Kakashi Hatake

"Next week's objective: use three swords to strike a wooden post five thousand times every day."

"Reward: Zoro's Three-Sword Style training manual."

Chihane's heart leaped with joy at the news. Until now, he had been figuring out swordsmanship on his own. With Zoro's training manual, he would surely avoid plenty of unnecessary detours.

Still, if he was going to practice Three-Sword Style, he should probably buy more milk to protect his teeth. Three-Sword Style was rough on the teeth!

"System, open the status panel."

Host: Chihane Hatake

Gender: male

Profession: swordsman

Strength: ninja apprentice (the term "Swordmaster" in the One Piece World is too broad. Someone with a bounty of 50 million qualifies, and so does someone with a bounty of 500 million, so the Shinobi World's ranking system will be used here instead) (Genin-Chunin-Jonin-Kage Level; anything beyond that will remain unplanned for now)

Swordsmanship: One-Sword Style: Iai, "Death Lion's Song"

One Sword Style: Thirty-Six Pound Phoenixes (locked)

Items: Wado Ichimonji, Zoro's Green Bandana

Worthless cannon fodder. If there is one thing the Shinobi World never lacks, it is cannon fodder.

Looking at the system's data, Chihane could not help feeling a little embarrassed. "Worthless cannon fodder" was a bit too blunt.

Just as Chihane put away Wado Ichimonji and prepared to train, he suddenly seemed to sense something. He raised his head toward the top of the courtyard wall and said:

"Looks like you've made a habit of not using the front gate."

A familiar figure appeared atop the wall. He had the same face, though his was covered by a mask. It was Kakashi Hatake.

"No, I just happened to be coming back from that direction."

Kakashi leaped down from the wall and landed in the courtyard.

On closer inspection, there were still quite a few differences between Kakashi and Chihane. One had long silver hair, while the other wore a green bandanna. One wore a mask, and physically, Chihane was clearly taller and more muscular.

Looking at Chihane, Kakashi could clearly sense that his older brother was different from before. Although his appearance had barely changed, his confident bearing and the broken wooden post beside him made it obvious that his brother had undergone a major change during the few days Kakashi had been away on a mission. But wasn't that a good thing?

In truth, Kakashi had always worried that Chihane would suffer because of him.

Ever since he had been promoted to Chunin the previous year, rumors had spread throughout the village that the Hatake Clan had produced both a genius and a dead last.

People mockingly called one the Light of the Hatake and the other the Shame of the Hatake.

Although he stopped them whenever he heard it, if so many people discussed it to his face, how many more were talking about it where he could not hear?

He knew Chihane was strong at heart, but he always worried that the gossip would affect him, perhaps even make him give up on himself. After seeing Chihane today, though...

He could finally rest easy.

After all, the situation outside the village was unstable, with constant friction between the ninja villages. He truly worried that if war broke out, he would inevitably be sent to the battlefield. What would his older brother do then?

If his brother failed to graduate when the war began and never became a ninja, he would certainly be safest. But knowing Chihane and his pride, Kakashi knew that was absolutely impossible.

"Brother, I came back this time to pack my things. I'll be leaving on another mission, and I won't be back for a long time. Be careful while you're home alone, and make sure you don't hurt yourself when you train," Kakashi told Chihane solemnly. His older brother always trained far too recklessly and often left himself covered in injuries.

"Don't worry. Kakashi, make sure you're extra careful out there once you leave the village. Think everything through before you act. But since you're leaving tomorrow and will be away for a while, I'll cook today. Just wait until you see the feast I make you." Chihane knew Kakashi's personality all too well.

Ever since their father had been driven to suicide by malicious rumors, Kakashi's personality had changed drastically. He did not want others looking at him differently.

He had shown the full extent of his talent, graduating at five and becoming a Chunin at six. Although he had succeeded in making sure no one dared look at him strangely, he had ultimately allowed others to affect him. He had become overly sensitive to everything around him, even somewhat withdrawn. Although Chihane's presence had kept him from shutting himself off completely, he still prioritized completing missions above all else, utterly disregarding his own safety.

He feared people bringing up how their father had killed himself because he had abandoned a mission and was too ashamed to face everyone.

But some things were not as simple as they seemed. How could Konoha's White Fang, a man renowned throughout the Shinobi World with countless military achievements, have been driven to suicide by the villagers over a single failed mission?

What bullshit!

Any mission that required White Fang would surely have been classified. How could the entire village have known about it? And how had his subordinate dared come forward to accuse him? Even setting aside the fact that White Fang had saved his life, the hierarchy among ninja did not allow someone to accuse a superior so casually.

Moreover, the Third Hokage had never once stepped forward to clarify matters from beginning to end. Even if the mission had failed, someone with his influence could easily have quelled the uproar by offering an explanation. That meant the Konoha High Command must have intervened, giving the accuser confidence that he had powerful backing and need not fear anything White Fang might do to him.

Although Chihane could not be certain exactly what had happened, the Third Hokage and Danzo must have had a hand in it. Most likely, they had simply felt that Konoha's White Fang had become too prestigious and threatened their positions.

After all, with his formidable strength and military achievements, White Fang had stood a very good chance of becoming the Fourth Hokage. That was something Danzo could never accept.

Furthermore, the way the Third Hokage had immediately returned to power after Minato's death revealed his desire to control Konoha. How could he possibly allow a ninja outside his own inner circle to become Hokage?

Since their father's death was inextricably linked to the higher-ups, he and Kakashi must already have drawn their attention. With the talent Kakashi had displayed, Danzo must already have set his sights on him. Although the Third Hokage stood between them and would not easily let Danzo have his way, what if Danzo decided to destroy what he could not obtain? Chihane had to protect his little brother.

"What a hassle."

Hearing that Chihane was going to cook, Kakashi involuntarily swallowed twice, even as he kept up his petulant act.

Although Chihane was no master chef, he had lived alone in his previous life and often experimented with a few home-cooked dishes in his spare time. For Kakashi, who had grown up eating ordinary Shinobi World food, mostly rice balls and sushi, and had nothing but ration pills on missions, those meals were something he always ate without leaving a single bite.

"Come on, let's go inside. Help me wash the vegetables." With that, Chihane headed into the house.

"Fine, there's just no getting through to you. You're the one insisting on cooking!" Kakashi followed close behind Chihane, pretending not to care.

Kakashi, I will never let you become a sacrifice to the higher-ups' political scheming!