Hatake Sakumo's worries

Yahiko punched his right fist into his left palm, eager to give it a try. "If they're your students, they must be really strong! I'd love to test myself against them!"

Nagato glanced at Konan, then at Hatake Ziyan and Yahiko, and covered his face with his hand.

You three aren't even on the same wavelength!

Hatake Ziyan turned to Nagato. "Your constitution isn't strong enough to support the full power of the Rinnegan. And when you use it, you're consuming your own life force. Although the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Technique I taught you can reduce that drain to some extent, it's still best not to use it unless you have to!"

Nagato nodded to Hatake Ziyan, showing that he understood.

Then Hatake Ziyan said to Yahiko, "Although you've reached the level of an elite jonin, your personality is going to cost you dearly. You still need to work on that!"

Looking at Yahiko's broad grin, Hatake Ziyan felt that nothing he said would get through to him.

He then turned to Konan. "Keep an eye on those two. If you run into anything you can't handle, send word to Konoha. I'll come help you!"

Konan nodded. "All right, I'll remember. Will you come back here again?"

Hatake Ziyan looked at the girl before him, who had suddenly grown rather bashful, and nodded. "I've been very happy here these past few years. I think I'll come back!"

After saying goodbye to the three of them, Hatake Ziyan swiftly left the hideout.

Over those four years, Hatake Ziyan had cultivated the simplified Nine Turns Mysterious Technique to the fifth turn.

As for the special Pangu Visualization Diagram, it had only moved the first time Hatake Ziyan viewed it. After that, it had transformed into the Nine World-Opening Images. Only after he traced all nine images with his spiritual power and filled them with color would he qualify to truly visualize the Golden Scroll itself.

As the system had explained to Hatake Ziyan, he had only completed that first visualization under its protection. Otherwise, his soul would have been shattered to pieces long ago.

So far, Hatake Ziyan had only traced the third image and was still a little short of reaching the fourth.

Although Hatake Ziyan had not perfected either cultivation method over those four years, they had still vastly increased his strength, especially his spiritual power and defense.

Simply put, anyone without at least A-rank ninjutsu could not even hurt Hatake Ziyan. Completely breaking through his physical defenses required S-rank single-target ninjutsu. Otherwise, even if he stood there and let others attack him at will, they could not kill him!

The growth in his soul power was not as exaggerated as the improvement in his body, but it was still considerable.

Taking the Mind's Eye of the Kagura as an example, before cultivating the visualization diagram, Hatake Ziyan could roughly sense enemies within a five-kilometer radius.

After cultivating it, his range might not have reached fifty kilometers, but it was at least thirty to forty kilometers. And if he wished, he could directly project the precise conditions within a one-kilometer radius into his mind.

Hatake Ziyan felt that once he finished cultivating these two simplified methods, his body and soul power alone would let him face the so-called Ōtsutsuki Clan without fear.

Hatake Ziyan traveled extremely fast. Less than a day passed between his departure from the hideout and his arrival in Hatake Sakumo's courtyard.

Watching Kakashi train, Hatake Ziyan thought of Kakashi's eventual teammate, Obito Uchiha!

Hatake Ziyan had originally intended to warn Nagato that if someone wearing a Spiral Mask ever came looking for him, he should be especially cautious and not believe anything that person said.

But then Hatake Ziyan remembered that Obito should still be in Konoha. After all, the Third Shinobi World War had only recently begun, and the name Yellow Flash was only just starting to spread!

Besides, thanks to his intervention, Hatake Sakumo had not died, and Kakashi's personality had not developed toward that of a mission machine. With his teaching, Kakashi had also grown stronger!

So Hatake Ziyan could not be certain whether a corrupted Obito Uchiha would ever appear. In the end, he had said nothing to Nagato.

"Grandpa Ziyan!" Kakashi called out happily when he saw who had arrived. "Father, Grandpa Ziyan is back!"

Sakumo ran out of the house. "Uncle Ziyan, you're back!"

Hatake Ziyan nodded to them both, then said to Kakashi, "Go tell Kushina and Nawaki to come to the training ground. I want to see how much you've improved!"

"Yes, Grandpa Ziyan!" Kakashi ran off excitedly.

As Hatake Sakumo watched Kakashi leave, his expression grew slightly strained. Hatake Ziyan noticed the change.

"What's wrong, Sakumo? Is something bothering you?" Hatake Ziyan asked as he sat down in a chair.

Hatake Sakumo sat beside him and sighed. "It's nothing too serious. It's just something that's been happening to Kakashi!"

Hatake Ziyan was a little surprised. Isn't Kakashi doing perfectly fine? What could have happened?

"What's wrong with Kakashi? He looked to be doing quite well," Hatake Ziyan asked, puzzled.

Hatake Sakumo fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Because of what happened before, I haven't gone on any missions these past few years. But Kakashi has kept taking missions to hone his skills.

"But for some reason, none of Kakashi's teammates last more than six months before dying on a mission. Now everyone in the village says that members of the Hatake Clan bring misfortune. If it weren't for Minato, I doubt anyone would be willing to accept Kakashi as a teammate!"

The moment Hatake Ziyan heard this, he understood. Isn't this just a way to force Sakumo to take up the Short Blade again and head to the battlefield? They don't want a reputation for coercing others, and they're afraid I'll come back for revenge. By using an overt scheme like this, they leave me no excuse to go after them when I return.

The nations were at war, and Konoha was practically fighting four opponents at once. Mist, Stone, Cloud, and Sand all wanted a bite of the rich prize that was the Land of Fire. Yet Konoha currently lacked top-tier fighters. Each of the Sannin was leading a force against a different nation, and even Danzo was preparing to lead troops onto the battlefield, while Sakumo sat safely at home. How could the village's higher-ups not start scheming?

Although some people did not want Hatake Sakumo to return, how could the Third Hokage let such a useful fighter sit idle in the village?

Hatake Ziyan patted Sakumo's shoulder. "I thought it was something serious! Just give me a straight answer. Do you want to go to the battlefield or not? I'll handle everything else!"

Hatake Sakumo clenched his fists. "As a member of Konoha, how could I not want to go to the battlefield? My existing military achievements have already made those higher-ups wary of me. If I go back and earn even more, I'm afraid they'll find another opportunity to suppress me!"