What Must Come Will Come

A few more days passed. Once Orochimaru finished his meetings with the Land of Fire's senior officials, the team set off on its return journey.

Looking at Anko, who had put on a little weight as she followed behind Orochimaru, Zou Hyuga knew exactly what she had been doing these past few days. She must have spent all her pay on food.

Unlike the outward journey, they no longer had a convoy slowing them down, so the team made swift progress back to Konoha.

Ninja skilled at using chakra to run along trees could travel even faster than a galloping horse.

Speed beyond that of a horse, strength enough to wrestle wild beasts, and dazzling ninjutsu.

Perhaps those were the reasons the samurai of the old era had been phased out. Even in battle formations, samurai were no match for ninja.

The neutral Land of Iron might have been the only country in the shinobi world that still maintained a samurai system, but its warriors were really just ninja who used samurai swords.

On the return journey, Orochimaru no longer sought Zou Hyuga out for "heart-to-heart talks," instead focusing his attention on Anko.

Anko was, after all, Orochimaru's second disciple. Her place in his heart was entirely different from that of his other subordinates.

He taught her quite a few secret arts of the Orochimaru style, as well as giving her pointers on taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu.

Watching the master and disciple get along so harmoniously, Zou Hyuga wondered whether Orochimaru had already developed Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Cursed Seal, gradually departing from the course and identity of a human being.

If possible, he wanted to meet Jugo and compare notes on their conditions.

But he had no idea where Jugo was now, or whether he was already under Orochimaru's command.

They spent a nerve-racking night in the forests of the Land of Fire.

Before the sun had risen, while stars still dotted the blue sky, Konoha was already close at hand.

The Kage Rock, carved with the faces of successive Hokage, was its most distinctive landmark.

Konoha, my home!

Zou Hyuga spread his arms and cheered inwardly.

After several nights spent trembling with fear in Orochimaru's company, he could feel the warmth Konoha offered.

This was a land flowing with milk and honey. Even the air tasted sweet.

Oto Uchiha stood atop a tree. She had far fewer thoughts running through her head, but the sight of the Kage Rock brought her an inexplicable sense of peace.

Touching the special kunai Zou Hyuga had given her made her feel even more at ease.

Neither happy nor sad, Orochimaru stared at the faces on the Kage Rock, his thoughts unreadable.

All in all, the atmosphere within their hastily assembled team was fairly pleasant.

Once his cheering was over, Zou Hyuga thought back over the mission, and his head began to ache again.

They had encountered no ninja from hostile countries on this B-Rank Mission and had completed it with ease.

But with a B-Rank Mission now under his belt, he might very well be forced to take the Chunin Ninja Exams. If that happened, his title as Konoha's strongest might disappear.

From then on, he would be far removed from his peaceful, quiet life, exposed to the scrutiny of his clan and the outside world.

Deliberately failing the Chunin Ninja Exams was no solution. Whether someone advanced was ultimately up to the higher-ups.

Just then, Oto Uchiha tapped Zou Hyuga on the shoulder and pointed to one side.

Following her finger, Zou Hyuga spotted a white-haired boy. The boy wore an eye patch and a mask, and carried some belongings wrapped in white cloth in his arms.

White hair, a mask, dead-fish eyes.

Zou Hyuga picked out those three defining traits and guessed that the boy was probably Kakashi Hatake.

Konoha Genius, Konoha's Copy Ninja, Sixth Hokage.

Those were the titles Zou Hyuga remembered Kakashi having, but at his current age, he only held the first.

Activating his Byakugan, Zou Hyuga looked through the white cloth and saw a forehead protector and some personal effects inside.

The forehead protector was nothing unusual. When a comrade died, ninja often buried them on the spot to avoid delaying the mission, taking only a token that proved their identity.

For Kakashi to carry that forehead protector while looking as though he had nothing left to live for, it could only have belonged to Rin Nohara.

Rin Nohara was a Konoha chunin and a medical ninja. Quite a few medical chunin from Konoha died every year.

But with Rin Nohara being the one who had died, the situation was entirely different.

Rin Nohara's death had brought a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan into the shinobi world, possibly the only two Mangekyo Sharingan in existence at present.

The state of the shinobi world had quietly changed.

Perhaps the only consolation was that the old man feared by everyone in the shinobi world had finally passed into death.

Kakashi noticed the Byakugan spying on him and looked up at Zou Hyuga, his eyes devoid of emotion.

Using a dojutsu kekkei genkai to pry into another ninja from the village was naturally an offense. No one wanted their secrets exposed.

Intelligence often determined the outcome of a battle, so every effort had to be made to keep it confidential.

But the dazed Kakashi no longer cared about such things. He lived like a walking corpse.

His mother, his father, Obito, Rin-they had all died before his eyes, and he had been powerless to stop it.

Zou Hyuga deactivated his Byakugan and wanted to go over and comfort Kakashi, only to realize they barely knew each other.

Kakashi was Konoha's genius, while he was merely an insignificant Konoha genin.

Oto Uchiha nudged his shoulder. Only then did Zou Hyuga come to his senses and step aside to clear the way.

Orochimaru stared at Kakashi-or, more precisely, at his white hair and the short sword at his waist.

That was the weapon the White Fang of the Konoha had once used. Even Orochimaru respected the White Fang, specifically for the strength that allowed enemy ninja to abandon their missions without punishment.

Yet such a powerful ninja had died because of mere rumors, and by a humiliating suicide at that.

Human life really is fragile!

Leaves wither when autumn comes, and people die when they are killed. What could spare someone the fate of death?

Orochimaru could not help glancing at Anko before looking up at the boundless sky.

Carrying Rin Nohara's belongings, Kakashi passed the temporary team without a word being exchanged.

He recognized Orochimaru of the Sannin, but had no desire to speak to him. As for the others, he did not even know their names.

Watching Kakashi walk ahead, the team followed him into Konoha.

The two chunin guarding Konoha's gates had senbon between their lips, looking remarkably similar to what Zou Hyuga remembered.

It seemed the job of guarding Konoha's gates might well be hereditary, passed down from generation to generation.

Once they reached the Mission Center and handed in the mission, it was naturally time for the temporary team to part ways.

Orochimaru gave Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha a long look and extended his invitation once more.

"If you're interested in working under me, you're welcome anytime!"

"Sorry, Lord Orochimaru, but we still need to think it over. After all, I belong to the Hyuga branch family, so I must get my clan's permission."

"Is that so? What a shame..." With that, Orochimaru lingered no longer and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

But before Zou Hyuga could breathe a sigh of relief, a chunin from the Mission Center approached with a smile.

"Are you here to tell us to take the Chunin Ninja Exams? We know."

Before the chunin could speak, Zou Hyuga answered first, already beginning to make plans for the Chunin Ninja Exams.

There was still some time before the exams. He should be able to enjoy a little longer as a genin, then take a mission outside the village when the time came and skip the exams.

He really was a master strategist, Konoha's very own Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix.

Just then, the chunin shook his head, handed a document to Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha, and said slowly:

"Following deliberation by Lord Third and the elder advisors, you two are now Konoha chunin."