Chance Encounter with an Enemy

After rejecting Might Guy's special training method, the three of them ultimately just did some ordinary sparring practice at Kakashi's house before heading home.

After leaving Kakashi's house, Uchiha Feiyu headed straight home. But halfway there, he suddenly sensed Hatake Sakumo's soul becoming agitated.

"What's wrong? Did you run into someone you know?"

Uchiha Feiyu asked curiously. He turned to follow Hatake Sakumo's gaze and spotted a ninja who looked somewhat familiar.

He was certain he had seen this ninja before, but he could not remember his name. Clearly, they were not acquainted. The man must have left a deep impression on him at some point... Right, wasn't this the bastard teammate Hatake Sakumo had rescued?

"So it's this guy... Want revenge, Senior Sakumo?"

Uchiha Feiyu asked. Hatake Sakumo gave a bitter smile.

"How am I supposed to take revenge in this state? Besides, he's still a Konoha ninja. Attacking another ninja without cause would do you no good."

"Don't worry... Don't forget our age. It's perfectly normal for ninjas our age to be a little impulsive, right?"

"I don't think you're the impulsive type. Didn't you say your goal in life was to do less, get more, and reap without sowing... Wait?! What did you mean, 'our' age?!"

Hatake Sakumo certainly did not think "our" referred to him and Uchiha Feiyu. He was no impulsive little brat at that age. Who else could it mean, if not his precious son?

Uchiha Feiyu's next words confirmed Hatake Sakumo's guess. He said in an eerie voice,

"Of course, our age! I'll devise the plan from behind the scenes, then have Kakashi and Guy beat that guy up. There shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"

"Theoretically speaking, that guy bears the blood debt of Kakashi's father. If Kakashi only beats him up, he's already showing plenty of restraint."

"The key issue... probably isn't just beating him up, is it?"

"Looks like you understand quite well too, Senior Sakumo! So how did you get driven to the point of wanting to kill yourself?"

Hearing about his suicide again, Hatake Sakumo felt his face flush. Over the past few days, after being relentlessly lectured by Uchiha Feiyu, the White Fang of Konoha had come to see that incident as a stain on his past.

But this was not the time to dwell on that. Hatake Sakumo spoke with a rather serious expression.

"I did notice some problems. What Kunihiko said outside my house back then was clearly meant to ignite public opinion... There should have been others behind him..."

"Just say Konoha High Command was behind him! Senior Sakumo, which member of Konoha High Command do you think was behind him?"

"How would I know something like that? And perhaps it wasn't Konoha High Command at all. He could have been a ninja spy from another village..."

"If he were a ninja spy from another village, he'd probably have been arrested and interrogated long ago, wouldn't he? I don't believe Konoha would show mercy to a spy who caused the death of a ninja of your caliber!"

Hatake Sakumo was immediately rendered speechless. Even if the man truly had been a spy from another village, he should have been the first person investigated after Sakumo's suicide.

Since he had not been investigated, it was obvious that the village's higher-ups had never suspected him of being a spy. The only reason was that his actions back then had been ordered by the village's higher-ups.

Seeing Hatake Sakumo fall silent, Uchiha Feiyu shook his head.

"Looks like even you can't fool yourself with that."

"Aren't you afraid of drawing Konoha High Command's attention?"

"That's why Kakashi should take the lead! Isn't it perfectly normal for him to do something irrational because of his father's death?"

"You should know that after you died, public opinion made a complete one-eighty. If we don't act while we have this chance, it'll be too late once we wait too long!"

"I refuse to believe Konoha High Command would punish Kakashi over an impulsive act."

Hatake Sakumo froze for a moment. His memories had remained fixed on the day of his death, and he had never expected his death to trigger such a chain of consequences.

"I never thought... public opinion would turn around after I died... Seeing how deserted the entrance to the Hatake Estate was, I thought the people in the village were still cursing me."

"The dead deserve respect! As long as they weren't some utterly monstrous villain, dying tends to leave them with a good reputation!"

"All right, stop talking about it. I already regret it enough. Now I feel like I must have lost my mind back then. Why would I ever think of killing myself!?"

"But even with a good enough excuse, Kunihiko is a Special Jonin. Excluding you, Kakashi alone isn't his match!"

"A Special Jonin? That's not really beyond my expectations."

Uchiha Feiyu was not moved in the slightest. Anyone who could accompany the White Fang of Konoha on an S-rank mission could not possibly be an ordinary Chunin or Genin. At the very least, he was likely a Special Jonin with some particular specialty. Otherwise, he would have been nothing but dead weight during the mission.

But since Uchiha Feiyu had already formed this idea, he naturally had a countermeasure prepared.

"Don't worry, Senior Sakumo. The Spirit Summons and Subjugation technique isn't limited to being used on me."

"Through Spirit Summons and Subjugation, I can let you possess Kakashi directly. You two are father and son with a strong blood relationship, so possessing Kakashi won't consume much energy."

"With your combat instincts and battle experience, Senior Sakumo, it shouldn't be difficult to deal with a Special Jonin even using Kakashi's body, right?"

The Spirit Summons and Subjugation, one of the Eight Wonders, had thoroughly transformed Hatake Sakumo's body, making him closer to the yin spirits of Hitori no Shita and granting him the ability to possess others directly.

However, only Uchiha Feiyu, who himself practiced Spirit Summons and Subjugation, could fully make use of Hatake Sakumo's spirit body. Not only would he suffer no harm, he would also gain some of the spirit body's power. If anyone else were possessed, both Hatake Sakumo and the possessed person would suffer a certain degree of injury.

Only because Kakashi was Hatake Sakumo's direct blood descendant would there be no backlash after possession, though there would be no enhancement either. That was why Uchiha Feiyu proposed this plan.

The Chakra system cultivated by ninjas emphasized techniques over the Way, so there was not much difference in the essential life force of most ninjas.

Even while controlling Kakashi's body, Hatake Sakumo could rely on Kakashi's physique and Chakra to display strength beyond that of an ordinary Jonin. Dealing with a Special Jonin truly would not be difficult.