He Guessed Who Was Behind It in One Second

After Shinobi World Daily launched, it quickly swept the Shinobi World.

For just ten ryo, a newspaper offered all kinds of entertaining stories from across the Shinobi World. Commoners loved it.

The second issue's feature on a Daimyo's daughter buying the paper helped it gain a foothold among the Nobles.

Akito, the head of its publisher, the Heavenly Eye Society, saw his net worth soar. People marveled at his rags-to-riches story, never realizing who truly owned the company.

All they knew was that the Uchiha Clan and Konoha ran it together.

Stories about the good deeds of Uchiha Police Force Members appeared regularly, and Fugaku had told his clan to rein in their tempers.

For a time, the villagers' impression of the Uchiha actually improved.

And while Shinobi World Daily sold like hotcakes, another of the company's projects became a hit in certain circles.

An ordinary-looking middle-aged man entered a bookstore and quietly picked up a copy of Playboy Ninja.

Once he reached a shadowy alley, he transformed back into Ebisu with a pop.

"Heh heh." Ebisu pushed up his glasses. This was a new release.

Alone in the alley, Ebisu slowly opened Playboy Ninja.

"Ohoho, this is excellent. Just what I'd expect from Lord Jiraiya."

Ebisu was reading Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise, a work he should not have written until he was forty-two. Yan's influence had brought it into the world early.

"Now that's impressive."

Ebisu studied the illustrations closely. He had never seen a novel with pictures before.

Unfortunately, this issue only serialized the first chapter, and Ebisu soon finished it. Still hungry for more, he noticed there was something after it.

The page following the end of Icha Icha Paradise bore a huge warning.

"The following images reflect the author's twisted sense of humor. If that bothers you, do not look."

I'm a ninja, Ebisu thought. He ignored the warning and turned the page.

"Are the main characters Kumogakure's legendary ninja, Kinkaku and Ginkaku?"

"Hm?"

As he turned the pages, Ebisu's eyes widened. He was frightened, yet he could not stop himself from turning another.

"Aaah!"

At last, Ebisu clutched his eyes in agony, and the book fell to the ground.

A breeze swept into the alley and flipped its pages, revealing an image:

Kinkaku hung suspended while Ginkaku asked through tears:

"Do you have anything left to say?"

"Nothing more. Do it quickly!"

"Yan, did you hear something?"

Anko held a dango skewer and glanced around in confusion.

"What sound? Maybe you heard sweets calling your name."

With Shinobi World Daily in one hand, Yan snatched the dango Anko had yet to eat and took a bite.

"That's your sixth skewer today. Eat too many sweets and you'll get fat."

"Yan!"

Yan had grown quickly thanks to his regular training. He held Anko back with one hand on her head, leaving her short arms unable to reach her beloved dango.

Several bedraggled figures flashed through the edge of Yan's vision. He spotted a white-haired figure and narrowed his eyes.

White Fang is back. Which means...

Hokage's Office.

"That is everything that happened during the mission. I'm very sorry, Third Hokage. I failed to complete it."

The Third Hokage took the mission report and inwardly sighed at the trouble ahead.

Sakumo's mission involved a powerful Noble from the Land of Fire. Its failure would inevitably give them an excuse to apply pressure.

But Sakumo had abandoned the mission to save a comrade, and the Third Hokage would not hold him responsible.

Sakumo kept his head lowered. He did not regret abandoning the mission; he only worried about the trouble it might bring the village.

"I understand. Go get some rest."

After Sakumo left, the Third Hokage sent ANBU to contact the Noble involved.

Nobles wanted money, after all. Fortunately, Konoha had made plenty through the Heavenly Eye Society.

If anyone dared claim Homura Uchiha was a threat to Konoha now, the Third Hokage would have words with them.

The Mission Assignment Office had even made gathering news for Shinobi World Daily a standing mission. That alone showed its current standing.

Beyond bolstering Konoha's finances, the Heavenly Eye Society had created plenty of jobs.

The Third Hokage had never felt more confident. One failed S-rank mission was nothing compared to the increasingly frequent military moves among the nations.

But someone clearly disagreed. Danzo, for instance.

Yan looked over a pile of submissions about White Fang's failed mission and chuckled to himself.

It took me less than a second to guess who was behind this. Want to give it a try?

After lying low for so long, this was the best Danzo could come up with? Yan was almost disappointed.

But Yan was being unfair to Danzo.

Danzo's last attempt against Yan had failed. Though the Third Hokage had no evidence to punish him, he had found all sorts of reasons to cut the Root's funding.

