Returning from Battlefield

The truce with Sand Village was a few days later.

This time, the place where the armistice agreement was signed was re-determined. The mission that Konoha traveled was not attacked, and the scene of the armistice agreement passed peacefully.

Although the war is over, ninjas still have to be stationed here at the border of the Land of Fire.

Moreover, evacuating and returning to the village is not a matter of a day or two. Unused supplies need to be counted, and there are many wounded people who need to be taken care of.

There is also the body of the victim, which needs to be verified and transported back to the village.

Sakumo's team has nothing to do now, the war is over, and there is no need to go to the rear of the Sand village Camp to carry out sabotage work.

Leaving aside the other three, Shiraishi is in the state of being requisitioned because he is a medical ninja, and has to stay in the medical unit every day.

When these wounded recover from their injuries and return to Konoha, it will be much smoother.

On this day, Shiraishi worked in the medical unit as usual, working with the rest of the medical ninjas to treat the wounded ninjas.

In fact, they are the medical ninjas who use the surgery. They are all experienced and skilled adult ninjas.

Shiraishi didn't complain about this, so his workload would be much easier.

These kinds of days lasted until the beginning of December, when the Konoha ninjas on the front line began to leave camp and return to the village, Shiraishi ended his work as a medical unit.

Returning to the village from the front line, because the walk was not very fast, it took a total of three or four days to return to the village.

During this period, he has to take care of the wounded and protect the important supplies that have not been used up. You can't act too fast, otherwise you should return to the village within a day.

When he returned to the village, Shiraishi also enjoyed the treatment of a "hero" for the first time.

The high-level Konoha, headed by the third Hokage, led a large number of Konoha ninjas, surrounded by villagers from Konoha Village, to welcome the ninjas who returned from the front line.

After resting for a day, Konoha held a large funeral ceremony the next day.

Only more than 500 corpses were brought back to the village, and less than one tenth of them preserved the integrity of the corpses.

And there are still many ninja dead whose corpses cannot be found, or whose corpses are so mutilated that they cannot be identified as their own, or sand ninja corpses. There are more ninjas in this part.

The weather in December is already very cold.

In addition to the day of the burial ceremony, the weather was not very sunny, and the sun was rarely seen.

The four members of Sakumo's team wore pure black mourning clothes and stood in front of the newly added tombstones to express their silent tribute.

This time, the war with Sand village lasted for more than two years, which was even worse than the War of the Land of Rain, and even surpassed the War of the Land of Rain in terms of sacrifice rate.

The overall level of ninjas in Sand village is far beyond that of Rain Village ninjas.

"I didn't see Lady Tsunade."

Ayane looked around and whispered.

Shiraishi also circled around, Orochimaru and Jiraiya from Sannin came, and even Jiraiya's disciple Minato was there, but Tsunade was the only one that was not present.

"After all, this war directly caused her to lose two of her closest relatives. It's only natural that she doesn't want to attend this kind of funeral. However, after everyone leaves, she will sneak here alone."

She doesn't want others to see Sannin's fragile side, and then She chooses a person to come to mourn. From Shiraishi's point of view, Tsunade's heart has become weak.

However, people have different levels of inner strength and weakness, and their ability to withstand bad news also varies from person to person.

This kind of thing is completely understandable for Shiraishi.

"You guys go back first, I'll go to Hokage-sama to discuss something."

After the funeral, Sakumo left this sentence and walked towards the position where the third Hokage and other high-level officials were.

The three of them did not object, they looked at each other, and left the mausoleum park

"It seems that this year's New Year festival will be very deserted."

Ayane said something on the road, as if she was regretting it.

After hearing this, Shiraishi and Ruri also nodded slightly.

It is now December, and many families have been torn apart because of the war. Although the festival will be held as usual, it is certain that it will not be as lively as in previous years.

Not only civilians, but also many ninjas sacrificed by major ninja clans.

"What are you going to do next? The war is over, it always feels so sudden."

"That's because our team has never participated in a frontal war, so we think so."

Shiraishi responded to Ayane's emotion.

"You two, don't take it lightly just because the war is over. If you die, it will be very difficult to find a ninja who can keep up with me."

Ruri splashed cold water beside her.

