"Heh..."
Li Anshi's figure appeared in the shop. He sat down on a chair, seemingly savoring a memory.
He hadn't expected that he and Tsunade would have unexpectedly taken another step closer this time.
After a long while, he finally shook his head with a smile.
Indeed, as long as one lived, there would always be interesting things to encounter.
Take him and Tsunade, for example.
Both he and she were people whose rationality was greater than their emotions.
Similarly, they both had rather high standards when it came to relationships.
Tsunade didn't want to be tied down by other matters when she was truly with him.
And as for him?
He naturally understood her concerns, so he hadn't taken that further step to force her hand.
Who would have thought there would be an unexpected delight today?
"Forget it. It's not convenient to visit Tsunade's side recently, so I'll pay more attention to Nawaki. But, speaking of which, don't I have two other subordinates?"
…
"Sensei!"
"If you hadn't come soon, we might have started to doubt whether we actually had a supervising jonin."
By the riverbank, Mikoto Uchiha, who was practicing the Rasengan, rolled her eyes at Li Anshi.
Beside her, Rin Hyuga bowed to him politely.
"Haha, haha..."
"Sorry, I was held up by something these past few days."
Li Anshi gave a dry laugh.
This was indeed his fault.
Ever since the three of them had completed that mission, he had focused most of his energy on teaching Nawaki.
What little free time he had was spent preparing food for Tsunade and delivering it to the border stronghold.
So, he had completely forgotten about Mikoto and Rin.
If he hadn't realized yesterday that he had forgotten something, he probably still wouldn't have remembered that he had two other subordinates who needed his guidance.
He could only accept Mikoto's complaint.
However, her attitude still struck him as a little strange.
Wasn't this little girl afraid of him just a few days ago?
How had she, after just a few days of not seeing him, seemed to have forgotten how terrifying he could be?
As for Rin, she still had that gentle and weak appearance, but with a very determined heart, unchanged.
However, he wouldn't do anything to Mikoto for her slight impertinence.
In his view, whatever she said, whatever choices she made, was her "freedom."
As long as her "freedom" did not affect his own, he would not go out of his way to erase someone else's.
"By the way, Nawaki has his own training for the time being, so he won't be training with you for now."
"Sensei, Nawaki already told us that three days ago."
"If we had waited for you to tell us, the flowers in the Yamanaka's shop would have probably withered by now."
In Konoha, the flower shop run by the Yamanaka clan had received much praise and was a favorite among the villagers.
This was because the flowers they cultivated had a longer blooming period and were more vibrant than ordinary ones.
Mikoto's words were a subtle jab at his inattentiveness, implying that he had even forgotten to inform them of such a thing.
"Yes, that is indeed my mistake."
"Right, I came here today not just to tell you this, but also to bring you two pieces of news, one good and one bad."
"So, do you want to hear the good news first, or the bad news?"
He held up the index and middle fingers of his right hand in a peace sign towards them. The smile on his face made Mikoto want to punch him.
However, she could only think it.
No matter how bold she was, she would not dare to offend him to that extent.
With a verbal jab, Sensei Li's magnanimity meant he wouldn't do anything to her.
Perhaps, he might even see her in a different light for her unconventionality.
This was what her father had secretly told her about how to get along with the powerful.
Well, in reality, this was also the Uchiha clan's general view of non-Uchiha ninjas.
To gain the recognition of the Uchiha, you needed to have something they could approve of.
Perhaps it was effort, perhaps talent, perhaps disposition, or perhaps magnanimity...
This was the way of the weak getting along with the strong.
You had to have your own unique characteristic to make the strong remember you, so that you might gain their favor at certain times.
Mikoto didn't know why her father had so earnestly taught her how to act in front of Sensei Li the day before yesterday, but she did know that if she stayed where she was, then in the future, let alone keeping up with him, even Nawaki and Rin would leave her far behind.
"Sensei, is the bad news that a war is coming?"
Just as Mikoto was pondering whether she should humor Sensei Li's mischievousness and hear the bad news first, or go against his whim and hear the good news first, Rin suddenly spoke up.
"What? A war is coming?"
"Rin, how could you have such a terrifying thought?"
Mikoto was startled by her words.
Even though she hadn't personally experienced the war, she had been a three-year-old child during the First Great Ninja War.
Therefore, she clearly remembered that in that year, almost every household in the Uchiha clan had hung white mourning banners, and news of clansmen dying in battle had been a constant occurrence.
Of course, thanks to the sacrifices of these clansmen, the name of the Uchiha had once again resounded throughout the ninja world.
At the same time, the merit of the Uchiha in holding back an entire village with just their clan had also suppressed the rebellion initiated by Setsuna Uchiha, and the other ninjas in the village no longer viewed them as a "rebellious clan."
This had led to a significant decrease in their numbers, but also an improvement in their treatment.
Now, hearing the word "war" from Rin's lips, the first thing that appeared in her mind was that row of white banners and the countless nights of her elders' weeping.
If it was true, as Rin said, would the tragedy of nine years ago repeat itself?
