Naruto: Immortal Spirit

The stream reflects the morning glow, kingfishers light up the water, and the wind blows, creating sparkling waves.

"Susu..."

The figure steps on the tree surface following the rising sun, and the leaves fall, leaving circles and halos.

The morning in Konoha was a bit fresh, and countless people gathered outside the towering wall, looking forward to it.

In the corner of the crowd, a woman with red hair seemed to have a bit of expectation in her eyes. Her body, which contained infinite power, seemed to have lost the ability to control chakra at this moment. She just kept tiptoeing, trying to see further.

"Kushina...Didn't Minato send you a message? He will come back with the large army. Those who come back early are the wounded..."

The black-haired woman on the side has a pair of gentle eyes, slightly curved eyebrows, full of tranquility, her long, smooth black hair is slightly coiled, and her plain-colored uniform is elegant and somewhat graceful.

"Mikoto... I know... I just couldn't help it... so I ran over... If there were any temporary changes... Minato came back early, so I could see him earlier..."

Kushina kept tiptoeing, and her anxious look made Uchiha Mikoto smile slightly, and spoke softly with a bit of teasing: "I heard that many people will choose to marry their loved ones after the war... You said, Wan If Ichi Minato comes back and proposes in public..."

"Please... propose???"

Kushina was stunned for a moment, then turned her head and stared at Uchiha Mikoto. Her hands seemed to have nowhere to put them in an instant. Sometimes they were placed behind her back, and sometimes they were raised slightly, she was speechless.

"I...get married...I'm getting married???"

Kushina, who seemed carefree and had never known shyness, suddenly blushed as she thought of something.

Uchiha Mikoto on the side only heard words about the boy, his name, and the like. She couldn't help but cover her mouth lightly and burst into laughter.

"Little Itachi, after my sister's child is born, will it be okay to play with you?"

Kushina's emotions came and went quickly, as if she changed from Minato's girlfriend to Minato's wife in an instant. She couldn't help but touch the head of the six or seven-year-old black-haired child beside her.

That's Mikoto's child.

"Can……"

There were two deep nasolabial folds on the face of the black-haired child, like a special birthmark. His voice was clear and clear, and his eyes revealed a look of expectation, but he seemed to rarely speak. He just responded softly, nodded.

"Itachi, no girl will like you if you can't speak..."

"unnecessary……"

Mikoto smiled, rubbed Itachi's hair, and frowned slightly. Itachi had been obedient and independent since she was a child, and rarely asked her to do anything for her. Logically speaking, such a child should be her pride. But it also gave her almost no joy in being a mother.

Even with a cold appearance, she rarely smiled even to her parents. She didn't know what she and Fugaku did wrong to let the child develop such a character.

"Here we come..." A loud shout suddenly broke out from the crowd, and everyone's eyes were focused on the slowly approaching ninja troops.

Itachi looked at the ninja troops that were gradually approaching in the distance, with an inexplicable look in his eyes.

Cheers and cries began to sound continuously. The first thing to arrive, apart from the joy of victory, was often the news of the death of a loved one.

Maybe it was because Itachi felt a little uncomfortable with such a lively atmosphere, or maybe he had never experienced such a scene before. Uchiha Itachi's face suddenly turned slightly red, and his eyes became brighter and brighter.

Among the crowd, no one except Uchiha Mikoto noticed Itachi's abnormal expression - his expression looked no different from the people around him.

"Itachi, this is the first time you are so excited. Is it because you are about to see your father?"

Uchiha Mikoto's eyes also lit up, and she thought to herself: 'So Itachi likes such a lively atmosphere... You can take Itachi to attend more parties in the future, and his behavior should change...'

"Mother, I am going to join the war..."

"I need an answer..."

Uchiha Mikoto didn't hear clearly Itachi's whispered words. The moment Itachi said he wanted to join the war, she could no longer hear any words, and an inexplicable pain instantly filled her heart.

It seemed that she immediately thought of the scene where Itachi might be injured in the war. Countless disturbing images filled her mind. She subconsciously hugged Itachi, as if she was about to lose him the next moment.

"No! I absolutely won't let you go!"

"At least...at least...you must not go now..."

A mother's natural instinct is to protect her calf, and anyone who wants to take her child away from her is her worst enemy.

"I see……"

Itachi didn't insist anymore, but he knew that if he spoke to his father, he would definitely agree.

There were some problems that were bothering him, and he had to find answers.

Looking at his mother apologetically, Itachi showed a rare smile, but no one saw it.