Shiraishi laughed and said, "It's okay, safety first has always been my code of conduct."

The end of the war does not mean that the ninja has lost its usefulness.

In peaceful times, ninjas also have to perform tasks, but compared with wartime, the task difficulty will be much lower.

Shiraishi thought that he hadn't tried to accept normal missions yet, and the missions he had been doing all along were fighting enemy ninjas.

The lowest level is also a B-level mission, and the regular one is an A-level task. Occasionally, he will follow Sakumo to perform an S-level task, paddling behind to make military achievements.

Thinking that both Ruri and Ayane in the team are already Chunin, and he is the only one in Sakumo's team whose rank is Genin, Shiraishi is thinking about when it would be better to become a Chunin.

After all, Genin feels a bit out of place in the elite Sakumo team.

After chatting for a while, the three also parted ways and went home.

"Speaking of which, will uncle and aunt come back this year for the New Year?"

"No, They will send something back."

"Really? Don't you feel lonely?"

Shiraishi asked.

"This kind of thing doesn't matter."

"Looks like this year it's the two of us watching the night together again."

Shiraishi said casually while putting his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, another year without any expectations."

Ruri said this, and then glanced at the gray sky, dazed.

•••

December passed quickly, and since Konoha and Sand village signed the armistice agreement, there has been no major event in the ninja world.

During this period, the Sakumo team only carried out two missions, both of which were relatively simple C-level missions. They suppressed a bandit stronghold in the Kingdom of Fire, and escorted a caravan to the neighboring country of Bo.

Compared to the calm ninja world, some small things happened in Konoha Village.

That is, Tsunade resigned from Konoha Hospital and devoted herself to training medical ninjas in the ninja school.

This makes many people feel baffled.

Among them, Shiraishi was the one who was puzzled.

Because Tsunade has excellent medical ninjutsu, no one can surpass her in today's ninja world.

The strongest among ninjas is naturally 'Five Kages'.

But in the world of medical ninjas, the strongest person today is undoubtedly Tsunade.

In the eyes of medical ninjas, Tsunade is the pinnacle they want to surpass.

With Tsunade's ability, she can work in Konoha Hospital and train medical ninjas for Konoha in the ninja school at the same time. The functions of the two do not conflict with each other.

After all,when she works at Konoha Hospital, she is only occasionally asked to do some difficult operations. Most of the injuries can be handled by other medical ninjas.

In this regard, the high-level side did not have any explanation, but only expressed respect for Tsunade's own wishes.

Although the position at Konoha Hospital was dropped, Konoha's medical ninjas can still ask Tsunade for some difficult medical knowledge.

Tsunade didn't say anything about it.

It can be said that she is the greatest authority in the field of medical ninjas.

She is also very good at training more excellent medical ninjas for the village.

Compared to the other two of the Sannin, Tsunade's prestige is undoubtedly stronger and has a huge mass base.

The various medicines she developed for Konoha, during the war, cracked all the poisons of the elder Chiyo of sand village, and with her own power, greatly reduced the poison attack ability of sand village puppet troops.

Not to mention, during the war, there were countless Konoha ninjas rescued by her surgery, which made many Konoha ninjas grateful to her, and invisibly accumulated a large number of contacts and massive fan base.

If it is said who among the Sannin is most likely to become the future Hokage, Shiraishi believes that Tsunade is more likely than the other two.

Inherited the excellent blood of her grandfather's first Hokage, she has a solid massive fan base, countless patients have been rescued by her surgery, and her strength is outstanding in Jonin... If she has the Will (spirit) to serve as Hokage, it is estimated that few people in Konoha will object.

But this is just Shiraishi's opinion, because Konoha's political environment is very... well, how should I put it, it is very special.

Shiraishi really couldn't find the right words to describe it, so he could only use 'special' to describe Konoha's political environment.

The Anbu, the directly subordinate force that Hokage relies most heavily on, is divided into Anbu and Roots.

While the root is not in the hands of Hokage, it has the same freedom of action as Anbu.

Uchiha controls Konoha's guards, and in some powers he surpasses Hokage's directly subordinates Anbu.

For example, Anbu needs a Hokage order to arrest people, and the guard can detain suspects before the Hokage order is issued.

