"Rin!"
Obito slowly opened his heavy eyelids. His blurry vision gradually became clear, and the face he had longed for, now streaked with tears, came into focus above him, reflecting in his eyes.
"You're awake, Obito!"
A familiar voice, mixed with joy, exploded in his ears like a bomb, making his just-awakened mind spin sluggishly.
"Aren't I dead?"
Obito recalled the last thing he remembered. The next moment, a flash of fear crossed his face.
"You're not dead! Minato-sensei brought you to Lady Tsunade, and she saved you!" Rin's voice quickly pulled Obito out of his panic.
"I thought you were dead too!" Obito took a deep breath. "I was just about to curse Kakashi for not protecting you properly."
"Typical loser thinking."
Another familiar voice made Obito freeze. He turned his head on the bed and saw Kakashi standing on the other side of the room.
The silver-haired boy had one hand in his pocket, eyes glancing at him.
Obito didn't argue with Kakashi like usual. Instead, he flashed a wide grin.
Kakashi stiffened at the unexpected smile and quickly looked away, but his shifting gaze and the tension in his clenched hand betrayed his true emotions.
"You were unconscious for days. Kakashi stayed by your side the whole time. He was really worried about you, Obito," Rin revealed, afraid the two would start arguing.
"I wasn't! I was just following Lady Tsunade's orders to monitor his condition! Now that he's awake, we should inform her," Kakashi hurriedly said before turning and leaving.
"How do you feel?" Rin withdrew her gaze from Kakashi's disappearing figure and carefully asked the bedridden Obito.
"I'm fine." Obito forced a lighthearted smile.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
Rin carefully observed Obito's expression and noticed the slight twitch on his face. She had seen this expression too many times on injured people, so she immediately understood that Obito was enduring the pain.
"Feeling pain is actually a good thing! The worst thing is when you feel nothing at all, when your body goes completely numb!" Rin comforted Obito with her words.
"At least this means that things haven't taken the worst turn! Once you recover, you can still be a ninja!"
"Tell me what happened after that."
Obito's voice was weak and feeble, but his eyes were full of joy at seeing Rin and his friends again.
Rin picked out the key points and told him everything that had happened after he fell unconscious from his injuries.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she explained, "Because Minato-sensei arrived and took care of the enemies, your eye wasn't transplanted to Kakashi."
"I see..."
Obito closed his eyes.
The reason he had wanted to give his intact eye to Kakashi before dying was because Kagetsu had once said that the Byakugan and Sharingan would help Kakashi push his Chidori to the limit.
But since the transplant hadn't happened, Obito didn't feel any regret.
"You're awake?"
Tsunade walked into the room, swinging her ponytail, with Kakashi following behind her. Seeing Obito lying on the hospital bed, her eyes shone with joy.
No matter how confident she had been before, seeing Obito awake was undeniable proof that her medical ninjutsu had reached a level she had once never dared to imagine.
She had broken past the limits of medical ninjutsu.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Rin respectfully bowed in greeting.
To a medical ninja like her, Tsunade was a one-of-a-kind idol—unmatched in medical ninjutsu and incredibly strong as an individual.
Every genin who had studied medical ninjutsu admired and looked up to Tsunade when they met her. Rin was no exception. Even though she had seen Tsunade a few times before, she still felt the same admiration.
"Don't worry. Since he's already awake, it means his body is recovering."
Tsunade didn't use medical ninjutsu again to speed up Obito's recovery, especially since his life force was as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind.
"You take care of him. With this kind of injury, he can return to the village to recover."
Tsunade finished examining Obito's condition, withdrew her hand with satisfaction, and suggested.
"Does that mean we don't have to continue the mission?"
Rin, being observant and having a good teacher, was well aware of the village's current situation—especially the shortage of manpower.
Obito might be able to return to the village to recover, but she and Kakashi would likely receive a new teammate and continue missions under Minato-sensei.
"Kakashi didn't tell you?"
Tsunade glanced at Kakashi, who had turned his head away in silence, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"He and Kagetsu will return to the village to report on the mission and be promoted to Jonin."
Tsunade continued, "Iwagakure suffered a heavy blow, and that old guy Onoki got played by Orochimaru. Their offensive will slow down for now."
"Jonin?"
Obito and Rin focused on only one thing after hearing Tsunade's words.
Especially Obito—his eyes burned with unwillingness as he looked at Kakashi.
A teammate being promoted to Jonin was a good thing.
But not getting promoted himself and falling behind? That was unacceptable!
Still, no matter how reckless Obito could be, he understood what the rank of Jonin meant to a village. It wasn't something that could be gained just by complaining or feeling dissatisfied.
"Kagetsu-kun is also becoming a Jonin?"
While Rin was happy for Kakashi, she was surprised that Kagetsu was being promoted as well.
But then, she recalled a rumor she had heard while changing dressings for the wounded.
Single-handedly subduing Iwagakure's Five-Tails Jinchuriki—just that feat alone was equivalent to at least two S-rank missions.
****
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