Sakumo looked at his old friend with an expression that could only be read as: "Are you kidding me right now?"
He asked, exasperated:
"I've actually heard Kakashi mention this before, but… why are you paying so much attention to this problem? From what I recall, Rin and that Uchiha kid, Obito, don't exactly have much to do with you."
Seeing Sakumo's "something's off about you" expression, Hoshiyomi realized how it sounded: a man in his thirties coming over to say, "Hey, your son might be in an early love triangle."
Ehhh… yeah, that did sound a little absurd. But he couldn't exactly say: "Well, Obito goes crazy when he can't get Rin, and decides to destroy the entire world."
So instead, he put on the air of a child development expert and said seriously:
"You don't get it. It's exactly these childhood emotional issues that need the most attention. Kids don't fully understand concepts like love yet, and sometimes weird little things can leave deep impressions on their hearts.
Think about Uchiha Iwa back when we were kids—wasn't he a perfect example of what happens when things go wrong?"
Sakumo eyed Hoshiyomi suspiciously. This guy could laugh off major village policies but suddenly sounded like a child psychology expert? That didn't quite add up.
But Mayu, who was listening, was completely convinced. She nodded earnestly and said:
"Hoshiyomi, you're right. These things do matter. If handled poorly, they can harm a child's mental health.
Honey, look at Hoshiyomi, and then look at yourself. Even as just an uncle-figure, he's paying attention to Kakashi's emotional well-being. And you? You're always buried in work and barely think about your own son.
At this age, a child's worldview is still being shaped. These issues should be taken seriously. You need to start cultivating his sense of responsibility and his view of relationships early.
Otherwise, if Kakashi grows up to be some kind of playboy—or worse, emotionally stunted—you'll regret it when it's too late."
Sakumo, caught in the crossfire, was completely dumbfounded. What the hell? I work my ass off every day for this family, and now I'm getting blamed? Shouldn't you be yelling at Hoshiyomi instead of me?
And besides, how could his son possibly be compared to that idiot Uchiha Iwa?
But, of course, no matter what—wife is always right. With Mayu cutting in, Sakumo actually forgot what had felt off earlier. He quickly nodded to her and said:
"I have been paying attention to our son. Hoshiyomi's right—I already know about Rin and Obito. Kakashi's mentioned them. But honestly, I think it's just normal friendship.
I asked him directly—he has no such feelings. Right now he only cares about training hard and becoming a ninja like me. Unlike someone else I know, who was already claiming dibs at seven or eight years old… but didn't actually get married until he was thirty-five."
Of course, Hoshiyomi wasn't about to let that jab slide. He fired back without hesitation:
"And yet the guy who got married at thirty-five still turned out stronger than a certain so-called 'great ninja.' Maybe your kid should consider switching idols, don't you think?"
The two men kept trading barbs, but Hoshiyomi finally felt reassured. Since Kakashi didn't harbor feelings for Rin, Hoshiyomi could now go ahead with his plan to pair Rin with Obito without hesitation.
Tsk, tsk… If Obito in the original story had known that, in this world, there was someone like me working overtime to help him, he probably would've turned good on the spot out of sheer happiness.
—
While Hoshiyomi was plotting how to play matchmaker between Rin and Obito, a significant clash broke out at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
The shinobi of Sunagakure, desperate after losing their Third Kazekage, were like ants on a hot pan. They had scoured every inch of the Land of Wind with no trace of Kazekage Ryunosuke.
With no leads left, they followed Elder Chiyo's direction to extend their search beyond their borders.
Their search brought them to a valley at Kikyō Pass—right on the border between Wind and Fire.
By coincidence—or perhaps not—this happened to be the location of one of Konoha's advance outposts, established in preparation for the Third Great Ninja War.
The Kikyō Pass outpost had been established in advance by Tsunade, Shikaku, and others to prevent Konoha from losing the initiative in case the Third Great Ninja War suddenly broke out.
About thirty Konoha shinobi were stationed there to monitor the movements of the major villages. By pure misfortune, Chiyo's Sunagakure search party dramatically ran straight into the Konoha scouts.
At the first moment of contact, both sides froze in confusion. Afterward, Chiyo spoke first, demanding to know why Konoha had stationed a squad at Kikyō Pass—was Konoha plotting something? She even suspected that the Konoha shinobi had kidnapped the Third Kazekage, Ryunosuke.
The Konoha shinobi, on the other hand, stated that Kikyō Pass was, in fact, part of the Land of Fire's territory. It was perfectly reasonable for Konoha to station troops there. According to the treaty signed at the end of the Second Great Ninja War, Sunagakure shinobi were forbidden from entering the Land of Fire without permission. By crossing the border, Chiyo's squad was essentially tearing up the treaty.
Whether Chiyo was genuinely suspicious or simply using the deaths of her son and daughter-in-law as an excuse to pin blame on Konoha was unclear. What was clear was that neither side could convince the other, and so, conflict broke out.
In this small-scale clash, Konoha's thirty-man squad had very few true fighters. Against Chiyo, a Kage-level shinobi, backed by her "Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu", they stood no chance. Of the thirty Konoha shinobi, twenty-five were killed outright. Only three managed to escape and bring word back to Konoha.
When this news reached Tsunade's ears, her temper exploded. Sunagakure had lost their Kazekage, yet instead of keeping their heads down, they dared to provoke Konoha? And after twenty-five innocent Konoha shinobi had been killed, how could such a grudge be left unanswered?
With a wave of her hand, Tsunade ordered Jiraiya to mobilize over three hundred shinobi nearby. That very night, they swept through Sunagakure's forces around Kikyo Pass, annihilating them and taking large numbers of prisoners. Only Chiyo and a handful of her subordinates managed to escape.
But the consequences of this sudden, inexplicable Battle of Kikyō Pass did not end with Sunagakure's defeat.
On the other side, Kumogakure shinobi, who had just disembarked onto the mainland, happened to hear the news. Seeing such an opportunity, of course Kumogakure would not sit idly by.
On the third day after the battle, Kumogakure launched a night raid on a small Sunagakure camp, declaring their formal entry into the conflict.
And so, because of a single inexplicable clash, the Third Great Ninja War, which had only been brewing until then, suddenly entered its first chaotic stage.
Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Konoha forces all became entangled in an extended and bewildering melee around Kikyō Pass. As the fighting dragged on, the stances of all three sides began to blur.
Watching from afar, both Iwagakure and Kirigakure grew restless as well. Clearly, the war was expanding at a terrifying pace.