Faint sounds of commotion roused Habara from sleep. His first instinct upon opening his eyes was to reach for the ninja tools he kept by his bed, but he then remembered he was home.
He flopped back heavily onto the bed, staring at the ceiling for a while. Realizing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, he abruptly sat up, ran his fingers vigorously through his hair, then got out of bed and walked to the wall to open the window.
The cool morning air poured into the room, sweeping away the accumulated heat of the night. Simultaneously, the sounds of Konoha's celebrations, coming from beyond the nearby walls, became clearer.
Konoha was still celebrating the end of the Shinobi World War.
The Five Kage Summit had taken place seven days ago. After reaching a five-nation peace agreement, the Third Hokage and his entourage had immediately returned to Konoha, where they received an unprecedented welcome.
If one were to ask what the Third Hokage had gained from the meeting, it was essentially just a piece of paper and the goodwill of the samurai... Because of the Third Hokage's efforts at the meeting, the Land of Iron's samurai "NPCs'" favorability towards him had skyrocketed.
But did that have any significance? It seemed insignificant.
However, the ninja and civilians of Konoha were quite satisfied that the Third Hokage had managed to bring back a peace agreement, which was why the village had been celebrating continuously... Habara's total time participating in the war was just over a year, so his feelings weren't as intense as those of other ninja.
The people of Konoha were incredibly eager for peace.
In fact, Habara's mood was actually quite dejected. He felt that the Five Kage Summit had achieved absolutely nothing... Ending the Shinobi World War? It wasn't that the Five Kage wanted to end the war; it was that the war couldn't be fought any longer. It was something they were forced to do.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, two of the once strongest ninja in the world, why did they put aside their hatred and allow the Senju and Uchiha clans to shake hands? Because they both felt the pain deeply; both of their younger brothers had died on the battlefield.
"So that children would no longer have to go to the battlefield," this was the reason the two great ninja clans put aside their generations of feud and established Konoha.
However, from the current perspective, establishing the ninja village system had somewhat backfired. Because the establishment of the ninja village system had greatly increased the scale of wars in the ninja world, children still had to go to the battlefield... Thinking about the attitudes of the Kage at the Five Kage Summit, Habara felt like he somewhat understood Madara Uchiha.
Humans were truly incorrigibly foolish.
However, human affairs couldn't be appealed to the gods; everything had to rely on human effort.
Even if a god truly existed in this world, how would he view humans? He would likely have a very detached perspective. God would probably find the wars between humans interesting, and therefore wouldn't interfere or offer salvation... Perhaps it would be like how Habara, in his previous life, viewed the Bīshān family's war against the Bīnhǎi Bay family. You think it's all love and roses, right? But those two families were actually fighting tooth and nail for survival.
Habara had anticipated that a disarmament agreement would be impossible, but he had at least hoped that the villages could prohibit ninja under the age of fourteen from going to the battlefield. This desire transcended any particular faction; it was truly imbued with universal human compassion. However, he hadn't expected the Kage to be so indifferent to the lives of young ninja.
The world was a difficult place. At this point, Habara only hoped that Konoha could implement this matter, first setting a limit at fourteen years old, and then at sixteen.
With this sense of failure and dejection, Habara slowly went downstairs, intending to wash his face and eat something. However, just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned around and went back to his bedroom.
It wasn't that he had forgotten something important; he simply picked up the "sword box" he had left by his bed and slung it over his back. Without it, he felt like something was missing, and he also felt somewhat insecure... Strictly speaking, this was definitely an occupational hazard, and it needed to be cured.
In any case, after washing his face and eating something haphazardly, Habara, with nothing to do, decided to go for a walk.
A short while after he went out, the weather gradually became overcast, and then it began to drizzle. This was when the "sword box" on Habara's back came in handy... He directly pulled out an iron umbrella.
Yes, an iron umbrella.
It wasn't that Habara wasn't afraid of death, but even if he were really struck by lightning, he basically wouldn't die.
The end of the war felt a bit unreal. Habara walked in the drizzle, his mind mostly blank, his feet without a destination, just going wherever they led him.
Without realizing it, Habara passed by a waterfall, and with the sound of flowing water, he naturally entered a gloomy ravine... This place was called Yūkei Kojkei (the secluded stream path). Long ago, Habara had undergone some simple training here.
From the female ninja in Orochimaru's dungeon at the very beginning, to squad leader Fuyutsubaki, teammate Nobuyoshi, small team leader Fuyutsubaki, and then teammate Daigo, those people who had drifted in war or other hardships and were eventually swallowed up seemed very distant from Habara now.
"What a pity..."
Habara stood in the Yūkei Kojkei for a long time, until the rain gradually intensified, starting to soak his clothes, before he quickly climbed to the top of the cliff...
Habara would never forget the past, but now, he had to set out again.
After returning to the top of the cliff, Habara started walking towards Konoha. As he walked, he encountered another person who was also taking a walk, or rather, another person with nothing to do – Kakashi Hatake.
If even Habara was melancholic due to the end of the war, then Kakashi's mood would be even worse. Although Kakashi was only fifteen years old this year, he had been fighting in the war for a full ten years... Kakashi was a veteran, the kind of veteran who had lost many teammates.
"Taking a walk?" Habara asked.
"Taking a walk."
"Fully armed for a walk?"
"Aren't you fully armed too? And with an... iron umbrella?"
Kakashi silently moved away from Habara.
