White Fang's Mission

In the Hatake Estate courtyard, Uchiha Feiyu was meticulously practicing his taijutsu.

Calling it taijutsu was not entirely accurate. Uchiha Feiyu still held two kunai in his hands, so it could barely be considered swordsmanship as well.

Before one's taijutsu reached a certain level, having a weapon in hand or not made an entirely different outcome. Even in the Naruto World, few people could shatter steel with their bare bodies.

Hatake Sakumo stood beside him as straight as a spear, correcting Uchiha Feiyu's training movements.

It was certainly impossible to expect the White Fang of Konoha to teach him ninjutsu or swordsmanship. After all, he was not White Fang's disciple. But asking him to correct his training methods was no difficult matter.

"Raise your right arm a little higher and protect your head!"

"Extend your left leg slightly farther back. It'll make your stance more stable!"

"When making this kunai thrust, hold back a little strength so that if the opponent dodges, you can follow up with another attack more quickly!"

Even if Hatake Sakumo was not in good condition, guiding Uchiha Feiyu was more than within his abilities. And sure enough, under Hatake Sakumo's guidance, Uchiha Feiyu could clearly feel his own improvement. Just two hours of instruction had made him feel utterly transformed.

If he fought Kakashi again now, the outcome would be hard to predict. If the battle dragged on, Uchiha Feiyu's odds of winning might even be higher.

"You said you didn't want to be a ninja, didn't you? Looks like you're training pretty hard to me!"

Hatake Kakashi, who was training as well, looked at Uchiha Feiyu and mocked him. Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes and immediately shot back.

"I'm not stupid! Becoming a ninja is already a settled matter anyway. And with the situation being so tense lately, a Ninja World War could break out any day. If I care about staying alive, I have to train hard!"

Uchiha Feiyu would never gamble his life on that bunch of useless Konoha High Command fools. No matter what his relationship with the Uchiha truly was, Feiyu was still an Uchiha now!

He had to control his own fate. To control his fate in this world, he needed strength. And how could he gain strength?

There was only training!

So, it was true that he did not want to become a ninja, and it was also true that he trained diligently. There was no contradiction between the two.

However, hearing Uchiha Feiyu casually mention a Ninja World War left Hatake Kakashi stunned.

"A Ninja World War? No way, right? The Second Ninja World War only ended a few years ago! Where did you hear such unreliable news?"

The timeline in the original Naruto was a complete mess, but roughly speaking, there had been no more than seven or eight years between the Second Ninja World War and the Third Shinobi World War.

Such a short period was not enough for the ninja villages to recover from the previous war. That was precisely why Kakashi was so surprised.

Even though the atmosphere in the Shinobi World was somewhat tense now, Kakashi still believed it was no more than minor friction between a few ninja villages. At worst, it might develop into some localized conflicts. It was unlikely to become an all-out war.

Yet Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, fell silent for a moment. His face became even more grim and weary as he spoke with a trace of self-reproach.

"A Ninja World War? That's hard to say... Kakashi, learn from Feiyu recently and train properly as well. A Ninja World War is not impossible."

Uchiha Feiyu was instantly taken aback. After all, the Third Shinobi World War had begun rather unexpectedly.

The Five Great Ninja Villages had not fully recovered yet. Logically speaking, peace should have lasted for at least another three to five years. Yet the sudden disappearance of the Third Kazekage and the suicide of the White Fang of Konoha had completely ignited the conflicts among the major ninja villages.

But whether it was the Third Kazekage's disappearance or the White Fang of Konoha's suicide, both were low-probability events. Why was Hatake Sakumo so certain that war would break out under such circumstances?

Could it be that his mission this time was related to the Third Shinobi World War?

Thinking carefully, ordinary missions would not require a ninja of the White Fang of Konoha's level to act. A mission that required the White Fang of Konoha to take action, and even needed companions to assist him... Could he have been sent to investigate Sunagakure?

After the Third Kazekage disappeared, Sunagakure immediately set its sights on Konoha. There was certainly an element of shifting blame and slandering others involved, but they had to find at least some connection.

There were likely not even five ninja in the entire Shinobi World capable of silently killing the Third Kazekage in Sunagakure. If the White Fang of Konoha, who had a deep grudge against the Sand Shinobi, happened to be discovered in the Land of Wind at that time, Konoha really might be blamed for it.

After saying that, Hatake Sakumo became somewhat distracted and lost in thought. Naturally, he never imagined that Uchiha Feiyu would infer so many things from a single sentence.

"Father... is a Ninja World War really going to happen?! It's only been seven years since the last war!"

"It's hard to say, Kakashi. Work hard!"

Although Kakashi was young, the obvious change in his father's expression gave him a slight shock.

He did not know what exactly had happened in Sunagakure, but he knew that his father had experienced the Second Ninja World War and was absolutely not someone who spoke carelessly.

If his father said a Ninja World War was very likely to break out, then the odds of one happening had risen above fifty percent!

Once the topic turned to war, the atmosphere immediately became solemn. In that heavy atmosphere, Uchiha Feiyu soon bade Kakashi and Hatake Sakumo farewell.

Before leaving, however, Uchiha Feiyu used curiosity as an excuse to borrow the White Fang Short Sword from Hatake Sakumo and examine it for a while.

Fortunately, although Hatake Sakumo was always said to possess the spirit of a samurai, he was ultimately still a ninja and had no particular attachment to his weapon. He handed it to Uchiha Feiyu without much hesitation.

On the surface, Uchiha Feiyu turned the White Fang Short Sword over in his hands and examined it, praising its Chakra conductivity, sharpness, and lightness. In truth, he was using his Spirit Summoning ability to leave a mark on the White Fang Short Sword.

It could not be helped. Even though he knew Hatake Sakumo did not have long to live, in this world, a dead person's soul could remain in their corpse for at most a dozen minutes before heading to the Pure Land. Uchiha Feiyu did not believe he could arrive within the ten minutes after Hatake Sakumo's death by sheer coincidence.

Once marked with Spirit Summoning, the White Fang Short Sword would be able to temporarily trap Hatake Sakumo's soul, giving Uchiha Feiyu ample time for Soul Summoning.

It could be said that the most important purpose of Uchiha Feiyu's visit to Hatake Sakumo this time had been leaving a mark on the White Fang Short Sword. Hatake Sakumo's guidance had instead been an unexpected bonus.