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 were about the same age, both born around Konoha Year 13.
However, Sakumo's reputation far surpassed his.
The title of the so-called Legendary Sannin was seen as an honor by outsiders.
But for them, it was a mark of shame. It reminded them of 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.
But Sakumo was different. He had earned his White Fang title through sheer grit and determination.
Sakumo'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, Jiraiya-sama. 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.
Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn't imagined that the previous farewell would be their last.
"Old man..."
Jiraiya sighed.
This was 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 is lush with leaves and bathed in sunlight, there are still patches of darkness where the sunlight filters 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 a comrade from the same village, and Orochimaru's words were rather callous.
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade's clenched fist and wisely closed his mouth.
He was able to see the blue veins under Tsunade's pale skin.
Orochimaru turned to look into the distance, towards the Uchiha clan.
"A strong person chose death under Konoha's wind, while an ignorant weakling chases 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's death didn't seem to have changed much.
The condemnation and gossip in the village abruptly decreased.
Rumors began to spread that Sakumo was a hero, who had sacrificed himself to protect the village.
"Kiyoshi, do you want to graduate with me?" Kakashi asked.
His eyes showed only extreme obsession.
"Is your application ready?"
Kiyoshi threw a shuriken and asked.
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 Technique (White)] Trait.
The power of his shuriken throwing technique was as effective as the Trait description stated, 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 the Three Basic Techniques.
He could even use Earth Release: Earth Wave, let alone the mere Three Basic Techniques.
"Then I'll hurry too." Kiyoshi nodded.
The Three Basic Techniques are the standard for graduation.
But Ninja school doesn't only teach the Three Basic Techniques.
There are also some theoretical knowledge that Kiyoshi needs to familiarize himself with.
After all, he has only entered the world of ninjas for a short time.
"...Is that so?"
Kakashi retracted the form, and his eyes under the black mask showed no disappointment or any other extra expression.
Ever since his father had died, Kakashi had begun to distance himself from everyone.
Rin, Guy, Kiyoshi, Obito...
The reason he had 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 trash.
"Remember to tell me your experiences after graduation. We can also spar from time to time." Kiyoshi said.
Besides the trait related to Swordsmanship, Kakashi might also drop a trait related to Lightning Release.
In the future, after Kakashi had lost his Sharingan, he didn't pick up White Fang's swordsmanship again.
Instead, he focused on developing a new Lightning Release ninjutsu.
From this, it could be seen that Kakashi's abandonment of swordsmanship was not just to sever the past and inherit Obito's Sharingan.
Perhaps it was also because he had not fully inherited the swordsmanship talent from Sakumo.
"Okay."
Kakashi nodded.
He then 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, which went deeper than the previous one.
The extremely worried Rin will probably come to ask for his help soon.
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.
Preferrably, Rin should live.
If done well, it will also be a way to deal with Obito.
Besides, Rin has been nothing but good to him.
Kiyoshi couldn't bear to watch her repeat the same mistakes, dying in the trap planned by Madara as in the original story.
Madara is not someone Kiyoshi can deal with now. In fact, nobody in the current world can deal with him.
Who knows what other tricks Madara has up his sleeve?
If Kiyoshi wants Rin to avoid this trap, he has to find a substitute for Obito to awaken his eyes.
He has to think of a way to make Obito receive great stimulation, so as to awaken his eyes.
For example... NTR Rin.
What is more painful than losing your love forever and seeing everything fall apart?
'It seems it's time to awaken 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?" Rin ran over and asked.
Rin had noticed that Kakashi's mood was a little off.
She knew that the fact that Sakumo's mission failure had 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 had sacrificed himself heroically for Konoha.