On the Way to the Mission

The sky was overcast, clearly threatening rain, and the wind through the mountain forest carried a chill, laced with the faint moisture that heralded an imminent downpour.

For ordinary people, such weather was a signal to hurry home, but for ninjas on a mission, though the weather might hinder their performance and increase the difficulty, braving a little rain was nothing when it came to completing the task.

Concealed among the rocks, lying prone, they observed the group below—a band of mountain bandits wielding katana, driving forward captives bound together like twisted ropes, heading deeper into the mountain forest. Their arrogant laughter echoed clearly, audible even to those perched on the cliff above.

"Bandits really are a bunch of scum with no moral bottom line. I want to go down right now and slaughter them all." The speaker had spiky black hair standing straight up, a hairstyle like Madara's, but his build was stocky and his height a bit short.

"No rush. Wait until Hitomi finishes scouting the interior and confirms there are no rogue ninjas, then we make our move. Not a single one can be allowed to escape." The calm tone came from a handsome young boy.

This group was none other than Uchiha Kaede, Uchiha Hitomi, and Uchiha Hakuno, who had left the village on a mission.

As for why they could leave the village for missions—it was because they had already become Genin.

Seizing a moment of free time, he recalled events from a few years ago, still fresh in his memory, still simmering with resentment.

The first was treating Hitomi's congenital heart disease.

Just as Kaede had planned, Tsunade was unwilling to treat Hitomi. Her reason was that she had never performed heart surgery and had no confidence, so she refused them.

Then Kaede secretly bargained with her, haggling back and forth, until the consultation fee was set at the price of one Asuma, and she wouldn't budge. He had to admit that Big Fat Sheep's heart was truly black—she had precisely gauged the total assets an upper-level ninja family could mobilize.

Thankfully, Tsunade lived up to her reputation as the medical saint of the ninja world. Under her hand, Hitomi's heart defect was completely repaired. After a year of recovery, she was as good as new, able to continue her dream of being a ninja.

But this matter left Kaede nursing a grudge, because the debt was pinned on him. He still remembered his father Mingye's words: "Since you took on this responsibility, as a man you must steadfastly fulfill it. I'll cover half of the 30 Million Ryo, and your uncle Tangdong will cover the other half. But my half is a loan to you—you have to pay it back."

At the time, he stood there dumbfounded, blinking at his father. The way things had developed didn't match his expectations at all. Even his mother Xiang hadn't spoken up for him.

From that day on, he was burdened with a massive debt, living a life of working odd jobs to pay it off.

So from then on, he made up his mind: let that Big Fat Sheep's man have his heart ripped out and his guts dug up! Served him right for dying.

The second thing made him even angrier.

It was after the class merger. He had spent over half a year idling away at the Ninja Academy. After Hitomi's surgery, she was recuperating, effectively on leave. Although Class C had many familiar faces, the problem was they didn't want to play with him!

The only ones he had a decent relationship with were Obito, also an Uchiha, Rin, and Kakashi counted as half, plus Gai, who was hard to look at directly. The rest were in a state of "we attend class together, but we're not really close."

Some even wore sour expressions, as if he owed them 30 Million Ryo. Kaede wasn't exactly easygoing either. "You ignore me, and you expect me to suck up to you? Dream on!"

One day, Kakashi suddenly proposed early graduation and successfully passed the graduation exam. That day, before he had even turned six, he became the first in their year to graduate.

Stimulated by this, everyone plunged into an unprecedented intensity of training.

From that day on, Kaede sensed the approaching signs of war. After careful consideration, he decided to graduate early without drawing too much attention.

The Third Great Ninja War was the most brutal conflict in the ninja world. The five great nations were severely crippled, losing countless ninjas. Precisely because of this, they enjoyed decades of peace after the war—everyone's fighting strength was nearly exhausted, and they all retreated home to lick their wounds.

Konoha barely won that war, at one point pushed to the brink of running out of supplies and reinforcements. Even the kids at the Ninja Academy were dragged onto the battlefield. Kaede knew that if he stayed at the Academy for the full six years, he would basically be cannon fodder on the front lines. Only by adapting early to a ninja's life could he have a decent chance of survival on the battlefield.

So he showed considerable talent—whether in Ninjutsu, taijutsu, or academic knowledge, he worked hard at everything he could.

Until the second year after Kakashi's graduation, an event that shocked the ninja world occurred in Konoha. Hatake Sakumo, known as the "White Fang of Konoha," committed suicide. The reason for his suicide was that during a mission, he had prioritized rescuing a comrade over completing the task, leading to mission failure.

At the time, the village was filled with condemnation of the White Fang. A ninja who abandoned a mission was no different from a rogue ninja. Even the ninja he had saved didn't speak up for him.

The village's higher-ups watched the situation ferment, watched the White Fang be attacked with malicious words, and showed no intention of stopping it, emboldening the village's ninjas to become even more unrestrained.

Kaede felt that the White Fang was lost at that time. He could no longer understand what the village truly was.

Having always upheld the "Will of Fire," he didn't understand that a failed mission could be attempted again, but a comrade who lost their life had no chance to return.

He abandoned the mission to save a comrade—wasn't that an embodiment of the Will of Fire? Why... why did no one acknowledge him?

The collapse of his inner conviction turned his ninja way into a joke.

At that moment, Kaede saw this as a golden opportunity. Was the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo, strong? Absolutely—under the White Fang Blade, there was no one he couldn't cut down.

And at this critical juncture, when he had lost his life's conviction, if the Uchiha could speak out and support him, it would be like a drowning man grasping the last straw. The White Fang would see someone who acknowledged him, even if that someone was an Uchiha.

Most importantly, he would see that someone agreed with his philosophy.

For the Uchiha, giving the White Fang a shot of encouragement at the crucial moment would remove any reason for him to commit suicide, because he still had his persistence. A ninja is not a fragile creature.

If the White Fang lived, who would he thank? Naturally, the ones who supported and acknowledged him—the Uchiha.

The Uchiha only needed to say a few inconsequential words to earn the goodwill of a powerful ninja like the White Fang of Konoha. Wasn't that an incredibly good deal?

When he told his father everything, hoping that someone with influence among the Uchiha could speak up to support the White Fang—after all, in the Third Hokage's eyes, the Uchiha were already rotten fish and shrimp; a little more friction wouldn't matter.

Mingye brought his friend Tangdong and together they found the elder of their faction. The elder didn't dare make the decision and went to the clan head. The matter escalated to the point where a clan meeting had to be called.