"Huh? Rin, how did you know?"
"It's over..."
Hearing Sensei Li ask Rin this, Mikoto knew that war was truly coming.
She could have disbelieved Rin's words.
After all, Rin was just a little girl, a year younger than her.
Although Rin was now much stronger than her, having learned the first stage of the flying dagger, Mikoto still considered herself Rin's "big sister."
But she dared not disbelieve her teacher's words.
After all, he was a super powerhouse that even her own father had to treat with caution.
"Will I die?"
For a moment, this thought flashed through her mind, turning her face pale.
The reason she had become a ninja was because the elders of her clan had chosen her, wanting her to spend more time with Fugaku Uchiha, in the hopes that they would eventually marry.
It was for this reason that she had not received the clan's training, but had instead entered the Ninja Academy and become Fugaku's classmate.
But her dream had never changed.
She still wanted to become a good wife, to support her husband and raise her children at home, to live a peaceful and ordinary life.
Although she had already experienced her first killing mission with Nawaki and the others, and had three lives on her hands, she also knew that ninjas and ordinary people were different.
Just because she could kill three bandits didn't mean she could kill a ninja.
Although she was an Uchiha, she had not yet awakened her Sharingan, and her strength was only marginally better than that of an ordinary genin.
"Hey, don't make a face like that, little Uchiha girl."
Seeing her expression, the smile on Li Anshi's face faded.
He had just realized.
He was different from them.
A war in the ninja world, let alone just a conflict between Konoha and the Rain, even if all the other villages were to attack Konoha at once, it wouldn't be a big deal to him.
If he wanted to, he could stop the war in a single day.
But for genin like them, it was one thing if they didn't go to the battlefield, but once they did, their lives would truly be out of their hands.
Rin's situation was a little better.
As a member of the Hyuga main family, in order to ensure the secrecy of their Byakugan, it was almost impossible for her to be sent to the battlefield.
Even if she were sent to set an example for the other ninjas, she would surely be surrounded by powerful Hyuga branch family members.
They would protect her with their lives if she were in danger, buying her enough time to escape.
If they still couldn't get her out safely even with all their might, they would have to at least buy her time to destroy her own eyes, to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.
But Mikoto didn't have such treatment.
Unlike the Hyuga, the Uchiha were not only tough on outsiders, but even more so on their own.
They were not afraid of their clan's bloodline being stolen.
To them, any ninja whose eyes could be stolen was not a true powerhouse.
Such a person would be discriminated against even within the clan.
And as for the eyes of the weak, so what if they were stolen?
They had absolute confidence in their own eyes.
If a ninja who had stolen an Uchiha's eyes were to appear before them, they would be more than happy to show that person what the Uchiha's Sharingan was truly capable of!
Without a doubt, if not for her father's high standing in the clan, she would be one of the discriminated-against members.
If war came, for the glory of the Uchiha, she would have to join the battle.
The Uchiha only had heroes who died in battle, not cowards who fled!
"Have you forgotten?"
"You are the subordinates of me, Li Anshi of Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger!"
"Back when I was only sixteen, I was already able to lead my three genin subordinates to survive the battlefield."
"You don't think that after nine years, my strength is less than it was back then, do you?"
Mikoto looked up, her eyes filled with joy.
At that moment, his figure seemed to radiate a golden, Buddha-like light in her eyes, a light that brought a sense of peace.
That's right, I'm now a subordinate of the strongest ninja in the world, Sensei Li!
Although they had only known each other for a short time and had not yet established a deep bond, he had personally acknowledged the three of them as his subordinates.
If they were to die in the war, it would surely be a blow to his prestige.
After all, no one would believe that a ninja who couldn't even protect his own subordinates was the strongest in the world.
Sensei Li might be unreliable at times.
But when it came to his status in the ninja world, with his personality that hated trouble, he would surely not allow his prestige to be damaged.
Otherwise, those ninjas who doubted his strength would probably test him in all sorts of ways, disturbing his normal life.
"Sensei Li, you will protect us, right?"
Mikoto asked him, her heart full of expectation.
Even Rin was blinking her eyes, waiting for his answer.
Although she knew that the moment she stepped onto the battlefield, there would surely be many branch family ninjas protecting her with their lives, this was a great ninja war!
In the First Great Ninja War, even the strongest "Kage" of each village had died.
Except for super powerhouses like Sensei Li, no one could guarantee one hundred percent that they would survive.
Rin dreamed of escaping the cage of the Hyuga clan and gaining her freedom.
To die on the battlefield before she could achieve that, even she would feel a little unwilling, wouldn't she?
"Isn't that a matter of course?"
He reached out and placed his hands on both their heads.
"As your supervising teacher, it would be a great loss of face if I let you die before you graduated from my tutelage."
He did not mince his words at a time like this.
He knew that what these two little girls in front of him needed right now was a sense of security.
"However, Mikoto, Rin."
"You should also know that even I can't be by your side the moment you are in danger. So, you yourselves must also train even harder before the war begins, to increase your own strength."