Chapter 61: The Ninja Way of Konoha White Fang

Konohagakure is located in the middle of the Land of Fire, with a superior geographical location, only a thousand kilometers away from Akihabara, which was originally part of the Land of Wind. Due to the tight time limit for the mission, the group did not stop along the way until they arrived at the camp of the border defense force, where they prepared to take a short rest.

High intensity and continuous condensation of chakra and release on the soles of the feet and legs is a great test of the ninja's chakra control ability and perseverance. After running for more than a thousand kilometers, even Ye Shan felt trembling and exhausted. Hatake Sakumo, who had been leading the team, had no signs of fatigue on his face except for a messy hair style, which made Ye Shan once again sigh at the strength of the top ninjas.

The highest commander of the border camp was a ninja from the Hyuga clan, about 40 years old, with a capable appearance. He had received the report from the reconnaissance ninja a long time ago, and he led the jonin in the camp and stood quietly at the entrance waiting.

No matter how the Konoha high-ups treat Hatake Sakumo, just based on the four words "Konoha White Fang", all powerful ninjas will respect him from the bottom of their hearts. After all, the iron rule of the ninja world is that the strong are respected.

When Hatake Sakumo appeared dozens of meters in front of the entrance, the Hyuga ninja bowed deeply and shouted, "Hyuga Tetsujiro, former captain of the 4th Squadron of the 1st Combat Battalion, welcomes you!"

The snow accumulated on Hinata Tetsujiro's body fell to the ground as he bent over, and it was obvious that he had been waiting for a long time.

Hatake Sakumo walked slowly to Hinata Tetsujiro, stretched out his hands, grasped his arms, pulled him up, and said, "Tetsujiro, we haven't seen each other for a long time since the Land of Grass."

Hinata Tetsujiro said excitedly: "It's been two years since we last met!"

"It's been two years. Time has passed so quickly. However, it seems that your strength has not improved at all. Is it because of that injury?"

Hinata Tetsujiro's face showed a look of reminiscence, and he smiled and said, "Your Excellency remembers it clearly. I am already in my forties, and it is normal for me to stay where I am."

Then he deliberately raised his voice and said, "Why would the village send you out again to carry out a meaningless mission? Aren't you afraid of discouraging the heroes?"

Hinata Tetsujiro said this to the group of jonin behind him. Sure enough, after hearing his angry words, some of them immediately disregarded etiquette and grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Lord White Fang, I am willing to join the mission!" someone shouted.

"We must make Lord Hokage give us an explanation!" someone said angrily.

However, half of the ninjas did not speak, but quietly clenched their hands and moved away, obviously not wanting to be involved in the political game of high-level officials.

Hatake Sakumo stared at Hinata Tetsujiro's face, and after a few breaths he said, "As a ninja of Konoha Village, you should fight for the village. Tetsujiro, you are a little sensitive."

Hinata Tetsujiro's pure white eyes glared in dissatisfaction, and he even said in disobedience: "Sir, in my opinion, the village is deliberately targeting you..."

"Shut up!" Hatake Sakumo released his hand that was holding the other's arm and shouted without any doubt.

Hinata Tetsujiro gritted his teeth and said hatefully: "Since you saved me from the Rock Ninja, my life belongs to you!"

At this point, Hinata Tetsujiro tore off the fire armband on his left arm that symbolized his glorious military exploits, threw it to a ninja behind him, and continued under Hatake Sakumo's turbulent gaze, "Aizawa Toshihiro will take over my position. I, Hinata Tetsujiro, have been a coward all my life, and now I want to live for myself."

Hatake Sakumo's iron-cold heart warmed up slightly, but he said nothing. He took his companion's hand and walked into the camp shoulder to shoulder.

After the two entered the camp, Aizawa Toshihiro glanced around, laughed, handed the armband to someone beside him, and walked to the side of Konishi Kakuei. He stretched out his hand and patted him on the back, saying, "You have always been one step behind me since you were a child. Whether it was promotion or marriage, I was always ahead of you. I didn't expect that you would catch up with me this time."

Konishi Kakuei coughed a few times and said, "Who are you pretending to be my senior to? You are only three days older than me."

"What? Are you not convinced?" Toshihiro Aizawa said, glancing at Kakuei Konishi.

"I obey, but you have a wife and children, why do you have to stand out?"

"Hmph! Let's not talk about that. Let's not sleep until we are drunk tonight." Aizawa Toshihiro's expression changed for a while, but he still said so.

The two of them walked away arm in arm, leaving hundreds of people standing there staring at each other in bewilderment. Ye Shan smiled, which was rare, and followed Shan Chengchen in.

......

In the evening, the camp took out the stored meat to entertain Hatake Sakumo and his group. They had a desert-style open-air dinner, not caring at all about the light snow that was still falling.

For a moment, the aroma of wine and meat filled the air in the open space in the middle of the camp, and the ninjas seemed to have forgotten their mission and the unhappiness in their hearts, enjoying the feast to their heart's content.

