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Hatake Kuroshi, holding a dango, turned around and waved to Naruto, who was staring at them blankly.
His movements were so smooth and effortless that the people nearby didn't even see how he managed to grab the two strings of dango.
Even with his blindfold, Hatake Kuroshi's delicate features were not hidden at all.
Coupled with his relaxed and graceful demeanor, he instantly drew the attention of everyone in the shop.
Several women in the shop immediately developed starry eyes.
"That guy was so cool just now!"
"Even with a blindfold, he still looks so handsome!"
Seeing the pink atmosphere in the room rising rapidly, Hatake Kuroshi, not wanting to miss the opportunity, flashed a brilliant smile at the women in the room.
The lady behind the counter heard the commotion and leaned out.
She immediately saw Naruto standing there dumbfounded and frowned, whispering:
"Oh my, how did you get in here?"
Then she grabbed a broom from the side and, before Naruto could explain, chased him out like she was chasing a rat.
"Nine-Tailed Fox! Get out! You're here to steal food again, what bad luck."
The lady spat twice at the door in disgust.
Naruto dodged clumsily outside the door and dejectedly prepared to go home.
Then he saw the man in the shop, who was holding a dango and wearing a blindfold, smiling at him and holding up a finger.
"You owe me one."
That's what his lips said.
Hatake Kuroshi watched Naruto leave, a sneer playing on his lips.
This is the Leaf Village they all love, where peace and justice are always on their lips.
Minato Namikaze died like a snuffed-out candle, leaving his child unattended.
No matter what Minato did, Naruto was directly branded as the Nine-Tailed Fox and buried deep underground, never to see the light of day.
The Nine-Tailed Fox incident was just a fleeting event in the shop.
The women in the shop were still looking at Hatake Kuroshi with hearts full of love.
Itachi's gaze returned from outside, looking at the noisy women in the room, feeling a pang in his stomach.
In a way, Hatake Kuroshi's off-the-cuff answer did make some sense.
Hatake Kuroshi is the eldest son of the Hatake family.
But despite this, he wasn't very well-known, and few people knew him.
His younger brother, Hatake Kakashi, was a child prodigy who had achieved many feats at a young age.
All the glory was taken by his brother.
Most people only knew Hatake Kakashi, the son of the White Fang, and ignored this older brother.
Hatake Kuroshi, who had no talent, was currently just a teacher at a normal civilian school.
"Ah, the dango is too soft, it's hard to control the force."
"But the taste should be the same."
Hatake Kuroshi walked out of the dango shop, lowered his head and separated the slightly deformed dango, handing it to Itachi beside him.
Itachi thanked him and silently followed him around the outskirts of the Uchiha clan compound.
It had been a while since he last came to see Itachi.
Rumors of the Uchiha's intention to rebel were spreading through the village from time to time, and even though Hatake Kuroshi was just an ordinary person, he often heard similar rumors.
Since even civilians could hear such rumors, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village was on the verge of exploding.
As expected, Itachi was now a double agent for both the Leaf Village and the Uchiha clan.
When he wasn't speaking, Itachi always looked preoccupied.
But if you didn't ask, he would keep it to himself until he died.
Gemini men are just trouble.
Hatake Kuroshi, chewing on a bamboo skewer, scratched his messy silver hair.
"Your clan and the village haven't been getting along lately."
"I even heard people on the street talking about your rebellion."
Itachi's movements of lowering his head to eat the dango clearly froze, and he had been thinking about how to talk to Hatake Kuroshi about this.
After all, Hatake Kuroshi was a civilian, essentially an outsider.
As long as he didn't reveal his identity, it would be fine to talk.
"Yeah, because a lot of people aren't happy with the village's relocation and the continuous weakening of the Uchiha."
"It's not just a conflict with the village, there are also some things within the clan..."
Itachi sighed, his words trailing off.
Hatake Kuroshi nodded knowingly.
The village is oppressing them from the outside, and the Uchiha are trying to stir things up from the inside, making it difficult for Itachi to navigate either way.
"You're working with my brother in the Anbu, right? I remember that place is directly under the command of the Hokage, right?"
