"Konoha's White Fang, huh."
Orochimaru slowly uttered the four words, his gaze distant as if recalling the past. "That was many years ago. Let's go outside and talk."
He led Akashi out of the laboratory. Beneath the night sky, the moonlight flowed like water.
That figure surfaced in his mind.
Silver-white hair tied in a ponytail, a red triangular armband, and a razor-sharp blade.
It was all still vivid in his memory.
The genius ninja who wielded a Chakra Short Blade, whose name resounded across nations, and whom even the Sannin held in high regard. Many years ago, he had thwarted a Sunagakure ambush and earned great merit.
At the time, Orochimaru had only just made a name for himself on the Amegakure battlefield. He was still far inferior to White Fang.
Yet such an elite jonin had ended up taking his own life at home.
It was hard not to lament.
An event like that in the village naturally drew attention from all sides. Villagers on every street and countless shinobi, Orochimaru included, had heard about it to varying degrees.
Akashi wanted to know what had really happened.
"I heard he failed a mission because he chose to save his comrades, then killed himself after the rumors and his teammates' accusations. The Anbu handled the matter afterward."
"That's more or less right."
Orochimaru shook his head regretfully. "Hatake Sakumo was an excellent shinobi."
"But Sakumo was so highly regarded that his reputation even surpassed that of the Sannin at the time. Would one failed mission really have brought down so much gossip?"
"His reputation? Heh. Many people in the village have never even read a book. Their opinions are easy to sway with a little guidance, and public sentiment is the easiest thing to stir up. All it takes is a few rumors, and the tide turns on its own. The higher you lift someone up, the harder they fall. I suspect Danzo did a lot of work behind the scenes. White Fang was one of Teacher Sarutobi's people, and a major obstacle to him."
"Was the Third Hokage also worried that Sakumo's achievements would overshadow him?"
Akashi ventured his guess.
But Orochimaru shook his head.
"Teacher Sarutobi's prestige back then was unmatched. He was in good health, and it was far too early for him to worry about anything like that. Besides, his main political rival was Danzo, so he needed White Fang, a loyal and capable blade. White Fang's character had long been understood. He was the sort of man who was content to be a tool."
"Was Sakumo an obstacle to Danzo becoming Hokage?"
"Not really. White Fang had no chance of becoming Hokage, unless Teacher wanted him to."
Orochimaru explained at length.
To put it simply, Konoha was an alliance of ninja clans. The Hokage was the leader elected by this interest group, and there were two requirements: he had to be exceptionally strong, and the major clans had to support him.
So becoming Hokage was no simple matter.
White Fang had no clan backing him. His standing and reputation among the public were completely useless; ordinary people couldn't take part in Konoha politics and didn't even have the right to vote.
Hadn't this incident proved as much?
That so-called reputation had crumbled at the slightest touch.
Only those who could represent the interests of the major clans could earn the trust and votes of the jonin. And how many true commoners managed to become jonin through hard work?
In the end, the clans monopolized the upper ranks.
The First and Second Hokage had risen to power through their strength and the status of their founding clans, winning the unanimous support of the allied clans. The Third Hokage also had considerable backing: he came from the powerful Sarutobi clan, had been the Second Hokage's student, and counted representatives of major clans among his classmates and friends. He also had the support of the moderate Uchiha, led by Kagami Uchiha. As for the Fourth Hokage, things were no different before and after his death; the faction supporting him was still the Third Hokage's interest group.
White Fang and Minato Namikaze belonged to the same category. Even if one of them took power, he wouldn't be able to truly govern until the older generation had left the stage—and that wouldn't happen anytime soon.
"White Fang was nothing but a scapegoat Danzo set up to target Teacher," Orochimaru concluded.
"Then the Third Hokage should have stepped in."
"War."
Orochimaru tilted his head slightly and gazed at the crescent moon overhead, his expression solemn.
"At the time, the Land of Earth was becoming increasingly active. The last war hadn't resolved the imbalance in development between the great nations. If anything, it had made the unfair distribution of resources worse. The peace won through war couldn't last much longer."
"So the mission Sakumo was carrying out..."
Akashi understood.
Orochimaru nodded.
"That's right. This mission caused serious losses for the Land of Fire, and the daimyo and the village's leadership fought over it.
"Under normal circumstances, White Fang's actions might not have provoked such an extreme response. But with war about to break out, this sort of thing couldn't be allowed. If someone abandoned a mission for reasons like these and was then forgiven, or even praised, while receiving special treatment because of his reputation and status, it would undermine morale once the war began.
"The nobles of the Land of Fire didn't care about one man's honor or life. They cared about the coming Third Shinobi World War. They needed a negative example to bring everyone into line.
"Make an example of one to warn the rest.
"A shinobi's true purpose is to serve as a weapon that kills. Completing missions is his duty.
"Sacrificing one shinobi to unite all the others, win this war, and secure greater gains might have seemed like a worthwhile trade to them.
"White Fang had indeed committed a serious error. Teacher Sarutobi hadn't wanted to punish him harshly, but with pressure from the other leaders, stripping White Fang of his duties and confining him to his home for reflection was already the most lenient solution."
The village might have been small, with a modest population, but there was no shortage of political scheming over power.
Living in a place like this was exhausting.
Talking with Orochimaru had yielded far more information than the few sparse lines in the written records.
Akashi sighed. "Danzo didn't expect him to kill himself, either, did he?"
Orochimaru's expression remained calm. "An ordinary shinobi might not have killed himself. But someone like White Fang would."
That was right. White Fang was an heir to the Will of Fire.
He had lived by the ideal first put forward by the First: fighting to protect one's family, friends, and the next generation.
But reality had clashed with his way of the ninja, like a trolley problem.
So he had raised his blade against the enemy, saving his comrades and staying true to his way.
Then he had turned the blade on himself, atoning to the village and taking responsibility for his failure. In doing so, he had found a way out of the dilemma he could not escape.
Orochimaru, who had seen through death, expressed regret over White Fang's death. But his voice was cool, as if he were watching the tragedy from atop a high wall before offering his judgment.
That was all.
Though it had little to do with him, the incident had deeply affected Kakashi.
Sigh. Losing his father at such a young age was another example of the cruelty of the shinobi world.
The crescent moon overhead looked like a hook, its light growing ever colder.
"Teacher Sarutobi no longer has the bearing of the Shinobi Hero he once was. Was it because he lacked political savvy and personal strength, or because he's started to worry about losing what he has? Without White Fang, his sharpest blade, he'll only grow weaker, won't he?"
"Death is so elusive..."
"Somehow, it's... sad." Orochimaru sighed softly, slipped his hands into his pockets, and slowly walked back to the laboratory.
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