"Teacher Lin Yu, why are you here?!"
Kakashi and Naruto said in unison. Kakashi's eyes twitched slightly, as if Naruto was trying to be his peer.
Lin Yu greeted Kakashi and the others, saying, "I'm a ninja too. Isn't it normal to occasionally take on mission requests?"
Lin Yu was about to take out his Konoha forehead protector, but he couldn't find it anywhere. It seemed he had forgotten it in some corner.
"Sorry, I didn't bring my forehead protector today."
Kakashi and his group were speechless. Could a ninja's forehead protector be forgotten like homework?
Naruto grumbled discontentedly, "Sasuke saw it first, and Teacher Lin Yu is stealing a kid's mission. So shameless!"
Lin Yu retorted with a smile, "Then I met Sasuke before Naruto. If you say so, doesn't that mean Sasuke is..."
"Nonsense! Sasuke he..."
Naruto secretly glanced at Sasuke, pouted, and sat on the ground, shouting, "I don't care! I don't care! I want this mission!"
"Alright Naruto, there are other C-rank missions. Let's give this one to Teacher Lin Yu."
"I don't care, I just want this one!"
Naruto was being stubborn. Under normal circumstances, Naruto wouldn't do such a thing, but this was a mission to the Land of Snow. If he could watch the snow with Sasuke amidst the falling snowflakes, how romantic would that be!
Absolutely! He absolutely couldn't miss it!
"Naruto, don't make a scene. This is the Hokage's office!"
Kakashi put on his mentor's demeanor. He didn't know why Naruto was making such a fuss; it was just a C-rank mission.
Naruto thought that a man like Kakashi, who had no romantic sense, would never find a girlfriend!
Lin Yu held up the mission scroll and asked, "How about we go together then?"
Kakashi frowned, then shook his head, "Ninja should treat any mission with caution. Naruto is just throwing a tantrum. I'll take them on another mission. There's a mission to the Land of Waves over there, I was planning to..."
"Watching snow indeed can't be done alone, but Might Guy is still recovering. How about inviting Obito?"
"Ah, this..."
"I heard that a new book called 'Nine Heavens of Ice and Fire' has been published in the Land of Snow, and it can only be bought there."
"Hiss! I'll go and ask Lord Hokage!"
Watching Kakashi leave them behind, Naruto had three question marks floating above his head. 'Nine Heavens of Ice and Fire'? What was that, that could make Kakashi immediately break ninja rules? It seemed he had to find an opportunity to thoroughly research it with Sasuke.
In the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze's cheek twitched fiercely as he saw Lin Yu walking in with the Ten-Tails. It seemed the village was about to get another troublemaker.
Who knew what kind of chaos he would cause in the future? He needed to pass on the Hokage position to someone else as soon as possible, but who should it be?
Minato was troubled. He was in his prime, and even if he was willing to step down as Hokage, how could others let him go? A Hokage with low pay and no complaints about overtime was not easy to find.
"Lord Hokage, about what I just said, what do you think?" Kakashi hesitated, as this went against ninja rules. Treating a mission request as child's play was too inappropriate!
"Ah? Ah, ah, ah, I think you should just handle it. I trust you, Kakashi."
Minato rubbed his forehead. He was too busy with work to hear Kakashi clearly, but judging by the situation, it was related to senior Lin Yu again. Let him do as he pleased!
"I'll handle it?" Kakashi's expression under his mask was strange, but inwardly he was pleased.
Minato said, "Is there anything else? I'm very busy."
The implication was, you two should leave quickly and not cause him any more trouble.
At this moment, Lin Yu took out another mission scroll and said to Minato, "Minato, please hold onto this request for me first."
"Land of Waves?"
Minato frowned. It was a small coastal country with nothing special and not a developed economy.
"But the request says we have to depart within three days. How long do you want to keep it?"
"About a week?"
Minato Namikaze: "..."
Minato really wanted to resign immediately. Did they think he, the Hokage, was omnipotent? They could just ask him to hold onto it? At least give him a reason.
Lin Yu said, "Don't worry. Send someone to tell the client that a powerful team will return to the village in a week, and they will agree."
Minato frowned. With Lin Yu saying that, this mission must have a hidden motive. It seemed both of these C-rank missions were not simple.
After leaving the Hokage's office, Lin Yu and Kakashi bid farewell. The latter had to inform his good friend Obito. Since Lin Yu was taking the mission, the meeting time was set for noon, which was the usual time for most people to wake up.
After taking小白 for another walk and confirming there were no bratty kids around, Lin Yu tied the leash to a tree and went inside.
"I'm back."
The house was empty, and no one responded. Lin Yu then remembered that Kushina and Mikoto, along with Konan, had gone to learn the Shadow Seal with Tsunade, and Hong was also leading a team on a mission.
Lin Yu sat on a chair and pondered, "Will I end up watching the snow alone?"
...
Above a ruined relic in a certain part of the ninja world, a rift was torn open, and a woman with long blue and white hair floated out. A miniaturized Ten-Tails followed behind her.
The woman landed on the ground and looked at the primitive jungle-like environment around her, her eyes filled with a hint of daze.
For Kaguya, she had only slept for a while, but for the ninja world, a thousand years had passed, and everything had changed.
There were no longer any subjects who worshipped her, and the temple where she lived was in ruins, with only a few broken walls remaining to prove that this was her residence from a thousand years ago.
She had dreamt for a thousand years, and all the familiar faces were gone. Even more ridiculously, she had been sealed by her own children.
Kaguya didn't know who was right or wrong. She just wanted to survive. No one knew better than her the terror of the Otsutsuki clan.
Kaguya lowered her head and looked at her hands. Had her inner self truly been devoured by immense power?
Perhaps, but she felt very lonely.
A thousand years ago, no one could help her when Isshiki Otsutsuki wanted to offer her to the God Tree, so she resisted.
Later, after giving birth to two sons through the prayers of her subjects, Kaguya felt she had companionship.
But soon, her two children sealed her. At that moment, Kaguya was desperate and resentful. She might have been a butcher to the ninja world, but she loved her children, even dividing her chakra among them.
Under the bright moonlight, Kaguya stood on a cliff, her gaze as cold as ever. From beginning to end, she had always been alone, both a thousand years ago and now.
Perhaps...
Whoosh!
"Whoa! Why are you standing at the edge of a cliff? I almost lost my life!" Lin Yu patted his chest. Was Kaguya admiring the moon?
Kaguya turned her head and looked at the man who suddenly appeared beside her. She sniffed with her delicate nose and suppressed the urge to inhale him, saying coldly, "What is it?"
Lin Yu coughed and smiled, "Uh, would you like to go watch the snow together?"
Kaguya's beautiful eyes reflected the smiling youth before her. Whether it was the lingering loneliness from before or the youth's smile that infected her, she didn't know.
Kaguya slightly pursed her moist red lips, turned her head, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looked at the soft moonlight in the sky, and said softly,
"Okay."