Kakashi's Shock

Hatake Kakashi, also jokingly called the Copy Ninja Kakashi.

Baiyu had been interested in him for a long time and wanted to meet this character who featured throughout the entire Naruto story.

But before Baiyu became a ninja, Kakashi had already joined the Anbu.

They had never crossed paths during a mission.

Kakashi was holding a book as he turned into an alley.

Guy hurried after him, while Baiyu followed behind and sensed something was off.

He glanced back and spotted three Anbu sneaking along after them.

Following Kakashi?

Baiyu guessed.

As an inconspicuous Uchiha, he shouldn't be worth a whole Anbu squad's effort to tail.

Baiyu pretended not to notice and quickly followed them into the alley.

He happened to see Kakashi abruptly draw a Kunai and turn to attack Guy, who had lunged at him.

"Clang!"

Baiyu used the Body Flicker Technique. Without drawing his sword, he blocked Kakashi's Kunai with its scabbard.

Despite the fierce collision, Baiyu's wrist didn't budge at all as he held Kakashi's attack firmly at bay.

Kakashi's pupils contracted slightly. Baiyu's speed with that move had surprised him.

Though he hadn't used his full strength, he could kill an ordinary Chunin in an instant.

An Uchiha?

So strong!

Why did this person seem so familiar?

A samurai! Were there really samurai this strong?

A lot of thoughts flashed through Kakashi's mind in that instant, before a glint of light off the sword hilt stunned him.

An inexplicable aura pressed down on him.

The atmosphere froze in an instant.

"Whoa! Kakashi, it's me! Guy..."

Guy finally reacted and cried out.

The back of the blade holding off the Kunai was a mere hair's breadth from his neck.

He could clearly feel the chill coming from the scabbard against his neck.

As soon as Guy spoke, Kakashi felt the oppressive presence disappear.

"You again. What do you want?"

Kakashi casually let go of his Kunai. It was the first time he had directly answered Guy since joining the Anbu.

He casually put the Kunai back in his ninja pouch and resumed reading his novel. His right hand trembled slightly, and he kept Baiyu in the corner of his eye.

Sixteen-year-old Kakashi was already a Jonin, had joined the Anbu, and had taken part in the plan to capture Orochimaru.

But it had ended badly. At full strength, Orochimaru had taken him down in a single move.

Baiyu had advanced rapidly in swordsmanship, and his strength far surpassed Kakashi's.

He had struck after Kakashi and easily blocked his attack.

With that cold personality, he was in his rebellious phase, a dark Kakashi who hadn't emerged from the shadows...

Baiyu thought. At this point, Kakashi's behavior truly made him seem like a ninja.

He carried out the essence of every mission without fail, no matter what it entailed.

Baiyu suspected that his teachings might be one of the reasons Itachi would turn dark in the future.

Realizing Hatake Kakashi hadn't inherited the Hatake sword style, Baiyu lost interest.

"Kakashi had so many good friends to pull him out of the whirlpool of darkness, while after Shisui died, Itachi had to bear the pressure from both the village and his clan all alone."

Watching the special bond between Guy and Kakashi, Baiyu suddenly felt sorry for Itachi.

Perhaps that was simply the Uchiha's path.

A lonely one from beginning to end.

In Kishimoto's story, the Uchiha Clan were all pitiful people who needed to be saved.

Baiyu embraced that loneliness, keeping himself company with the way of the sword when he was alone.

Baiyu saved himself with his sword.

But what about Itachi?

He was just a boy who longed for a peaceful life and took good care of his little brother.

Caught in the struggle between his clan and the village, he was doomed to tragedy.

Without those lovable friends, Kakashi might have sunk deeper into the Anbu, eventually becoming a killing machine and dying in some nameless battle.

Baiyu left without drawing anyone's attention.

He completely concealed his presence and slipped away quietly.

Even the Anbu who had been watching Kakashi didn't notice him go. Only Kakashi, who had been keeping an eye on Baiyu, noticed.

"Who was that just now?"

Only after Baiyu had left did Kakashi lower his book and ask.

Guy had been urging Kakashi to leave the Anbu the whole time and hadn't noticed Baiyu's departure at all.

"That was Baiyu. I almost forgot to introduce you two... Huh? Where'd he go?"

Only then did Guy realize Baiyu had vanished.

By then, Baiyu was already wandering around the streets.

After having some more snacks, Baiyu headed for the market.

He planned to treat himself today.

As someone who loved meat, he couldn't stand going a meal without it.

The village market was much bigger than the clan's small marketplace.

The meat vendors alone took up a huge corner, with hundreds of square meters of stalls.

Baiyu went from vendor to vendor asking questions.

At last, he found a stall in a corner where the meat was fresh and the prices were reasonable.

"Boss, three jin of lean meat. No skin, no fat!"

The chubby butcher glanced at Baiyu without answering. Instead, he asked an ordinary villager, "What would you like?"

The customer, who had arrived after Baiyu, glanced at him awkwardly, then pointed to a piece of pork belly. "Two jin, please."

"That'll be forty taels."

The boss answered with a smile. The scale showed about two jin and two liang.

After taking the customer's money, the boss's expression turned stern. He turned to Baiyu and said, "I don't sell lean meat on its own. You have to add some pig's head meat, same price! Thirty taels a jin."

Baiyu's face darkened. Hadn't he just seen two jin of meat go for forty taels? Had he imagined it?

Uchiha had to pay double whenever they went shopping!

"Boss, you were just charging twenty taels a jin. Why'd the price go up when I asked?"

"Villagers pay twenty. Uchiha pay thirty! Take it or leave it."

The boss slammed his cleaver into the chopping block and sneered.

"Is that so?"

Baiyu's expression didn't change. He wanted to pick a fight?

His left hand hovered by the scabbard. With a flick of his thumb, a flash of white streaked past. The butcher's cleaver, embedded in the chopping block, shattered into countless pieces along with the block, scattering all over the stall.

The sudden commotion drew a crowd of onlookers.

"Whoa!"

"What happened?"

"That blade's so sharp..."

"Who's causing trouble!? Oh... it's the Uchiha! Never mind, it's fine. Move along, everyone!"

"Come on, let's go. What are you standing around for? Want to end up eating prison food at the Police Force?"

"..."

The villagers had initially come to gawk at the bizarre scene, but when they saw the Uchiha Clan Crest on Baiyu, their faces turned pale. One after another, they pretended not to have seen anything and left.

Just then, a thin, middle-aged man walked over. He was visibly trembling, but still mustered the courage to speak.

"Sir, you were looking to buy meat, right? Mine's cheap. That coward just knows how to rip off outsiders. Please be the bigger man and let him off!"

Baiyu glanced at the man. So the Uchiha counted as outsiders now. Fine by him. He was tired of putting up with the villagers' attitude anyway.

He couldn't afford to turn against Konoha yet. The thin butcher had offered him a way out, so Baiyu took it.

Before leaving, Baiyu turned back to the chubby butcher and said, "Keep doing business like this and you'll go bankrupt sooner or later!"

Then he followed the thin middle-aged man to his stall.

The thin butcher seemed worried Baiyu would cause trouble for the chubby butcher, and kept speaking up for him.

The chubby butcher's anger had a lot to do with the Uchiha.

It had happened at the market just yesterday.

The chubby butcher had a ten-year-old son who had been arrested right in front of him by a ninja from the Konoha Military Police Force. He still hadn't come back.

The charge publicly announced by the Uchiha was stealing the Uchiha Clan Crest.

It was just a decoration pasted on the entrance to the Police Force.

The Uchiha had made the chubby butcher's son an example: he would be locked up for stealing, then released once he admitted his mistake.

But whether he had made a mistake was still up to the Uchiha to decide.

Baiyu sneered. "Is that so?"

Relations between the Uchiha and the villagers were growing ever more strained. The cold war had driven a deep wedge between them.

The clan's ninjas were cracking down on villagers who offended them, fueling more and more public resentment.

The villagers began boycotting the Uchiha Clan of their own accord.

With Danzo stirring up trouble, neither side was willing to back down, admit fault, and talk things out. Both sides were tearing into each other relentlessly.

That was how things had reached the point where prices went up whenever the Uchiha went shopping. Innocent villagers like Baiyu and Uchiha clan members had nowhere to turn for justice.

At the thin butcher's pork stall, Baiyu looked over the meat.

The thin butcher was telling the truth: his prices were quite a bit lower, and the meat was about the same quality.

Baiyu bought five jin for eighty-two taels, which worked out to about sixteen taels a jin.

With the boss watching, Baiyu even got him to throw in a jin of ribs.

After what had just happened, Baiyu didn't feel like wandering around the village market any longer.

He bought some vegetables as well, then went home.