#34 - Great! It's time to open your eyes!
Kakashi didn't understand why his father, who embodied the most important aspect of a ninja—cherishing his comrades—was met with such scorn and condemnation.
After a long silence, Kakashi finally went to inform the others.
Soon after he reported it to the village, Jiraiya was the first to arrive.
"Sakumo actually..."
Inside the room, Jiraiya frowned.
He and Sakumo Hatake were about the same age, both born around Konoha Year 13.
However, Sakumo Hatake's reputation far surpassed theirs.
The so-called Legendary Sannin was seen as an honor by outsiders.
But for them, it was also a mark of shame—the fact that the three of them had barely survived Hanzo's assault.
Even though years had passed and the three had improved in their own ways, the title of Sannin had already spread.
Sakumo Hatake was different.
He had earned his White Fang title through sheer grit and determination!
Sakumo Hatake's body had already been taken by the medical team for an autopsy to rule out the possibility of homicide.
"Kakashi, are you alright?"
Jiraiya asked, looking at Kakashi, who had clearly lost his spirit and become much colder.
"I'm fine, Lord Jiraiya. A ninja should prioritize missions above all else. Father broke the ninja code, so he chose to..."
Kakashi didn't finish his sentence, turning and walking out.
The room was filled with busy ninjas, checking for any signs of spies infiltrating and using ninjutsu.
Only Jiraiya stood there, his brow furrowed.
He had been away on a mission and only Tsunade and Orochimaru had been around recently.
He never imagined that this farewell would be their last.
"Old man..."
Jiraiya sighed.
That's why he didn't want to stay in Konoha all the time, preferring to travel and search for inspiration and the Child of Prophecy.
Although the great tree of Konoha was lush with leaves and bathed in sunlight,
there were still patches of darkness where the sunlight filtered through the leaves.
"Heh, to give up one's life, how foolish. Sakumo's understanding of the world wasn't even as good as that Uchiha brat's."
Orochimaru walked in.
Followed closely by Tsunade.
"Shut up, Orochimaru."
Tsunade frowned. Sakumo was still a comrade from the same village, and Orochimaru's words were rather callous.
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade's clenched fist and closed his mouth, still able to see the blue veins under Tsunade's pale skin.
He turned to look into the distance, towards the Uchiha clan.
"The strong chose death under Konoha's wind, while ignorant weaklings chase after that wind, wanting to live and go further."
Uchiha Kiyoshi, was he the same kind of person as himself?
The look of interest in Orochimaru's eyes grew stronger.
Because he, too, was chasing after Konoha's... wind.
............
A few days passed, and Sakumo Hatake's death didn't seem to change much.
The condemnation and gossip in the village abruptly decreased.
Rumors began to spread that Sakumo Hatake was a hero who had sacrificed himself to protect the village.
"Kiyoshi, do you want to graduate with me?"
Kakashi asked.
The dead fish eyes showed only extreme obsession.
"Is your application ready?"
Kiyoshi threw a shuriken.
The shuriken cut through the air and embedded itself in the tree trunk, with three of the metal corners deeply penetrating the bark.
From a distance, it looked like it was embedded in the tree.
After a few days of training, Kiyoshi had long acquired the Shuriken Throwing skill.
The power of the shuriken was as effective as the skill description said, increasing by 10%.
"Yeah."
Kakashi's voice didn't reveal any emotion.
He took out a form for Kiyoshi to see.
Kiyoshi glanced at it. It was nothing more than a request to graduate early.
Kakashi had long been able to perform these Three Body Techniques, but he had been dragging his feet in school.
He could even release Earth Release: Earth Wave, let alone the mere Three Body Techniques?
"Then I'll hurry too."
Kiyoshi nodded.
The Three Body Techniques were the standard for graduation.
But the Ninja Academy didn't just teach the Three Body Techniques; there were also some theoretical knowledge that Kiyoshi needed to familiarize himself with.
After all, he had only entered the ninja world for a short time.
"...Is that so."
Kakashi retracted the form, and from the eyes revealed under the black mask, there was no disappointment or any other extra expression.
Ever since his father died, Kakashi had begun to distance himself from everyone.
Nohara Rin, Might Guy, Kiyoshi, Obito...
The reason he invited Kiyoshi was that he felt that being with Kiyoshi could increase the success rate of missions.
A ninja's greatest responsibility is to ensure the success of the mission.
Ninjas who cannot abide by these rules are all trash.
"Remember to tell me your experiences after graduation. We can also spar from time to time."
Kiyoshi said.
Besides the Swordsmanship skill, Kakashi might also drop a Lightning Release skill.
In the future, after Kakashi lost his Sharingan, he didn't pick up the White Fang's swordsmanship to cultivate again, but instead turned to developing new Lightning Release ninjutsu.
From this, it can be seen that Kakashi's abandonment of swordsmanship was not only to sever the past and inherit Obito's Sharingan,
but perhaps his own talent in swordsmanship was not fully inherited from Sakumo Hatake.
"Okay."
Kakashi nodded, turned and left, preparing to submit the application in his hand.
Kiyoshi's vision turned to Kakashi's departing back.
"This afternoon, huh? I can go take a look."
Kiyoshi threw another shuriken, deeper than the previous one.
The extremely worried Nohara Rin would probably come to ask for his help.
Kiyoshi thought to himself.
Okay, so what should he do?
The black pupils of his right eye glowed red, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Kiyoshi's mouth.
Nohara Rin should live.
If done well, it would also be a way to deal with Obito.
Of course, Nohara Rin was good to him.
Kiyoshi couldn't bear to watch her repeat the same mistakes, dying in the trap designed by Uchiha Madara as in the original story.
Uchiha Madara is not someone Kiyoshi can deal with now, or anyone else can deal with. Who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve after drawing the tubes of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
If you want Nohara Rin to avoid this trap, you have to let Obito have a substitute for opening his eyes.
Let Obito receive great stimulation, so as to open his eyes.
For example... NTR Nohara Rin.
What is more painful than losing your love forever and seeing everything fall apart?
Let him redeem all this.
As long as the result is good.
"It seems it's time to open the eyes."
Kiyoshi thought to himself.
...
This class was free training. Kakashi walked across the wide practice field to the edge.
"Kakashi, where are you going?"
Nohara Rin ran over and asked.
As a girl, she was delicate and noticed that Kakashi's mood was a little off.
Moreover, the fact that Sakumo Hatake's mission failure caused the Land of Fire to suffer serious losses, which had been raging a few days ago, was soon overwhelmed by another thing.
That is, Sakumo Hatake sacrificed himself heroically for Konoha.
