White Fang Was on the Battlefield While the Third Peeped in His Office

The Hatake Clan estate.

The commotion around Ling Tian silenced the noisy crowd, and everyone turned to look their way.

Kakashi, who had already been slapped three times, finally exploded.

The four-year-old stared stubbornly at his Second Uncle, who had never hit him before, and shouted, "I don't believe my father is a sinner against the village! I want to ask him why he won't come out and tell them!"

Smack!

Ling Tian slapped him again. "Say that again."

"I want to ask him why he doesn't dare come out."

Smack!

"Did you forget what I told you this morning?" Ling Tian snapped.

He was furious.

Ling Tian could accept Kakashi confronting the people saying those things like some hotheaded young boy.

He could accept Kakashi causing a little trouble when a single misstep could send the Hatake Clan plunging into the abyss.

He could even accept him running to the Hokage Building to confront the Third, or questioning his teacher at school.

Any of that would have been fine.

After all, that was his father.

But Ling Tian could not accept Kakashi coming home to confront his own father.

In a shinobi world where children went to the battlefield at six or seven, a four-year-old like him was no longer just a child.

Besides, Ling Tian had already made things clear that morning.

Yet even now, Kakashi still did not think he had done anything wrong. He kept staring stubbornly at him.

Ling Tian raised his hand, but when he saw the look in his nephew's eyes, he could not bring it down.

"Uncle Hatake, please stop hitting Kakashi."

Nohara Rin's eyes brimmed with tears. Only when he stopped hitting Kakashi did she dare speak, her voice hurt.

Seeing the girl he loved cry, Obito threatened from beside her, "If you hit Kakashi again, I'll have Uncle Fugaku take you to the Police Force!"

"..."

Normally, Ling Tian might have made a snarky remark about how ridiculous the future big bad's threat sounded at that age.

But now, looking at his nephew, who clearly felt wronged yet remained so stubborn, he was not in the mood.

Ling Tian ignored the two of them and instead walked toward the little brat with thick eyebrows and big eyes who had yet to speak.

Well, the other three were pretty cute at this age.

But this one...

All he could say was that the kid was built a little differently!

"What are you doing?"

Seeing the Big Bad Guy approach, the four-year-old Might Guy spread his arms and shouted, "I'm a real man! I won't be scared of you like Kakashi! Fight me!"

"..."

Might Guy's antics instantly took some of the tension out of the solemn atmosphere.

Ling Tian simply grabbed the little brat by the back of his collar and lifted him up, holding him with one hand while spanking him with the other.

"I'm a real man! I won't cry! I want to duel you!"

"Big Bad Guy, fight me! Put me down! If you've got the guts, fight me man to man!"

"Ow... ow... ow..."

After spanking him for a while, Ling Tian finally felt some relief from the foul mood the system, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and his eldest nephew had put him in.

He set Might Guy down and looked coldly at his eldest nephew. "I hope there won't be a next time. The Hatake Clan doesn't need an idiot who enjoys his family's protection but doesn't dare confront outsiders, only coming home to stir up trouble...

"If you think your father's actions have brought you shame, I can agree to let you leave the Hatake Clan."

With that, he stopped paying attention to the four of them and walked straight toward Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

Ling Tian swept his gaze over the Hokage's Eldest Son and the four villagers-two men and two women-who were clearly paid shills.

Then he addressed the villagers drawn over by their shouting. "Everyone, please leave for now. Don't start doubting things just because of a few words from a handful of people. Given everything my older brother has done for the Leaf Village, wouldn't it be tragic if a few words from them could erase all his contributions?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke stood with the support of a crutch.

He took two steps forward and sneered. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying we're smearing Sakumo Hatake?" "Aren't you?" Ling Tian replied coldly.

If he could help it, he did not want to waste a single word on someone like this.

"What a joke." Sarutobi Shinnosuke pointed at Ling Tian. "If we're just smearing him, why doesn't Sakumo Hatake dare come out?"

"My older brother isn't in a good mood. Maybe he doesn't want to be disgusted by animals!"

"Hatake Xianyu, what do you mean by that?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke cursed, "He may have saved me, but he abandoned the mission! Because of him, Sunagakure is about to go to war with us! He can't just decide to stop being a shinobi and walk away! How can he face the village after that?"

At those words, Ling Tian fixed him with a hard stare. "Tell me exactly how my older brother wronged the village for you to treat him like this."

"He failed to kill the target, and that led to Sunagakure going to war with us! Is that how he repays the village's trust?"

"Why does assassinating a village's Kage sound so easy coming from a Special Jonin like you? If it was that easy, why didn't you kill him yourself? Why did you need someone else to save you?" Ling Tian asked.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke flew into a rage. "I didn't need him to save me! I only wanted him to complete the mission and end this war!"

"So, unless I've misunderstood, saving you was worse than saving an animal. Is that what you're saying?"

"Hatake Xianyu!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke roared impotently.

"My older brother abandoned the mission to save you, and you call him a sinner against the village. If he'd chosen the mission and left you to die, would you then have called him a cold-blooded man who only cared about his mission and ignored his comrades?"

Ling Tian continued, "I'm very curious. Why was a useless Special Jonin like you allowed to take part in this mission? If it was so important, why did they make my older brother, who never needed teammates, bring along a burden like you?"

Ling Tian sneered. "And you claim my older brother gave up a chance someone else had created for him to complete the mission so he could save you. I'd like to know who could have provided an opportunity to kill the Third Kazekage...

"While my older brother was on the battlefield, your father, the Third Hokage, was sitting in his office. Your father also forbade Clan Leader Fugaku of the Uchiha Clan from going out on missions...

"The Sannin had only just returned from the Rain Shinobi Village Battlefield. Tell me, who could have provided that opportunity? Was it you, a useless man who's only managed to become a Special Jonin at your age?"

Looking at the speechless Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Ling Tian continued, "I don't care who sent you, and I don't want to know what you're after. But let me warn you: don't push us too far."

Ling Tian's expression was blank and his voice calm, but his words sent shock waves through them.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke had no answer. One of the civilians behind him spoke up instead. "Sunagakure's shinobi are seeking revenge on us because he killed Elder Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law! And now he's stopped being a shinobi! How can he face the village after doing that?"

Ling Tian turned to him with a smile and asked, "Finished?"

The moment the words left his mouth, his face twisted with fury. Through gritted teeth, he said, "If you're finished, get the hell out, or I'll slaughter you right now."