Hatake Sakumo

Qingyun had told Tsunade about awakening his Sharingan because he did not want to lie to her.

Tsunade had treated him very well and helped him a great deal lately. Not only had she put her heart into teaching him Medical Ninjutsu, but she had also dug out some notes on Ninjutsu from the Senju Clan for him to use.

It had been one thing when Tsunade had not asked about his Sharingan before, but now that she had brought it up herself, Qingyun did not want to hide it from her.

Qingyun trusted that Tsunade would not betray him.

"Uh, how did my grandma find out?"

Tsunade's pupils widened slightly at his words. Qingyun had only been three when his parents died, hadn't he? Awakening the Sharingan at three—what did that even mean? Tsunade hardly dared to imagine it. Then, hearing the rest of what he said, she froze and looked at him in confusion.

Qingyun told Tsunade how Mito Uzumaki had disguised herself as a masked ninja, kidnapped Kushina, and lured him into rescuing her.

After hearing this, Tsunade nodded in understanding. Naturally, she knew what role Kushina would take on in the future, and she fully understood why her grandmother had tested Qingyun that way. After all, Tsunade knew perfectly well how her Great-Granduncle had died.

Tsunade looked at Qingyun with a complicated expression. She had never expected him to earn such regard from her grandmother.

“Big Sis Teacher, please keep this a secret for me.”

Qingyun spoke slowly as he watched Tsunade standing there in a daze.

"Don't worry! I'll keep it secret."

Tsunade understood Konoha's current situation very well. Especially with that rat in the gutter about to return, she did not want to cause Qingyun any trouble.

“Thank you, Big Sis Teacher.”

A bright smile spread across Qingyun's face.

"All right, keep training and try to perfect Chidori. Otherwise, you won't be able to use it without exposing your Sharingan. It would be a shame to leave such powerful Ninjutsu gathering dust."

Tsunade patted Qingyun on the shoulder and, after offering that reminder, prepared to leave.

“Wait, Big Sis Teacher. I wanted to ask—if Minato and I graduated now, who would be our Team Leader?”

Seeing that Tsunade was about to leave, Qingyun hurriedly stopped her and asked his question.

Tsunade paused. Hadn't Qingyun always wanted to live this lazy, laid-back life? Why did he suddenly want to graduate early?

Seeing her confusion, Qingyun explained helplessly, "Right now, I've hit a bottleneck in every aspect of my strength. Even if I keep training hard, I won't improve much. I need to graduate, experience a real battlefield, and fight with my life on the line to keep improving rapidly."

"Hmm, is that so? Sakumo will be back soon. I'll ask him whether he's willing to take you two on."

Tsunade nodded, then considered it for a while before answering somewhat hesitantly.

She would soon have to head to the Front Lines to guard against the Sand Ninja. According to their scouts, Chiyo was already preparing to leave Sunagakure for the battlefield.

After Tsunade had countered all her poisons, Chiyo had returned to Sunagakure to devote herself to developing new poison mixtures. Now that she was preparing to head to the Front Lines, she must have achieved new results. As Konoha's foremost Medical Ninja, Tsunade naturally had to go to the Front Lines to oppose her.

Qingyun's eyes lit up at her words. Hatake Sakumo had certainly been making a name for himself lately.

A year earlier, Hatake Sakumo had taken over the Front Lines position where Tsunade had been guarding against Sunagakure.

But Sunagakure had remained holed up, giving Hatake Sakumo no openings. He could only remain locked in a standoff with Sunagakure's Ebizo.

Things had remained quiet throughout that time, but Hatake Sakumo had not grown impatient. He had waited patiently for an opportunity.

Two months earlier, Konoha had sent a Supply Convoy to the Front Lines. Hatake Sakumo had keenly spotted an opportunity and had someone use the Transformation Technique to impersonate him and mislead Sunagakure.

Then he had leaked information about the Supply Convoy to Sunagakure. After receiving the intelligence, Sunagakure had dispatched Chiyo's Son and her daughter-in-law to intercept and kill them.

Since Hatake Sakumo was supposedly in camp, and the ambush needed to be swift and decisive, Sunagakure had not sent many people—only a single squad.

Yet just as they approached Konoha's Supply Convoy and prepared to attack, Hatake Sakumo suddenly appeared. He cut down two nobodies with a single slash, then engaged Chiyo's Son and his wife in battle!

Hatake Sakumo's Swordsmanship was astonishing, and his movements were swift. He soon forced Chiyo's Son and his wife back again and again.

Just as Hatake Sakumo was about to kill them, the Third Kazekage descended from the sky and used Magnet Release to block him.

