Konoha White Fang

After the Velociraptor departed, it wasn't long before Kakashi, before he could even sort out his chaotic thoughts, saw the figure appear before him.

White hair, a familiar Konoha Jonin, and a face he hadn't seen in a long time, yet he could still recognize it at a glance.

The man stood not far away, seemingly incredulous at the scene before him. His weathered eyes widened slightly, his gaze fixed on Kakashi, unable to look away for a long time.

His name is Hatake Sakumo.

In life, he had a title that made the entire Ninja World tremble— the Konoha White Fang. After death, he was just an ordinary soul who had been sleeping in the Pure Land for many years.

At this moment, he was gazing with a dazed look at the figure who had grown up and was beginning to approach middle age.

That was his son.

"Is that... Kakashi?"

Sakumo's voice was uncertain, tinged with cautious probing. His voice contained a complex mix of emotions: anticipation, guilt, and unease.

The Kakashi he remembered was still that little boy who always followed behind him, trying his best to imitate everything he did. But the person in front of him was already a mature middle-aged Ninja.

... and that mask.

The mask he wore as a child out of spite after a careless laugh at him is still on his face.

"... dad."

Kakashi spoke, his voice calm, almost deliberately so. But beneath that calmness lay a torrent of unspoken emotions.

"Long time no see."

After a long pause, he managed to utter only this one sentence.

A reunion that transcends life and death, a reunion waited for decades, and countless words rehearsed over countless nights—when the moment finally arrived, only these six simplest and most unadorned words remained.

Sakumo remained silent.

He gazed silently at his son, at the face etched with the marks of time, at the complex emotions churning in the exposed eye, at the child who had inherited everything from him, yet had been abandoned by him.

The administrator of the Pure Land... is his own son's student?

He silently pondered these absurd realities, trying to calm the turbulent emotions within him.

His own son's student was actually Ninja at the level of the Sage of Six Paths? The afterlife... could it really function like this? And... could he really see Kakashi again?

All of this was more magical than he had ever imagined.

"Yes... really, it's been a long time."

His gaze never left Kakashi's face. "Can you tell me? How have you been all these years...?"

This question had been lingering in his mind for many years.

From the moment he realized he had made that irreversible choice, from the moment he fell into eternal slumber, from the moment he awoke in this Pure Land and realized he still had a chance to see his son—this question had been churning in his heart ever since.

Kakashi paused for a moment. "Yes, a lot has happened over the years."

His gaze fell on Sakumo, and he was about to continue speaking when he suddenly stopped. His eyes were fixed on the number floating above Sakumo's head, emitting a faint red light.

[0.6]

"Dad, what's that on your head...?" Kakashi asked, somewhat puzzled.

Upon being asked this question, Sakumo's expression instantly changed, his previously calm face replaced by deep regret.

In the Pure Land, every soul can see where its "Sin Index" comes from. That information will clearly surface in consciousness, inescapable and undeniable.

Sakumo knew what his points should be.

As long as it's not a war he initiated, battles fought out of necessity due to differences in stance will not be counted in the Sin Index. According to this rule, considering the numerous missions he carried out for Konoha and the many enemies he killed throughout his life, his score should be similar to that of the young man named Uchiha Izuna, around 0.05.

But he didn't.

His score is 0.6.

Where did the extra 0.55 come from?

It came from himself, from his final stab, from the moment he abandoned his son.

Those pieces of information flooded his mind the moment he saw Kakashi.

["Your name is ' White Fang,' which should have been as pure and sharp as white light, but in the end you vanished in the shadow of the villagers' words."]

"Throughout his life, he wielded his blade for Konoha, but his final swing was directed at himself."

"The rules are neither forgivable nor sinful to you; the blade of war is exempt; the choice to save lives is not a crime; only that final, solitary dagger turns, carving an unhealable rift in the heart of the young child."

"This rift was not something you intentionally created, yet it is the only ripple of cause and effect you left in the world as a father."

["You are not the perpetrator, but the victim; not the sinner, but the martyr."]

His "crime" was not what he did to his enemies, but what he did to his own son; it was not how many people he killed, but that he fell at the very moment when he should not have fallen.

When Kakashi was still a child, when he needed his father the most, he couldn't bear the rumors and the accusations that "missions were more important than comrades"—so he chose to end his life with that short sword.

Then, he left all his pain, all his confusion, all his loneliness to that little child who didn't yet understand how cruel the world was.

"... I'm sorry." Sakumo's voice was filled with deep weariness and guilt. "This is something I should bear."

He looked up at Kakashi and said, "Although I won't go to hell, I will slowly reflect on myself and atone for my sins."

"Let's talk about you first. How have you been all these years?"

"... Um."

Kakashi responded softly. He didn't press for the number, the information, or any details about "sin."

He looked at his father, whom he hadn't seen for decades, and then he began to speak, in a calm tone, as if he were telling someone else's story.

Thank you so much for the expert certification, boss! I'll keep writing diligently, no holidays during the Spring Festival, and regular updates every day!