As a ninja, Uchiha's power is very powerful.

However, for Uchiha with such great power, the headquarters of the security force is not in the Konoha Center, but in a relatively secluded place in the village, which is not conducive to the function of the security force.

There are still many problems in principle, which in Shiraishi's view need to be changed.

Although the first Hokage established Konoha, and the second Hokage created the development pattern of Ninja Village, there are also many regulations that cannot fit the times in the things left by the two of them.

If there is no change in the future, some regrettable tragedies will inevitably occur.

Thinking about it carefully, Shiraishi felt that he was a little unfounded.

The matter of the organization has been officially put on the right track.

The five people he sent out are currently following the business group established by Ruri's parents, and have purchased a huge site in the territory of the demon country where they can establish a base.

Shiraishi can leave Konoha and walk his own path as long as he waits for the next intense war to come.

His philosophy, his way of thinking, are incompatible with this village.

•••

January, the beginning of the new year.

Because he wanted to avoid suspicion, every New Year, he and Ruri participated in the festival.

Now that Ayane has joined Sakumo's team, they can naturally be together aboveboard, so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion.

A troop established in the form of a team is, in a sense, also a connection of fetters. Every member of the team are like a family.

"Happy New Year."

Put on a brand new white kimono with pink cherry blossom patterns painted on it. Ayane, who had been waiting on the street for a long time, bent slightly towards Shiraishi and Ruri who were walking towards her.

"Happy New Year."

The two also bent slightly, and Ruri didn't show disrespect to her today.

Different from Ayane, Ruri is wearing a light blue kimono, and her hair is tied with a blue headband. There is a gap between her hair and neck, and her snow-white and slender neck can be seen from the side.

The three of them exchanged red envelopes with each other, which was considered a gift for this year.

Because the war was last month, even though it was New Year.

Konoha's New Year's celebration this year will be a little quieter.

It's not yet time for the night festival to start, but there are many festive things hanging on the road.

For example, the source is made of straw rope, and some people put pine and bamboo in front of their house.

On the street, there are already children running on the road with toys, and their laughter can still be heard.

Hearing the laughter of these children, even the sadness brought about after the war was washed away a lot.

"Ruri, your kimono is beautiful."

"Well, yours isn't bad either."

Ruri took a look at Ayane's kimono. The kimono with white base material and pink cherry blossom pattern really fit Ayane's pure and gentle temperament.

"Yeah, after all, this is the best gift I received this year."

Ayane said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, where do you two want to go?"

After hearing what Ayane said, he was afraid that she might say something unnecessary at this time, so Shiraishi quickly changed the subject skillfully.

"I heard that there are a few new shops in the village, let's go there and have a look. After we have had enough fun, we will go to eat barbecue with Sakumo-Sensei in the evening."

Thinking that there will be an incomparably sumptuous meal in the evening, Ayane is looking forward to tonight's festival in her heart.

Shiraishi and Ruri have no objection to this.

The focus is on the barbecue at night.

For this reason, the three of them planned not to eat anything during the day.

To be honest, Shiraishi is not very interested in shopping, but he also knows that the fun of Ruri and Ayane's shopping lies in the atmosphere, rather than actually buying something.

Ruri aside, Ayane's family environment is not bad, and she is not too attached to material pursuits.

Otherwise, with Ayane's appetite, ordinary families would have been eaten up.

After all the calculations, he is the poorest one.

Ruri and Ayane were there to evaluate and communicate about a certain product. Occasionally, Shiraishi would intervene and give some opinions. The atmosphere was very harmonious, quite like a family.

Time passed unconsciously, and the sky began to darken.

More and more people came to the street.

The thin white snow began to fall in the sky, adding a bit of chilliness, but after the number of people increased, the chilliness could not be felt at all.

The ninjas who are usually busy at work also took off their ninja clothes one after another, put on brand new clothes, and participated in the night festival together.

Gradually, the lively atmosphere rose.

There are open-air dramas, in which people wear strange costumes and ghost masks on their heads, performing bizarre ghost stories, which attracts the attention of many children.

The children on the street were jumping and jumping, and even the shouts of the adults were ignored.

"I'm not late."

After shopping in the afternoon, Shiraishi and the other three waited at the agreed place. Not long after, Sakumo in casual clothes appeared in front of the three.