Utterly fearless, Hatake Sakumo fought Sunagakure's three elite fighters alone, locked in a fierce battle.

At the time, the Third Kazekage had only just succeeded to his position, and his strength was not yet fully developed. Even with the help of Chiyo's Son and his wife, he could barely hold Hatake Sakumo off.

But Hatake Sakumo's formidable strength and exceptionally sharp Swordsmanship soon allowed him to pick them apart. First, he severed the Chakra Threads connecting Chiyo's Daughter-in-Law to her puppets, forcing the Third Kazekage and Chiyo's Son to come to her aid. Then he used his blindingly fast Movement Technique to move behind Chiyo's Son and beheaded him with one slash.

Under the grief-stricken, furious gazes of the Third Kazekage and Chiyo's Daughter-in-Law, Hatake Sakumo showed no mercy on account of her being a woman. He turned and attacked her next.

With her puppets lost and her husband dead, Chiyo's Daughter-in-Law could not bear the shock for a moment and froze where she stood.

The Third Kazekage was too late to save her, and Chiyo's Daughter-in-Law also fell to Hatake Sakumo's blade.

Grief and fury filled the Third Kazekage as he fought Hatake Sakumo. But if the three of them together had been no match for him, how could the Third Kazekage manage alone?

He was soon driven back again and again. Left with no choice, the Third Kazekage used Magnet Release to scoop up the bodies of Chiyo's Son and his wife and fly away.

A momentary lapse by Hatake Sakumo gave the Third Kazekage the chance to take to the sky. All Sakumo could do was watch helplessly as he flew farther and farther away.

Although Hatake Sakumo had failed to kill the Third Kazekage, that battle alone had made his name feared throughout the shinobi world.

He had single-handedly fought a village's Kage alongside two Kage-level fighters and killed two of them. That achievement shocked the major ninja villages, which all issued orders: "From now on, anyone who encounters Konoha's White Fang during a mission may abandon that mission unconditionally, without punishment."

Once that order was issued, the name of Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, resounded in every corner of the shinobi world.

His newfound fame also led the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to summon Hatake Sakumo back and personally grant him the title of Hokage's Aide.

For a time, Hatake Sakumo became the foremost figure beneath the Hokage, outranking three members of the Konoha F4.

Lately, even though Qingyun was not attending the Ninja Academy, he still frequently heard Hatake Sakumo's name.

What a shame! Qingyun shook his head at the thought. The very thing that had brought Sakumo success would also bring his downfall.

The title of Hokage's Aide had brought Hatake Sakumo fame and success, but his political instincts were truly lacking!

Had Hiruzen Sarutobi granted him that title, Hatake Sakumo's future would surely have been glorious. Even if he could not become the Fourth Hokage, he would still have joined Konoha's council of elders, holding high rank and considerable power.

Unfortunately, the daimyo had bypassed Hiruzen Sarutobi to bestow the title. Even if Hatake Sakumo did not refuse it, he should have returned first and sought Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval before accepting it.

No wonder Danzo would later scheme against Hatake Sakumo, maneuvering him into abandoning a mission to save his teammates, then spreading rumors to incite the villagers to attack him. He would even have the person Sakumo had saved deliver an impassioned speech about never needing his rescue, leaving Hatake Sakumo so disheartened that he took his own life by disembowelment. And Hiruzen Sarutobi would remain unmoved, silently watching from beginning to end.

If I were the leader of a faction and saw my subordinate accept a title from someone else, I'd be unhappy too. It would be merciful enough if I didn't personally scheme to get rid of you, yet you'd still expect me to forget the offense and help you? How could that happen? Unless someone were a saint reborn, what ordinary person could do that?

Through their interactions over this period, Qingyun had learned that Hiruzen Sarutobi was not deceitful like Danzo. It was just that, as the leader of a faction, there were many times when he had little choice.

If Qingyun had to assess Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would describe him as a kindhearted but indecisive man.

Hiruzen Sarutobi loved the villagers, especially the children, whom he truly took good care of. But when it came to his teammate, the companion he had grown up with, he never stopped him even when he knew he was wrong. He merely offered a few token reprimands before forgiving him. Even after that teammate sent people to ambush and kill him, he could still forgive him. Qingyun honestly did not know what to say about someone like that.

"Hey, why are you spacing out again?"

Seeing Qingyun standing there in a daze, Tsunade rapped him on the head in exasperation.

The knock hurt, and Qingyun rubbed his forehead as he glared at Tsunade. "Nothing. It's just that Sakumo has become really famous lately! I'm afraid he might attract some people's jealousy in the future."

This was Qingyun's way of warning Tsunade, so she would tell Hatake Sakumo to be more careful in the future.