Chapter 71: A Ninja's Autobiography

Hatake Sakumo slowly stood up, pushed open the tightly closed wooden partition door, looked at the lonely waning moon hanging in the sky, tightened his loose home clothes, and said: "Do you know the Warring States Period?"

Ye Shan frowned and became impatient. Every older ninja was talking about the Warring States Period, and his ears were callused from listening to it.

"I don't know what the hell the Warring States period is. I only know that you have chosen to escape now."

Hatake Sakumo smiled slightly and did not refute, but Yeshan saw endless fatigue in his smile.

"Ye Shan, you were born in the 24th year of Konoha, so you naturally haven't seen the cruelty and chaos of the Warring States Period. I..."

"I don't want to hear these old stories. There is no point in talking about them now!"

Before Hatake Sakumo could finish his speech, Ye Shan rudely interrupted him and paced around the room like a trapped beast, looking extremely irritable.

"Then why don't I talk about the Warring States period? How about I tell you my story?"

Ye Shan leaned over and grabbed the burnt black Konoha forehead guard. After a surge of chakra in his body, lightning shot out of his palm, shocking the iron sheet again and again. The depression in his heart finally dissipated a little. He nodded expressionlessly, motioning Hatake Sakumo to continue.

"I was born in the sixth year of Konoha. At that time, the village was very small. There was not even the concept of a 'village'. It was just a street about two kilometers long running north and south. Despite this, everyone had a satisfied smile on their face. Everyone was proud of what they were doing and was full of energy."

"You know, during the most difficult time, the entire village's food reserves were used up, and the cold winter was about to come. It was Uchiha Madara who licked his face and asked the daimyo for food for the winter. At that time, I was only four years old, and a bowl of porridge was handed to me from five people. Everyone was looking forward to me eating the porridge, even though they were all hungry. From that moment on, I knew what hope was and what a village was."

"When I was ten years old, the first generation and Uchiha Madara died one after another. The second generation found out that other villages were eyeing them and began to actively prepare for war. At that time, countless ninjas signed up to go to the battlefield. Everyone loved this immature village with many loopholes from the bottom of their hearts. For it, my father and three uncles died on the battlefield. When the bodies were brought back, they all had smiles on their faces. I think they were proud of being Konoha ninjas until they died."

"When I was thirteen, I was promoted to Chunin by the Second-Kai-sama for my military exploits, and began my true ninja career. From the dusty Wind Country to the towering Earth Country, and then to the fierce Lightning Country, I fought for more than twenty years. During this period, the number of friends I met continued to decrease, and I almost died on the spot several times, but I survived in the end, and was given the title of Konoha White Fang by the gossipers."

"But I am not a real strong man. Compared with the adults of the Kande Warring States period, I am no match for them. But I have never felt the slightest bit of shame because of my strength, because no matter how strong I am, my love for the village is stronger than anyone else's."

Hatake Sakumo stopped talking, looked at the dilapidated and desolate scene of the clan's land with a nostalgic look in his eyes, sadness and self-blame surged in his heart.

"When I was seventeen, I became the thirty-ninth chief of the Hatake clan. However, when the once powerful clan was passed on to me, there were not many members left, and there were even fewer ninjas who were really good. Before he died, my uncle held my hand and begged me to be a qualified chief instead of a qualified ninja, to save the only remaining male in the clan and leave the seeds for the revival of the clan."

At this point, Hatake Sakumo pointed to the only remaining patch of ground without weeds outside the house and said to Ye Shan: "At that time, I stood here and announced that the family would be closed for recuperation, but you know, the remaining ten or so ninjas in the family knelt there in unison for a day and two nights, just to let me take back the order. Their blood was still warm and had not yet dried. The village they loved in their hearts needed them, so I took back the order and took them back to the battlefield."

"When I was 22, all the adult ninjas in the clan were killed or wounded. I was the only one who survived, and the war stopped temporarily. Years of fighting caused the Hatake clan to become a civilian ninja family. Hundreds of clan members died for the village. This is something I will never forget in my life."

Two lines of tears appeared on Hatake Sakumo's stern face. This ninja who was feared by enemy ninjas actually shed tears of sadness when he recalled the past.

Ye Shan's irritability calmed down, and he looked at the tearful Hatake Sakumo, but he couldn't say anything to comfort him. The pain and sadness in people's hearts cannot be soothed by words. Only the passing of time in the world can make people forget these temporarily and live every day bravely.

In his previous life, Ye Shan always believed that the things that he had vowed to never forget would always be forgotten in the trivialities and nagging of life. After all, this is the charm of time. But after coming to the world of Naruto, everything he experienced was as unforgettable as if it happened yesterday. To this day, the scene of Kuma Duff being disemboweled by the wind escape ninjutsu and his intestines spilling all over the floor is still his lingering nightmare.

