was talking about yesterday."
Kazashiro didn't even glance at the meat skewers Obito offered, instead handing them to Kakashi, who was sitting on his left, and continued to tease Obito.
"I've already decided. Tomorrow's battle plan is for you, Obito, to Obito three groups and attack the Kirigakure Fortress alone, without using Shadow Clone."
Shadow Clone are forbidden, and we have to split into three groups?
How do you divide this thing?
Even Obito, whose IQ had increased, was unsure of what to do next.
"That's easy, just cut you into three equal parts and send you along different attack routes."
As Kazashiro spoke, he pretended to reach behind his back towards White Fang.
Rin, who had been sitting quietly eating her skewers, finally couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Alright, Kazashiro, stop scaring Obito, hurry up and eat your skewers."
"Lin!"
Seeing Rin smooth things over for him, Obito was so moved that he almost pounced on her and offered himself to her.
"Okay, here you go."
With Lin's stepping stone, Kazashiro didn't provoke Obito too much. He turned his head, took a skewer from the grill in front of him, and handed it to the other person.
"This is..."
Obito was taken aback when he saw the skewers of grilled meat in front of him.
"I heard from others that we were really saved thanks to you last time."
It was the first time Kazashiro had thanked Obito, and he felt a little awkward about it.
Seeing that Obito didn't reach out, Kazashiro Bai simply shoved the skewers into Obito's hand, then turned his head away, refusing to look at him again.
"I was the one who carried you back."
Kakashi also reached out to ask for his share.
"Didn't I just give you a skewer?"
As Kazashiro said this, he handed a skewer to Kakashi, and of course, he didn't forget Rin either.
Thanks to Kakashi's sudden intervention, I wasn't in such an awkward situation.
However, Obito didn't seem to be in a very high mood.
"What's wrong? Don't worry, I won't really make you split your forces into three groups—"
Thinking that Obito was still upset about what had just happened, Kazashiro scratched his head, preparing to comfort him.
"That time really scared me to death..."
Clenching the meat skewer in his hand, Obito once again recalled the scene of Kazashiro on the verge of death.
"This is the first time I've seen you so badly injured. To be honest, at that moment I really hoped it was just your Ice Clone..."
Seeing Obito's pitiful expression, like a wounded puppy, Kazashiro felt a pang of guilt.
Wait, what did I do wrong? I'm the one who got hurt!
Shaking his head to dispel the guilt in his heart, Kazashiro slapped Obito hard on the back. "Alright, stop being so dramatic, I'm perfectly fine!"
In trying to dispel the somber atmosphere in his own way, Kazashiro also received a hard blow to the head.
Kakashi was the one who smashed it.
"Hey, Kakashi, what are you doing!"
Tears streaming down his face, Kazashiro covered his head and Obito.
"Hmph, it's nothing, I just wanted to beat up those guys who don't value their comrades."
Kakashi mimicked Kazashiro's tone, shaking his fist:
"We're classmates, so next time something like this happens, make sure to include us, understand?"