0p0 Chapter 868 Good Night
Chapter 868 Good Night
After saying that, he yawned and rubbed his eyes: "I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, teacher, goodnight, senior Ye."
As Minato crawled into the tent, the smile on Minato's face gradually faded, and he turned to look at Zhang Hai, who was still standing in the same spot.
“Yoru, you…” Minato hesitated, his eyes filled with worry.
He knew that Zhang Hai, as another disciple of Hatake Sakumo during his time in the Anbu, had been affected by the same things as Kakashi. In fact, because he had witnessed even more darkness in the Anbu, the trauma might have been buried even deeper.
"Are you worried I'm going crazy?"
Zhang Hai chuckled and raised his hand to remove the fox mask from his face.
The moonlight shone on his cold and arrogant face, creating a stark contrast with Minato's gentle, sun-kissed features. In his deep black eyes, there was no madness, no confusion, only a calm and clear-headedness born of experience.
"Don't worry, Minato." Zhang Hai casually hung the mask on his waist, his tone relaxed. "I've already moved on. In this cannibalistic world, only by becoming strong enough to ignore the rules, or even make the rules, can you avoid repeating the mistakes of the teacher."
He glanced in Kakashi's direction and said calmly, "I'm not like that brat who's still throwing a tantrum. My heart is as hard as a rock."
Looking into his best friend's open and honest eyes, Minato finally felt a huge weight lifted from his heart.
"That's good." Minato smiled with relief and raised his fist.
Zhang Hai also extended his fist and lightly touched it with his.
"Live."
"That's natural."
……
As night deepened, the campfire burned out, leaving only a few dark red embers flickering in the wind.
The forest returned to a deathly silence, broken only by the occasional chirping of insects. Zhang Hai leaned against a tree trunk, closing his eyes to rest, but his senses constantly covered an area of several miles around.
This night was both a rest and a spiritual cleansing for this young team. Reflections on heroes, rules, and comrades were like seeds planted in each member's heart, waiting to blossom into flowers, some beautiful, some bloody, some someday.
As the first rays of dawn pierced through the dense canopy of trees and fell upon Obito's still-drooling, sleeping face.
The clear chirping of birds awakened the sleeping forest.
"Get up, you lazybones!"
Lin's clear voice broke the silence.
A new day has dawned. This also means that the countdown to the Kannabi Bridge mission, which could change everyone's fate, has officially begun.
Morning light filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled patterns of light.
"Okay, let's try some exercise."
Nohara Rin carefully cut the last piece of bandage, a soft green light emanating from her hand, and checked Kakashi's wound one last time.
Kakashi stood up, tentatively rotated his left arm a few times, and then made a few sword-swinging motions. Although there was still a slight pulling sensation, it no longer affected his fighting movements at all.
"No problem." Kakashi nodded and pulled his mask back up. "Thanks, Rin."
"Great!" Obito excitedly pumped his fist. "Now that the captain is back in action, let's get going! I can't wait to blow up the bridge!"
Minato Namikaze looked at the energetic students and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face, but a hint of seriousness was still hidden deep in his eyes.
"Now that Kakashi has recovered, let's proceed according to the original plan."
Minato walked up to the three men, his expression turning serious. "From here on out, I'll be heading to the front lines to draw away the main force of Iwagakure. You'll be going deep behind enemy lines alone. Remember, the core of this mission isn't individual heroism, but teamwork. No matter what happens, trust each other."
"Understood!" the three replied in unison.
Minato took one last, deep look at his disciples, then turned his gaze to Zhang Hai, who had been leaning silently against a tree trunk. Their eyes met, and the unspoken understanding they had built over many years needed no words at that moment.
Minato: 'I'm entrusting these three children to you.'
Zhang Hai: "Go without worry, I'm here, you won't die."
Having received confirmation from Zhang Hai's eyes, Minato no longer hesitated.
"Then... see you at Kannabi Bridge!"
Before he could finish speaking, a golden flash streaked across the sky, and Minato's figure vanished instantly, leaving only a few fallen leaves swirling in the wind.
"Alright, now that Minato-sensei has left, it's time for us to get going."
Zhang Hai clapped his hands and stepped out of the shadows, his voice languid beneath the mask, "However, before that, given your terrible teamwork yesterday, I suggest we spend half an hour doing a simple team coordination drill. After all..."
"unnecessary."
Kakashi coldly interrupted him, saying while tidying up his ninja tool bag, "The mission is time-sensitive, and there's no time to waste on drills. We're a team, and we already have teamwork."
He turned his head, his dead fish eyes staring directly at Zhang Hai: "Moreover, the teacher's orders are for the three of us to carry out the infiltration and demolition. Senior Ye, if you insist on coming along, I won't object, but please don't interfere with my command, and even more so, don't directly join the battle. This is a mission belonging to our Kakashi team."
Zhang Hai looked at the stubborn and arrogant brat in front of him and couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
"Fine, you've got guts."
Zhang Hai shrugged, his figure beginning to blur. "Since you're so confident, then I'll grant your wish. From now on, I will disappear completely. Unless you're about to die, don't expect me to clean up your mess."
After he finished speaking, his body vanished into the air like a wisp of smoke, leaving not even a trace of chakra fluctuation.
"Tch, what a charade." Obito scoffed, but inwardly he felt a slight sense of relief. The absence of that always imposing senior made him feel much more at ease.
"Let's go!" Kakashi gave the order, and the three-person team quickly darted into the dense forest, speeding towards the direction of Kannabi Bridge.
……
At the top of a large tree not far behind them, Zhang Hai's figure quietly appeared.
"These kids are such a handful."
Zhang Hai formed a hand seal, and a faint blue light shone from between his eyebrows.
"The art of soul differentiation."
Three extremely faint, almost imperceptible strands of spiritual energy separated from his body and silently caught up with the three people ahead, attaching themselves to Kakashi, Obito, and Rin respectively.
"This way, no matter what happens, I can sense it immediately."
After doing all this, Zhang Hai disappeared back into the darkness, hanging slowly behind.
……
"Big brother?"
While on her way, Nohara Rin suddenly felt a familiar fluctuation coming from the depths of her consciousness, and immediately called out to it tentatively in her mind.