"Yesterday's mission was really dangerous. Good thing you were there to support us, Ryuken, or I would've been in trouble."
"Haha, we're comrades. I'm not like Kakashi, putting the mission above his teammates."
"Speaking of Kakashi, I heard his team suffered heavy losses on a mission some time ago. Only their jonin instructor and he himself survived. That's really tragic."
"You really do become unlucky when you're on a team with that guy. Good thing we left early, or our team might have ended up the same way."
After training, Kakashi dragged his exhausted body home and ran into two of his former teammates chatting on the road.
Hearing their conversation, Kakashi's thoughts about the Breathing Technique suddenly broke off.
Kakashi had not deliberately concealed his presence, and the moment his two former teammates noticed him approaching, they immediately fell silent.
"Ahem, Kakashi, good evening." They did not know whether Kakashi had heard them, but since he showed no reaction, they pretended he had not and greeted him.
"Yeah, good evening." Kakashi nodded expressionlessly, then continued toward home.
"That was so awkward. I wonder if he heard us."
"It doesn't matter whether he heard or not. He probably doesn't think well of us anyway."
With his sharp hearing, Kakashi could still catch fragments of their quiet conversation even after walking some distance away, but he no longer had the mind to pay attention to it.
Kakashi was not angry that his former teammates had spoken about him behind his back. If he got angry over something like that, then when his father had committed suicide, he would have been furious to death. Back then, no matter where he went, he could feel the strange looks people gave him.
Besides, they were not wrong. To Kakashi, the mission held the highest