Ye Shan and Uchiha Fugaku were sitting in an inconspicuous position, arguing with each other over who was raising the fish. Uchiha Fugaku had received an aristocratic elite education since he was a child, so he could not beat Ye Shan, who had been through a lot in his previous life. He drank a lot of wine in a daze. Under the catalysis of alcohol, he soon started talking nonsense.

"Hehe, you have a cold face all day long. Don't think I don't know that you have been coveting Uchiha girls for a long time." Uchiha Fugaku shook his head and pointed at Yeshan.

Ye Shan laughed wantonly. He enjoyed the current atmosphere very much. The words in his mind came out of his mouth: "Come on, Uchiha girls are all underdeveloped. I like big ones!"

As he spoke, he made some obscene gestures with his hands and squinted his eyes as if he was feeling something.

'puff! '

Shancheng Chen was stunned by Ye Shan's bold move. In all these years, he had never seen his captain in such an unserious state. It was true that one cannot judge a person by his appearance!

Uchiha Fugaku, who was half drunk, chuckled and asked Yamashiro Tatsuya, "Is the Yamanaka clan ninja in your team plump?"

Ah this...

Yamashiro Chen was extremely embarrassed because he had really seen the enchanting figure of Yamanaka Yuura up close with his own eyes. At the moment, he didn't know what to say and could only pick up the teacup and drink water to cover up his embarrassment.

Ye Shan sneered disdainfully and said, "If I'm going to find someone like Tsunade, Yuzu is just a Wangzai bun."

Several Uchiha ninjas sitting around were immediately stunned and looked at Ye Shan with admiration.

Wow, you are awesome, young man. Your life is getting better and better. You even dare to dream of becoming the princess of the Senju clan. Aren’t you afraid that Jiraiya will fight you to the death?

Uchiha Fugaku took advantage of his drunkenness and shouted out what Ye Shan said, which attracted the attention of the surrounding ninjas. They openly gave Ye Shan a thumbs up.

Well, if all the ninjas present in this mission are not dead, the Fire Country Daily will inevitably publish Ye Shan's heroic words. By then, everyone from the nobles to the common people will know that there is a toad named Baiyun Ye Shan who wants to eat swan meat, and the meat of aristocrats.

The steady Ye Shan got drunk. The entire Fire Nation belonged to him. For a man, the most important thing was to be charming and dashing, even if he would be beaten black and blue afterwards.

Immediately, Yeshan, who was a social stunner, pulled up Uchiha Fugaku and performed a yangko dance for everyone, which successfully attracted everyone's attention, including Hatake Sakumo.

"Do you still remember the lakeside in the Frost Country when Konoha was thirty-three years old?" Hatake Sakumo said with a nostalgic look.

Konishi Kakuei and Hyuga Tetsujiro smiled at each other, raised their glasses and said, "Hahaha, those were the few romantic years we had together, how could we possibly forget them?"

"Come on, let's drink this glass of wine and toast to our youthful days!"

The three wine glasses clash together and are then emptied in one gulp.

"I was very optimistic about Ye Shan at the beginning, thinking that he would inherit my ninjutsu and ninja way. Now I think that he inherited my unruly character." Hatake Sakumo said.

The two of them didn't say anything. At their age, what they wanted most was a satisfactory successor, and everything else was just a passing cloud. After all, people leave their names behind, and geese leave their voices behind. Ninjas all have to die, and everyone hopes that their will will be passed on in the world.

"Sir, your Ninja Way is indeed too profound. This thing cannot be forced."

Seeing the loss in Hatake Sakumo's heart, Konishi Kakuei comforted him.

Hatake Sakumo smiled carefreely, changed the subject and talked about other things.

Of course, Hatake Sakumo is lonely in his heart. His ninja way requires him not to treat ninjas as tools for tasks, but to respect the ninjas' inner choices.

The reason why the last mission was abandoned was because of this. Several elite ninjas were unwilling to confront the enemy head-on in an insignificant mission, so Hatake Sakumo ordered a retreat in exchange for the lives of their companions who were captured by the enemy.

Strictly speaking, Hatake Sakumo's behavior was inappropriate and even violated the professional ethics of ninjas. Even the tender and affectionate Will of Fire emphasized that Konoha ninjas should burn themselves to illuminate the village. This practice of abandoning the mission was really heresy.

But Hatake Sakumo is Hatake Sakumo, the only Konoha White Fang in the ninja world. He will stick to the ninja way he believes in, even at the cost of his life.

Every ninja who becomes a strong one has his own way of doing things and his own pursuits, otherwise it is impossible to persist in the extremely difficult training. Judging from the way of doing things that Hatake Sakumo adheres to in his heart, he is not wrong.

Everything has two sides, and everything in the world always develops in contradictions, so Hatake Sakumo will be criticized and excluded, but in order to implement his own ninja way, he thinks it is totally worth it.

Perhaps, only the ninja who can withstand the test between ninja way and mission, between morality and interests, between life and death, is qualified to be called Konoha White Fang.

This night was the first time Ye Shan indulged himself since his time travel. He didn't know why, he just wanted to indulge himself once.