Everyone was startled and turned to look.
Under the moonlight, a handsome boy with tousled black hair and glasses stood there, watching them quietly. No one knew when he had arrived.
It was Uchiha Ryūha.
He wore a high-collared robe, with the Uchiha Clan's gunbai crest embroidered on the back.
His hands were in his pockets, his posture relaxed.
"Who are you?" the tall student frowned. "One of the Uchiha? Mind your own business!"
Uchiha Ryūha didn't answer. He simply walked toward them at an unhurried pace.
His footsteps were almost inaudible.
Yet, for some reason, as he drew closer, an invisible pressure quietly settled over the area.
The students instinctively took a step back.
Ryūha stopped in front of Kakashi.
He didn't look at Kakashi, only gazed calmly at the tall student.
"What you just said," Uchiha Ryūha began. His voice was soft, yet every word reached everyone's ears clearly. "Do you have the guts to say it again?"
The tall student swallowed.
He recognized the boy—the Uchiha prodigy who had become the talk of the Ninja Academy these past few days.
The monster who had awakened an unknown kekkei genkai and taken down Uchiha Setsuna in a single move.
But the pride of an older student forced him to stand his ground and shoot back:
"I said Hatake Sakumo is a useless coward! He abandoned the mission to save his comrades, and got Konoha—"
His words cut off abruptly.
Ryūha had raised his hand.
He hadn't formed any Hand Seals.
He hadn't even gathered any Chakra.
He had simply raised his right hand, palm facing the student.
Beneath the moonlight, his hand looked pale and slender, utterly harmless.
But the tall student's throat felt as though an invisible hand had closed around it. He couldn't force out another word.
The hairs on his body stood on end, and his pupils contracted sharply.
He "saw" it—
Not with his eyes, but through his senses.
Behind that pale palm, it was as though a towering demon stood with its head in the heavens and its feet on the earth.
Its crimson eyes stared down at him, and its icy killing intent pierced his very bones.
What... was that?
An illusion?
No, it was too real.
So real that he could feel his heart pounding wildly, his blood running backward, his limbs frozen and unable to move.
"I, I..." He opened his mouth, but couldn't form a complete sound.
The other four students sensed something was wrong, too.
They couldn't see the "phantom" behind Ryūha.
But they could feel the air suddenly grow thick and cold, making it hard to breathe.
Was that... killing intent?
No, it was more terrifying than killing intent.
It was a kind of pressure from some higher dimension, striking at the soul.
"Get lost."
Uchiha Ryūha uttered a single word.
His voice was soft.
But to those five students, it exploded in their minds like a clap of thunder.
They didn't even have time to think. Their bodies turned around on instinct, and they fled the training ground, stumbling over themselves and not daring to look back.
A few seconds later, silence returned to the training ground.
Only Ryūha and Kakashi remained. Kakashi was still standing where he'd been, breathing faintly hard.
Ryūha turned and looked at Kakashi.
Moonlight fell on Kakashi's silver hair. For the first time, a different light appeared in his lifeless eyes.
Shock, confusion, and a trace of gratitude.
"They're gone," Uchiha Ryūha said, his voice warm once more.
Kakashi stared at him for a few seconds before speaking quietly. "...Thank you."
"It was nothing." Ryūha pushed up his glasses. "But avoiding the problem won't solve it.
"They left today, but they'll come back tomorrow, and the day after that.
"As long as there's no resolution to what happened with your father, the criticism won't stop."
Kakashi's body shuddered. He jerked his head up. "You—you also think my father was wrong?"
Ryūha didn't answer directly.
He walked to the bench at the edge of the training ground and sat down, patting the spot beside him.
Kakashi hesitated, then walked over. He didn't sit, only stood beside him.
"Lord Hatake Sakumo is a hero of Konoha," Ryūha said slowly.
"He's carried out countless S-rank missions, saved countless comrades, and shed blood and earned merit for the village.
"One failed mission cannot erase all his accomplishments."
Kakashi's eyes brightened, but then dimmed again. "But... everyone says..."
"Everyone?" Ryūha gave a cold smile. "Who's 'everyone'? The people who stay safe behind the lines and have never set foot on a battlefield?
"The people who enjoy peace, yet point fingers at the heroes who protect it?"
He looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, why is your father called the 'White Fang of the Leaf'?"
Kakashi was silent for a moment before answering softly. "Because his short blade... was like a white fang, striking fear into his enemies."
"Then," Ryūha asked, "could a hero who strikes fear into his enemies become a useless coward over one failed mission?"
Kakashi was stunned.
"Public opinion is a blade. It can kill without leaving a trace." Ryūha stood and patted Kakashi on the shoulder.
"But your father is the one who wields the blade, not the one it's pointed at.
"If he could fight his way out of a mountain of corpses, he can rise above these idle rumors, too."
"The question is," he paused, meeting Kakashi's eyes, "do you believe in him?"
Kakashi shuddered.
"I..." He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to answer.
Did he believe in his father?
Of course he did.
But... if his father had been right, why did everyone say he was wrong?
Why were even the comrades his father had saved blaming him?
"When you can't figure things out, ask the person involved." Ryūha turned and walked out of the training ground.
"Instead of worrying here on your own, go ask your father yourself—why he made that choice, and whether he regrets it."
His voice drifted back on the wind:
"A hero's loneliness often comes from being understood by no one.
"And as his son, your understanding may be what he needs most right now."
Kakashi stood where he was, watching Ryūha walk away. For a long time, he didn't move.
The moonlight stretched his shadow far across the ground.
For the first time, a faint light kindled in those lifeless eyes.
"Father..."
He murmured softly and clenched his fist.
In the shadows outside the training ground, the Anbu Captain "Kagami," wearing a cat-faced mask, quietly watched the scene.
The report scroll in his hand was already filled with writing:
"Target made contact with Kakashi Hatake, apparently by chance.
"Intervened to resolve the confrontation. His words were persuasive, but his motives are unknown. Recommend continued observation."
Kagami put away the scroll, and his figure melted into the darkness.
The night wind swept through the training ground, stirring a few fallen leaves.
The night in Konoha was as peaceful as ever.
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