Chapter 31 – Deployment to the Sunagakure Battlefield
Chapter 31 – Deployment to the Sunagakure Battlefield
Rin stood frozen in place, her legs feeling as if they had been filled with lead.
She opened her mouth to speak but found no sound coming out. The frail man lying before her—was this really the same energetic, loud, and headstrong father she remembered?
"What's the matter? Don't recognize your old man anymore?" Kenichi attempted a lighthearted tone, but the pain contorting his face betrayed the effort as he tugged at his wounds.
Rin finally snapped out of her daze and hurried to his bedside. She gently took hold of his only remaining left hand—his skin was cold to the touch.
"How... how did this happen..." Rin asked in a hoarse voice.
Kenichi smiled faintly. "It's nothing. Just an arm. Compared to the comrades who'll never return, I'm already fortunate."
Rin lowered her head, and a wave of destructive rage surged in her chest. She gently brushed along the edge of the bandages, then asked bitterly,
"Who did this?"
"A puppeteer from Sunagakure," Kenichi explained calmly. "Our squad was ambushed. I took a poisoned blade while covering the retreat. To save my life, the medic-nin had to amputate..."
"Idiot!" Rin suddenly looked up, her eyes red with unshed tears. "Why did you have to play the hero? You promised you'd come back safe!"
Kenichi paused, then gave a wry smile. "I'm sorry, Rin. But... this is the fate of a shinobi. Protecting one's comrades—that's what we do."
Rin sat silently beside the bed, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of the mattress. Her expression made Kenichi sigh inwardly—she had grown up, and he no longer understood what she was thinking.
"I should've gotten used to this a long time ago," Kenichi murmured, gazing at the ceiling. His voice was so soft it was almost to himself. "Your grandfather lost a leg at about this same age."
Rin's head snapped up. It was the first time her father had ever mentioned her grandfather. So... he had been a shinobi too?
"I was still a child back then," Kenichi continued. "I just remember him sitting in the yard every day, polishing a ninjatō he could no longer wield."Kenichi said with a bitter smile. "Later I understood—what shinobi fear isn't losing limbs, but losing the meaning of their existence."
Rin's pupils contracted slightly. A twisted thought took root in her mind: maybe this wasn't so bad. With one arm gone, her father could no longer return to the front lines. He wouldn't be one of those silent casualties who vanish on missions.
"Rin?" Kenichi looked at his daughter, puzzled by her sudden silence.
She scoffed with feigned irritation. "You big idiot. Still smiling like that? You shouldn't be a shinobi anymore. Retire early, maybe teach at the Academy or something."
As the idea took form, she started to think it wasn't so bad.
Kenichi blinked, a giant question mark practically floating above his head.
During her time off, Rin didn't rest either. She returned to Konoha Hospital to assist. With Kenichi also hospitalized, she could visit him regularly.
In rare moments of rest, she contemplated Konoha's current situation. This year marked the beginning of the Third Great Shinobi War. With Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure all launching offensives against Konoha, and Iwagakure lurking in the shadows, it was clear that Konoha would soon be embroiled in a four-way conflict.
"If Konoha didn't have such deep roots, the village would've fallen by now. Is this the peace you wanted, First Hokage?"
The fluorescent lights in Konoha Hospital buzzed overhead. Rin sat on a bench outside the ward, finally catching a moment of rest after assisting Riko with a difficult surgery.
"What are you looking at?"
Rin looked up to see Kakashi standing in front of her, silver hair gleaming coldly under the lights. He held a fruit basket—clearly visiting Obito and Nohara Rin.
A few days prior, Kakashi's team had accepted a supply escort mission. They were ambushed en route, and both Obito and Rin were wounded and now recovering in the hospital.
"Just resting," Rin said, leaning back against the bench.
Kakashi glanced around and sat down beside her.
"I heard your father was injured."
"Is it serious?"
"It's not too bad. He lost an arm and can't be a shinobi anymore. I want him to open a small business... or maybe teach at the Academy."
"That's not a bad path."
To come back alive from the battlefield was already more than most could hope for.
Just then, Rin's gaze shifted down the hall. A figure in a dark cloak suddenly appeared before them, materializing in a blur.
An ANBU agent.
"Hanabuchi Rin. Hatake Kakashi. The Hokage summons you."
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The air in the Hokage's office was thick with smoke. Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the window, his back turned. The old man seemed smaller somehow, as if the burdens on his shoulders had weighed him down even further.
"You're here," he said without turning. "Look at the document on the desk."
Rin picked up the report. It was a war dispatch from the front.
"Iwagakure has declared war on Konoha. Two battalions have crossed into the Land of Fire... confirmed demolition unit... command led by Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi."
Each word struck her like a needle. So it's happening—Konoha's worst-case scenario: war on all four fronts.
"The situation is grim," Sarutobi finally turned around. His face was haggard, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than ever. "Sunagakure presses us. Kumogakure reinforces daily. And now Iwagakure invades."
He moved to the map on the desk, trailing a finger along the crimson borders.
"I've decided to pull elite forces from the Sunagakure front to counter Iwagakure. At the same time, another unit will be sent to reinforce the Sunagakure front."
Rin's heart pounded. She and Kakashi exchanged a glance, silently asking: was this what he called us for?
Rin understood his intent. She took a breath and said directly:
"Sensei, I wish to be deployed to the Sunagakure battlefield."
The Third Hokage paused mid-drag on his pipe, raising an eyebrow as he exhaled.
"Why Sunagakure? Because your father was injured there?"
Rin rolled her eyes inwardly. This old man... acting like this wasn't exactly what he intended. Didn't he call them here just for this?
Sarutobi puffed at his pipe, the embers flaring and dying within. In the end, he nodded.
He approved the request and included Kakashi in the same deployment. As Rin had guessed, this was their mission all along.
After the two left, the Third Hokage extinguished his pipe, unrolled a fresh sheet of paper, and began to write a letter.
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Three days later, just before dawn.
At the main gates of Konohagakure, an entire platoon of shinobi had assembled. Among them stood Rin and Kakashi.
"Is everyone present?" Hyūga Hiashi's stern voice rang out. "I am the captain of this reinforcement squad to the Sunagakure front—Hyūga Hiashi."
"Prepare yourselves. We march now."
And so began their journey toward the battlefield.
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