Hokage Office.
The Third puffed on his pipe as he watched Kakashi, who had come to report. His eyes were filled with complicated emotions.
Hatake Kakashi truly deserved to be called Konoha's most outstanding Genius Ninja. He had been born with all five chakra natures, exactly like him, and his exceptional talent was even more remarkable. The White Fang's son, the Fourth Hokage's student—he was practically the protagonist of a novel.
"Kakashi, early this morning, Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, Mitaraishi Anko, Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, Ebisu—your classmates—came to see me. They begged me to transfer you out of the Anbu."
He had heard about Kakashi's increasingly gloomy and withdrawn personality after Nine-Tails Night, as well as his reckless, death-seeking fighting style. The Anbu had even given him the title Bloody Kakashi.
The Third slowly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and spoke to Konoha's genius ninja before him. Yet Kakashi showed no reaction whatsoever. He was indifferent not only toward everyone else, but even toward his own life.
Seeing Kakashi's detached gaze, the Third frowned and shook his head. "Kakashi, I never thought the war would leave you with such deep scars. If they had not come to me, I would never have believed it."
War trauma did exist, but it was still difficult for him to believe that such an outstanding ninja would suffer from it. He truly had not expected Kakashi to be in this condition.
In the Anbu, Kakashi was a sharp blade. But that blade needed maintenance. The Third was not yet willing to see such a Treasure sword, one that had not reached its peak, snap. Thus, he decided to return this blade to its sheath and tend to it for a while.
"Kakashi, you need rest now."
Kakashi's eyes were now filled