Counterattack

Taiichi watched Yusuke's departing figure, he sighed at the unpredictability of life. Who would have thought that one of the key figures who caused Hatake Sakumo's New Year's collapse in the original work would now become his most steadfast supporter?

As Taichi walked home, Taiichi pondered his next move. Now, only one key figure remained: Kakashi.

It's been a long time since I've seen him. I wonder if he's in Konoha. If he is, did he say those hurtful things to his father?

Thinking about it, Taiichi felt a headache coming on. He was an outsider, yet he had to worry about the relationship between the father and son. But then he thought of the selfless help they had given him when he first learned swordsmanship; he thought of the guidance he received from Sakumo- Senior yesterday; and he thought of his friendship with Kakashi over the years.

Taiichi sighed and gave up struggling. What could he do? He was just destined to be a busybody.

Just as Taiichi resigned himself to his fate, a familiar Chakra fluctuation came from around the corner ahead.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, hands in his pockets, was wandering aimlessly down the street, his brow furrowed beneath his silver hair.

He had been wandering the streets all morning, and even though he wasn't paying attention, the vicious rumors kept reaching his ears, like the whispers of demons, constantly stimulating his nerves.

Although Hatake Sakumo didn't care about these rumors, as a son, how could he allow these people to slander his father at will?

But how to handle this matter was another problem. He racked his brains but couldn't come up with an effective solution. Kakashi thought of asking for help. The first people who came to his mind were Obito and Guy, who had helped fight yesterday. But he immediately rejected this idea. Not only were neither of them the kind of people who could think like that, but their small "bodies" were also not suitable for this task.

Thinking about his current teammates, Kakashi shook his head again, wondering if he was just unlucky. Since graduating, he had already had two different teams, and he had only known his current teammates for a few months. He couldn't trust them at all to do such private things.

Kakashi then thought of his other friend, Taiichi, who was intelligent and strong enough to "plot something big together."

But where could he be at this time? I heard that my father owed a lot to his help with this mission; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to complete the mission, and the consequences would have been even more serious.

While still thinking about Taiichi, Kakashi, who had just turned a corner, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Kakashi!"

"Taiichi!"

Their simultaneous exclamations were clearly audible even on the bustling street, drawing curious glances from passersby.

Taiichi noticed the dark circles under Kakashi's eyes, which even his mask couldn't hide.

Kakashi noticed the dust on Taiichi's body, but it didn't look like it was from training.

"I was just looking for you." Kakashi broke the silence first, his voice unusually urgent, "About those rumors—"

"I know," Taiichi interrupted Kakashi. "I went to your house yesterday and met Sakumo- Senior. I just saw his teammate, the ninja he saved, Yusuke."

Kakashi's pupils contracted. He hadn't expected Taichi to care Taiichi about his father. Thinking about the dust on Taichi's clothes, he guessed it was from running around for this matter. He couldn't help but feel happy that he had such good friends.

First it was Guy and Obito, and now it's Taiichi; they're all selflessly helping me.

"Thank you!" Kakashi said, expressing his heartfelt gratitude.

Taiichi rubbed his ears, as if he had misheard, took two steps forward, grabbed his neck, and shook him vigorously twice.

"It's rare to hear you say 'thank you.' It's a pity Obito isn't here, otherwise he would definitely be surprised."

Kakashi struggled a couple of times but couldn't break free, so he could only let Taiichi hold him so shamelessly.

"You know about Father's situation. Although he says he doesn't care about the rumors in the village, I'm still worried—"

"Actually, ever since you said that, I've stopped worrying about Sakumo- Senior!" Taiichi laughed heartily, surprised that he had been worrying for nothing. Kakashi is quite reliable now!

"But you're right, we need to stop the rumors circulating in the village. If they're allowed to continue like this, they won't hurt anyone, but they'll certainly disgust people."

"Taiichi, do you have any good ideas? I've been thinking for a long time, but I still can't come up with anything good!"

Taiichi, with Kakashi by his side, arrived at a secluded spot. They used their senses to check and make sure no one else was around.

Do you know who is spreading rumors about your father?

Kakashi shook his head blankly.

Do you know why those people spread those rumors?

Kakashi shook his head helplessly again.

"Have you thought about how to avoid retaliation from those guys? You know, people capable of doing something like that are not easy to deal with."

Kakashi has become somewhat withdrawn. Did he really have to consider so many things just to stop rumors?

