"Congratulations on graduating," Mitaraishi Anko said as she walked straight over to Sōkyū Hatake.
"Thanks. I'm sure you'll graduate soon too," Sōkyū Hatake said with a smile. He had already achieved all his goals.
With that settled, he could relax a lot more.
If nothing else, being a ninja alone would resolve plenty of problems.
"Mm-hmm." As Mitaraishi Anko looked at Sōkyū Hatake's profile, a blush suddenly rose to her cheeks.
Unlike Kakashi, who kept his face covered, Sōkyū Hatake openly showed his face. For young girls their age, that was no small attraction.
"Bring Ayame over to my place for dinner tonight. Iruka too, and... Uchida Uchiha," Sōkyū Hatake said.
"You're inviting me?" Uchida Uchiha asked in surprise from beside them. They weren't exactly that close, were they?
"Yeah. I'm about to graduate, so doesn't that prove you lost to me?" Sōkyū Hatake said to Uchida Uchiha.
"Hmph! I'll definitely surpass you someday!" Uchida Uchiha felt rather annoyed at Sōkyū Hatake's words.
"That's something for later, isn't it? All right, all right, come to my place tonight. Dinner's on me," Sōkyū Hatake said with a smile.
In truth, he had no other intentions toward Uchida Uchiha. Aside from being a little arrogant, Uchida Uchiha didn't have many other faults.
But when it came to the Uchiha Clan, who wasn't arrogant?
"I... got it." Faced with Sōkyū Hatake's frankness, Uchida Uchiha instead found himself at a loss for words.
"Right, see you all tonight." Sōkyū Hatake waved at them, then left the training ground.
"Lord Danzo, should we approach Sōkyū Hatake at this point?" A Root ninja suddenly appeared behind Danzo.
"His goal is to head to Orochimaru's battlefield. We can approach him there when the time comes. Hiruzen still has too many eyes watching right now," Danzo said after