Only a Mere Genin

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Obito had never met anyone so strange before. Not only was Kato Osamu withdrawn, but he was also as cold and hard as stone. Obito had finally let go of his misgivings, yet this guy did not appreciate it at all.

"Do you need me to repeat myself...?"

Kato Osamu ignored the furious Obito and the somewhat worried Rin, brushed past Kakashi, and left the tent.

"He really is cold-hearted..."

Kakashi's dead-fish eyes flicked slightly, but he did not say anything else.

"That bastard! Bastard!"

Kato Osamu seemed completely deaf to Obito's shouts behind him. He stood outside the tent, waiting for this farce to end, but he seemed to have underestimated Obito.

"Genin Kato Osamu! I think we need to have a proper talk!"

Obito chased after him, anger still in his eyes, though he seemed to have calmed down somewhat. His voice, however, remained icy.

"You want to talk about your friendship and dreams? Or are you going to tell me that as long as someone has dreams, the enemy will not kill them and will instead treat them like an honored guest?"

Kato Osamu chuckled and stopped paying attention to Obito Uchiha.

"Kato Osamu, I don't know what you went through to become like this, but I want to tell you something!"

"No matter how much darkness and despair you have endured, you must still long for the light! Strive to become someone everyone acknowledges and admires!

"That is what a truly brave person is! You're like a coward! A coward who has trapped himself within the darkness of his own heart!"

Obito looked at Kato Osamu as if he were seeing the Kakashi of the past.

"Yes, you're right."

Kato Osamu nodded lightly, but anyone could see the perfunctory look on his face.

"You bastard!"

Obito could no longer hold back. Looking at Kato Osamu's expressionless face, he felt as though his burning passion had been insulted. He had reached the limit of his patience.

Chakra instantly gathered beneath his feet. He burst forward at tremendous speed, swinging his fist at Kato Osamu.

"Obito!" Rin's shout seemed to have lost all effect on the enraged Obito.

"So this is the Chunin who supposedly passed the test? If that's the case, then Kakashi wasn't wrong... You really are... pretty weak!"

Kato Osamu shifted slightly, narrowly avoiding Obito's fist. With his perception far beyond that of an ordinary person, Obito's movements seemed like slow motion.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

His fists came down like a torrential barrage, yet they did not even touch the corner of Kato Osamu's clothes.

Obito threw another punch, but before he could change moves, Kato Osamu vanished from before his eyes.

"Not good!"

Before he could react, a shadow that had appeared at some unknown moment crashed down from above. The fierce sweeping kick left Obito unable to evade. It struck his right shoulder, and his entire arm immediately went numb and weak, as though half his body had lost all sensation.

"How... is that possible?!"

Pinned beneath Kato Osamu's foot, Obito's eyes widened in utter disbelief. Sunlight shone down upon Kato Osamu's head, and no one could see his face clearly—except Obito. Those eyes were cold and indifferent, as if they were looking at a dead man.

"What exactly were you trying to lecture me about?"

Kato Osamu's voice was low. The chilling feeling made Obito Uchiha's throat bob, and for a moment, he stood there too stunned to speak.

"Stop... Kato Osamu!"

Kakashi shot forward like a streak of light. Electricity flashed, and one of his hands let out a piercing chirp. Less than three centimeters separated him from Kato Osamu. Their eyes met, as though both saw the abyss within the other's gaze.

"Captain Kakashi seems to care a great deal about this Obito Uchiha..."

Kato Osamu chuckled, narrowed his eyes at the electricity in Kakashi's hand, lifted his foot from Obito's shoulder, and slowly stepped aside.

He closed his eyes as though no one else was there, resting quietly. Everything that had just happened seemed to have nothing to do with him.

"Obito, are you alright?!"

Rin looked worriedly at Obito Uchiha, who was still glaring at Kato Osamu. A green glow from a healing technique appeared in her hand.

"Why? He's clearly nothing more than a genin..."

Obito clenched his fists, wanting to say something, but as he felt the numbness in his body, he slowly loosened them.

