Hatake Sakumo

Returning to his home, Uchiha Fugaku grew angrier the more he thought about it.

The girl he had always liked had actually been seen naked by that guy Shen Ye; he could not swallow this insult no matter what.

However, the children in the Ninja Academy were key protected assets of Konoha, and taking action now would definitely provoke the village's dissatisfaction.

In Uchiha Fugaku's heart, even if Shen Ye had participated in capturing enemy troops, he was still nothing but trash.

Let you be arrogant for a while. When we graduate from the Ninja Academy, I will definitely teach you a good lesson, or perhaps even cause your death through an "accident."

The expression on Uchiha Fugaku's face grew increasingly sinister, as if he could already see Shen Ye lying on the ground, unable to move.

Yet Shen Ye was completely oblivious to this, having no idea that he had been targeted.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. With no news from the village about the capture of those five men, Shen Ye gradually forgot about the mission.

One day, a new face appeared at the Ninja Academy, with a head of white hair that was particularly eye-catching.

"This newcomer doesn't look like someone to mess with, and I've never heard of him before."

Shen Ye crossed his arms over his chest, quietly listening to the discussion around him; in fact, he already knew who that guy was.

Even though he was young, one could still distinguish his identity from the sharp angles of his face.

Hatake Sakumo, the ninja who would later be known as the White Fang of Konoha, only to eventually die in despair due to the village's blame for abandoning a mission to save his comrades.

"Minato, although this guy looks very cold and aloof, deep down he is definitely the same kind of person as you."

"I don't see any sign of him being approachable at all."

Shen Ye shook his head faintly without explaining, stood up, walked a few steps to Hatake Sakumo's side, and took the initiative to extend his hand.

"Hello, my name is Shen Ye!"

"Hello, I am Hatake Sakumo, the man who intends to become Hokage."

"What? You actually want to steal my position as Hokage? I won't allow that!"

Minato rushed over instantly, waving his fist in mid-air, looking at Hatake Sakumo with a provocative expression.

To Minato, anyone who wanted to compete for the position of Hokage was a rival; fortunately, Shen Ye and Shikaku did not have such thoughts.

Shen Ye brought Hatake Sakumo into their group, and they sat in seats not far from the window.

The teacher's arrival interrupted the murmurs in the classroom, and after a brief introduction for Hatake Sakumo, the new day of lessons began.

However, neither Shen Ye nor Minato and the others had their hearts in the classroom; they were already looking at the nearby window, starting to grow restless.

"Are you guys planning to skip class?"

"Why don't you join us, since you've already seen through our intentions?"

Hatake Sakumo rubbed his chin, pretended to think for a moment, and then nodded solemnly.

Shen Ye felt a bit more fondness for Hatake Sakumo; he had only just arrived at the Ninja Academy on his first day and was already able to join the ranks of those skipping class.

Minato and Shikaku gave Hatake Sakumo a thumbs-up in unison; just as Shen Ye had said, he was not a well-behaved guy at all.

Taking advantage of the moment the teacher turned around, the four of them climbed over the window one after another and landed on the playground.

However, Hatake Sakumo's movements were much less practiced than the others, and he stumbled a few times, nearly falling over.

"It seems you need some practice; this kind of thing happens almost every day."

"I'm curious, without the academy's instruction, how do you improve your ninjutsu?"

Shikaku and Minato turned their gazes toward Shen Ye with an "you know" expression.

Hatake Sakumo shook his head, still not understanding, yet he was not at all worried about missing out on the proper education by skipping class.

"You'll understand that later. We have a very important mission to carry out today; you remember those five men who escaped, right?"

"Of course I remember; I've been wanting to catch them."

"It's been so long without any news that it seems the village has slowly forgotten about it. Now, it's our turn to strike."

The group reached a consensus and quickly ran along the street leading out of the village.

Hatake Sakumo followed behind the three of them, puzzled; although he didn't know what made these guys so anxious, he followed along anyway.

After all, the moment he first saw Shen Ye, he felt a deep sense of familiarity from the bottom of his heart.

If Shen Ye hadn't taken the initiative to appear before him back then, perhaps Hatake Sakumo would have walked over to sit beside Shen Ye the next second.

Before long, the four of them arrived in the forest outside the village.

"So much time has passed that finding tracks is impossible; we can only go back there and observe."

Minato nodded and took the initiative to take the lead, leaping forward quickly along the route in his mind.

Observing the situation in the surrounding forest, Shen Ye discovered something strange.

It had been dark at the time, so he hadn't observed as carefully as he could now; the trees along this path had all been damaged to varying degrees.

Moreover, this damage followed this specific route, which was exactly the destination he was about to reach.

Shen Ye was very puzzled; it was as if some kind of signal was guiding people to move in that direction.

"Let's slow down a bit; it looks like the road ahead won't be easy."

Minato nodded, pausing on the tree trunk to scan his surroundings. After ensuring there was no danger, he continued to advance at a slow pace.

Following the ruined path, the group finally arrived at the house nestled within the woods, only to find it completely deserted.

Those burly men had not returned here.

"There's no one here at all. Since we've discovered this place, those guys likely won't be coming back."

"Keep a sharp eye out; we might find something unexpected. I'll leave the investigation to Hatake Sakumo."

Hatake Sakumo nodded, dropping to the ground to begin a slow, methodical search for clues.

He had heard rumors of this mission before even entering the Ninja Academy, though he had never truly paid them any mind.

He hadn't expected to be involved in it within a single day, and he couldn't help but feel even more curious about Shen Ye.

Although they were all students at the Ninja Academy, the way Shen Ye carried himself far exceeded the maturity expected of someone his age.

Stepping into the house, Maoshuo saw at a glance that a brief struggle had occurred here, though it had been a one-sided crushing defeat with no signs of resistance.