Naruto: As a genin, I just want to live a normal life.

Page 89

Even the Hokage and the two elders.

The war is over.

But none of the fallen comrades could return. For example, Shirahoshi saw many familiar names among them: Sarutobi Ryosuke, Keita, Shinji, Yushichiro, and even Mitomon Hayate and Sarutobi, who were promoted to Chunin four years ago... as well as the names of various members she had seen before.

Sadness is always so painful, and life is so fragile: there are 1,700 or 1,800 names on the list alone, and many others have suffered from post-war symptoms such as disability and mental breakdown.

I can no longer be a ninja.

therefore,

Whether it's Jonin or Special Jonin, the village currently has a relatively large number of openings; it's all about merit and strength to advance each ninja's rank.

—This can also be called rewarding merit.

The village's memorial service ended hastily, and the ninjas who had come to pay their respects left one by one. Who knows if anyone will remember these brave ninjas who fought for the village in the future...

Yuhi Ryuun, who would be promoted to Jonin after today, brushed past Shirahoshi, and a soft, deep female voice came from her red lips: "See you later."

Shirahoshi remained where she was and did not leave.

Then, Uchiha Mikoto, just like Yuhi Ryuun, brushed past Shirahoshi, saying, "See you later."

"?" Bai Xing glanced at the long, dark hair left behind by the girl as she left, thinking to herself, "Are you guys crazy?"

As Nono, now the deputy chief pharmacist in the hospital's surgery department, brushed past Shirahoshi with her blonde hair and youthful fragrance: "See you later—"

"?????"

Bai Xing was practically rolling her eyes out of her head, thinking, "Where are we going to meet later?! Can't you guys at least stop saying things in half-finished sentences?!"

As the ninjas dispersed one by one, only the three legendary Sannin of Konoha and the four members of the Shirahoshi group remained, seemingly lost in thought.

Shirahoshi wanted to see if anything would change after the Sannin's war.

"War is truly cruel. Fragile lives die one after another, receiving only a few nice words of praise from the village and a meager pension."

"Orochimaru?!" Jiraiya's face showed disbelief upon hearing this. He seemed to have noticed a change in Orochimaru. "Do you know what you're saying?"

Tsunade wasn't in a much better mood either. She stayed there looking at the list of fallen ninjas just to find some peace of mind, but she still had to refute Orochimaru: "Enough, Orochimaru!"

"Nobody's in a good mood, and neither are we!"

Orochimaru smiled coldly, ignored his two companions, and before turning to leave, he noticed that Shirahoshi had not left.

Orochimaru stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with disbelief, and looked again at the young man's sorrowful face: Shirahoshi was genuinely sad, and it was also to make every step he took next more resolute.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

This child has gone through three... no! four years, and not only has there been no signs of aging on his face, but his skin and appearance are even more radiant and bright than before.

For example, the Dai he saw looked much more haggard than four years ago, with more stubble and, needless to say, his skin was very wrinkled.

And Bai Xing,

But like the long river of time, it completely ignored Bai Xing's figure, focusing only on everyone else.

"Sparashi—" Orochimaru's eyes were filled with the desire to explore the unknown. He recalled how Shirahoshi had explained that his physical constitution seemed to have awakened and that his chakra had improved in both quantity and quality: the five attributes and the upper limit of chakra.

Now it seems,

It doesn't seem that simple!

"Shirahoshi. It seems you've been hiding your true nature quite well. However, as your master, I will have the opportunity to study you." Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a cold light as he left the funeral venue without uttering a single word.

Shirahoshi also noticed the strange feeling Orochimaru had given him when he was staring intently at him: it was an intense gaze—a gaze even more scorching than the Hokage's!

Okay! Orochimaru has changed, time to run away. I need to go traveling for at least a few years, then come back to check things out when the war starts...