He was also holding a two-year-old child in his arms, tightly huddled in Sakumo's arms, to keep the child warm.

"No, there is still half an hour before the scheduled time. Is this Sakumo-Sensei's child? It's so cute."

Ayane looked at the child in Sakumo's arms, who, like Sakumo, had white hair.

He was looking at Ayane with curious eyes.

"Okay, you can come down, Kakashi."

Sakumo put down the child.

This child already has the ability to walk independently. After being placed on the snow by Sakumo, he stood there blankly, not knowing what to do.

Ayane went up to hold him in her arms, and he didn't cry, but he lowered the corners of his eyes, showing a very arrogant expression.

Although the eyes are full of vitality, with this expression... as expected, it would be more comfortable to beat him up.

Shiraishi didn't think this kind of little ghost was cute.

"This kid is very energetic."

Ayane said with a smile.

"There is one thing, his body has always been healthy, and he will become an excellent ninja in the future."

"Sakumo-Sensei, today is a rare celebration, can you not say such disappointing words? It's hard to get time out of work."

"Sorry, professional habit."

Because he has a pair of insightful eyes to see the essence of things, Sakumo subconsciously said that.

"Ruri, do you want to give the child a hug?"

Ayane looked at Ruri.

"No, this brat's eyes are too arrogant. It makes me really want to beat him up."

Seeing Kakashi's posture with his eyes hanging down, Ruri felt a little unhappy.

Shiraishi nodded aside, he thought so too.

This kid must be a bad guy when he grows up.

"No, I think little Kakashi's eyes are proof of his spirit."

"Where is the spirit?"

"Oh, it seems that Ruri doesn't have the potential to be a good wife and mother."

Ayane seemed to laugh in a proud tone.

Ruri snorted, and said in a disdainful tone: "Excessive compassion will only harm others and oneself."

As she spoke, she looked at Shiraishi with sharp eyes, as if she wanted him to give a fair evaluation.

"Okay, you two, let's enjoy such a lively festival."

Sakumo said.

Shiraishi breathed a sigh of relief, and gave Sakumo a grateful look.

Sakumo patted Shiraishi on the shoulder, as if he wanted to say: I can only help here.

Things about young people are really complicated. With Sakumo's gaze, he could naturally see some ambiguous relationship between Shiraishi and two others, and he sighed helplessly in his heart.

The next four people entered the barbecue restaurant not far away.

This barbecue restaurant is the old place where the Sakumo team celebrated when it was established.

Sakumo was deeply impressed by this.

Because of a meal, it cost him an A-rank task reward.

"Eat less, eating too much is not good for the stomach."

Before ordering food, Sakumo said seriously.

This is for the sake of the health of the three of them, he is definitely not worried about his own wallets.

He is Konoha White Fang, after all, he is also a well-known jounin in the village.

A mere hundreds of thousands of ryō...

It is better to be cautious.

"But in order to enjoy tonight's big meal, the three of us didn't eat a grain of rice during the day."

Ayane looked at Sakumo with innocent eyes.

"Is this the measure of Konoha White Fang (laughs)? It's really disappointing."

The smile on Ruri's face was very contemptuous.

"No way, after all, it's Konoha White Fang (laughs)."

Shiraishi also followed behind to fan the flames.

I've been hungry all day, so I must have a big meal tonight.

Sakumo couldn't laugh or cry, these guys, except for Shiraishi, the other two are not short of this money, why do they have to make trouble with his wallet?

I should not offend them during my missions, but instead took good care of them, right?

"Order as much as you want to eat."

After everyone had chosen what they wanted to eat, Shiraishi called a waiter and asked him to prepare it.

The waiter saw the checked ingredients and the quantity on the order... was worried about whether they could finish the table.

But when he saw Ayane, a very familiar little girl, he smiled knowingly.

Not only are the selected ingredients the most expensive and the best, but the portions are also very large. It can be said that they are a big customer of this barbecue restaurant.

—Two hours later.

Everyone had enough food and drink. When paying, Sakumo looked at the huge amount on the bill, his eyes rolled slightly, showing a look of Lifelessness.

Although it wouldn't make him bankrupt, it was just a barbecue, What it still made him very distressed.

