Chapter 185
Five days after the battle between Guy and Minato, the six of them gathered once again in the garrison cafeteria for a meal. This time, however, no one was treating anyone else. Everyone paid for their own food.
Obito watched Guy, who sat opposite him devouring plate after plate with his usual enormous appetite, and couldn’t help muttering, “You freak… you’ve already completely recovered?”
He remembered it perfectly.
On the day their sparring match ended, Guy had been carried all the way back on Ebisu’s back. At the time, he had been completely drained, limp like a puddle of mud.
Yet only a few days had passed…
And now he looked perfectly fine.
“Mmm.”
Guy nodded vaguely while chewing on a large piece of grilled fish.
“More or less.”
“What do you mean, ‘more or less’? You look like nothing even happened!”
Obito’s face twitched as he watched Guy clear another plate at an unbelievable speed.
Guy swallowed the food before flashing a bright grin.
“Can’t help it. My physical constitution is just that strong.”
He deliberately glanced at Obito.
“Unlike certain people… tsk tsk. Fragile little glass cannons that break at the slightest touch.”
“You bastard!”
The veins on Obito’s forehead bulged as he almost leaped off his seat in anger.
However, recalling Guy’s monstrous strength and absurd recovery speed, he forcefully suppressed his temper.
All he could do was snort and turn his head away.
Transforming his grief and indignation into appetite, he viciously bit into another grilled fish.
Rin smiled helplessly from the side, acting as peacemaker.
“Alright, alright.”
Then she suddenly remembered something and turned toward Guy.
“By the way, Guy-kun, your transfer orders should arrive soon, right?”
Hearing those words, Guy, Ebisu, and Genma subconsciously slowed their eating.
Their expressions became noticeably more serious.
“Yeah.”
Guy set down his chopsticks and looked outside the cafeteria window.
“Probably within the next few days.”
They had already remained at the Land of Grass outpost for nearly half a month.
A few days earlier, Akimichi Torifu had departed with two hundred Shinobi.
The remaining hundred reinforcement Ninja had gradually received transfer orders over the past several days and were dispatched to different battlefields.
At present, fewer than thirty members of the original reinforcement unit still remained behind awaiting reassignment.
It was only a matter of time before it was their turn.
Kakashi had been eating quietly the entire time.
Upon hearing the conversation, he merely raised his eyes to glance at Guy before lowering them again without saying a word.
For a brief moment, silence settled over the table.
A faint melancholy accompanied the realization that another farewell was approaching.
Everyone had known from the beginning that Guy and his teammates wouldn’t remain at the Land of Grass permanently.
Even so…
When the day truly arrived…
Reluctance still lingered within everyone’s hearts.
Suddenly…
Bang!
Guy slapped the table loudly before revealing his trademark dazzling smile once more.
“Don’t make those faces!”
“Every gathering eventually comes to an end, but the flames of youth and friendship will never be extinguished!”
“When this war is finally over, we’ll meet again in Konoha.”
“By then…”
“We’ll have Obito treat everyone to an even better meal!”
“Hey! Why am I paying again?!”
Obito immediately exploded.
Guy answered with complete confidence.
“Because you’re the most loyal among us!”
“…”
Obito suddenly found himself speechless.
He wanted to argue.
Yet somehow…
It also sounded like Guy had just praised him.
His expression immediately became incredibly conflicted.
“Pfft…”
Rin couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore.
Even Kakashi’s lips curved upward ever so slightly beneath his mask.
The previously heavy atmosphere instantly became lively once again.
At that very moment, a loud voice suddenly sounded from outside the cafeteria.
“Might Guy! Ebisu! Shiranui Genma!”
“Report to Captain Minato Namikaze immediately after finishing your meal!”
“It’s here!”
All six people reacted simultaneously.
Guy, Ebisu, and Genma exchanged glances.
They had just been discussing the transfer orders moments ago.
None of them expected them to arrive so quickly.
The smiles on Kakashi, Obito, and Rin’s faces gradually faded.
Guy inhaled deeply before grinning once again.
“See? Here it is.”
“A brand-new journey is calling us.”
“We’ll head over as soon as we finish eating.”
After speaking, he shot Ebisu and Genma a meaningful glance.