Wait a minute?! If the Third Kazekage hadn't died... never mind. What does it have to do with me? War is just an excuse; it's not like a war starts because of the death of a Kage. Otherwise, if Shippuden learned that the Fourth Kazekage was dead, wouldn't Sunagakure declare war on Konoha again and go for a mutual destruction?!

Therefore, these things are all done by those in power when they have nothing better to do: in other words, they have the power to show off their strength and see if they can grab something good or gain any benefits.

"Orochimaru's gaze towards Shirahoshi is strange. Tsunade, do you know what Orochimaru is doing right now?" Jiraiya had gone to the battlefield in the Land of Grass to provide support, so he knew almost nothing about what had happened in the past three years.

Tsunade shook her head slightly: "Ever since Shirahoshi's accident, Orochimaru's situation seems to have changed."

"I think Shirahoshi would know more about this than anyone else, since he is his teacher."

The two were loudly plotting when Shirahoshi's sad expression froze slightly. She looked up and revealed a pair of calm eyes. "Lady Tsunade, I don't remember being that close to Orochimaru-sensei."

"Besides, you might get more answers by asking Rope Tree, rather than about how familiar you are with him."

When Tsunade heard Shirahoshi address her respectfully again, even in private, she held up the plate armor she hadn't taken off with both hands. "If Nawaki knew, I wouldn't have asked you."

"in addition."

"My younger brother is about to be promoted to Special Jonin, and you're still a Genin..."

"That's a bit embarrassing!"

Shirahoshi: "......"

Here comes the excuse!

In an instant, the young man's face broke into a heartbreakingly sad expression, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

to be frank,

This was the first time Tsunade and Jiraiya had ever seen Shirahoshi shed tears.

"Hey, hey, hey—I didn't say anything, did I, Jiraiya?"

"Uh... That's a bit much." Although Jiraiya couldn't understand why Shirahoshi couldn't become a Chunin, he could still somewhat understand Shirahoshi's feelings, given that others said Shirahoshi always gave it her all and was extremely serious when participating in the Chunin Exams, but still failed.

—It's so disheartening when your efforts don't pay off and you keep declining!

"Waaaaah—" After crying, Shirahoshi covered her eyes with her right arm, wiped away her tears, and ran towards the Hokage Building: "Tsunade-sama, I hate you the most!!"

Tsunade stretched out her right hand, her face showing a bewildered expression, muttering, "Did I really say something that bad?"

"Probably." Jiraiya nodded, and the atmosphere improved considerably, with less sadness and more of a strange joy. However, when he turned his head and saw the memorial stone, Jiraiya's face was still filled with sorrow: he vowed to find the Child of Prophecy and let the Child of Prophecy save this war-torn ninja world!

On the path leading to the heroes' cemetery and back to the village in the woods, three girls stood with their arms clasped together, their eyes seemingly filled with a blinding glint of light—

"The person that Shirahoshi-sensei likes is me!"

"You're wrong, Mikoto! Do you remember how Shirahoshi-sensei used to visit me in the hospital so often? That just means that Shirahoshi-sensei's favorite person is actually me!!"

"Hmph! When I was injured, Bai Xing personally told me that he would always stand behind me and always support me! That's enough to prove that the person Bai Xing likes is me!"

"Uh, stare—" x3

Beside him, Nawaki, Shiranui Kumo, Shimura Yuko, Hyuga Suzuka, Inuzuka Umeko (now the head nurse of the physical examination department at Konoha Hospital), and even Kitada Hama (still a Chunin with an arm injury), all wore helpless smiles.

Among them, Shiranui Unma and Shimura Yuko were very close, and their eyes seemed a little strange.

"It's a pity Uncle Dai isn't here, otherwise he would definitely be shouting 'This is youth!'" Nawaki said, imitating Might Dai's gesture, then shrugged helplessly.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. That Uncle Dai must be a famous genin in the village, just like Shirahoshi,” Hinata Suzuka said.

“It’s him.” Shiranui Kumo nodded. “But this funeral is mainly for those who participated in the war. It should be opened to the public soon.”

