Seeking Revenge at His Doorstep

Kondo Kunihiko had been emotionally unstable lately.

After finishing his patrol that day, he once again sat inside his house as usual, his heart tangled with regret, guilt, and a hint of fear.

As a former teammate of the White Fang of Konoha, he had never imagined things would end up like this.

The White Fang had actually died—by suicide. How was that possible? This was the White Fang, the White Fang of Konoha!

Wasn't it just one failed mission? Wasn't it just some gossip from villagers and ninjas? How could that possibly drive a Kage-level Ninja to suicide? It was practically a joke!

Come on, you were the White Fang of Konoha! You were the executioner who made everyone tremble at the mere mention of your name! And you fucking killed yourself over something so trivial? Your mental fortitude was worse than mine? How did you even become strong?!

Yet now that things had come to this, saying anything more was pointless. Whenever Kondo Kunihiko thought of how he had played a major part in driving the White Fang to death, he felt on the verge of collapse.

Even though Konoha had not taken action against him yet, the Special Jonin could feel the icy stares of his colleagues. For some time now, he had been constantly on edge, too frightened to even walk alone at night.

To be honest, when he had first heard that Hatake Sakumo had committed suicide, he had nearly fled the village in terror. If he had not been watched so closely, he likely would have already done so.

As for now, he lived in fear nearly every day, terrified that someone would come to silence him—yes, silence him! Because only he knew that Konoha High Command had been behind what happened to the White Fang!

He did not know who the person that had come to see him that night was, but he knew that person had definitely been one of Konoha's higher-ups. No ordinary spy could have posted several ninjas around the area during a conversation. Did they think Konoha's Anbu were dead?

Under the threats and inducements of that higher-up, and perhaps the subtle guidance of some Genjutsu by that mysterious person, he had made his choice. He had publicly gone to Hatake Sakumo's home to apologize, unloading all his pressure onto the White Fang and dealing him a vicious stab in the back.

Kondo Kunihiko had thought this would at most tarnish Hatake Sakumo's reputation and suppress the fame of the White Fang of Konoha. But after the White Fang's death, the nature of the matter had completely changed.

Damaging the reputation of a Kage-level Ninja and driving a Kage-level Ninja to death were entirely different matters. No matter how powerful Konoha was, it could not ignore such a loss. Moreover, because of the White Fang's death, the Third Shinobi World War was on the verge of breaking out!

This was a catastrophic blunder, and he knew far too much. There was a good chance he would be killed to keep his mouth shut!

The only reason he was still alive was because the White Fang had died only recently. If he, someone connected to the matter, suddenly died as well, it might draw the attention of the Konoha Ninja. But once the storm passed, no matter what, his fate would not be pleasant.

Even if he barely managed to keep his life, he would probably be sent to some shadowy department, forced to hide his identity and do dirty work until the day he died.

Just as Kondo Kunihiko was consumed by pessimism, a bang suddenly came from the door, followed by a man's low voice.

"Kondo Kunihiko, your crimes have been exposed!"

Already lost in wild thoughts, Kondo Kunihiko jumped in fright. Without a word, he smashed through the window with a thunderous crash and turned to flee!

"What's with this guy? Is he guilty or something?"

Uchiha Feiyu, who had kicked open the front door, blinked and asked Kakashi beside him.

Kakashi had been forcibly dragged here by Uchiha Feiyu and had still been hesitant about this act of venting anger. But when he saw Kondo Kunihiko flee the room without even facing them, he froze for a moment before flying into a rage.

"This guy has a problem! Hurry, after him!"

With that, Kakashi, who had reluctantly been dragged here, sprang into action. Faint electricity flickered over his body as he shot after Kondo Kunihiko.

After running out of the room, Kondo Kunihiko was hit by the cold wind and finally calmed down. He looked around and saw no dozen or so Anbu surrounding him, and his heart skipped a beat.

Wait, why am I running? If the Anbu had really come to act, why would they kick down the door and shout first?!

Coming back to his senses, Kondo Kunihiko turned his head and happened to see Kakashi leap onto the roof. His expression immediately twisted.

Kakashi, that brat! Damn it... didn't my reaction just make it obvious that I have something to hide?

Standing atop the roof, Kakashi looked coldly at Kondo Kunihiko.

"You bastard. Will you surrender peacefully, or do you want me to beat you up and send you to the Intelligence Division?"

The Intelligence Division?! Kondo Kunihiko's scalp went numb. The village's Intelligence Division was no pleasant place. Almost everyone sent there came out missing a layer of skin!

Those intelligence ninjas did not conduct ordinary interrogations. They simply used Genjutsu to torture people. If Genjutsu did not work, they would directly use mental secret techniques to search their memories!

If anything went slightly wrong during the memory search, it could easily leave behind mental aftereffects in the brain.

And if one or two ninjas who held a grudge against him because of the White Fang took the chance to tamper with things, would he have any chance of surviving?!

What was even worse was that while he was not a spy, he truly had played an unsavory role in the White Fang incident. Yet he did not even know who had forced him into that role.

In other words, someone had indeed fanned the flames behind the White Fang's death, and he was almost certain that person was one of the village's higher-ups. But he had never even seen that higher-up's face.

Just because you say he was Konoha High Command means he was? I could just as easily say he was a spy from another village! This matter was impossible to explain clearly!

No, more precisely, Konoha High Command would definitely not take the blame for this. In the end, it would all be pinned on him! Then he would die miserably, branded as a spy from another ninja village!

You call this sending me to the Intelligence Division?!

You're trying to kill me!!

The more Kondo Kunihiko thought about it, the more afraid he became. His expression kept changing, from panic to fear, from fear to uncertainty, and then from uncertainty to resolve. Kakashi saw it all.

As a genius ninja—especially since his father had been the head of the Anbu—Kakashi had received training and knew how to observe people.

Isn't that a guilty look on his face? His body is slightly angled, his feet are shifting, and his eyes are darting around. What is he doing? Trying to escape?

Just as I thought! Now I can be certain that this guy really is hiding something!

Huh, his expression changed again. That expression...

I've learned that expression too. No, I've seen it before. That's the look of someone making a desperate last stand!

Good. So you're planning to resist to the bitter end!