However, if this kind of thing happens several times a year, it will only be a matter of time before he goes bankrupt.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Sakumo-Sensei."

Looking at the contented faces of the three of them, especially Ayane, she was the one who ate most happily.

"The three of you have to think about my wallet."

"But among our team, only Sakumo-Sensei is a Jonin."

"After all, you're the most powerful Jounin."

"That's right, a qualified Jonin, the one who is considerate about his team. Thinking about it this way, you're worthy of being Konoha White Fang."

Seeing that the three of them praised him, Sakumo felt even more headache.

Obviously, he was called Konoha White Fang (laughs) before, because he doesn't want to spend much money.

The face-changing speed is too fast.

After talking and laughing for a while, Sakumo took Kakashi to play elsewhere, and Shiraishi and the others didn't bother him.

It was about twelve o'clock, and it was very late.

A thick layer of snow has accumulated on the road.

The festival also changed from lively to deserted, and many shops began to close.

"This year's festival is a little more fun than before. After all, I always feel a little bit reluctant to participate in the festival with my tribe. It would be nice if it was like this every year in the future."

Ayane put her hands behind her back, lowered her head and stepped on the snow step by step seriously, then raised her face suddenly, and said with a smile to Shiraishi and Ruri.

"Of course it can be like this every year, we are companions in a small team."

Shiraishi replied like this.

"Yes. Speaking of which, I like this year's gift very much, so I will also like to thank you, Shiraishi-kun..."

"ah?"

When Ayane mentioned this matter suddenly, Shiraishi knew that things were getting troublesome, and was about to use an excuse to change the topic.

A piece of softness touched Shiraishi's cheek, and Ayane's white and crystal-clear delicate profile was in front of him, making him instantly stiff in place.

Ruri was also stunned, forgetting to move.

"Although it is not the first kiss, this is a unique imprint I have left on Shiraishi-kun, which is very commemorative. So, goodbye."

Ayane smiled shyly, and ran away in the snow with light steps.

While Shiraishi was still in a daze, Ruri beside him turned red with anger.

It is a kind of humiliation that one's most cherished 'toy' is snatched away by others without hesitation.

This sense of humiliation filled her mind with dark thoughts of wanting to destroy everything.

No other ideas.

"This, this, this—shameless! How shameless! Dirty! Fornicated woman!"

Saying that, Ruri made hand signs with both hands, gathering all the chakras in her body.

"Go to hell! Fire Style·Great Fire—"

"Wait! Don't mess around in the village!"

Shiraishi reacted, and immediately stepped forward to stop Ruri, and threw her down on the snow to prevent the Fire Style technique from being performed.

After all, it's New Year, so it's not very auspicious for Anbu to come to him.

Ayane, who was some distance away from here, naturally heard the commotion behind her, but her mind was no longer on it.

She touched her lips with her fingers, and there was a breath of Shiraishi there.

This year is off to a great start.

••••

Mid-January.

The four members of Sakumo's team gathered at the gate of Konoha Village.

"This mission is to suppress an illegal organization in the Kingdom of Fire. There seem to be ninjas in it, so it's a B-level mission, and it can be upgraded to an A-level mission at any time. It's not a difficult mission, but don't be careless..."

When Sakumo was explaining the mission, he suddenly found that the atmosphere in the team was a bit strange.

Ayane had a gentle and harmless innocent smile on her face, as if she didn't notice the strange atmosphere in the team.

Ruri's fierce look at Ayane made Sakumo suspect that she would tear Ay

ane apart.

"Shiraishi, what happened to the two of them?"

Sakumo looked at Shiraishi, the most ordinary medical ninja in the team, and also the most normal behavior.

"It's nothing, every month girls have..."

Ruri walked directly to the side and stepped on Shiraishi's foot, making him turn blue and speechless.

"Sakumo-Sensei said that the task is very dangerous, so don't get out of my sight, otherwise I won't guarantee your safety."

Hearing Ruri's threatening words, Shiraishi could only nod his head in agreement.

Since that day, Ruri's face has become very scary.

It doesn't make sense to reason with a woman in extreme anger.

Sakumo scratched his head. For some reason, the team's running-in seemed to be difficult.