Hearing the title "White Yaksha" slapped onto his head, Kamishiro subconsciously recalled a certain silver-haired samurai and perfectly mimicked those iconic, unmotivated "dead-fish eyes."
Combining his handsome face with those absolutely dead, soulless eyes... Rin suddenly blinked, wondering why she felt a bizarre urge to wash her eyes out. What a terrifying supernatural phenomenon.
Sure, the legendary White Yaksha started out incredibly cool, fighting off alien invasions with a katana. But eventually, he spent 90% of his time playing the role of a useless, broke bum who read Jump all day. Seriously, who came up with this nickname? Did they even know what a Justaway was?
Oblivious to his internal crisis, Rin continued.
"A lot of people are talking about you. They're calling you one of the 'Three Geniuses of the New Generation'."
"Wait, hold on. What 'Three Geniuses'?" Kamishiro's bad feeling instantly multiplied.
"Genius" sounded great on paper. But on a battlefield, slapping the label "Child Genius" onto a young ninja was basically painting a massive neon bullseye on their back for enemy assassins. Who the hell was trying to get him killed? Was this Konoha's propaganda machine churning out new idol stars?
If it was propaganda, Kamishiro absolutely refused to participate. When someone like Minato got famous as the "Yellow Flash," he actually had the strength to back it up. Enemy nations literally had a "flee on sight" order for him.
Kamishiro's skinny neck couldn't carry the weight of a title like that.
He knew exactly what his build was: High Attack, Zero Defense. A complete glass cannon. Sure, he had flashy AoE damage, but his actual ninja fundamentals were still below Jonin level. If someone managed to counter his Lightning Release, his combat power would plummet.
The ninja world was terrifying. What if a speedster like Minato just popped up behind him and slit his throat? What if he randomly caught a stray Dust Release or Boil Release to the face? What if some green-spandex-wearing taijutsu freak opened the Inner Gates and kicked him in half?
Kamishiro was practically having a panic attack, feeling a severe case of 'everyone is out to murder me.'
In reality, it wasn't a conspiracy. He had publicly orbital-striked a Tailed Beast in front of thousands of people. Nobody was going to forget a scene like that. While elite ninja knew Kushina had done the heavy lifting by restraining Shukaku, the average grunt only remembered the kid who rained lightning artillery from the sky. To them, "White Yaksha" was a perfectly fitting moniker.
Rin listed them off on her fingers. "On the Hidden Mist front: an elite among elites from the Uchiha Clan, a master of genjutsu and erratic movement. Uchiha Shisui, known as 'Shisui of the Body Flicker'."
"On the Hidden Stone and Cloud fronts: the disciple of the Yellow Flash and son of the White Fang, Kakashi Hatake." Rin glanced at Kakashi, but the boy didn't even twitch at the mention of his own name.
"And finally, on the Hidden Sand front: the disciple of Kushina Uzumaki. The lightning specialist who crushed the One-Tails, the 'White Yaksha', Kamishiro."
Kamishiro was speechless. Putting his name next to absolute monsters like Kakashi and Shisui guaranteed he was moving to the very top of every enemy village's assassination bingo book.
By the time rumors reached the Raikage, the story would probably morph into: 'Some Konoha kid single-handedly punched a Tailed Beast to death.'
He forced himself to stop thinking about it before he had a heart attack.
"What's the situation on the frontlines right now?" he asked, desperately changing the subject to dilute his anxiety.
"During the Sand's night raid, both sides took massive losses," Rin explained. "Rough estimates put the Sand casualties at over 2,000, but I don't know the exact ratio of dead to wounded."
"If they lost that many, they must be crippled," Kamishiro mused. "Lady Tsunade always wanted to launch an all-out offensive. Now seems like the perfect time."
To his surprise, Rin shook her head. "Our losses were just as bad. The exact numbers are classified, but our logistics and non-combatant personnel were decimated. We barely have the supply lines to maintain a defense, let alone launch an offensive."
"So it's a stalemate again," Kamishiro sighed, rubbing his temples. A war without a decisive strategic victory or defeat would just drag on forever.
Suddenly, Kakashi spoke up.
He snapped his book shut, slipped it into his pouch, and turned to look Kamishiro in the eye.
"The Third Hokage has decided to end the war on the Sand front once and for all. He is personally leading Konoha's final mobile reserve force—roughly 3,000 elite ninja—straight to this camp. The moment the Hokage arrives, we launch a total annihilation strike against the Sand."
"The Third Hokage is coming here personally?" Kamishiro was stunned.
He didn't doubt Kakashi's intel; as Minato's student, Kakashi always had access to top-tier military secrets.
But Kamishiro's concern was entirely different. If the Hokage took the last 3,000 mobile reserves out of Konoha... who was defending the village? Sure, a massive enemy army couldn't bypass the frontlines, but a small squad of suicidal black-ops infiltrators easily could. The ninja world was full of zealots willing to execute suicide missions.
His fears were completely justified. At this exact moment, the defense of the Hidden Leaf Village rested entirely on the shoulders of Danzo Shimura's Root and the Uchiha Military Police.
The Third Hokage, alongside the elite Anbu Black Ops, was already marching to war.