Chapter 319: Rin! My Rin!
"You're angry, aren't you?"
The Deva Path puppet lifted its eyelids, the rippling pattern of the Rinnegan gently swaying.
It could clearly sense the chakra leaking from Obito Uchiha due to his fluctuating emotions.
It was faint—
but not enough to escape Nagato's perception.
"It's none of your business. I will revive Uchiha Madara. The Tailed Beast plan cannot stop. Otherwise, everything will have been for nothing."
With that, Obito vanished.
It was a strange space-time ninjutsu.
Nagato stared at the place where the masked man had disappeared, mentally calculating—
how could he pierce through that phasing ability and drive a black receiver into that man's eye socket?
Especially after learning the masked man wasn't really Uchiha Madara,
that thought had become increasingly obsessive.
Even if Obito claimed to be Madara's representative—
a weakling had no right to stand above a god.
And this weakling still couldn't grasp the bigger picture of the shinobi world,
still clinging to his idiotic plan of capturing Tailed Beasts.
"Capturing the Tailed Beasts to forge weapons of mass destruction,
to create a fearsome deterrent capable of annihilating nations, birthing peace through pain…"
Nagato, seated in his wheelchair, was fully lucid as he muttered to himself,
"But now, even the most powerful Tailed Beast weapon can no longer create the fear I once imagined."
"So if that masked man isn't an idiot, then he has ulterior motives."
Though he believed in peace born of suffering,
the Tailed Beast weapon plan clearly couldn't achieve that anymore.
And Obito's lies were becoming more obvious.
"But it doesn't matter. Cowards who hide their face are not worthy of contending with gods."
—At the new Hatake residence.
Old Konoha had been destroyed. Rin Nohara, long without a home, was currently staying in Kakashi's house.
At this moment, the two of them were seated in the courtyard, discussing recent developments with the Reincarnation Game.
"Stupid Kakashi! You've totally turned into a pervy old man, just like Lord Jiraiya!"
Rin blushed fiercely, seemingly upset, and turned away to ignore him.
She'd been helping Kakashi tidy up when she opened a cabinet and discovered the full collection of Icha Icha Paradise, signed by Jiraiya himself.
Kakashi, deadpan as ever, replied,
"Those were a gift from Lord Jiraiya. I don't actually read them."
Rin was having none of it. "Those books were well-worn. Don't pretend they've never been opened."
"Naruto comes by a lot. Maybe he read them while I wasn't paying attention."
Kakashi hadn't expected his image to be ruined by some adult novels.
The stories were pure romance, really—just a little… explicit.
"What a lame excuse. As if I'd believe that, Kakashi!"
Rin smiled slyly and pushed the entire Icha Icha collection toward him.
"But, if you like them, I won't stop you."
"So in return, Kakashi-sensei—don't stop me from going on a Counterattack Quest."
She had already told him that she'd become a player.
Kakashi's plan was for her to train in the beginner zone first, and only venture into open-world areas once she had adjusted.
He wouldn't let her participate in anything dangerous.
After all—
Orochimaru had used a Death Duel Token against a Navy Admiral.
Who knew what other deadly threats were out there?
But for Rin, that protection felt like a shackle.
Under Kakashi's proposal,
she might be safe,
but she'd never catch up to the top players.
Even with Kakashi's help, she'd top out in the second-tier bracket, stuck doing mining, farming, or support work.
She couldn't accept that.
"No."
Kakashi flatly refused.
"Counterattack Quests are extremely dangerous. Injuries and deaths sustained in those worlds cannot be healed.
Two members of the Special Ops have already died there."
By now, the Special Ops Unit had figured out most of the Counterattack mechanics.
There were nine quest worlds—martial arts, technology, magic, horror, and others.
Players could take one main mission per month,
entering one of these worlds.
Upon completion, they received that world's coordinates.
They could then spend Reward Points to visit those worlds freely that month.
"Unfamiliar worlds, unfamiliar powers, dangers at every turn…"
Kakashi spoke sternly.
"Even with Lady Tsunade, Naruto, and Sasuke on hand, our unit took heavy losses.
These worlds are not for beginners."
The mission world currently occupied by the Special Ops was called [Tales of Ghosts in Qing Country].
It was filled with zombies, vengeful spirits, mass graves, and haunted shrines.
The world mission: purify the corrupted dragon vein of Qing Country.
Led by Asuma,
the 500-strong Konoha Special Ops team had chosen that quest, obtained its coordinates, and teleported into an abandoned coastal town.
They were immediately surrounded by ghosts and undead.
It took four Tier-2 players two full weeks just to clear a single street block to use as a base.
In a place like that—
Kakashi absolutely wouldn't let Rin join the mission.
"Kakashi-sensei, we've signed a life-bound contract."
Rin blushed faintly but said seriously,
"I'm a Konoha ninja too. It's my duty to grow stronger and protect the village."
"I know you're worried because of what happened at Kannabi Bridge.
You're afraid history will repeat itself."
She struck at the core of Kakashi's fear.
He said nothing.
Rin took a deep breath.
"There's no such thing as a perfectly safe world.
If all you want is a flower vase Rin who stays home cooking for you, I can't be that.
I want to be a comrade who can fight alongside you."
Before and after her death, this had always been her wish.
To protect Kakashi and Obito,
even if it cost her life.
As they argued,
neither noticed the trembling figure in the adjacent courtyard.
At his feet lay the house's original owner—a civilian Special Ops ninja—entranced by genjutsu, unconscious.
The trembling figure was Obito Uchiha,
who had run day and night at top speed to get here.
He had nearly exhausted his chakra—
all to track the source of a deep unease within him.
Just as he reached Konoha,
he felt a chakra so familiar it froze him in place.
He followed it—
to Kakashi's house.
There he heard it.
That voice.
The one engraved in his soul, unforgettable in life or death.
Rin!
Obito gasped, heart pounding, his chest about to burst.
A storm of emotions swirled in his mind—excitement, fear, anxiety…
It was the Reincarnation Game!
Rin, who had died,
had been brought back by a Resurrection Coin!
In that instant—
he lifted his foot, ready to burst in and reunite with her.
But doubt held him back.
Why is the Rin I love… in Kakashi's house?
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