"So what if one day the Hokage orders you to slaughter your clan with a blade?"
"What would you do?"
The word "slaughter" exploded in Itachi's mind, and he instantly widened his eyes, his pupils constricting slightly.
He obviously didn't expect such words to come from an ordinary civilian.
The secrets of the conflicts between ninjas are rarely revealed to ordinary civilians.
But with just a few words and a little bit of information, Hatake Kuroshi asked directly about the crux of the problem.
He didn't care about Itachi's current identity or what he was doing.
He simply used the most extreme outcome to question Itachi.
Although Itachi didn't want to face it, upon closer thought, the worst-case scenario would be this.
Hokage's order, slaughter.
Disobedience means siding with the Uchiha.
Slaughter means siding with the village.
Is he asking himself which side to choose?
A wave of turmoil surged through Itachi's heart.
"You can analyze so much from just a few words from me?"
Itachi put down the dango in his hand and took a deep breath.
"Sometimes I think it's a loss for the village that you're just a civilian teacher."
Hatake Kuroshi nodded without hesitation.
"Oh, that's right, you have good vision."
"What kind of loss would it be without him? Having him around just means one more person to die."
A cold voice came from beside them.
A black mask covered the young man's small half face, and his messy silver hair was on top of his head.
The young man, who only revealed one dead-fish eye, looked at the two of them, his brows furrowed as if they could pinch a fly to death.
Although they were both in their growth spurt, Kakashi was obviously a size smaller than Hatake Kuroshi.
"Ah, Kakashi-senpai."
Itachi obviously didn't expect to meet Kakashi here, and he was momentarily stunned, looking around.
He remembered that the relationship between the two brothers was quite cold, and Kakashi didn't come over often.
Hatake Kuroshi grimaced, shrugged at Itachi, and pointed at Kakashi beside him with his thumb.
"Ah, people like him are the ones with bad vision."
Kakashi obviously didn't bother to argue with him. He had been on a mission all day and was exhausted to death, and he didn't have the energy to bicker with Hatake Kuroshi.
He just reluctantly stretched out his hand to Hatake Kuroshi.
"Give me the laundry slip, I'm going to get the clothes."
"I looked at home, there's none."
Hatake Kuroshi raised an eyebrow, rummaged through his pocket.
He pulled out a crumpled slip and waved it in front of Kakashi.
Kakashi took the slip, before they could say anything else.
He leaped lightly, stepped on the nearby eaves and walls, and quickly ran away.
Itachi looked at Kakashi's back in a daze. Kakashi usually only ran this fast during urgent missions.
Itachi and Hatake Kuroshi are friends, and they are colleagues with Kakashi. These two are generally easy to get along with.
Although he had heard rumors about their brothers' discord, he never thought it would be so bad that they would act like strangers when they met.
They are brothers after all.
"This is puberty."
Hatake Kuroshi nodded knowingly, obviously used to this way of interacting with Kakashi.
"Is your relationship so bad because of Uncle Sakumo?"
Itachi thought about it, and the only reason why brothers could be so estranged after their father's death, not only not relying on each other for support, but also treating each other like strangers.
It must be related to their father, the White Fang of the Leaf Village who committed suicide.
"That's pretty much it."
"After all, he's always held a grudge against me for not stopping my dad from committing suicide, until now."
Hatake Kuroshi looked indifferent, resting his hands behind his head.
It's not that he didn't stop him, but that he couldn't.
Hatake Kuroshi lowered his gaze and fell into thought.
At that time, Hatake Kuroshi was only six or seven years old.
The sky was overcast that day, as if it was going to rain at any moment.
Since his father returned from the mission, he had become increasingly depressed and might not remember to collect the clothes.
Hatake Kuroshi was not as talented as Kakashi in his studies, so he said goodbye and skipped class to go home early.
Maybe it would have been better if he hadn't gone back.
That's what he thought at the time.
Before he could run into the house, he was grabbed by Root members.
They were all wearing more or less the same masks, and Hatake Kuroshi, in the dim light, couldn't tell who was who.
He was gagged and blindfolded in a panic.
"I hope you understand Lord Danzo's intentions. After all, we don't want to do this either."
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