Root had been forced to take private jobs outside the village to make money. Its members operated in the shadows, so they could not take missions from the Mission Assignment Office.

Only recently had Danzo found time to stir up trouble again.

Yan drummed his fingers on the desk, considering how to hit Danzo hard.

After a moment, Yan wrote a report himself, objectively laying out the circumstances of White Fang's mission.

He told Akito to place it in a corner of the next issue in small print.

He also instructed Akito to stop accepting submissions on the subject.

So when the new issue came out, the villagers failed to notice the report tucked away in the corner.

Even Kakashi knew nothing about it. He only sensed something was wrong from his father's subdued mood after returning home.

Root Base.

"The villagers haven't reacted?"

"I'm very sorry, Lord Danzo. We've submitted stories to the paper every day, but nothing has come of it."

Danzo snorted and shot to his feet. "It must be the evil Uchiha! Hiruzen's gone senile too, running something this important with them."

"Homura Uchiha and whichever Uchiha came up with the newspaper are bound to become Konoha's greatest threats!"

Looking at his silent, downcast subordinate, Danzo—unaware that his two greatest threats were the same person—continued:

"If the paper won't listen, pose as villagers and spread the story yourselves."

Soon, a few figures who seemed both familiar and unfamiliar appeared in Konoha's streets and alleys.

"You know White Fang?"

"Who hasn't heard of Lord White Fang's reputation?"

"Reputation, my ass! Listen to this..."

"Damn, White Fang did that? He abandoned the mission..."

The gossip Yan had held back for nearly a month spread through the village in a single day.

The Konoha Rabble smelled a chance to bully someone and came running.

"Hatake Sakumo, Lord Hokage asks you to come in. He has a mission for you."

An ANBU appeared at the Hatake Residence to deliver the Third Hokage's order.

Sakumo felt a weight lift from his chest. Since returning, he had been subdued, worried he had caused trouble for the village.

Now that the Third Hokage was assigning him a mission, the trouble must have been resolved.

After the ANBU left, Sakumo smiled and left a note for Kakashi, who was still at school.

As he walked down a Konoha street, Sakumo keenly sensed the strange looks people were giving him.

"That's him, right? The failure who abandoned his mission!"

"I heard he caused the village a lot of trouble..."

"How does someone like that deserve to be a ninja?"

The villagers' words reached Sakumo, and his buoyant mood slowly sank.

Suddenly, a bandaged man rushed up to him. "Damn you! Why did you save me?"

Sakumo stared at the comrade he had saved. The world spun, and the light faded from his eyes. He quickened his pace to get around the man, then even used the Body Flicker Technique.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, who was following Yan to special training, was also targeted by the villagers.

"Is that the useless White Fang's son?"

"His father abandoned a mission and cost the village so much. I doubt the kid's any good either."

"You bastards! What are you talking about?"

Obito was the first to lose his temper. He had always wanted to beat Kakashi, but how could these people talk about him like that?

Their other companions turned toward the gossiping villagers as well.

The villagers fell silent and dispersed, though mutters of "Uchiha, of course..." could still be heard.

Kakashi's eyes darkened, and he turned to run home.

Thud.

Yan, walking ahead, had seen this coming. He planted his feet and grabbed Kakashi before he could leave.

Kakashi struggled to shake off Yan's hand, but Yan punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ask him what happened!"

"Ask what? Why Uncle Sakumo abandoned the mission?"

Kakashi was at a loss for words. Yan pressed on:

"Do you think Uncle Sakumo was wrong too?"

"I..."

Kakashi could not answer. His struggle gradually weakened, and Yan let go.

Rin Nohara had instinctively moved to separate them, but when she reached them and saw Kakashi's face, she stopped.

Kakashi was crying.

Even the prodigy Kakashi had tears in his eyes...

For the first time, Rin Nohara realized that prodigies were human too.

Yan continued:

"Listen, Kakashi. I have no right to force my judgment of what's right or wrong on you. But if you, his son, believe he was wrong, then he truly was wrong.

"How could anything be right if the only family he has rejects him for it?"

Obito stepped in front of Kakashi too. "Kakashi, I might not measure up to you in anything else, but there's one thing I understand better than you."

"In the ninja world, anyone who abandons a mission is a failure. But anyone who abandons a comrade is worse than a failure!"

Though Yan had punched him in the face, Kakashi felt no pain. The setting sun seemed dazzlingly bright, and beneath its glow, a comrade reached out a hand to him.

The voices of the Night Organization's other nine members reached Kakashi:

"Come on. We're comrades."