Kushina, who was immersed in her own beautiful fantasy world, no longer paid attention to the noisy crowd. Mikoto's words made her thoughts complicated. It seemed that she had a lot of things to say to Minato in an instant. She wished that Minato was by her side now.

Even next to them, Uchiha Mikoto and Itachi didn't care when they went back. They just squatted on the ground and wrote and drew, mumbling something.

There are many clouds in the sky. Through the gaps between the clouds, the sun is warm and comfortable.

In the jungle not far from Konoha, on the path that the vanguard team must pass, a young man's voice suddenly rang out.

"Lin, Kakashi, Ou, we're almost in Konoha! We're going home!"

Obito's blood has always been so full, perhaps because this morning, Kakashi brought him and Lin a bunch of sweet meatballs for the first time. Obito seemed to have flowers blooming all over his body, and his whole body was filled with bright and colorful flowers. Brilliant, a little more enthusiastic than before.

"Um……"

Although Kakashi didn't say anything, he responded softly the moment Obito's voice fell.

Obito's suppressed smile could no longer be held back at this moment, and he suddenly stopped on the tree, straddling the trunk, hugging his belly and leaning forward and back together.

"Kakashi...hahaha...I...hahaha..."

The intermittent words made Kakashi's face turn red instantly. He remembered the surprised eyes and suppressed smiles of Obito and Rin when he secretly took out two bunches of meatballs from behind with trembling hands.

He just felt that at this moment, he needed a cave deep into the ground, hiding in this place where no one could find him, covering his blushing face and lying on the ground, kicking his legs and rolling around, in order to eliminate the pain that was surging in his heart. Awkward.

"Obito...don't laugh at Kakashi..."

Lin covered her mouth and smiled secretly, accusing Obito forcefully, but it was unconvincing.

"From now on...no more..."

Kakashi's voice sounded a little guilty, but he jumped up and disappeared into the jungle in an instant, as fast as he was escaping.

"Hey! Kakashi... I just want to say that the meatballs are very sweet! I like them very much!"

Obito jumped into the jungle in the direction of Kakashi, leaving only Lin and Kato Ou in place.

Lin looked at Kato Oo apologetically. Kakashi was still very hostile to Kato Oo. She could naturally see it, but she didn't have any good ideas...

"Xu...don't worry, Kakashi is just not good at expressing himself, he..."

Kato Ou smiled softly and interrupted Lin's words.

"He is right. I am a person with ulterior motives. I will kill you, Obito, and Brother Minato, and then use Kakashi to make him live in pain..."

"Huh? Xu, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Lin tilted her head slightly, not understanding what Kato Ou was saying suddenly. What she was about to say was so disturbed that she completely forgot about it.

"Actually, I am a member of the Roots. I obey the orders of a certain elder. Forgive me for not being able to name him. My mission is to gain the trust of the Minato team, and then wait for an opportunity to assassinate Namikaze Minato and destroy the important task of Namikaze Minato. …”

The glimmer of light from the sky above, tinged with gray-blue through the clouds, sadly penetrated the woods and shone on the remaining snow in the forest.

The gloomy jungle buried Kato Oo in darkness. He raised his head slightly, with a strange smile on his face, which made Lin tremble all of a sudden.

"Xu...you...are you kidding..."

Looking at the lake blue eyes hidden in the hood, which were so clear, Lin couldn't believe that the person fighting alongside her had such a purpose.

"Lin...she is really innocent..."

Kato Oo, who was hiding in the shadow of the trees, smiled freely, jumped down from the tree, and landed on the snowdrift. The sound of creaking kept coming, as if the scene just now was completely Lin's fantasy.

Lin suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. She even took it seriously for a moment. She secretly laughed at her own stupidity and couldn't help but pout.

"Hey, Xu! If you keep doing this, I'll ignore you..."

With a soft snort, Lin rolled her eyes, jumped to Kato Oo's side, quietly grabbed a handful of snow, rolled it into a ball, and quickly stuffed it into the back of Kato Oo's neck, and then jumped into the jungle without looking back. He ran towards Konoha.

"Hahaha, Xu, so stupid..."

A cold feeling flowed through Kato O's spine, looking at the direction where Lin, Obito, and Kakashi disappeared - they were already very close to Konoha, and could even faintly see the top of the Hokage Rock.

For a moment, the inexplicable biting coldness made him lose his mind, and he looked ahead without focus. His figure seemed to overlap with that of Kato Haruka, silently staring at the Hokage Rock in the distance.

"Am I... joking..."

The muttering sound was heard by no one...