Winning Kakashi Over

"White Fang of Konoha?"

"I've heard his name before. Back then, he was famous not only in the Hidden Leaf Village, but throughout the entire Shinobi World."

Zabuza carried a huge box taller than a person on his back, while also holding several boxes of gold coins in both hands.

"The most valuable things are all here. The rest will be delivered by someone before dawn tomorrow."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes slightly. The group coming to deliver the rest was naturally made up of Gato's remaining subordinates.

Kakashi and Obito nodded, signaling for Zabuza to sit down.

The two of them did not bother counting what was inside. Obito activated Kamui, and all those things vanished without a trace.

Once everything was settled, Kakashi nodded and said, "All right, continue telling us about your father. Just how strong was he?"

Kakashi did not hide anything and answered directly, "Back then, my father's strength ranked among the top three in the Hidden Leaf Village, if not the entire Shinobi World. Otherwise, the village wouldn't have entrusted him with stealing the Hidden Cloud Village's classified documents."

Kakashi let out a sigh, his heart filled with countless emotions.

If my father were still alive, would those tragedies that followed have happened?

Would the Third Shinobi World War have gone better with one more top-tier combatant?

When the Nine-Tails ran amok, would my teacher have survived with one more helper?

These questions weighed heavily on Kakashi and left him feeling utterly helpless.

He both hated his father for leaving him alone in this world and understood that his father had chosen to run away because his faith had collapsed.

"You... can't understand!"

Obito took a deep breath, trying to keep his tone calm, but his voice still carried intense dissatisfaction.

Obito grew agitated, and his speech quickened with it.

"You keep talking about the Will of Fire, bonds, and some spirit of sacrifice. Were all of those things just things you said to protect your own rule?"

Obito's gaze was as sharp as a sword, fixed straight on Kakashi. His tone was filled with mockery, as if he were ridiculing these people's hypocrisy and selfishness.

"White Fang of Konoha chose to abandon a mission because of his bonds, and then your so-called village got unhappy?"

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Obito's mouth. He felt that whoever said such things probably had an underdeveloped brain. What was even more ridiculous was that a whole group of people eagerly embraced this so-called bond and ideology.

With bloody history laid bare before them, the fact that such an ideology could still be passed down was nothing short of a joke.

"If ninjas are merely tools that don't need feelings, then what do you need bonds and the Will of Fire for? Why not just make them like puppets? Was there any need to keep laying the groundwork for this so-called Will of Fire? You people get to say all the nice things, while the final interpretation rests with the higher-ups. And whenever you're wrong, you start arguing sophistically?"

Obito's voice grew more impassioned. His questions rang through the entire space like thunder, moving everyone who heard them.

"When there's no mission, you demand that people have bonds, the Will of Fire, and a spirit of sacrifice so they can work for free. Then, once there's a mission, everything has to revolve around that mission, all to protect the interests of your class rule?"

Obito's words were like a sharp blade, mercilessly piercing the hypocritical masks of the higher-ups and exposing their ugly true faces.

Kakashi stood rooted to the spot. He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

"That... actually makes some sense?"

Kakashi suddenly began to waver.

Of course, Kotoamatsukami had already been taken by Nagato into the Nine-Tails' consciousness space. Otherwise, with Obito's current Talk no Jutsu skills, he definitely wouldn't have been able to leave someone speechless.

Kakashi fell into deep thought. He recalled his father's teachings from his childhood, as well as everything he had experienced in the village.

He began to question the ideals he had always believed in.

Could it be that we've been living in lies and deception all along?

Kakashi thought of the war. Countless people had originally had a chance to survive, yet they had lost their lives because of harsh missions.

"Since the village talks about bonds, then why does it always say, when making everyone complete a mission, that ninjas can die but the mission must succeed? Why has it never considered the value of everyone's lives? Why is the mission always first and life second?"

Seeing this, Kakashi said, striking while the iron was hot, "Kakashi, you've witnessed too many tragedies. If the so-called Will of Fire is merely a shackle used to bind you and turn you into tools, then why should we remain so attached to it?"

Kakashi's eyes grew increasingly bewildered, as if he had lost his direction.

"Besides, judging from what you've said, was your father's death really that simple?"

That single sentence plunged Kakashi completely into thought.

"Think carefully. At the time, your father was one of the Hidden Leaf Village's top three combatants. The mission he completed must have been extremely important. Otherwise, its failure could never have caused such a huge public outcry in the village."

"If it had been a mission to find a cat or dog, and the cat or dog had been lost because he went to save a comrade, it definitely wouldn't have caused such a massive outcry."

Kakashi continued speaking.

"However, if it was an important mission, then it must also have been a classified mission. Why did everyone know about it after the war ended? Who besides the Hidden Leaf Village's higher-ups could have known about it? Why did everyone know the moment the war ended? Could it be that your Hidden Leaf Village has a hobby of publicly announcing every completed mission?"

Facing Kakashi's analysis and questions, Kakashi shook his head.

"No. Even failed missions aren't allowed to be made public, because no one knows whether the information inside might seriously affect the village later."

"Then there you have it. If missions aren't allowed to be publicly announced, why did the mission involving your father become known to everyone?"

Kakashi looked at his silent counterpart and knew that he had to increase the pressure.

"I don't know whether you have laws here, but in our Empire, casually leaking classified information is considered spreading rumors and is punished severely. The authorities also step in to refute and cover up the rumors. What about you?"

"Your village gives me the impression that they deliberately fanned the flames, provoking arguments among the villagers. Leaving aside the fact that this was a classified mission, it also didn't cause the Hidden Leaf Village any major losses. Even among ordinary civilians, who would blame someone for saving a comrade? Why exaggerate the conflict between comrades and missions without limit?"

"Even if someone really did blame him, why didn't your authorities defend their own official personnel? You're all one entity, aren't you? Did the village simply let them make a scene without anyone stopping them?"

"Are the villagers even allowed to discuss matters concerning ninjas so recklessly? You risk your lives to complete missions, and when a mission fails, you still have to endure verbal abuse from the entire population. Does your so-called village truly not care about the feelings of its ninjas at all? Besides, from what I can see, the people here avoid ninjas like snakes and scorpions. Would they really dare discuss them?"

After saying all this, Kakashi stood up and sat down in front of Kakashi, his face solemn.

"So I believe there must be a great hand behind all of this! That hand is driving everything forward!"