A Conversation with Kakashi

The Hatake Residence had become much quieter since Hatake Sakumo's death. Whether civilians or ninja, almost everyone went out of their way to avoid passing by.

In truth, it was not because they hated or feared the place. On the contrary, it was because they felt ashamed.

Everyone who had once criticized Hatake Sakumo could be considered an accomplice in driving him to his death. Every one of them bore some responsibility.

With that mindset, neither ninja nor ordinary civilians wanted to pass by this place anymore. It would only remind them of their past mistakes.

After knocking on the door several times without getting a response, Uchiha Feiyu frowned and simply leaped over the wall into the courtyard.

Besides its core ability, Spirit Summons and Subjugation had a few additional functions, such as the ability to sense souls. This allowed Uchiha Feiyu to be considered a Sensory Ninja, though his sensing range was small—only a few dozen meters.

Within Uchiha Feiyu's perception, Kakashi's soul fluctuations had remained in the middle of the house the entire time, without moving at all. It was not that no one was home; Kakashi was simply ignoring him.

"Kakashi, are you planning to rot away in your house?!"

As he shouted, Uchiha Feiyu jumped in through the window. Seeing Kakashi lying on the bed with a numb, lifeless expression, he grabbed him and hauled him up.

"What do you want? If there's nothing important, don't come bother me. This is my house."

Kakashi glanced at Uchiha Feiyu and spoke softly. Uchiha Feiyu frowned but said nothing. He took the scroll from his back and tossed it at Kakashi.

"You think I wanted to come? This is a scroll left behind by Senior Hatake Sakumo. I'm returning it to you now!"

Catching the scroll, Kakashi froze slightly. His father had left behind a scroll? Why had he given it to Uchiha Feiyu?

But the question only flashed through his mind. Although Kakashi was currently at a low point, anything concerning his father was an exception. Without much hesitation, he immediately opened the scroll in his hands.

The contents had indeed been written by his father. Not only were the handwriting, writing style, and tone exactly the same, but there were even coded phrases his father habitually left behind—Hatake Sakumo had taught Kakashi about ninja matters before, and some codes were known only to father and son.

When he saw what was written inside, Kakashi's face filled with even greater astonishment. The scroll contained the inheritance of his father's White Fang Sword Style!

For a clan, the inheritance of ninja techniques was a matter of the utmost importance. For those clans with secret techniques, if their inheritance leaked out, they would do everything possible to reclaim it and kill every ninja who had obtained it.

Aside from ensuring that their clan's secret techniques remained unique, there was another important reason: they feared others would discover weaknesses in their clan's techniques and exploit them.

Such a thing was entirely possible. Ninja were professionals who valued intelligence above all else. Even broad information alone could determine the outcome of battles between ninja whose strength was within a certain range of each other. If all information about their secret techniques leaked out, it would be a catastrophe for the clan.

All of that only underscored the importance of an inheritance. In Kakashi's eyes, it was truly difficult to imagine that his father had entrusted it to Uchiha Feiyu.

Of course, if he had to explain it, it was not entirely impossible to make sense of it:

Hatake Sakumo's inheritance did not fall under the category of secret techniques, so even if it leaked out, it would be difficult for anyone to specifically counter it.

Furthermore, their family was not really a ninja clan. They were ninja who had risen from among civilians, so there was no need to consider the interests of other clan members.

Hatake Sakumo had not known many ninja to begin with, and after the incident, Uchiha Feiyu was the only one who had still kept in contact with him.

Rather than leaving the inheritance directly to him, Hatake Sakumo may have had Uchiha Feiyu deliver it because he feared an Anbu search after his suicide.

In short, because Kakashi trusted the scroll, he did not doubt Uchiha Feiyu at all. Even though he knew there had to be more to the matter, he merely came up with explanations on his own and did not ask Uchiha Feiyu anything.

After reading the scroll, Hatake Kakashi looked up at Uchiha Feiyu.

"When Father gave you the scroll, did he say anything else?"

"Senior Hatake Sakumo didn't say anything. He placed a seal on the scroll, and I only managed to undo it recently!"

This was all something Uchiha Feiyu and Hatake Sakumo had discussed beforehand. A seal had indeed been placed on the scroll, so it would not arouse Kakashi's suspicions.

Hatake Sakumo's situation was both sensitive and difficult to explain, so Uchiha Feiyu simply chose not to explain it. He left everything for Kakashi to figure out himself.

Not getting any information from Uchiha Feiyu, Kakashi sighed, and his expression fell again.

However, compared to the deathly still, nearly numb state he had been in earlier, Kakashi now had a faint trace of life in him.

"Enough, Kakashi. Come train with me! How long have you been holed up at home?"

"Maybe Senior Hatake Sakumo's death hit you hard, but no matter what, lying around at home won't help you find any answers!"

"Answers... Do you know what answer I'm looking for?"

Hatake Kakashi looked up at Uchiha Feiyu, who curled his lip.

"Isn't it whether missions or comrades are more important? Hatake Sakumo died because of that question, didn't he? Isn't that what you've been thinking about?"

Kakashi pressed his lips together, then lightly gritted his teeth after a moment.

"Then what do you think? Should a ninja put missions first, or should they value their comrades more?"

"If you ask me..."

Uchiha Feiyu's expression turned solemn and cautious. After looking around, he finally lowered his voice and said:

"Then of course I think... I'm the most important!"

"First, you have to assess how dangerous the mission is, as well as my relationship with my comrades. If it's a relatively safe mission, I can lend an ordinary comrade a hand. But if it's too dangerous, they can fend for themselves!"

"In short, first consider your own safety, then consider your own abilities. Your own life comes first, comrades you're close to come second, missions come third, and people you merely recognize can only come last!"

"Are you really a ninja? That just sounds too... too..."

After being fed Uchiha Feiyu's brutally realistic bowl of poisonous wisdom, Hatake Kakashi's eyes went wide. He stared blankly, utterly speechless.

Meanwhile, Hatake Sakumo, who had been floating beside Uchiha Feiyu all this time, wore a thoughtful expression, as though he had gained considerable inspiration from those words.

Having died once, Hatake Sakumo did not entirely agree with Uchiha Feiyu, but he still felt that his words made a great deal of sense.