After finishing his shift, Kakashi, exhausted from a whole day of work, carried the food he had bought from the street, ready to head home, eat, take a bath, and sleep.
But as he reached his doorstep, he saw someone leaning against his door, fast asleep.
"Naruto?"
What is this kid doing at my place?
Confused, he scratched his head and quickly put away the kind of book that kids shouldn't see.
Then, he walked up and gave Naruto a nudge.
"Naruto."
"Mm~ Who is it?"
After pulling an all-nighter and spending the whole day at the ninja academy trying to focus on studying, Naruto was completely exhausted.
When he arrived at Kakashi's house and found him not home, he just sat by the door… and somehow dozed off.
"Kakashi-senpai!!"
His blurry eyes slowly opened, and as soon as he saw who woke him up, Naruto jumped to his feet.
"Maybe... you're here for something?"
"I want to ask you to train me, Senpai!!!"
Naruto quickly stood up, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
He knew his situation was different—there was no way he'd get the same treatment as Sasuke. He had to find another way.
After all, if he went to Orochimaru, that guy might actually slice him up for research!
So, Kakashi was the only choice Naruto could think of.
"...."
Is this kid serious?
Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.
But Naruto's eyes were filled with determination and stubbornness. It was hard to believe he was just messing around.
"I might not have much time, but I'll do my best to make room for it."
Aside from Yan's orders, Kakashi also had another reason for helping Naruto—because of his teacher, Minato.
"Come inside first."
At this hour, sending Naruto back didn't seem like a good idea.
So, Kakashi had no choice but to take him home. And then...
Watching Naruto eat with his mouth full of oil, shoveling food into his mouth, Kakashi started regretting bringing him back.
He hadn't bought much food, and Naruto had been starving for a while. His stomach had been growling nonstop, so Kakashi had no choice but to give him what he had.
As for himself, he just boiled some water and made instant ramen.
At least instant ramen was still food—it could fill his stomach.
"Mmm~~ Kakashi-senpai, this is so good!"
"....."
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
If you like it so much, then eat more. Not like this is going to happen again anytime soon.
He was always busy, so busy that he barely had time to eat, let alone prepare food for Naruto.
Having an extra person in the house, especially a noisy kid, was something Kakashi wasn't used to.
He had been alone for so long.
What made him even more speechless was that after eating his fill, Naruto didn't even bother to take a bath. He just flopped onto the couch and fell into a deep sleep.
Even in his sleep, he was mumbling unconsciously:
"I'm... not useless..."
Naruto ended up staying at Kakashi's place.
Meanwhile, Yan had arrived at Orochimaru's research lab.
As always, Orochimaru was busy with his experiments, so much so that he didn't even bother looking after Sasuke. He had left that job to Yakushi Kabuto.
Kabuto was skilled in medical ninjutsu, but even so, Sasuke would still need some time to fully recover.
He wouldn't be jumping around anytime soon.
It was tough, but there was an upside to it. Once Sasuke fully processed everything he had gained from this battle, his growth would take a huge leap forward.
Far from the village, Jiraiya was still gathering intel on the Akatsuki. When he received a message from the village, he couldn't help but feel torn.
He wanted to keep investigating, but the village had given a direct order.
After years of chasing leads, Konoha had finally decided to stop pursuing the Akatsuki.
The mission was being put on hold.
On top of that, Naruto was having some issues.
Whether it was because of the village's orders or because of Naruto, Jiraiya had no choice but to drop everything and return as quickly as possible.
With Konoha pulling out of the search for the Akatsuki, Kumogakure wouldn't be able to hold on much longer either.
For now, it wouldn't be a big deal, but after spending years on this mission with little progress, even the Raikage, no matter how much he cared about his reputation or how obsessed he was with the Rinnegan, would have to give up eventually.
After all, the village wasn't run by just one person. If things dragged on too long, others would start to oppose the idea.
More importantly, as time passed, the village was beginning to recover.
The damage left behind in Amegakure was already starting to heal.
With things settling down, some of the higher-ups in the village naturally didn't want the Raikage to keep fixating on the Akatsuki.
Once Konoha finished its investigation, the people from Kumogakure knew their mission was also coming to an end.
It probably wouldn't be long before they received orders from the village to give up on tracking the Akatsuki and return home.
The main reason the mission couldn't go on forever was simple—after years of effort, they had made little progress.
The Akatsuki had gone into hiding, and with someone like Black Zetsu, a master of infiltration, on their side, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had a hard time tracking them down.
Before, the Akatsuki had been rooted in Amegakure, making them easy to find.
But now, they had completely disappeared underground. Without Amegakure tying them down, uncovering their whereabouts had become almost impossible.
They were already good at staying hidden, and with Black Zetsu's help, they had practically vanished without a trace.
Inside one of the Akatsuki's new bases, Black Zetsu returned with the latest intel.
Even though Obito's identity had been exposed, further deepening the distrust between them, the Akatsuki didn't fall apart.
Even if neither side fully trusted the other, Nagato still chose to work with Obito and Black Zetsu for the sake of their shared goal.
"Kumogakure and Konoha have ended their search. Their people have already returned home."
"So, no one is watching us anymore?"
The Akatsuki had stayed completely underground without making a single move.
Part of it was because they had suffered heavy losses, but the bigger reason was that they didn't want to draw attention from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
That was why they had stayed in hiding for so long.
Now, the villages had finally given up on tracking them down.
"That seems to be the case. Unless we cause a major disturbance, the Five Great Villages won't be paying attention to us anymore."
Black Zetsu sounded confident in his assessment.
"Good."
Obito let out a cold smile and looked up at Tendo.
"Then we can begin our plan to take control of Kirigakure from the shadows."
"We can, but I need to be the one controlling the Mizukage."
Obito had been desperate to get revenge on Kirigakure for years, but he hadn't made a move.
That was because, on his own, he wasn't strong enough—he needed allies.
---------------------------------------
You can read 10 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi