Complaint

After entering the reception hall.

Uchiha Yato still had no intention of letting the Aburame Clan head off so easily. He continued crying as he said, "Ryoma Aburame tried to kill me!"

"You have to stand up for me!"

The usually good-tempered Aburame Clan head nearly lost his composure.

You're a jonin—an Uchiha jonin.

If you could be assassinated so easily by a seven- or eight-year-old...

Then it truly would be a miracle that Uchiha Yato had survived until now.

Though many thoughts ran through his mind, he maintained an aloof expression as he said, "Name your terms."

"This child made a mistake. We acknowledge it."

"But I need to make something clear."

"Ever since this child was taken away by Elder Danzo, he has not returned to the clan."

The Aburame Clan head had made himself very clear.

You, Uchiha Yato, had indeed been framed by Ryoma Aburame. They acknowledged that.

But Danzo Shimura was the mastermind behind this, so Yato still had to seek him out. At most, the Aburame Clan head would accept blame as part of his duty as clan head. Nothing more.

Uchiha Yato stopped crying and went along with it. "You're right. We were also worried there might be some misunderstanding, so we informed you in advance."

"We notified Elder Danzo as well, but he has been busy and still hasn't come."

"Let me clarify beforehand: in order to make things difficult for me this time, Ryoma Aburame dragged Sarutobi Kakuya and Hyuga Boya into it too."

"My suggestion is that the Aburame Clan head should deal with this after returning."

Upon hearing Uchiha Yato's words, the Aburame Clan head said nothing more. He merely nodded slowly to show that he understood.

In an instant, the earlier scene was gone, replaced by one of harmonious coexistence that left Uchiha Kei somewhat at a loss.

Then Uchiha Yato said, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and make the Aburame Clan head some tea. It wasn't easy for him to come all this way. You're a clan head, yet you have no awareness at all."

Hearing this, Uchiha Kei instinctively went out to fetch tea.

After brewing tea for all three of them, he suddenly remembered and said to Uchiha Yato.

"Wait, damn it, I'm the clan head! You're ordering me around now?"

"Shouldn't you be the one with some awareness and go make tea for the two clan heads?"

Uchiha Yato took a leisurely sip of tea. "I have to admit, Clan Head, you're talented in this regard."

"Your tea-making skills are truly exceptional. I'm the clever one for not letting such talent go to waste."

Uchiha Kei's mouth twitched at those words, but it was not appropriate to fall out with Yato directly while the Aburame Clan head was still seated there. Their own affairs were their own business.

As a great noble clan, the Uchiha Clan had such composure ingrained in nearly anyone with a little status.

After the three finished their tea, Danzo Shimura still had yet to arrive.

At this moment, Uchiha Yato spoke again. "Looks like there's no need to wait. Let's go straight to the Hokage."

Uchiha Kei asked in confusion, "Didn't you say we should handle this through official channels? Shouldn't we be inviting Elder Danzo over at a time like this?"

Yato replied, "We did invite him. Since no one came, we can only go find his superior."

"That's the proper procedure too. For example, if someone wanted to find me but couldn't, they would definitely come looking for you, Clan Head."

The analogy was perfectly apt, but Uchiha Kei's face darkened as he listened.

Back then, Danzo had come looking to cause trouble for Uchiha Yato. When he could not find him, he had made Uchiha Kei, the clan head, go out and take the blow. (The incident that ruined Danzo's reputation was explained in Chapter 1.)

After hearing Uchiha Yato's explanation, the three headed toward the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was handling the various affairs of Konoha Village.

Ever since succeeding as the Third Hokage, this could be said to be his daily work and routine.

Then the ANBU captain reported, "The heads of the Uchiha and Aburame Clans, along with Uchiha Yato, are outside. It seems they have something to discuss with you."

Upon hearing that the two clan heads and that troublemaker had come to see him, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately set aside his work, prepared to hear what the matter was.

So he asked, "Has anything happened in the village recently?"

"White Fang, do you know why they have come to see me?"

At this time, the ANBU captain was Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi Hatake's father.

"I'm not entirely sure."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not particularly surprised by Sakumo Hatake's answer. After all, an ANBU captain could not be expected to gather intelligence on the village every day.

Thus, Hiruzen Sarutobi had Sakumo Hatake invite the three of them in, and then began the discussion.

Right from the start, Uchiha Yato used his old trick—crying shamelessly.

He successfully made Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly lose his composure.

Meanwhile, Sakumo Hatake, who was hidden in the shadows protecting Hiruzen Sarutobi, secretly developed a headache as well.

He recalled how, when Kakashi had first begun learning chakra extraction, he had specifically invited Uchiha Yato to serve as a tutor.

Logically speaking, the proud Uchiha Clan was unlikely to do such things. But Uchiha Yato was the type to quickly become familiar with others, and he had taken the initiative to mention it to Sakumo Hatake, who then agreed.

After spending a day teaching Kakashi how to extract chakra, the results had naturally been excellent. Kakashi had basically been able to sense chakra.

At the time, Sakumo Hatake had praised Uchiha Yato for being so attentive, and Kakashi had also been very grateful to this teacher who was willing to teach him.

But afterward, things took a strange turn. Uchiha Yato suddenly said that if he wanted to teach Kakashi Water Release, Kakashi first needed to experience water.

When Sakumo Hatake asked what method he meant by experiencing water, adding that it was unnecessary if it was too troublesome.

Uchiha Yato found an opportunity to take Kakashi to soak in hot springs for an entire day. The results were quite good as well. After returning, with Kakashi's talent and the sensations from that day, he was able to use relatively simple water-style ninjutsu.

Then, for three mornings straight, the first thing Sakumo Hatake had to do each day was touch Kakashi's bedding.

That's right. Three-year-old Kakashi was at the age when he could not hold in his urine.

After Uchiha Yato had taken Kakashi to play with so much water-style ninjutsu, he naturally began wetting the bed.

Not only had Sakumo Hatake seen this scene, Uchiha Yato had seen it too.

And he had even pulled out a video camera and camera that never ran out of power to "commemorate" it.

As a result, Kakashi seemed to develop a psychological problem and continued wetting the bed for an entire week, while Uchiha Yato successfully compiled a collection of Kakashi wetting the bed.

The cure for a heart ailment had to come from the one who caused it; whoever tied the knot had to untie it. Although the Uchiha Clan had inevitably been involved in this matter, being seen by outsiders had remained an indelible psychological shadow for Kakashi.

No one knew what method Uchiha Yato had used, but Kakashi never wet the bed again afterward.

Thus, Sakumo Hatake was grateful to, resentful of, and respectful toward Uchiha Yato all at once.

Just then, Uchiha Yato made another earth-shattering declaration: "Hokage advisor Lord Danzo Shimura instigated a minor to commit an assassination crime against a pitiful, helpless Uchiha sapling!"