Lightning strikes were dangerous, and it wouldn't be a good reputation. Just imagine the scene: someone in Konoha mentioning that so-and-so, and another person having an epiphany, "Ah, the one who got struck by lightning..."
Listen, how bad does that sound?
The two walked side by side, but with a considerable distance between them, yet they were both heading towards Konoha.
As they entered the gates of Konoha and walked towards the small earthen building, they encountered Konoha residents who were celebrating along the way. Some people stopped and bowed slightly to them... They recognized not only Kakashi but also Habara.
At this stage, Habara could probably be considered "rising to fame."
Habara glanced at Kakashi, thinking about this guy's titles: "Son of the White Fang," "Kakashi of the Sharingan," "Copy Ninja." This senior was quite famous, wasn't he?
Then he thought about himself. What title would he have? Habara was very fast and liked to play with mercury. How about calling him... cough, wrong set.
When they arrived at the small earthen building, Habara and Kakashi went inside for a look and found that no one was working today. Kushina had to attend various celebrations, and the others had nothing to do.
Well, after taking a walk around, it was time to go home.
...
After leaving Habara, who was likely to be struck by lightning, Kakashi held his umbrella and prepared to return home.
Actually, every time he had met Habara recently, he had wanted to confirm whether what Habara had said before was true, but he had never had the courage to ask because he was afraid of hearing a certain answer.
Out of a sense of guilt, Kakashi had already told Kushina Uzumaki about this matter. Of course, he hadn't mentioned Habara. Kushina Uzumaki confirmed the fact that the enemy during the Nine-Tails incident could use advanced space-time ninjutsu, but she scolded Kakashi for his self-doubt about leaking the date of her due date.
Kushina told him not to overthink it.
Kakashi had only mentioned this matter to his deceased comrades at the cemetery, sharing a piece of happiness. How could that possibly leak any information? The possibility was extremely slim... Actually, no matter whether Kakashi had leaked the information or not, Kushina Uzumaki's answer would have been the same.
Not only Kakashi, Kushina Uzumaki treated all of Minato's disciples very well, basically like a half-mother... You could say the Uchiha were crazy, and this wasn't just crazy. It was beyond the capacity of a human brain.
Thinking about some random things, Kakashi returned to his home and found a new package had been delivered to his doorstep.
Kakashi picked up the package and saw that the recipient was indeed him. As for where this package came from? The "sender" line clearly stated "Konoha Meritorious Service Evaluation Committee."
Kakashi had naturally heard of this organization's name during this time. He also knew that the medal system was single-handedly promoted by the " Akakammuri ", and now he had received such a package. Could it be that the medals had already begun to be distributed?
Kakashi took the package inside. He shook off the water from his body and then sat down cross-legged in the Japanese-style living room.
Kakashi took out a kunai and cleanly opened the package. Then he saw a stack of "certificates," and sandwiched between the "certificates" were medals.
Not just one.
The shapes of Konoha's medals were roughly divided into three types: square, round, and shield-shaped. The materials were copper, silver, and gold. However, Kakashi tested the weight and found that they should be silver-plated and gold-plated.
The patterns on each medal were very intricate. Out of curiosity, he began to examine them one by one.
First was the most common seventh-class medal, the "Excellent Service Medal." It seemed that as long as one worked diligently and dutifully during the war, one could receive this medal. If one unfortunately sacrificed oneself, one could also receive this medal... unless a ninja had displayed cowardice or something similar.
Next was the sixth-class "Advanced Ninja Medal," which could be obtained by ninja who had at least one outstanding performance during the war, such as gathering intelligence, rescuing teammates, completing high-level missions, etc. Basically, all Jonin could receive this medal.
Then there was a fifth-class "Campaign Conquest Medal," which could be obtained by ninja who had played a major role in a particular campaign. As one can imagine, the number of medals awarded decreased sharply from this level.
Next was a third-class "Konoha Hero Medal." This was relatively easy to understand. It was undoubtedly awarded to Kakashi for his outstanding performance in the "Kannabi Bridge Battle." This battle was a turning point in the "Konoha-Iwagakure War," and after this, Iwagakure was no longer able to invade the Land of Fire.
Finally, Kakashi also had a second-class "Konoha Evaluation Committee Honorary Medal." This medal was awarded after considering Kakashi's background, experience, performance in all wars, and even his future prospects.
A medal like the second-class "War Conquest Honorary Medal," its evaluation criteria were similar to the fifth-class Campaign Conquest Medal, but its evaluation criteria were not a single campaign but the entire war. Perhaps only ninja like Minato Namikaze, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya could receive such a medal. Kakashi definitely wasn't qualified to receive it.
But the evaluation committee believed that Kakashi had unlimited potential, so they gave him an equivalent Evaluation Committee Honorary Medal. Compared to the War Conquest Honorary Medal, the criteria for this medal were more flexible. Basically, if the evaluation committee thought you were worthy, you were worthy.
Thus, Kakashi had received five out of the ten types of medals. Strictly speaking, if counted by quantity, he should be able to receive more medals, such as the Campaign Conquest Medal, of which Kakashi could receive several. However, since this was the first time the medals were being awarded, Konoha was under a lot of pressure, so they weren't awarding duplicates this time, at least not initially. There was a possibility of supplementary awards in the future, so ninja like Kakashi were at a disadvantage.
Of course, ninja like him were extremely rare in all of Konoha.
If everyone could dream back to when they were twelve, Kakashi could probably say to Hashirama Senju: "What God of Shinobi? You're nothing but a small fry, easily defeated."
What a pity...
He couldn't dream that.
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