Chapter 016 | One Day, Manoshi had a Bold Idea.

He took a comfortable shower with hot water, washed his clothes which were covered with ash and dust. He then changed into the somewhat loose combat uniform he received from the logistics department.

Although the cloth was not as well-fitting as the one prepared by Kaoru, it was good to have clean clothes to change during the war.

He fumbled with the ninja bag for a while but pulled nothing out.

Manoshi walked out of the room, made a slight distinction by voice, and went straight to Rin's room. Don't get him wrong; he just used up the bandage and went to get some more.

In a modest dormitory converted from a private home, Manoshi, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin shared three rooms.

"Knock knock."

He gently knocked on the door, stood at the door, and waited for 2 minutes, but no one answered.

'Not here?'

Manoshi turned to Kakashi and Obito's room and pushed through the door. Two beds could barely squeeze in in a small room, and a third piece of furniture had nowhere to stand; two people sat on their beds with their backs to each without saying a word.

"Obito, do you know where Rin went?" Manoshi, leaning against the door, asked.

"Why are you looking for Rin?" Obito reacted fiercely, "You stay away from Rin!"

"Idiot, why are you anxious? I'm not going to steal your girlfriend. I just ran out of bandages and wanted to ask her for some more."

"Such an idiot." Kakashi, who was oiling his kunai, spat out three words and answered on behalf of Obito, "Rin said she was going to help at the hospital."

"Okay ... you two get ready. Let's go out on patrol when I get back." Manoshi said. He shut the door and heard the sound of a heated argument coming from inside.

Saying goodbye to the two who were obviously having a falling out, Manoshi walked down the street alone; his hollow eyes didn't draw much attention.

For one thing, it was a time of war, and no one had time to pay attention to others. Then, there were too many disabled people at the front line, and shinobis had seen it all.

"You're going to the field hospital?" The shinobi, who he stopped to ask for directions, awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and smiled widely, "Sorry, sorry, sorry. I am in a hurry to report the mission. Otherwise, I would take you there myself. Go on and turn left at the first intersection you meet ..."

Manoshi finally found the location of the field hospital, after several good-hearted people gave him directions along the way.

"I've never seen you in Kikyo City." The female doctor, dressed like a nun, spotted Manoshi, leaned down, and put one hand on his shoulder, asking gently, "Can I help you, little brother?"

Now that he had arrived at the hospital, he naturally didn't need to look for Rin specifically to ask for bandages.

"Then some bandages, please!"

Manoshi expressed his desire for some bandages, but the other party shook her head.

"I'm just an orphanage director. You still have to go to the medical ninjas who are inside if you want bandages."

Of course, this woman, who claimed to be the director of an orphanage, seemed to have some prestige among medical ninjas, and another person quickly got the bandage for Manoshi after she opened her mouth.

"I'm Nonō Yakushi. What's your name?"

Nonō Yakushi forcibly took Manoshi to a bench and chatted while gently using a medical jutsu to suck out the dust blown by the wind into Manoshi's hollow eye-sockets.

"I'm Manoshi Uchiha."

"Manoshi-kun should have just graduated." Nonō spoke in the tone of speaking to a child, "Did you lose your eye on the battlefield? Poor thing. But then you don't have to continue the brutal profession of a shinobi ... If you want to come to the orphanage to help after the war, you could get paid."

　　...

It felt weird to be spoken to in a coaxing manner, by a woman who was physically a dozen years older, as if you were an infant.

"Although my eyes are blind, I still have the strength to contribute on the battlefield. I will try my best to end the war."

"Heh heh, what can a kid your age change?" Helping Manoshi tie up the bandage, Nonō stood up and looked into the distance. "War is not something that one person could control."

"Well, I'm sure you can. Keep these bandages for yourself. I have to help take care of other patients." Nonō stroked Manoshi's hair and turned to leave, leaving Manoshi alone on the bench to think. Gradually a bold idea came to him.

Some strong people wanted to achieve peace in the shinobi world. However, due to the lack of ideas and horizons, the theories were all wrong, and naturally, they couldn't realize their ideals.

For example, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju tried to balance the strength of the shinobi world for peace and wanted to give the tailed beasts to several large ninja villages.

And his younger brother, the Second Hokage, was a little "smarter" than him and sold the tailed beasts to other villages.

However, the tailed beasts weren't nuclear weapons.

What the countries really needed wasn't a strong presence of force either.

Except for the truly ambitious, who would want to start a war if life didn't force them to do so?

The Land of Fire, which sat on the most fertile land in the shinobi world, traded its "weapons". It seemed ridiculous to Manoshi.

Nine-tailed beasts, even if you don't count Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's chakra level and battle power, there were a large number of strong people who could compete with them. Then, allocating the tailed beasts would only increase the ambitions of other countries.

There were more cards in hand, but the resources of the country were reduced because of the purchase of the tailed beasts. The results could be imagined.

Just like now, Bunpuku, a monk with the tailed beast Shukaku in his body, had been secretly brought to the front lines by Suna, ready to sneak attack on Kikyo City at any time.

"Sister, Shukaku has been escorted."

Ebizō walked across to Chiyo, who was standing in front of the sand table thinking, and planted the flag representing One-Tailed Shukaku on the south side of Kikyo City.

"As long as the supplies keep up, when the time comes, we will be able to take Orochimaru head-on. The surprise attack unit will certainly be able to take Kikyo City in one go by unsealing Shukaku at the side."

"Ebizō." Chiyo, already in her fifties, had confusion in her eyes, "Do you really think this war is the right thing to do?"

Having lost her son and daughter-in-law, her grandson defected from the village after assassinating the Kazekage. Nowadays, the old woman who lost her family had to bury the shinobis from the village on the battlefield with her own hands.

Simply because the new leader they supported wasn't well regarded by the Daimyō and the people.

But for the sake of the stability of the village, she had no choice.

Ebizō empathized with his sister's thoughts, clutching the pieces representing the fallen shinobi on one side of the sandbox in his hand, "All we can do is to tear as much flesh from the Land of Fire as we can, to be worthy of these fallen souls."

　　...

Manoshi, who knew nothing about all that was transpiring in Kikyo City, returned to his dormitory.

Obito and Kakashi were still in a "cold war".

"Okay, okay, the couple's quarrel is over, bedside manners, please." Manoshi stood at the door and clapped his hands to attract the attention of the two. "Everyone, hurry up and prepare your equipment. I'll take you patrolling."

"Who's a couple with him!" x2

"I can't live in peace with him!" x2

Well, the tacit understanding was perfect.