Lightning, Rainy Night, and the Death of White Fang

When Teacher Yamano told them to form the Reconciliation Seal, Uchiha Ling immediately took the out and stopped provoking him.

Obito Uchiha shouted from the side, "Kakashi! You can't forgive him! You can't form the Reconciliation Seal with him!"

Veins bulged at Kakashi Hatake's temples. He was unwilling to let things end like this.

However, Teacher Yamano said, "You will become ninja in the future.

"A ninja's weapons are not limited to kunai and ninja blades. Anything you can make use of is a weapon, including vicious verbal attacks.

"Kakashi, your basic abilities are strong, but if you encounter someone like Uchiha Ling on the battlefield, someone skilled at verbal attacks, are you, as a ninja, going to lose your mind over it?

"When your enemies insult your father, will they hold back? Will they stop because I order them to?"

Hearing Teacher Yamano's words, Kakashi had no choice but to grit his teeth and extend his hand, preparing to form the Reconciliation Seal.

That was right. Verbal attacks were also one of a ninja's methods. In the face of provocation, he had to remain absolutely rational.

Seeing this, Uchiha Ling also held out his fingers. Their fingers hooked together, and the sparring match came to an end.

Teacher Yamano nodded to himself. His goal had been achieved: Kakashi Hatake had come to recognize the grave sin his father had committed.

A ninja who abandoned a mission was trash. After all... Yamano's older sister had been one of the ninja who died at the border of the Land of Fire this time.

Yamano watched Obito Uchiha and Might Guy anxiously saying something as they crowded around Kakashi, then gave the order:

"The next sparring match: Obito Uchiha versus Might Guy!"

During the break, Yamano slanted his eyes and swept a chilling gaze over Uchiha Ling, who had sidled up beside him. He whispered:

"Ling, you did well. Keep provoking Kakashi Hatake tomorrow."

"I still want to provoke Kakashi today, Teacher Yamano. I can't help myself."

"Fine, go ahead. Fierce tigers have their uses, and snakes and scorpions have theirs. You do seem to have some talent for getting under your enemies' skin.

"Any ability that strengthens your advantages is an ability ninja desperately need."

Uchiha Ling froze. I'm doing your dirty work for you, and you're still taking a jab at me?

It wasn't just the students pushing each other hard. Some awful teachers bullied people too.

After class, Uchiha Ling caught up with Kakashi.

Obito Uchiha shouted, "Uchiha Ling, if we weren't from the same clan, I'd really beat the hell out of you."

"Heh, as if you could even get close to me. I didn't come here to waste words with you. I have a few things to say to Kakashi."

Kakashi turned around and stared at Uchiha Ling.

"Kakashi, your father got 119 Leaf ninja killed!

"Tonight, take your father door to door and apologize!

"Have your father spend the rest of his life, now nothing but ruins, saving those 119 families!

"What's with that expression? Fine, let me put it more nicely.

"Among those 119 people, there may have been brothers, fathers and sons, sisters. And with so many orphans in the Leaf, perhaps some dead ninja had been the last person in their family.

"Maybe you don't need to apologize to 119 families. Maybe some of them had their entire families wiped out. Maybe you only need to apologize to 100 families.

"Don't make me look down on you father and son even more. Take responsibility, you cowardly Hatakes!"

Heaven knew Uchiha Ling truly wanted Kakashi to pass along a message: tell White Fang not to kill himself.

As long as he kept living, even if it meant atoning for his sins, it would still be better than ending it all with death.

The topic was incredibly heavy, but for some reason, the moment he opened his mouth, he sounded incredibly punchable.

Might Guy was already flying in with a kick aimed at Uchiha Ling's chest.

Uchiha Ling hurriedly used the White Fang Flow Body Technique he had just learned, retreating backward.

He watched Kakashi and found that Kakashi still looked deeply despondent.

Obito Uchiha shouted angrily, "You skinny twig! Don't make me beat you up!"

Uchiha Ling's parents had died in action. Malnourished, he was tall and thin, and his classmates had given him the nickname Skinny Twig.

Obito Uchiha added, "No, I shouldn't call you Skinny Twig. I should call you Skinny Nettle! Nettles are poisonous, just like your poisonous mouth!"

Asuma Sarutobi, who had come over from the other side, shoved his hands into his pockets and said cockily, "How about Centipede? Skinny and poisonous."

More and more nicknames were being aimed at Uchiha Ling. He sighed inwardly. What kind of atmosphere is this in the Leaf? Everyone's got something wrong with them.

Heaven have mercy, he really just wanted Kakashi to remind his dad not to kill himself for no reason.

When school ended, crimson sunset clouds spread across the entire sky, bathing the rooftops and distant Hokage Rock in orange-red, almost blood-red light.

Uchiha Ling returned to the clan grounds and to his cold, empty home.

No wonder the original owner had been a little sharp-tongued. Living alone in a house thick with dust must have driven him mad.

In such a tiny home, there was somehow a scene of "where people walk often enough, a path appears."

The floor had not been cleaned for one or two months. A footpath had been worn down through the middle, running from the entrance straight to the bedroom, then from the bedroom to the bathroom, and from the bathroom to the refrigerator.

That was it.

The original owner never went to the kitchen. The route leading there was covered in a thick layer of dust.

No wonder his classmates called him Skinny Twig. The original owner had lived far too miserably.

He rolled up his sleeves and began a thorough cleaning.

He cleaned until late into the night. At last, the house was clean, and Uchiha Ling fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, a clap of thunder jolted Uchiha Ling awake.

He suddenly remembered that in the original story, White Fang of the Leaf had committed suicide on a stormy, rain-soaked night.

In the manga, lightning illuminated the window, and the window frame's shadow fell across a curled-up corpse on the floor.

Young Kakashi had been the first to discover his father's body after the suicide.

Uchiha Ling opened the window, climbed out, and leaped into the torrential rain.

He ran in the direction of Kakashi Hatake's home from his memories.

Through the pouring rain, Uchiha Ling saw many ninja gathered in an alley in the distance.

Nearby, ANBU in cloaks and masks leaped across the rooftops.

No...

Watching from afar, Uchiha Ling saw the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, enter Kakashi's home. Before long, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane arrived one after another.

White Fang of the Leaf had still killed himself.

An ANBU looked in this direction. The mask beneath the pitch-black hood could not be seen clearly. Uchiha Ling turned around, walked into the heavy rain, and left.

This world was too cruel.

What was the point of being good to one's comrades? In the end, it only led to a humiliating suicide.

What was the point of being good to the Leaf? In the end, it only left behind a psychologically twisted Kakashi.

He still needed to make good use of his cheat and break more people's defenses, raising his own strength.

At the very least, he had to ensure his own safety. If conditions allowed, he would live more freely in the ninja world. Only then would this transmigration not have been in vain.

When he entered the Ninja Academy the next day, Uchiha Ling kept his head down.

One piece of news after another struck the five-year-old children in the class.

Unable to bear the humiliation and attacks of public gossip, White Fang of the Leaf had committed suicide the previous night.

Kakashi arrived at the Ninja Academy on time in silence. He did not enter the classroom, instead going to find the principal and request early graduation.

That entire morning, Quan Yan, the teacher of the Three-Body Technique, was too distracted to focus on teaching, let alone the students in the classroom.

Very soon, the specially approved individual assessment ended. Kakashi graduated early and became a genin.

Uchiha Ling had already been careful enough, yet Obito Uchiha still rushed to the last row of the classroom and shouted, "Skinny Nettle! I won't let you off! You were the one who provoked Kakashi!"

After shouting that, Obito Uchiha's eyes darted toward Rin Nohara, as though he were showing off his courage and sense of justice.

Uchiha Ling swallowed more than a dozen retorts he had for Obito.

He could break Obito's defenses another day. Today, he would let it go.

It wasn't that he would not break them. He would break them slowly, gradually, and according to a plan.