The Crying Kakashi

That was White Fang's blade. You weren't qualified to wield it.

Hyuga Satoru's words sounded unbearably harsh to Kakashi, like a bomb exploding in his ears. His face flushed red as he roared.

"What do you know?! What would an outsider like you know?!"

"He was a coward! So what if he abandoned the mission? So what if his comrades insulted him? Why did he have to kill himself?! Why did he have to kill himself?!"

Perhaps he had endured too much over the past two years, or perhaps it was the humiliation of being defeated by Hyuga Satoru in public. Kakashi actually collapsed to the ground and cried out before everyone.

"He didn't have to die! So what if the villagers cursed him? Didn't he still have me? Why did he choose to kill himself? Why...?"

At some point, the crowd suddenly fell silent. In such an environment, Kakashi's sobs sounded especially piercing.

"So that was what you cared about?"

Hyuga Satoru sighed.

It seemed his father's suicide had caused Kakashi immense pain. Over the past two years, he had kept brainwashing himself with the thought, "Any man who can't even complete a mission is nothing but a coward," numbing his own anguish.

Until now, when Hyuga Satoru defeated him in public, the defenses in his heart had been completely shattered.

The surrounding shinobi all fell silent, their heads lowered slightly. Many of them had participated in seriously wounding Hatake Sakumo. Rumors, fed by malice, had blazed like wildfire. By the time they calmed down, they discovered that the man was already gone.

So, by unspoken agreement, no one mentioned him again.

"Kakashi..." Guy could not help clenching his fists. He had never seen Kakashi like this—frail, grief-stricken, helpless...

Hyuga Satoru revealed a complicated expression and said, "I never met Lord White Fang in person, but I have heard of his deeds. I think his final choice was meant to carry out his own will."

"Carry out his will?"

Kakashi's eyes lit up as he raised his head from the ground and looked at Hyuga Satoru.

"To prove his convictions through death. I think that was what he intended—not dying from cowardice or fear, but using his own death to silently explain his will."

"When he raised his ninja blade against himself, perhaps he was even smiling?"

"Is that so..."

Kakashi stopped crying and sank into thought.

Explaining his own will... The image of that man, always wearing a smile, surfaced in his mind.

Father, was that what you were thinking in your final moments?

All this time, he had believed his father chose suicide because he was too weak. Hyuga Satoru's words had slightly changed his view.

Though the change was small, it was like a seed planted deep within his heart...

The Hokage's office.

Hyuga Satoru's voice passed through the crystal ball on the desk and entered every word into the ears of the silent Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After a long while, he looked sorrowfully out the window, the image of that gentle white-haired man appearing in his mind.

"Sakumo..."

Hyuga Satoru's words were like countless tendrils stirring the surface of his heart.

"Don't blame me. You couldn't become Hokage..."

He sighed softly.

Before the Mission Administration Office, Hyuga Satoru quietly shook his head.

In truth, as a transmigrator, he knew the reality of the matter was far crueler. It involved infighting over power among Leaf Village's higher-ups and the candidacy for the Fourth Hokage...

And all he could do was make Hatake Sakumo's image seem as noble as possible. After all, those words had not been meant for Kakashi alone.

The moment he arrived, he had sensed a faintly watchful gaze. With a little thought, he knew Sarutobi Hiruzen had to be observing this place.

After hearing what he had said, what would the Hokage, who had indirectly driven White Fang to his death, think?

Pulling his thoughts back, Hyuga Satoru looked at Kakashi again and spoke with a touch of coldness.

"I know you find today's defeat difficult to accept. Whenever you think you can defeat me, you can come challenge me at any time."

"I'll be waiting."

With that, he left behind the bewildered Kakashi and the silent crowd, then turned and walked away.

"Hey, Satoru, wait for me!" Anko suddenly snapped out of it and shouted as she chased after Hyuga Satoru.

Uchiha Rin watched Hyuga Satoru's carefree departing figure and could not help raising an eyebrow.

"That guy Satoru is pretty cool."

Kakashi watched Hyuga Satoru's departing back, his earlier words still replaying in his mind. No one knew what he was thinking.

Once they reached a deserted place, Hyuga Satoru braced himself against a wall and suddenly grimaced in pain.

"Damn it, this hurts like hell."

His body felt as though thousands of needles had pierced it. Even the slightest movement was unbearably painful.

Showing off felt great in the moment; afterward came the crematorium.

His body had not fully recovered yet. To avoid revealing more of his abilities, he had only used the Magnetic Storm Fist while fighting Kakashi, placing an even greater burden on his body.

Just then, Anko ran over and asked worriedly, "Satoru, are you okay?"

Hyuga Satoru turned around, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her to his side. Gritting his teeth, he spoke in a low voice.

"Quick, give me that."

That?

The distinctive scent of a male body rushed into Anko's nose, and her face instantly flushed from her ears down, like a ripe red apple.

"Satoru... H-here? Wouldn't it be bad if someone saw us?"

"If not here, then where? You want to change locations?"

Anko's face reddened even further, and she shyly buried it in her hair.

"If Rin finds out, she'll get angry, won't she?"

"What does it have to do with her?"

"Forget it, I don't have time to bicker with you. Hurry up and use a healing spell on me!"

"Huh?"

The Hokage's office.

After sorting through his emotions, Sarutobi Hiruzen recalled how Hyuga Satoru had cleanly and decisively defeated Kakashi and could not help smiling.

"It seems the strongest member of the new generation is undoubtedly Hyuga Satoru."

Moreover, he knew full well that Hyuga Satoru possessed a terrifying bow-based ninjutsu. If he had used it, Kakashi would likely have been defeated even faster.

"It's just a pity that he belongs to the branch family."

He could not help sighing.

If Hyuga Satoru had not been from the branch family, he truly would have cultivated him within the Hokage's line. With such perfect talent, and with those words to Kakashi embodying the Will of Fire, he was such an outstanding prospect that Hiruzen had even considered taking him as a disciple.

But as a member of the branch family, any decision concerning Hyuga Satoru required greater caution.

Then he thought of Kakashi again and sighed softly.

"We can't keep delaying with Kakashi. Let Minato teach him! We need to find him a few teammates. They can only be chosen from people he knows in his year, hmm..."

"Uchiha Obito's personality is a good fit. Perhaps he can balance out Kakashi's gloominess. As for the last one, Nohara Rin is a civilian-born medical ninja, making her a perfect match."

After thinking for a while, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction.

"Then let's notify Minato to come over now."