A few days later, the storm arrived as expected.
News of Hatake Sakumo's return from his mission hit Konoha like a ladle of cold water thrown into boiling oil, sending the entire village into an uproar. At first, it circulated only among the higher-ups, but soon, through some unknown channel, embellished details leaked out.
"Did you hear? Lord White Fang nearly got his hands on Sunagakure's most important strategic deployment map on this mission!"
"Yeah! But he actually gave it up just to save two subordinates who were surrounded! He watched the enemy destroy the intelligence!"
"My god! That intelligence could have changed the course of the entire war! So many ninja are risking their lives on the front lines just to create an opportunity like that! How could he..."
"Konoha's White Fang? I'd call it softhearted weakness! Since when did ninja put their comrades' lives above the mission? If you go to war, shouldn't you be prepared to die?"
In a barbecue restaurant in Konoha, several Chunin who had just come off duty drank and discussed it loudly, their words full of contempt and disdain.
Even more damning was a quiet voice that drifted over from a corner.
"Don't you know... those two people he saved were ninja from the Akimichi Clan and the Yamanaka Clan. After they came back, they admitted themselves that they'd recklessly rushed ahead and fallen into an ambush. They said... they'd rather have died on the battlefield than become a stain on Lord White Fang's failed mission."
At those words, the entire restaurant fell silent.
Even the comrades he had saved had turned around and blamed him.
With that, Hatake Sakumo's "guilt" seemed to have been nailed firmly to the pillar of shame. He was no longer a debatable hero who had abandoned his mission for his comrades, but a sinner who had disregarded his comrades' resolve and harmed the village's interests to satisfy his own laughable "feelings."
Rumors became the cruelest knives, slashing away at the Hatake Clan's reputation, cut after cut.
And the first to feel that chill was Kakashi Hatake.
Sunlight shone brightly over the Ninja Academy's training ground, where children's shouts rose and fell. Yet none of that bustle had anything to do with the silver-haired figure at the edge of the grounds.
Kakashi sat alone in the shade of a tree, hugging his knees, his face buried deep in his arms.
The gazes around him stabbed into his back like needles. The classmates who had once admired and envied him now looked at him with nothing but contempt and distance.
"Hey, look. That's him."
"The sinner's son..."
"Shh, keep it down. Don't let him hear."
"What's there to be scared of? After what his father did, he still has the nerve to come to school?"
Several children huddled together and whispered, their voices neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough to reach Kakashi's ears.
Inabi of the Uchiha Clan, the boy who always lost to Kakashi and both envied and feared him, now straightened his back and swaggered up to Kakashi with a few lackeys.
He looked down at Kakashi, undisguised mockery on his face.
"Well, well, if it isn't our genius, Kakashi Hatake?" Uchiha Inabi's voice brimmed with exaggerated malice. "Why are you sitting here all alone? Didn't that hero father of yours teach you to get along with others? Oh, I forgot. He's not a hero anymore. He's Konoha's... disgrace!"
"A sinner's son!" a lackey beside him immediately jeered.
Kakashi's body jerked. He raised his head, and for the first time, undisguised anger and humiliation appeared in his black eyes. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, but said nothing.
Father... isn't like that.
He wanted to argue, wanted to shout, but the words that filled the entire village weighed on his heart like a mountain, leaving him unable to breathe. Even the uncles he saved said that... could Father really have been wrong?
That wavering robbed him of all strength to fight back.
Just as the smugness on Inabi's face deepened and he prepared to say something even worse, a clear voice exploded across the noisy training ground like a thunderclap.
"My big sister is Tsunade of the Sannin!"
Everyone froze and turned toward the voice.
At some point, Senju Chen had stepped in front of Kakashi. His small frame stood like an insurmountable mountain, keeping all the malice behind him at bay.
He tilted his head up and looked straight at Uchiha Inabi, who stood much taller than him. His clear black-and-white eyes held not a trace of a child's timidity, only a cold, heart-stopping purity.
"My sister said comrades are the most important thing. For your comrades, there's nothing you can't give up!"
The entire training ground instantly fell utterly silent.
Tsunade!
Senju!
That surname carried absolute weight in Konoha.
Senju Chen ignored the shocked looks around him. His gaze swept over Uchiha Inabi, over the lackeys behind him who had fallen silent out of fear, and finally over every dumbstruck child on the grounds.
His voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
"Uncle Hatake only gave up the mission to save his comrades! He kept two wives from losing their husbands and two children from losing their fathers. He's a hero!"
He raised a finger and pointed straight at Uchiha Inabi, his tone abruptly turning sharp.
"The people who call him a sinner are the real trash of Konoha!"
Boom!
Those words set the entire place off.
Trash!
Coming from a five-year-old Senju orphan whom Princess Tsunade treasured above all else, that word carried far more weight than any adult's argument.
This was no longer a quarrel between children.
This was the will of the Senju Clan, the conviction of the legendary Sannin, mounting a direct challenge against public opinion throughout the village!
Uchiha Inabi's face turned liver-red. He wanted to argue, but faced with Senju Chen's icy eyes, and the sight of Kakashi Hatake slowly raising his head behind him, light rekindling in his eyes, Inabi opened his mouth without managing a single word.
Kakashi stared blankly at the small figure standing in front of him.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering dappled spots of light over him, warm yet carrying an unquestionable strength.
Those words, "Uncle Hatake is a hero," surged like a warm current, instantly breaking through the dam of doubt and humiliation in his heart. Without warning, his eyes began to sting.
Senju Chen did not turn around.
He kept his head raised, like a young beast guarding its treasure, taking the toughest stand with the most tender, childish frame.
"That's right!"
A powerful shout once again shattered the frozen air.
Before anyone could react, a green figure charged over like a cannonball, stirring up a gust of wind before coming to a steady stop beside Senju Chen.
The newcomer wore a signature green jumpsuit and a comical bowl cut, his two thick eyebrows brimming with a distinctive vitality.
As he made his entrance, he struck a classic bodybuilding pose, grinned to reveal a gleaming set of white teeth, and thrust his right thumb straight up.
"How could someone who protects his comrades' lives not be a hero? That's the noblest youth of all!" With two hot tears hanging at the corners of his eyes, Might Guy looked at everyone passionately. "And burning youth never lies!"
Might Guy's arrival also caused a stir among those nearby who knew about the news. Now, everyone began to wonder whether "Konoha's White Fang," who had protected his comrades, really counted as a sinner.
Senju Chen watched the reactions around him. In truth, he simply needed something that would draw everyone's attention, and the question of which mattered more, "comrades or the mission," could draw the eyes of everyone in Konoha.
Only then would he have the room and time to carry out his "secret maneuver" and complete his plan to save Hatake Sakumo!