Taiichi chuckled inwardly at Kakashi's dejected expression. It was only because Kakashi was still young and inexperienced that he was so easily fooled.

It's rare to see Kakashi get his comeuppance; he's usually so arrogant. It's a shame I didn't have a camera, otherwise I could have recorded this scene; it would have been a great story to tell later.

Putting aside his wandering thoughts, Taiichi, combining his memories from his past life with his current investigation, explained the whole story to Kakashi.

Kakashi frowned upon hearing this and said in a low voice, "I had suspected that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes, but I didn't expect it to be Root —but why would they do this?"

Taiichi sneered, tapping his finger on the tree trunk. "Because Sakumo- Senior's reputation is too high. Even the Sannin would give way to the title of 'White Fang of Konoha,' let alone some rats who can only hide underground."

Taiichi deliberately lowered his voice. "Besides, Danzo has always coveted the Hokage Position. Why wouldn't he be happy to eliminate a rival so easily?"

"How dare he? Doesn't the Hokage-sama know about this?" Kakashi asked incredulously, but when he looked up and saw Taiichi's interested expression, he immediately realized that this was probably an operation authorized by the Hokage.

"But Father has no intention of becoming Hokage!" Kakashi muttered, still unwilling to give up.

"Sakumo- Senior doesn't want to be Hokage, you believe that, and I believe that too, but do you think the Third Kazekage and Danzo would believe that?" Taiichi patted Kakashi's shoulder hard, as if to wake him from his unrealistic thoughts.

"Besides, when that time really comes, it's not like you can just say you won't do it."

"Where's the evidence?" Kakashi's voice trembled slightly; everything Taiichi said was shattering his worldview.

"When I went to find Yusuke just now, I ran into two ninjas who wanted to drag him to point out Sakumo's Senior. Guess who sent these two?" Taiichi mischievous grin.

Although those two were well hidden, Taiichi could immediately detect the deathly stillness unique to Root ninja. "Besides," he said, "You've been wandering around the village for so long, didn't you notice the characteristics of those spreading rumors?"

After Taiichi's reminder, Kakashi carefully recalled his experiences over this period of time, and sure enough, he did remember some details.

The ruthlessness that he inadvertently revealed, the stiffness that occasionally showed in his actions—all of these were consistent with the characteristics of the Root members he knew.

Kakashi clenched his fists, his chest heaving violently, his worldview crumbling and being rebuilt.

After a long while, Kakashi finally calmed down. He buried the darkness behind this incident deep in his heart, and now the most important thing was how to quell the rumors circulating in the village.

Faced with Kakashi's question, Taiichi confidently laughed and said, "It's easy to spread a rumor, but it's incredibly difficult to debunk it. The rumor has already spread throughout the entire village, so we can't address it at its source. Now there's only one way—"

Taiichi then kept Kakashi in suspense, waiting to see how he would react.

Kakashi, ever the opportunist, gritted his teeth and said, "I'll treat you to a barbecue after this is all over!"

"The best way to deal with rumors is to cover up the old ones with new ones, preferably even more sensational ones!"

Like a bolt of lightning ripped through the dark night sky, Kakashi instantly understood the brilliance of this method.

There's no need to defend yourself, because to those who believe the rumors, your explanation would just be a cover-up.

It doesn't need to be completely realistic, because the desired effect is a mix of truth and illusion.

When rumors filled the village, the villagers' attention was no longer focused on the Hatake Sakumo incident. After all, everyone's energy is limited, and when someone is focused on one thing, they naturally don't have as much energy for other things.

As for the people spreading the rumors, that's even less of a problem for Taiichi and Kakashi. Shadow Clone and Transformation Technique make them the perfect candidates, with absolutely no worries about the consequences. If they're discovered, they can simply dispel the Shadow Clone Jutsu without leaving a trace.

The two discussed their plan of action and fabricated some sensational rumors about Danzo before leaving the remote place in opposite directions.

As planned, Taiichi walked from east to west. After finding a secluded corner, he created two Shadow Clones and then used Transformation Technique to turn the clones into two strangers.

"Go, spread the word about Danzo, the wider the better," Taiichi whispered.

The two Shadow Clone clones nodded, quickly walked out, and blended into the crowd on the street.

"Have you heard? Konoha Advisor to the Danzo Village, is currently conducting human experiments—"

"Shh, keep your voice down! I heard it's a Wood Style experiment----"

Wasn't that experiment banned?

"I heard that he was willing to sacrifice the village's interests for his own ambitions—"

"Really? Isn't he an elder of Konoha?"

"I heard that Danzo is still not ready to accept his age and wants to be elected the Fourth Hokage."

Taiichi's main body continued to wander through Konoha. Once his Chakra was restored, he created Shadow Clone again and repeated the above operation.

"I've heard that Danzo sacrificed many of his comrades for his missions—"

"Yes, it's said that he can even abandon his own people without hesitation—"

"No wonder he was so opposed to Sakumo- Senior saving his comrades; it turns out he's that kind of person himself."

"I heard that's why he wasn't chosen as Hokage by the Second back then."

"Oh----"

Taiichi walked and stopped frequently, until he had circled most of Konoha before meeting up with Kakashi at the other end of the village.

Kakashi was already waiting there. Usually quite calm, he was pacing back and forth excitedly. When he saw Taiichi approaching, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes. Clearly, doing this was both new and exciting for him.

"How did it go? Was it successful?"

Taiichi shrugged and casually gave an OK sign.

He used Shadow Clone six times during the entire trip, which means there are currently twelve "Taiichi" in Konoha spreading rumors.

Kakashi's side has fewer; there are currently eight "Kakashi" working hard.

"Let's go! Let's have a good meal at Barbecue Restaurant." Kakashi put his arm around Taiichi's neck. "I really have to thank you this time!"

"One barbecue meal isn't enough—we need at least two!" Taiichi hooked his arm around Kakashi, and the two chatted and laughed as they walked toward the Barbecue Restaurant.

"No problem, you name the number of meals, that's it!"

Barbecue Restaurant, while waiting for the meat to be served, Taiichi quietly released a Sound-Dampening Barrier to prevent their voices from being heard.

"We probably won't see any results today, but I reckon we'll see some discussion about it on the streets tomorrow." Taiichi picked up a slice of golden-brown grilled meat, dipped it in the sauce, wrapped it in some vegetables, and popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, the oil and aroma filled his mouth.

"Let's do it again tomorrow, shall we find some more people to join us?" Kakashi was eager to try, the fragrant grilled meat completely ignoring his interest.

"We'll do it again, not just tomorrow, but the day after. But don't add any more people. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Even if it's Sakumo- Senior, don't tell him." Taiichi picked up another piece of grilled meat and stuffed it directly into his mouth.

"Don't rush things, or you'll give yourself away. What we're doing isn't anything legitimate, and if we're discovered, we won't have a good ending."

Kakashi nodded in realization. He had been a bit too hasty. His father's rumors had been circulating in the village for several days before reaching their current scale. There were only two of them on his side, and they were only able to make this progress thanks to cheating with Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Having figured this out, Kakashi stopped worrying and prepared to enjoy the delicious grilled meat. But when he looked at the grill in front of him, the once full plate was now empty except for a few small pieces of meat.

"Hey! Taiichi, you're going too far! I haven't even eaten a single piece yet!"

"You can only blame yourself. You can't even concentrate on your meal. You deserve not to get any barbecue." Taiichi laughed arrogantly and stuffed the last few pieces of barbecue into his mouth without giving any face.

The smacking sounds of chewing stimulated Kakashi's taste buds. He Taiichi dispelled the Sound-Dampening Barrier and shouted, "Waiter, another one, just like before!"

Seeing Kakashi's expression of having suffered a great loss, Taiichi laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. When you're treating someone, you can't let them not eat their fill. This amount of meat wasn't enough for the two of us to begin with."

"You're something else!" Kakashi said sternly, then focused on the newly arrived grilled meat, no longer letting anything else distract him.

Taiichi was secretly pleased with Kakashi's performance.

From the moment Taiichi met Kakashi today, probably because of the rumors, Taiichi felt that Kakashi was like a bowstring stretched to its fullest extent.

If things continue like this, before the rumors subside, he himself will be the one to run into trouble. After all, being constantly on edge will eventually lead to disaster.

That's why Taiichi kept teasing Kakashi earlier, in order to make him stop thinking about the rumors and relax.

It seems the results are quite good.

Watching Kakashi devour the grilled meat on the plate, Taichi didn't think Taiichi and immediately joined the battle. Soon, chopsticks flew everywhere on the grill.

The battle didn't end until the two of them finished off their third serving of barbecue.

The two, both heavily pregnant, looked at each other in their awkward, reclining positions and burst into laughter. Their joyful laughter, like a tidal wave, completely washed away the worries that had been lingering in their hearts for some time.