Before Shimura Yuko could speak, a gentle breeze swept by, which then turned into a strong gust of wind that blew her hair into a mess.

"Who's there! Which bastard is jogging here?!"

The injured Kitada Hama almost fell, but luckily Nawaki was standing beside him and caught him. "I'll go. This road should only be for people attending the memorial service, right?"

"Byakugan!" Hinata Suzuka's eyes bulged with veins as she caught sight of the figure that had just left.

At this moment, Shirahoshi patted his chest, relieved to see a group of people standing there 'ambushing' him. "Seriously. I almost didn't escape. Was I just going to leisurely head to the Hokage...?"

Bai Xing sensed that there seemed to be a pair of eyes staring intently at him from behind: you should know that his perception ability at this moment was no longer what it used to be, but many times stronger than before, and he could even sense the approximate location of a life form like the setting sun and drifting clouds.

But there are also differences.

He could sense when the other party moved. But Xi Ri Liu Yun couldn't.

"Run!"

A short while later, the group of people from before appeared at this location, especially the two girls in black and one in gold running at the front:

After experiencing all sorts of things over the past three years, Xi Ri Liu Yun's tone became somewhat harsh: "Damn it! Did they predict we'd be lying in wait for him?"

“There’s no way he can escape. We’ll just go straight to his house, squat there, and that’s it, hehehe—” For the past three years, the black-haired girl, who had been completing garrison duties since coming off the battlefield, had become somewhat ruthless: there was a man who harassed her every day, but because of his high status, she couldn’t bring herself to beat him into a pulp.

"It's alright. As long as we stay at Shirahoshi-sensei's house, he will definitely come home. He definitely will—" Yakushi Nonou inherited Shirahoshi's cunning personality, a deep and sinister smile on her face.

The person next to him: "......"

"How terrifying." Kitada Hama was helped over by Nawaki and saw the high-pressure black aura emanating from the three girls, as if there was a strange dark energy that was constantly rising.

Although Rope Tree still retained some naiveté, it wasn't quite as innocent as it once was. Seeing this group of women made her feel sorry for Brother Shirahoshi: "Maybe we should go home. I suddenly miss my sister..."

“Let’s go together. We’ll have a celebratory dinner with Commander Shirahoshi in the next couple of days to celebrate our post-war resurrection,” said Yuko Shimura. Then, she looked at Kumogami Shiranui, who had his hands in his pockets and a toothpick in his mouth, and immediately grabbed his ear.

"It hurts..."

Yuko Shimura whispered in Kumohiro Shiranui's ear, "If you dare to imitate Shirahoshi, you're dead!"

"I wouldn't do that, you're all I need." Shiranui Kumo's face flushed slightly, and Shimura Yuko nodded, clapped her hands, and thought to herself that was more like it.

Hinata Suzuka felt a pang of envy seeing everyone around her, but as a member of the Hinata clan, she couldn't have a romantic relationship with someone outside the clan...

-

That's roughly what happened.

"Lady Tsunade's words have broken my heart, and I have made up my mind."

In the Hokage's office, Shirahoshi earnestly proposed to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was sitting at the desk in front of him and had just attended the memorial service, that his ninja status be frozen: his file be frozen and he temporarily relinquish his identity as a ninja.

Hiruzen Sarutobi held a long pipe in his hand, tapping the metal lightly on the table. He took a deep drag of the strong tobacco smoke and slowly exhaled.

"call--"

Shirahoshi, who had inhaled several puffs of secondhand smoke, was speechless.

That inherently evil old man with secondhand smoke, I'm going to—

"I can agree to this."

Compared to the reward Orochimaru demanded, what Shirahoshi wanted was far too simple.

Secondly, he trusted Shirahoshi more than his own children: ninjas who have held important positions or are ranked Chunin or higher are not allowed to resign, temporarily give up their ninja status, or easily leave the village.

Unless it becomes impossible to continue being a ninja.