Buried

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

After Shiro kowtowed three times to Sakumo, he didn't stand up immediately. Instead, he kept his head down and said, "Teacher Sakumo, you've worked so hard all these years!"

"Oh, how old are you? Get up, it's really getting late."

"Yes, teacher, may you rest in peace."

After saying that, Shiro lowered his head and turned to leave. He didn't want Sakumo to see his eyes. Since Sakumo had made a decision that couldn't be stopped, Shiro felt that he shouldn't be allowed to die with a guilty conscience.

"Ha, that kid." Sakumo watched Shiro's departing figure from the doorway until he was out of sight before turning back home.

After returning home, he sat in his bedroom, waiting for Kakashi to come back.

Kakashi has been coming home very late these days, and he roughly knows why, but Kakashi hasn't given him a chance to talk, so their relationship hasn't improved.

Soon after, Kakashi returned. He silently pushed open the door and then silently went back into his room.

Seeing all this, Sakumo could only shake his head silently, saying nothing.

He's thought about this a lot these past few days; this decision was made after careful consideration, and he won't change his mind because of it, not even for Kakashi.

In the early hours of the morning, after sensing that Kakashi had fallen asleep, Sakumo got up and quietly went to Kakashi's door. He peeked at Kakashi through the crack in the door for a few last moments before turning back to his room.

In the bedroom, Sakumo knelt in the middle, with a short knife and a white cloth in front of him, staring at a photograph in his hand with a smile on his face.

After looking at the photos for a while, Sakumo put them down, said, "I've come to find you," and began to work.

A moment later, Shiro, who was sitting on the bed deep in thought, frowned, walked into the courtyard, looked in the direction of the Hatake Residence, and said softly, "Farewell, Master."

As Shiro kowtowed to Sakumo at dusk, he secretly set up several perception Magecraft spells. Just now, he sensed Sakumo's aura gradually weakening until it went out.

The next day, Kakashi got up and frowned. He noticed something was wrong at home. Usually, Sakumo would prepare breakfast for him, and it was almost always there whenever he was home.

Even when he went on missions, he would leave notes in conspicuous places, but now, there was nothing.

Then, Kakashi, with a bad feeling, opened Sakumo's door.

"Father." Kakashi stared blankly at Sakumo's corpse, regret beginning to fill his heart.

In the Hokage's office, an Anbu suddenly appeared in front of the Third Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, Lord White Fang... he has passed away."

"What?" The Third Hokage stared in shock at the Anbu before him.

The same scene also occurred at the outposts of the various forces in Konoha.

Hatake Residence

Kakashi was still staring blankly at Sakumo, unaware that Shiro was standing behind him. Shiro patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, Master wouldn't want you to do this either. Let's bury him first."

Before Kakashi could finish speaking, Shiro interrupted him.

"Let's talk about any problems after Master is buried. Don't discuss these things now."

"I see."

Afterwards, Kakashi and Shiro began to prepare Sakumo's body, since they couldn't let him be buried in such a state.

The reason Shiro only came now is because he went to find Kushina to ask her to help seal the coffin. He didn't want Sakumo's soul to be desecrated after his death.

At the same time, they also applied for a position for Sakumo at the Memorial Stone. Other forces also obtained their intelligence through this place, since not many people dared to send someone to keep an eye on Sakumo every day.

A little while later, when Shiro and Kakashi finished tidying up Sakumo and carried him to the courtyard, they were slightly taken aback because almost all of Konoha's high-ranking officials were standing in the courtyard.

"Shiro, what's Sakumo?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, my master has just passed away, and I don't want to talk about these things right now. Please understand."

"Well, alright then, please accept my condolences. Has the cemetery been arranged yet?"

"Reporting to Lord Hokage, everything has been arranged."

The Third Hokage looked at Shiro's methodical answer and immediately knew that he was holding a grudge against him. After all, the boy had always been mature and understood many things, and this matter was probably no exception.

But in the end, it was the Third Hokage who wronged them. If he hadn't tacitly approved of Danzo's actions, things would never have turned out this way.

Therefore, faced with Shiro's apparent rejection, the Third Hokage simply sighed and said nothing; he knew Shiro's personality well enough.

Although he's mature, it's impossible for him to remain normal in this kind of situation. Given Shiro's personality, he would never betray the village, so what's wrong with being blamed when he's in the wrong?

Shiro did want to hide his emotions, but he simply couldn't. He was never a qualified ninja, nor did he want to become one.

Therefore, his expression became slightly more obvious, but this was only because Shiro had tried his best to suppress it; otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken to the Third Hokage.

Fortunately, Shiro hadn't completely lost his mind; he could still discern the situation and hadn't completely turned against them, so there weren't any major problems.

In the cemetery, Shiro and the others watched silently as the coffin containing Sakumo's body was slowly buried, without uttering a word.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but at that moment a dark cloud drifted across the sky, blocking the gentle sunlight and creating a somber atmosphere in the cemetery.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, and because Shiro wanted Sakumo to be buried as soon as possible, he didn't prepare any eulogy and just stood there quietly watching.

Gradually, the people from various factions left, after all, they had their own matters to attend to, and as Shiro had said, now was not the right time to ask questions; they could wait.

Kushina was planning to stay with Shiro and Kakashi, but Minato forcibly took her away using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Given the current situation, it's more suitable for Shiro to stay with Kakashi.

After a long pause, Kakashi couldn't help but ask, "Now that Father has been laid to rest, can you speak now?"

"Bang!"

Shiro slammed a punch into Kakashi's head and said calmly, "What? Is this all you've learned in the past two years at school? You've even forgotten basic manners? I'll talk to you about the teacher after the seventh day after his death. Just wait quietly."

After saying that, Shiro sighed inwardly. From what Shiro had seen so far, Kakashi still harbored a lot of resentment towards Sakumo, to the point that he could even forget something so important.

There wasn't much else to do, so we could only try to persuade him slowly and temporarily block his path to becoming a ninja.

Only 9 chapters left to go!!! So, please vote for me, considering I've been updating three times a week! (≧▽≦)/~