Late-Night Conversation

Karot walked home, lost in thought.

Never doubt a woman's wisdom.

Kazumi deduced from the subtle clues that what he and Orochimaru were doing was unusual, and she was concerned for her own safety.

"You still treat me like a child, Kazumi?"

Karot mistook Kazumi sister's love for her younger brother, completely oblivious to any romantic feelings involved. Perhaps this is a fine Saiyan tradition—a complete lack of understanding of emotions.

"Hey, our Karot's back from his date!"

As soon as Karot entered, he heard Kakashi mocking him. Kakashi leaned against a pillar, looking completely nonchalant. Anyone who didn't know better would mistake him for a thug. He's really watched too much "Icha Icha Paradise"—his personality has been subtly influenced!

"What date? It's just a simple meal. Aren't you here too?"

Karot looked at Kakashi as if he were an idiot.

When Kakashi saw the way Karot was looking at him, he knew Karot was treating him like a fool. Kakashi couldn't understand whether his older brother was smart or just pretending. Anyone with eyes could see that Kazumi's gaze towards Karot went beyond the concern of a normal friend. But Karot remained completely unfazed.

"Where did your cleverness, the kind that you used to play matchmaker and tie the red string for me, go?"

Kakashi roared inwardly. He knew his chance to pose here tonight and see Karot make a fool of himself was gone. Because the person in question had no idea he was on a date.

Karot sat down in a chair, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp; he was thirsty after walking so far.

"Sit down! What are you trying to show off in the middle of the night?"

Kakashi's only advantage over his older brother Karot, is his appearance.

"Snort."

Kakashi realized he had flirted with the blind man, so he simply sat down opposite Karot.

"What exactly is your plan with the Lord Hokage?"

Kakashi went straight to the point. He desperately wanted to know what Karot and Orochimaru were planning. For this plan, Orochimaru had actually sent the Akatsuki Organization to Konoha. Wasn't Orochimaru afraid of Konoha being destroyed? This was the first time anyone had ever attacked Konoha's homeland. Many ninja had died mysteriously, and they were all people who opposed Orochimaru's policies. Kakashi was the first to doubt that there wasn't something fishy going on. Moreover, Kakashi believed the other clans in Konoha would know as well. After all, they were all cunning foxes; those who weren't smart wouldn't survive long in this treacherous Ninja World.

"And were you already in Konoha was first attacked?"

Before Karot could answer, Kakashi threw out another question.

"Which one do you want me to answer? You're asking me so many questions, I don't even know which one to answer first."

Karot waved his hands in a gesture of helplessness. But when Karot saw Kakashi's eyes, which were about to breathe fire, he said...

"Alright, alright, one at a time."

"No comment on the first question."

As soon as Karot finished speaking, Kakashi stood up abruptly and stared straight at Karot. Karot, on the other hand, calmly raised his cup, blew on it to cool it down, and then downed it in one gulp, making drinking tea taste like drinking alcohol.

"Sit down! The answer to the first question won't do you any good."

Karot naturally didn't want his younger brother involved. Because that was the dark side, Karot would never allow it.

"Snort."

Kakashi snorted coldly but still obediently sat down as Karot instructed. Kakashi knew Karot's personality; if he said he wouldn't tell, no matter how much you asked, he wouldn't answer. This was a lesson Kakashi had learned from spending so many years with Karot.

"As for the second question!"

Karot held up two fingers in front of Kakashi and said.

"Yes. I returned as soon as Konoha was attacked."

"Why didn't you stop them? With your abilities, you could have taken care of the enemy immediately."

Kakashi immediately questioned Karot after he finished speaking. Kakashi couldn't understand why his brother would allow the village to be attacked.

"Yes, it's easy to take them out. But without what they did, how could Konoha have become a cohesive unit? How did Orochimaru- senpai clean up the parasites of Konoha?"

"Besides, aren't the ordinary people in Konoha all fine?"

Karot's question stumped Kakashi. Of course, Karot wouldn't allow the lives of ordinary Konoha to be threatened. With Karot's speed, he would have saved the civilians the moment their lives were in danger.

"Kakashi, you need to know that Orochimaru is the Hokage; naturally, he wouldn't do anything so rebellious."

Karot subtly mentioned Kakashi here, simply because Karot didn't want their relationship to become too strained.

"But he put his teacher's wife in danger."

However, Kakashi's biggest complaint about Orochimaru was that Kushina, as Minato Namikaze's wife, was very concerned about Minato Namikaze's students.

"Their target is the teacher's wife! If anything happens to her, how can the teacher live on?"

The thought of Minato losing Minato Namikaze fueled Kakashi 'Kushina uncontrollable rage. He didn't understand his brother and Orochimaru's motives, but Kakashi knew their goals posed a great danger to Konoha, and that the source of that danger lay directly with Karot and Orochimaru.

"Isn't everything alright?"

"You..."

Karot's nonchalant reply left Kakashi speechless, pointing a finger at him.

The brothers' conversation ended unhappily.

"Come out, Father!"

Karot placed a glass opposite him, filled it, and then spoke.

Hatake Sakumo emerged from the darkness. He thought he had disguised himself well, but he still couldn't hide from Karot.

"Congratulations! Father's strength has improved once again."

Karot congratulated Hatake Sakumo. He hadn't expected that his father's strength would continue to increase after he had some free time.

"What's there to congratulate? I'm still no match for you."

Even so, Hatake Sakumo couldn't hide the smile on his face. Every parent undoubtedly hopes their child will be more successful than them.

"Isn't this all thanks to your excellent parenting? You've allowed me, the younger generation, to surpass the older ones."

Hatake Sakumo sometimes wondered where Karot learned his shamelessness, since he himself was very humble.

"Karot, don't be angry with Kakashi. He's still too kind sometimes."

"Don't worry, Father. No matter what, I'm still his older brother. I don't care about such a small matter."