Catching the Cat

Chapter 26: Cat Catching

After a full day, Kagato and his teammates familiarized themselves with their teamwork. Nothing significant happened, and they were dismissed.

Once dismissed, Kagato, as usual, headed to the training grounds for practice. He only returned home slowly in the evening.

At the entrance, his mother was, as always, waiting for his return. However, this time, his father was also by her side.

Upon seeing Kagato arrive, Yuko Uchiha rushed to his side, showering him with affectionate inquiries. Kagato responded repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Takashi waited until Yuko Uchiha finished speaking before asking with a stern face.

"Did you meet your teammates and Jonin instructor today? How are your teammates? Who is the Jonin instructor?"

Kagato smiled slightly.

"My teammates… one is quite straightforward and cute. The other is more composed, I haven't seen any significant emotional fluctuations from her. As for the Jonin instructor, it's Hatake Kakashi."

Uchiha Takashi was shocked.

"Hatake Kakashi? That Kakashi who killed his comrades? Damn it! The village higher-ups assign this kind of teacher to our Uchiha geniuses? As expected, those village folks... Furthermore, that Kakashi..."

As he spoke, obvious disgust appeared in Uchiha Takashi's eyes.

"As an outsider, he possesses the Sharingan of our Uchiha clan. In the end, he must have obtained it from that dead Uchiha Obito, humph! Uchiha things should be returned to the Uchiha! Especially something as important as the Sharingan, how can it be leaked? If not for the Fourth Hokage protecting him back then..."

"Father!"

Kagato suddenly shouted, interrupting Uchiha Takashi's words.

Uchiha Takashi was taken aback, then he understood. They were outside the door, and discussing such matters was inappropriate. Fortunately, their family was an ordinary Uchiha clan family, so the Anbu didn't have that many personnel to monitor every single household. The Anbu only monitored the overall movements of the Uchiha clan and a few important families.

Uchiha Takashi turned and walked towards the house.

"Come inside. Don't stay out here. Those disreputable Anbu are constantly watching us Uchiha."

Kagato and Yuko Uchiha followed Uchiha Takashi into the house.

This interrupted conversation made Kagato realize two things.

First, Kakashi's current reputation seemed to be very poor, even being called "Kakashi the comrade killer." This was likely due to the incident with Obito, and after Kakashi joined the Anbu, influenced by the darkness brought by Obito and Rin, he was ruthless in missions for a period, extremely cold-blooded, thus earning such a reputation.

Second, the Uchiha clan held extreme animosity towards Kakashi, an outsider bearing the Sharingan. It was understandable. What is a Kekkei Genkai? It is the foundation of a clan, an unshakeable root. Look at Mei of Kirigakure; even though he obtained a Byakugan, he had to hide it, fearing he would anger the Hyuga clan and provoke Konoha into war with Kirigakure.

One could imagine how heinous the act of stealing a clan's Kekkei Genkai was. It was practically a provocation to the entire Uchiha!

And now, the village supporting Kakashi in keeping the Sharingan undoubtedly greatly increased the Uchiha's animosity towards Kakashi and the village.

In the original work, why did the Third Hokage make Kakashi the captain of Itachi in the Anbu? Because to everyone, Kakashi and the Uchiha were like mortal enemies who could never stand together. Assigning such a person as the captain to monitor the Uchiha genius was a very good choice, wasn't it?

However, Itachi was not someone who dwelled on minor family grievances. Therefore, in the face of major issues, Itachi did not resent Kakashi. And Kakashi, having received Obito's eyes, the best gift from his dying best friend, how could he be like an ungrateful wretch and retaliate against his best friend's clan?

Thus, even though Kakashi knew the Uchiha didn't have a good impression of him, he didn't care. Therefore, Itachi and Kakashi got along well in the Anbu.

Meanwhile, after entering the house, Kagato and his parents discussed the matter for the entire night. Uchiha Takashi decided to request the Uchiha Clan Head, Fugaku Uchiha, to ask the village to assign a different Jonin instructor to teach Kagato.

Would you allow someone you deeply loathed to teach your child? Obviously not.

The next day, at Fugaku's residence.

In the room, Fugaku, sitting on the tatami, looked at Uchiha Takashi and Uchiha Kagato before him and confirmed.

"You want me to help you ask the village to change Kagato's Jonin instructor?"

Uchiha Takashi nodded.

"That's right, Captain. I'm begging you."

The Uchiha clan was responsible for the Konoha Military Police Force, and many Uchiha ninjas worked there. Fugaku was the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, so ninjas working there were accustomed to calling Fugaku "Captain" instead of "Clan Head."

Fugaku Uchiha had a slight headache.

"Takashi, you know the relationship between our Uchiha and Konoha. My request might not be effective. What about you, Kagato? What do you say? Do you also want to change Jonin instructors?"

Kagato pursed his lips and spoke cautiously.

"For me, it doesn't really matter."

"Nonsense!!"

Uchiha Takashi shouted loudly.

"How can we let that Hatake Kakashi teach you?! The village is trying to ruin you! Captain, this time, I am truly begging you. Kagato is not just my son; he is the Uchiha's public face, the genius of this generation. The village assigning Hatake Kakashi to teach Kagato, isn't this an insult to us Uchiha?"

Fugaku Uchiha sighed, remaining silent, but thinking to himself.

Takashi, he's far less intelligent than his son. Never mind, I have no right to criticize Takashi. Am I not the same?

In this matter, any true wise person could see that the Third Hokage sending Kakashi to teach Kagato was not an insult, but rather a sign of importance. If you think about it carefully, in the entire Konoha currently, who reigns supreme below the Kage level? Kakashi might not be the strongest, but he is definitely among the strongest.

Sending such a prominent figure below the Kage level to teach Kagato, setting aside clan grievances, reveals how much the Third Hokage values Kagato.

But the problem is, most people cannot set aside clan grievances when viewing matters. Especially the Uchiha, a clan that values emotions greatly.

In fact, the Third Hokage was also helpless. Of course, he knew sending Kakashi would cause a backlash from the Uchiha. But besides Kakashi, who else could the Third Hokage send? Anyone else? The Third Hokage truly feared that this genius Kagato would not receive proper guidance, ultimately leading to an irreconcilable relationship with Konoha. A definite genius and a family with already strained relations. After much deliberation, the Third Hokage chose the former.

So-called politics often involves not choosing the best method, but choosing the least bad method.

Ultimately, the matter of changing the Jonin instructor ended without any resolution. Fugaku Uchiha repeatedly emphasized the relationship between the Uchiha and the village, stating that the village would not agree. Helpless, Uchiha Takashi also gave up.

For a long time afterward, Kagato began the boring life of chasing cats with Kakashi.

That's right, as newly promoted Genin, they could only undertake D-rank missions. Well, D-rank missions, to put it nicely, were tasks where they wouldn't encounter enemies and had extremely low risk. To put it bluntly, it was doing chores, anything and everything.

And the most frequent task was catching cats. Kagato was almost driven mad by it. He really wanted to ask, where did this damn village get so many cats? They caught them all day and still couldn't finish.