At this moment, he could understand the grief in Hatake Sakumo's heart. It was a kind of pain that would make people cry even if they recalled it five hundred years later. Time would not heal these, but would only make them accumulate more intensely.

Hatake Sakumo wiped his tears and continued, "I often wake up in the middle of the night. I dream of my dead father scolding me for being so incompetent. I also dream of my uncle's eyes wide open before he died. I also dream of the demise of the Hatake clan after my death."

"All of this made me panic and blame myself. It was not until I held Kakashi for the first time that I truly became a man. From that moment on, the ninja way in my heart was determined, and my strength was greatly improved."

"Ye Shan, the feeling of blood connection is so wonderful that it can make people grow up in an instant. You will know this later."

Ye Shan walked into the corridor, sat down cross-legged, took out a kunai and carefully cleared the weeds around him. He didn't feel much about what Hatake Sakumo said.

"So, you're going to abandon Kakashi and commit suicide?"

"I said, no one can accompany you through your life. Kakashi is the son of Konoha White Fang. He has to take on this responsibility, even if it will be extremely difficult."

"Duo"

A kunai pierced through the wooden pillar supporting the house and pierced into the cracked wall, but it was Yeshan who interrupted Hatake Sakumo again.

"I have always believed that the reason why ninjas are stronger than samurai is not only because of their unique chakra, but also because of their unyielding will and their unstoppable means. It may be more appropriate to call someone who commits suicide to apologize after encountering a little setback a samurai."

Ye Shan's meaningful words did not make Hatake Sakumo give up his idea. His purpose of calling Ye Shan was not to find someone to persuade him, but to make arrangements for his final affairs.

"Everyone has different experiences, so naturally they react differently. If you were to experience the same things as I did during these two missions, you would at most just smile and do whatever you want..."

"No, this kind of thing will not happen to me." Ye Shan said firmly, "I will order my subordinates to go forward without hesitation, even if they die, it doesn't matter. As long as they can complete the mission and ensure their survival, sacrifice is inevitable."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head, disagreeing with Ye Shan's idea. It was normal for ninjas to sacrifice themselves during missions, but the mood they were in when they died was important. Dying as a tool for a mission and knowing why they died were two completely different things. Just like the ninja ancestors of the Hatake clan, they knew that they died for the village, so they died with a smile without regrets.

Ye Shan picked up a withered weed and held it in his mouth, and asked, "Do you have a cigarette?"

The old servant who took Kakashi away appeared beside Ye Shan like a ghost and handed him a pack of unopened cigarettes. Ye Shan hesitated for a moment, but still took it, tore open the package, lit it, and took a deep puff.

"Hiss~Hu~"

The unique burning sensation of tobacco quickly passed through Ye Shan's lungs, bringing a strange sense of comfort. After exhaling a light smoke, Ye Shan said: "There are many choices on the road of ninja, either joining the root or defecting."

"I have never considered joining the Root, which uses ninjas as tools. As for defecting from Konoha, the dead ancestors of the Hatake clan are watching me from heaven, so I will never consider it."

Ye Shan threw the cigarette in his hand into the yard fiercely and shouted angrily: "Only living ninjas are qualified to mention their ancestors and rebuild the family's glory. If you die, you will lose everything! Honor, power, ninjutsu, and family are all gone. Believe it or not, as soon as you die, Sarutobi Hiruzen will turn Kakashi into a pure task tool!"

"You keep talking about the glory of your family's past and how to implement your unrealistic ninja way. Have you ever considered your subordinates who have been with you for many years, the young Kakashi, and the bright future? You will get nothing by doing this except making your loved ones sad and your enemies happy. Why choose to die when you can live!?"

"That's why I asked you to come here tonight."

Hatake Sakumo's light words blocked all of Ye Shan's emotions and words, and he immediately said: "Do your own things yourself, don't rely on anyone else."

"Okay, let's not talk about this any more. I've finished talking about my experience and determination. Next, I'll introduce a few people to you."

Ye Shan lit another cigarette and stared at the waning moon in a trance in the smoke. He couldn't understand why some ninjas would consider honor more important than life.

Hatake Sakumo is a man of honor, not a politician-type ninja. As Yeshan lit up his second cigarette, he thought of this.

A ninja can endure hardships just to survive, but a pure person will protect something more important than his own life, such as national justice, the safety of his country, and the pride in his heart.

Everyone has to die, some die lighter than a feather, some die heavier than Mount Tai. Hatake Sakumo did not want to die in humiliation like a feather, he wanted to die in his own heroic way, with a blazing death heavier than Mount Tai.