White Fang

Although Genma was eager to get the Setting Value, he made himself stay calm.

From their very first meeting, Genma had known that Tsunade wasn't easy to approach.

That might change in the future, but at least for now, that was how things stood with Tsunade.

So he had to take things slowly.

Of course, Genma hadn't forgotten about Kakashi just because of Shizune and Tsunade.

Kakashi was the man who had provided him with his first Setting Value.

Besides, Kakashi was an excellent friend.

Most of the time, they trained separately, but sparring with each other was practically part of their daily routine.

Taijutsu, throwing ninja tools, swordsmanship—these were all things Genma wanted to learn from Kakashi.

It ran in the family.

Genma's parents had taught him too, but he had to admit that compared with Hatake Sakumo, their skills were nowhere near as good.

Of course, there were things Kakashi could learn from Genma as well.

Genma was good at drawing conclusions and came up with plenty of "out-of-the-box ideas."

His family's influence also meant he had better chakra control than Kakashi.

And Genma never held back when teaching Kakashi new techniques.

Sincerity was what mattered most between friends.

At the same time, Genma believed that friendships needed to be nurtured through communication and spending time together. Even the closest bond could fade if left unattended for too long.

Kakashi benefited from their friendship, so Genma naturally wanted to be of benefit to Kakashi, too.

That benefit wasn't just emotional support; it included tangible advantages as well.

It might sound a little calculating, but inside Genma's young body lived the soul of an adult.

That might also have been why he had such a natural talent for chakra control.

When he first trained with Shizune, he had fallen behind her.

But just two months later, he had surpassed her.

Although he still walked Shizune home in the evenings, he hadn't run into Tsunade again. That left Genma a little disappointed, even though he still hadn't thought of a good plan.

Spring passed, and summer came.

After a long time, Genma finally saw Hatake Sakumo again.

"Uncle Sakumo!"

Genma greeted him warmly and respectfully.

"Genma."

Hatake Sakumo greeted him kindly.

With his identity as a ninja set aside, he was a gentle older man.

After chatting for a few minutes, Hatake Sakumo and his son left.

Genma watched them go, but his thoughts turned to Hatake Sakumo's death.

On the eve of the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Namikaze Minato had told Uchiha Obito about the deeds of the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo.

He had said that Sakumo died by suicide five years earlier.

Kakashi had been twelve at the time, which meant Hatake Sakumo had killed himself when Kakashi was seven.

In other words... next year.

There were two versions of the story behind Hatake Sakumo's death, and the most popular was undoubtedly the conspiracy theory.

The conspiracy theory itself had two variations.

One claimed that Sarutobi Hiruzen had secretly fanned the flames after Hatake Sakumo failed a mission. Sakumo's reputation was too great—even greater than that of the Konoha Sannin—and Hiruzen didn't want him to become the next Hokage.

Unable to bear the pressure of public opinion, Hatake Sakumo had taken his own life.

The second version blamed Danzo, who had schemed behind the scenes. Hatake Sakumo wore the Hokage's half-sleeved jacket and was the best candidate to become the next Hokage, so Danzo, who coveted the Hokage Position, had struck without hesitation.

The Pot Kage, right?

If nobody knew who was behind something bad, it could always be Danzo.

But objectively speaking, Danzo wasn't coveting the Hokage Position at the time.

Even during the Third Shinobi World War, when Danzo found an opportunity to force Sarutobi Hiruzen from office, he didn't try to take the position himself. Instead, he chose to support Orochimaru.

Unfortunately, the Yellow Flash had burst onto the scene.

But what was the truth behind Hatake Sakumo's death?

Genma didn't know much, but he could piece together a few clues.

Before the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, when Namikaze Minato brought up the White Fang of Konoha to Uchiha Obito, Obito had known who he was. But he only knew that the White Fang was a hero of the village; he didn't know that he had died by suicide.

That suggested Hatake Sakumo's failed mission hadn't become common knowledge throughout Konoha.

Moreover, only a handful of people knew that Hatake Sakumo had killed himself. To most of Konoha's residents, he was a hero who had died for the village.

There was another piece of evidence.

That failed mission had caused enormous losses for Konoha and the Land of Fire. A mission of such importance must have been S-rank. It would have been classified, so there was no way they would have publicized it.

If there was no conspiracy and no massive public backlash, why had Hatake Sakumo killed himself?

For one thing, the comrades he rescued had certainly blamed him.

Kakashi's later obsession with completing missions had stemmed from this. It wasn't until the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, after Nohara Rin's death, that he changed.

Would a ninja who might have been Kage Level, and who had survived countless battles, really kill himself for that reason alone?

Genma thought it was a very, very small part of the picture.

The real issue was the failed mission and the enormous losses it had caused.

By the customs of their culture, it made perfect sense for the person in charge to commit seppuku over such a failure.

Especially when Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't publicly endorse Hatake Sakumo's decision.

Even though Sakumo's actions had upheld Konoha's Will of Fire.

In fact, even his death was an act of upholding the Will of Fire.

After all, the mission had failed because Hatake Sakumo had rescued his comrades.

As the person in charge, he bore the greatest responsibility. But in the crazed world of Naruto, did the person he had rescued bear no responsibility for turning around and blaming his superior?

If he had been crazy enough, then when Hatake Sakumo decided to abandon the mission to save him, he should have killed himself so Sakumo could finish the mission instead.

So why had Sarutobi Hiruzen said nothing?

Hatake Sakumo's death had been an enormous loss for Konoha.

He was a powerful ninja capable of surpassing even the Konoha Sannin.

From an ordinary person's point of view, Genma couldn't understand it either. So Sarutobi Hiruzen was either stupid or wicked—or both.

But when Genma considered it from the Hokage's perspective, he could understand.

For one thing, Konoha was a military organization that hired out its services. Its main sources of income were funding from the Land of Fire's Daimyo Estate and mission fees.

Both the daimyo's funding and the mission fees depended on missions being completed.

Every mission could be considered a military order.

And to maintain unity within its ranks, Konoha promoted the Will of Fire.

The Will of Fire, inherited by Sarutobi Hiruzen from the First and Second Hokage and then carried forward, centered on sacrificing oneself to protect one's comrades and juniors, and passing that spirit down from generation to generation.

When the Will of Fire conflicted with carrying out a mission, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage, obviously couldn't take a clear stance.

If he endorsed Hatake Sakumo's actions, he would undermine the foundation of Konoha's mission system.

If he completely condemned Sakumo's actions and punished him outright, he would undermine the ideological foundation of Konoha.

So Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage, could only let the matter die down.

Genma thought Hatake Sakumo might have realized this, too.

So Sakumo's suicide had been a way to protect his subordinates and juniors and continue upholding the Will of Fire, while also taking responsibility for the mission's failure with his own death.

As he turned and headed home, Genma couldn't help frowning.

If Hatake Sakumo's death had been the result of a conspiracy, then there might have been a way to change things.

But if Genma's analysis was right, things would be much more difficult.

The only option would be to change the mission's outcome.

But setting aside all the other requirements, just taking part in such a classified mission would require at least an elite Chunin, perhaps even a Special Jonin or a Jonin.

Even with his cheat, Genma wasn't confident he could reach that level within a year.

"Ugh, if only I had Talk no Jutsu. I should've changed its Setting Value first!"

Genma let out a deep, silent sigh.