"Rin, I... I'll defeat him. And Kakashi too!"

"Obito..."

Looking at the expressionless Kato Osamu, the teeth-gritting Obito, and Kakashi standing nearby as though nothing had happened, Rin Nohara did not know why their team had become like this.

Just as Kato Osamu had expected, Kakashi, who had arrived with the second wave of reinforcements, received a mission the next day. Konoha's main force had finished assembling and decided to clash head-on with the Cloud Shinobi.

Countless teams scattered through every direction of the forest like a swarm of locusts, slowly advancing according to their assigned objectives.

War between two ninja villages of roughly equal strength was not what Kato Osamu had imagined. It was even very different from traditional large-scale military combat. Most of the time was spent concealing themselves and searching for the enemy.

Mixed throughout the entire forest were teams from both sides, already difficult to distinguish as friend or foe.

Roaming about and eliminating the enemy's living forces, constantly pushing the front forward, until the final battle before the strategic stronghold was fully recaptured—this kind of small-team operation was likely the primary method of warfare.

Although the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques provided intelligence support to the contacts in every major area, apart from the main assault teams, the other teams had rather backward means of communicating with headquarters. They still relied on traditional ninja hawks and ninja beasts.

"Flying Thunder God is a little too unreasonable..."

Before setting out, Minato Namikaze handed Kakashi a specially made kunai. Only then did Kato Osamu learn for the first time that such a ninjutsu existed.

Having mastered the Flying Thunder God, which contained the secrets of space, it was no wonder Danzo had sent him to join Team Minato and gain Minato Namikaze's trust. Someone like that would never allow an unfamiliar person to get close.

"Mission objective: Destroy the Cloud Shinobi bunker to the northwest and kill the enemy ninja stationed there! At least three Chunin and one Jonin have been detected. All other circumstances are unknown..."

As Kato Osamu infiltrated the forest, he continuously released soul waves to survey everything around him as thoroughly as possible. Within a one-kilometer radius, no being possessing spiritual energy could escape his notice.

"Yes!"

The mission target was almost evenly matched with their strength. Kakashi was a Jonin, Obito and Rin were Chunin, and though Kato Osamu was nominally a Genin, Minato Namikaze seemed to have a general idea of his strength.

"Within a one-kilometer radius, there are two allied teams. No enemy teams have been detected for now..."

Kato Osamu had not been idle these past two days either. Aside from Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Fugaku Uchiha, he had silently recorded the soul waves of nearly every Chunin and Jonin in the camp. Apart from the Yamanaka Clan's ninja sensing something slightly amiss, no one else noticed a thing.

"Alright..."

Kakashi glanced at Kato Osamu in surprise. He had not expected his perception to be so sharp.

"Kakashi Hatake, proficient in Lightning Release and swordsmanship..."

The four of them moved forward silently. Kakashi's voice suddenly rang out, while the wind howled through the forest. Kato Osamu acted as though he had not heard it.

"Rin Nohara... proficient in medical ninjutsu and setting traps..."

Rin glanced at Obito, whose face was still full of displeasure, then at Kato Osamu, who seemed to have no reaction at all, before speaking softly.

"Hmph, Obito Uchiha, proficient in Fire Release..."

"Kato Osamu, proficient in sensory techniques, medical ninjutsu, and genjutsu..."

Rin smiled and looked at Kato Osamu with a trace of kindness on her face.

"Kato's taijutsu is really impressive too..."

This girl was always trying to break down the barriers within the team, always trying to find a chance to speak with Kato Osamu.

But Kato Osamu acted as though he had not heard her and remained silent.

"Hey! Rin is talking to you. Didn't you hear her?"

"Obito!"

Rin looked at Kato Osamu, who still had no reaction, gently soothed Obito's emotions, and did not speak again.

Dense branches intertwined overhead, making it difficult for sunlight to reach the ground. The rare rays that slipped through seemed to crawl over the moss and withered fallen branches. The four figures sped through the forest, sending a spray of fallen leaves spinning through the air. A strange atmosphere seemed to fill the entire woods.