Kakashi: Who Is Hatake the 50/50? Me?

Inside the Hatake Clan territory in Konoha Village, Land of Fire.

Hatake Kakashi stared at the diary on the desk before him and fell into deep thought.

Written on the diary's cover were the words: Kitahara Kaede's Diary (Hatake Kakashi Copy).

The diary had just fallen from the sky onto the desk before him, leaving him extremely tense for quite a while. He had even carefully inspected it inside and out, but found no mechanisms or traces of ninjutsu.

After all, this was the Hatake Clan territory. Although the entire Hatake Clan now consisted of only one true clan member—himself—there were still quite a few collateral descendants with Hatake blood. An ordinary person couldn't possibly try anything under the watchful eye of Konoha's Number One Technician.

He was, after all, Konoha's Number One Technician, one of the most elite ninjas beneath the Kage of every village.

After confirming that it wasn't poisoned, he opened the diary.

It really was a diary. It was just that its contents were rather strange.

Year 63 of Konoha, May 1, Sunny

[Set out to suppress the Bandits who were causing trouble.]

May 2, Sunny

[What the hell kind of world is this? I'd never even killed a chicken before, yet today I killed several bandits. Then again, those bandits were truly wicked.]

May 3, Sunny

[On the way back. Nothing unexpected happened.]

May 4, Cloudy

[Finally returned to Konoha. I can finally relax after being on edge for so long.]

May 5, Sunny

[Nothing happened today. Trained at home.]

May 6, Showers

[Nothing happened today. Trained at home.]

May 7, Sunny

[Nothing happened today. Continued training.]

May 8, Overcast

[Completed a C-Rank Mission today. Exhausted.]

Everything up to this point was still made up of trivial details from daily life. Hatake Kakashi frowned. This appeared to be the diary of a Konoha Ninja named Kitahara Kaede, recording various matters from his everyday life.

However, keeping a diary wasn't particularly common among ninjas, much less writing in it every day. A diary could easily reveal a great deal of crucial information. To ninjas, intelligence was extremely important.

But the contents that followed made him frown despite himself.

May 9, Sunny

[Passed by the Ninja Academy today and saw the famous Uzumaki Naruto. He's truly being ostracized by everyone. Demon Fox? Hah, what foolish villagers. It's absolutely laughable.

But I didn't dare approach him either. Who knows whether Anbu were nearby and would arrest me on the spot? After all, I'm only an utterly ordinary Chunin. In wartime, I'd probably only serve as Cannon Fodder.]

When he read this, Hatake Kakashi abruptly straightened up. Of course he knew who Uzumaki Naruto was: his teacher's posthumous son, with the legendary Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside him. But how did this Kitahara Kaede know that?

Only a very small number of people among the Konoha Higher-ups knew that Uzumaki Naruto was the posthumous son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Kakashi, once the Fourth Hokage's disciple, was one of them.

Few people knew that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed inside Naruto, either. Ordinary villagers only knew him as the incarnation of the Demon Fox, believing him to be the incarnation of the enormous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that had appeared during the Nine-Tails Rampage twelve years ago.

Even most ninjas weren't entirely aware of the truth. Yet judging from what Kitahara Kaede had said, he seemed to know something.

Kitahara Kaede, a Chunin!

He was certain that his mind held no information whatsoever about a Chunin named Kitahara Kaede.

More precisely, Konoha had countless ninjas. Even among the many Jonin, he might not recognize all of them, much less the Chunins.

The ones who became widely known were usually the few elites who had made a name for themselves. Even among the Jonin, there weren't many such people.

He had already begun to suspect that this Kitahara Kaede might be a spy from another village. Almost immediately, he wanted to find Kitahara Kaede. But the instant that thought arose, an invisible, terrifying pressure descended upon him.

He instinctively sensed that if he took that step, he would die instantly without a sound!

Kakashi immediately abandoned the thought. Even so, he still suspected that someone was lurking around his home, so he activated a sensory ninjutsu and sensed the surrounding area.

Although he wasn't a sensory ninja, as the renowned Konoha's Technician, he knew a few sensory ninjutsu. They were simply far less precise than those of sensory ninjas, and their range was also much smaller.

Yet even with his senses, he still failed to detect anyone.

Could there really be someone like this in the world?

Impossible. Even Hokage-sama couldn't accomplish all of this silently, let alone sense his thoughts.

The moment he wanted to find Kitahara Kaede, that terrifying pressure would appear.

He couldn't understand it, but there was one thing he could confirm: as long as he didn't think about going to find Kitahara Kaede, that terrifying pressure wouldn't appear.

Hatake Kakashi touched his back. By now, it was completely soaked in cold sweat.

No, he had to find a way to uncover Kitahara Kaede's origins and circumstances. He had also discovered that as long as he didn't think about directly going to find Kitahara Kaede, he wouldn't trigger that terrifying pressure.

That meant he could investigate from the side. For example, he could find a way to obtain Kitahara Kaede's files. Clearly, that wouldn't violate any taboo.

But if there really was an existence that terrifying, what was its purpose?

It clearly had no intention of keeping Kitahara Kaede's secret. It had even deliberately exposed the secret of Kitahara Kaede's diary. Why?

There were too many mysteries. He couldn't make sense of them at all.

However, he soon reached the final entry in the diary.

May 10, Sunny

[After receiving my mission today, I saw Hatake the 50/50 from a distance on my way home. It was my first time truly seeing the Konoha's Technician who was famous throughout the entire Shinobi World. Below Kage Level, he should be among the first-rate experts. It's a shame that after Shippuden, even this level of combat power won't be able to keep up anymore. At the end of the day, this is a world of the Legend of the Eyes. Without bloodlines, you're nothing.]

Hatake the 50/50?

Is that talking about me?

Hatake Kakashi froze. At first, he had wondered whether there really was someone in the Hatake Clan named Hatake the 50/50. Although he was the only genuine member of the Hatake Clan left, there were still some clan members with distant Hatake bloodlines.

But after looking at the description that followed—Konoha's Technician—it was clearly referring to him.

When had he acquired a nickname like Hatake the 50/50?

And what did Shippuden mean? What was this about a world of the Legend of the Eyes, where without bloodlines, one was nothing?

He knew what bloodlines were. It should mean Kekkei Genkai, right? But who said that having no Kekkei Genkai made someone worthless?

His father had possessed no Kekkei Genkai, yet with nothing but a blade in his hand, he had carved out the reputation of White Fang of Konoha. Kakashi, likewise, had forged the reputation of Konoha's Number One Technician.

Kekkei Genkai were indeed incredibly powerful in this world, giving their users a far higher starting point than ordinary ninjas. But they could hardly be called invincible.

For example, he had never possessed a Kekkei Genkai, yet he had been the best among his peers from childhood onward. Among those he had left behind, there had been no shortage of scions from great clans who possessed Kekkei Genkai.

The Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and others.

Most of these people were no match for him either.