Fifty-Fifty's Battle with Itachi Exposed

A large number of Rogue Ninja operated within the Land of Fire. They came from all sorts of backgrounds: some were ninja from wandering minor clans, while others were missing-nin from various villages. However, there were many ninja villages in the Shinobi World, and so long as they were not defectors from the Five Great Villages, most would not cause too much harm.

After all, Small Ninja Villages were only so strong, and the missing-nin who came from them were generally average as well. Many of their so-called Jonin could not even defeat an Elite Chunin from the Five Great Villages in a real fight. They were nothing more than a minor nuisance.

But if other Kage villages were involved behind the scenes, then that was another matter entirely.

None of that had much to do with Kitahara Kaede, though. After completing the mission, he could not simply call it a day as the team captain. He still had to write a mission report.

"Why do I still have to write a summary report after becoming a ninja? Is that even reasonable?"

Because Rogue Ninja had been involved, exceeding the original mission's scope, they had received more money, but they also had to rewrite their mission report.

Still, aside from the original mission payment, Kitahara Kaede had gained something else from this trip. The Bandits had possessed more than ten million ryo in savings, all obtained from robbing trade routes. They had not had time to move it away, so it naturally ended up in the hands of Kitahara Kaede's group. Of course, it was impossible not to hand any of it over to the village for a mission like this.

In the end, following convention, Kitahara Kaede decided to turn over half to the village in exchange for the village turning a blind eye to the matter. Of the remaining money, the three agreed that Kitahara Kaede would receive Three Million Ryo, while the other two would each receive One Million Ryo.

Neither Hyuga Keiko nor Soten Genryu objected. After all, without Kitahara Kaede, they would both have died there this time. Besides, even One Million Ryo was already an astronomical sum.

Based on the missions they could accept and the speed at which they completed them, an ordinary Chunin could work their entire life and still fail to save up One Million Ryo.

That was without even accounting for the possibility of dying during a mission.

By the time Kitahara Kaede finished his report, it was already late at night.

But he was in no hurry to sleep. Instead, he opened the Diary.

[Seriously, why do I still have to work like a slave writing reports in the Shinobi World? Is that even reasonable? Soten Genryu nearly got himself killed on this mission. Being Cannon Fodder in such a dangerous world really isn't easy. You could die at any moment, after all, since there's no Protagonist's halo.]

Within the Hatake Clan territory.

Hatake Kakashi sensed the Diary's update and quickly opened it. It was Kitahara Kaede's boring ranting time again.

A Protagonist's halo?

What was that?

Though Hatake Kakashi did not fully understand, he could vaguely guess its meaning from the name.

The corner of Hatake Kakashi's mouth twitched slightly. He felt nothing upon reading that Kitahara Kaede's teammate had nearly gotten himself killed.

After all, he had experienced such things far too many times in his life. It was nothing unusual.

However, when he saw Kitahara Kaede complaining about writing mission reports, he could not help laughing aloud. He had suffered through that pain too. For most ninja, writing a mission report was probably more troublesome than fighting on the battlefield.

[Still, the Sharingan is really useful. Awakening the Sharingan increased my Chakra reserves by at least a third in such a short time. No wonder there's always been a saying that when facing the Uchiha Clan, you must flee in a one-on-one, and only in a two-on-one can you fight them.

But unfortunately, there are far too few Sharingan battles. The most classic ones are only two: aside from Fifty-Fifty's brief clash with Itachi, there was that naval battle where they went easy on each other.]

Awakened the Sharingan?

Hatake Kakashi instantly sucked in a cold breath!

What had he just seen?

Awakened the Sharingan?

Everyone knew that the Sharingan was the Uchiha Clan's special Kekkei Genkai. Outsiders could not simply awaken it for no reason.

He had a Sharingan himself, but it had been a gift entrusted to him by his teammate, Obito Uchiha, before his death, to commemorate his promotion to Jonin.

Because he was not a member of the Uchiha Clan, he could not deactivate the Sharingan. It had to remain active for long periods, which meant his Chakra reserves had become a weakness.

The Hatake Clan was, after all, a Ninja Clan with a lineage and inheritance. Though they were not known for having abundant Chakra, generations of refinement meant their Chakra reserves were certainly far greater than those of ordinary civilian ninja.

Yet even so, it had become insufficient.

But his Sharingan could not be called an awakening.

Only someone from the Uchiha Clan—or at least someone with Uchiha blood—could awaken one.

With that thought, Hatake Kakashi hurriedly pulled out Kitahara Kaede's records.

They clearly stated that Kitahara Kaede's ancestors had merely been ordinary native residents of Konoha. Could it be that somewhere among his paternal or maternal ancestors, there had been a trace of Uchiha Clan blood?

Hatake Kakashi could only speculate in that direction, because Kitahara Kaede's ancestors were clearly not members of the Uchiha Clan, and there was no record of intermarriage with the Uchiha Clan.

If he truly had Uchiha blood, then it might have to be traced back to the Warring States Period before Konoha was founded.

And even if he did possess Uchiha blood, it should have been extremely diluted. Otherwise, the Kitahara family's ninja talent would not have been so ordinary.

Yet judging from how his eyes had awakened, it did fit the Uchiha Clan's usual circumstances for awakening the Sharingan. He had likely witnessed his teammate nearly getting killed, awakening it during a desperate crisis.

Hatake Kakashi had plenty of experience with that. After all, one of his former teammates had awakened the Sharingan under extreme pressure and then killed the enemy in return.

Based on what Kitahara Kaede had written in his Diary, Hatake Kakashi could even picture the scene: just as Soten Genryu was about to be killed, Kitahara Kaede had somehow awakened the faint Uchiha blood within him and, in turn, opened the Sharingan.

That was also the Uchiha Clan's usual method of awakening their eyes.

What shocked him beyond measure was that Kitahara Kaede actually carried Uchiha blood—and had even awakened the Sharingan. Could blood so diluted still awaken it?

It was truly miraculous.

By that logic, aside from Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, there was now one more Uchiha Clan member in the Shinobi World?

But could he still be considered a member of the Uchiha Clan?

Still, a Sharingan battle?

That would not have been unusual in the past. Members of the Uchiha Clan would spar internally. But now, it was exceedingly rare.

There was only Uchiha Sasuke left in all of Konoha, plus himself, who counted as half of one, perhaps?

Fifty-Fifty's brief clash with Itachi?

Fifty-Fifty was himself—that much Hatake Kakashi knew. But who exactly was this Itachi?