Hatake Sakumo

Back in his own home, Fugaku grew angrier the more he thought about it.

The girl he had always liked had been seen naked by Shen Ye first. No matter what, he couldn't swallow that humiliation.

However, the children at the Ninja Academy were all under the village's special protection. Making a move now would definitely incur the village's displeasure.

In Fugaku's eyes, even though Shen Ye had helped capture the enemy, he was still trash.

"I'll let you swagger around for a while. When we graduate from the Ninja Academy, I'll teach you a proper lesson. I might even make sure you die in an 'accident.'"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression grew more and more vicious, as if he could already see Shen Ye lying helplessly on the ground.

Shen Ye, meanwhile, knew nothing about it. He had no idea that someone had set their sights on him.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. The village still hadn't announced that the five burly men had been caught, and Shen Ye gradually forgot about the mission.

One day, a new face appeared at the Ninja Academy. His shock of white hair was especially striking.

"That new guy doesn't look like someone you want to mess with. And I've never heard of him before."

With his arms folded across his chest, Shen Ye listened quietly to the others' discussion. In truth, he already knew who the newcomer was.

Though he was still young, the contours of his face were enough to identify him.

Hatake Sakumo, the ninja later known as the White Fang of Konoha. In the end, he would save a comrade at the cost of his mission, then die in misery after the village blamed him.

"Minato, he may look aloof, but deep down, he's definitely just like you."

"I can't see him being friendly at all."

Shen Ye shook his head faintly and didn't explain. He stood up and walked over to Hatake Sakumo, offering his hand.

"Hello, I'm Shen Ye!"

"Hello, I'm Hatake Sakumo, a man who plans to become Hokage."

"What? You're trying to take my Hokage spot? I won't allow it!"

Minato rushed over at once, waving his fist in the air as he stared at Hatake Sakumo provocatively.

In Minato's eyes, anyone who wanted to compete for the Hokage position was a rival. Fortunately, Shen Ye and Shikaku had no such ambitions.

Shen Ye brought Hatake Sakumo into their group, and they sat down near the window.

The teacher's arrival interrupted the classroom chatter. After briefly introducing Hatake Sakumo, he began the day's lessons.

But neither Shen Ye nor Minato and the others could focus on class. They kept glancing toward the nearby window, already itching to make a move.

"Are you guys planning to escape the classroom?"

"Want to come with us, now that you've figured out what we're thinking?"

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

Shen Ye liked Hatake Sakumo a little more. He had joined the truancy crew on his very first day at the Ninja Academy.

Minato and Shikaku gave Hatake Sakumo a thumbs-up in unison. Just as Shen Ye had said, he wasn't an obedient sort.

The instant the teacher turned away, the four of them climbed out the window one after another and landed on the field.

Hatake Sakumo's movements were much clumsier than the others'. He staggered a few times and nearly fell over.

"Looks like you need some practice. This sort of thing happens almost every day."

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

Shikaku and Minato looked at Shen Ye with expressions that said, You know how it works.

Hatake Sakumo still shook his head, baffled, but he wasn't worried about missing out on his education by skipping class.

"You'll understand later. We have a very important mission today. You remember those five burly men who escaped, right?"

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

"It's been so long without any news. Looks like the village has gradually forgotten about it. Now it's our turn to act."

The group agreed at once and hurried along the road leading out of the village.

Hatake followed behind the three of them, puzzled. He didn't know what had them in such a hurry, but he kept up anyway.

After all, from the moment he first saw Shen Ye, he had felt a strange sense of familiarity deep down.

If Shen Ye hadn't approached him first, Hatake Maoshuo might have walked over and sat beside him the very next moment.

Before long, the four of them reached the woods outside the village.

"So much time has passed that finding their trail is impossible. We'll have to go back there and look around."

Minato nodded and took the lead, following the route in his memory as he leaped quickly ahead.

As he observed the woods around them, Shen Ye noticed something strange.

It had been nighttime then, so he hadn't been able to look as carefully as he could now. The trees along their route had all been damaged to varying degrees.

And the damage only followed this path, which led straight to their destination.

Shen Ye was puzzled. It was like some kind of signal, guiding people in that direction.

"Let's slow down. The path ahead doesn't look easy."

Minato nodded and stopped on a tree trunk. He looked around to make sure there was no danger, then continued forward at a slower pace.

Following the damaged path, they finally reached the house nestled in the woods. But there was no one inside.

The burly men hadn't returned.

"There's no one here. Now that we've found this place, those guys probably won't come back."

"Keep your eyes open. We might find something unexpected. Hatake Sakumo, you can handle this."

Hatake Sakumo nodded, crouched down, and began carefully searching for clues.

He had heard about this mission before entering the Ninja Academy, but he hadn't paid it much attention.

He hadn't expected to get involved in it less than a day later. This made him all the more curious about Shen Ye.

Although they were all students at the Ninja Academy, Shen Ye's way of thinking was far beyond what anyone his age should possess.

As soon as he entered the house, Maoshuo could tell there had been a brief scuffle inside. One side had completely overpowered the other, and there had been no resistance.