The two immediately understood.
Without another word, they hurriedly stuffed every remaining bite of food into their mouths.
They stood, nodded toward Kakashi and the others, and quickly left the cafeteria together.
Almost simultaneously, Kakashi silently rose from his seat and followed behind them.
“Wait for me!”
Obito hurriedly jumped up and chased after them as well.
“Hey! Obito!”
“You still haven’t paid the bill!”
The loud voice of the cafeteria owner echoed from behind.
Obito’s footsteps froze instantly.
He slowly turned around with wide eyes.
“Pay the bill?”
“Weren’t we all paying for ourselves today?”
“The three of them never paid!”
“I shouted after them just now, but they ran faster than rabbits!”
The cafeteria owner pointed helplessly toward the entrance.
Obito instantly understood everything.
Those three shameless bastards had tricked him again.
And that bastard Kakashi had escaped together with them.
He turned toward Rin.
She blinked her innocent eyes at him.
Her expression practically said,
“There’s nothing I can do either.”
“Damn it…”
“Guy! Ebisu! Genma! And Kakashi!”
“You just wait for me!”
Obito roared with grief and indignation.
Yet in the end, he could only sigh miserably while pulling out his wallet.
Resigned to his fate, he paid not only for himself…
But for Rin as well.
Outside Minato’s command tent, Obito hurried over after settling the bill.
By then, Guy, Ebisu, and Genma were already carefully reading the transfer order they had just received.
Kakashi stood quietly a short distance away.
His expression appeared noticeably more relaxed than before.
“Guy!”
“Where are you guys being transferred?”
Obito immediately leaned over, his curiosity completely overwhelming the resentment of being tricked into paying.
Without hesitation, Guy handed him the scroll.
Obito eagerly scanned its contents.
The moment his eyes reached the destination…
He froze.
“The Land of Rivers?”
“So it’s actually there?”
If it had been another location, Obito might not have known much about it.
But the Land of Rivers was different.
Directly south of the Land of Grass lay the Land of Rain.
Further south beyond Amegakure was the Land of Rivers.
Traveling at full speed, it only took two or three days to reach its border from the Land of Grass outpost.
The distance wasn’t far.
“That’s actually not bad.”
“Sure, it’s where three great nations meet, but at least it isn’t the Land of Birds.”
Obito visibly relaxed after saying those words.
Even Kakashi, standing quietly to the side, nodded in rare agreement.
The Land of Rivers occupied a very special geographical position.
To its southwest lay the Land of Wind.
To its northwest lay the Land of Earth.
To its east lay the Land of Fire.
Although it bordered three major nations, its strategic position was still relatively closer to the Land of Fire.
Since the Battle of Kikyō Pass, Sunagakure had been fully occupied repairing its own losses.
Meanwhile, Iwagakure had suffered a devastating defeat in the Land of Rice Fields, losing the Four Tails Jinchūriki, Roshi, while even the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had been severely wounded by Sakumo Hatake.
Their overall military strength had declined considerably.
Under such circumstances, neither of those two great villages possessed enough spare forces to launch a full-scale offensive.
Therefore, although the Land of Rivers remained a battlefield where three major powers intersected…
Konoha still maintained the relative geographical advantage.
The overall situation there was comparatively stable.
The danger level was much lower.
By comparison, the neighboring Land of Birds was also located at the intersection of three nations.
However, both Sunagakure and Iwagakure possessed overwhelming geographical and military advantages there.
For Konoha…
That battlefield was truly hostile territory.
Its danger level was significantly higher.
Comparing the two, the Land of Rivers was undoubtedly a far more favorable destination.
Guy was naturally just as familiar with that place.
In the future…
It would become one of the Akatsuki’s hidden bases.
It was also where the One-Tail Jinchūriki, Gaara, would lose Shukaku after the Akatsuki extracted the Tailed Beast from his body.
Later, it would also become the battlefield where Chiyo and Sasori fought to the death.
However…
None of those future events were what currently occupied Guy’s thoughts.
Instead, his expression gradually became rather strange.
His eyes remained fixed upon the final line written on the transfer order.
[Upon arrival, report to the commander of the Seventh Battalion at the garrison, Chen.]
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