Rumors and Slander

As for the final blow that brought Hatake Sakumo down, it came from the two comrades he had once saved!

After the two woke up in the hospital, they joined the villagers without a second thought, condemning him along with them without regard for right or wrong.

Sakumo was deeply hurt.

In the end, this renowned elite Jonin, Konoha's White Fang, who had given everything for Konoha, chose to take his own life, unable to bear the accusations of everyone, including the comrades he had saved.

He had only been around thirty when he died. Even after his death, Sakumo's soul found no release. Day after day, year after year, he waited alone by a fire for his son to arrive.

It was not until Pain invaded Konoha and Kakashi died after exhausting his Chakra that their souls were reunited. Kakashi told Sakumo everything he had experienced since Sakumo's death, his expression calm by then.

Hatake Sakumo was deeply moved after hearing it all and regarded Kakashi as his pride. In the end, neither had any regrets. Kakashi was then brought back to life by Pain, and Sakumo's soul returned to the Pure Land.

But did he truly have no regrets? Did he really not regret missing his son's childhood?

Koki's gaze returned to the man still caught up in the commotion, and his face darkened. This man had to be one of the two comrades Hatake Sakumo had saved.

How ungrateful! He had saved an ungrateful wretch!

The commotion over there continued. A group of ninja had gathered together, their emotions running high. One of them held a bottle of liquor and pointed at another man, loudly berating him about something. The people around them were all talking at once, and the atmosphere was tense.

Liquor bottles sat haphazardly on the table, and a pile of broken bowls and plates lay on the floor. It looked as though everyone was drunk, yet strangely, none of the staff came to stop them.

One ninja seemed to speak up to intervene, but his tone was full of sarcasm as he said, "Why be so harsh? Lord White Fang saved you, after all. Isn't it repaying kindness with malice to accuse him like this?"

"Who needs him to save me? I'd rather die than have him save me! Anyone who abandons a mission is trash!"

"Exactly! He abandoned the mission and caused the village such huge losses. He's trash!"

"That's right! Who knows if he did it on purpose?"

"The village's interests come before everything! Am I right, everyone?"

"Yeah, let's hear what everyone thinks!"

The ordinary villagers who had come to eat might have known little about the deeds of ninja, but they were sure to have heard the famous name of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.

From what the ninja were saying, the villagers could not grasp the full picture, but they had roughly pieced together what had happened: apparently, Lord Sakumo had abandoned one of the village's S-rank missions to save his comrades?

People naturally loved gossip and a spectacle. Everyone in the barbecue restaurant began whispering and talking among themselves.

"But Lord White Fang is a hero of our village!"

"What kind of hero abandons the village's mission?"

"Exactly. The village's interests always come first. What he did clearly broke the rules and caused the village losses."

"Isn't that what a traitor would do?"

"He is a traitor! He caused our village such enormous losses."

"That's right! He betrayed the village for his own interests and abandoned the mission!"

"Exactly. Didn't you hear the person he saved call him trash?"

As the villagers began cursing indignantly, a faint, satisfied smile quietly appeared on the ninja's lips.

At that moment, this scene was playing out not only in the barbecue restaurant but in bustling establishments throughout Konoha. The scenes were astonishingly alike!

Listening to the increasingly absurd discussion around him, Koki was stunned. He had originally thought Hatake Sakumo far too fragile for taking his own life over a few idle remarks from the villagers. Only now did he realize how deeply rumors and slander could hurt someone. If by tonight the story could become that Hatake Sakumo had betrayed the village for his own interests, would it become that he wanted to be a missing-nin by tomorrow?

No wonder so many people took their own lives after suffering online abuse. How innocent they were!

Enough voices could melt gold; relentless slander could destroy a man!

Koki's expression grew darker and darker, and even the usually carefree Obito began to sense something was wrong.

"Koki, who's this White Fang they're talking about?"

"He's Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, known as Konoha's White Fang," Koki said, suppressing his anger.

"What!? That idiot Kakashi's father?"

Obito was so shocked that he couldn't help standing up! He started over to confront the people, but Koki grabbed his hand and held him back.

"What are you doing?" Obito turned back angrily and shook Koki's hand off. Thinking Koki was afraid, he said, "You might be scared of them, but I'm not! He didn't do anything wrong. I'm going to speak up for him."

Hearing this, Koki's expression remained unchanged. He simply looked at Obito in silence for a long time.

Itachi hugged his older brother, his heart aching for him, and glared fiercely at Obito.

Shisui, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. "Brother Obito! Calm down first and look at what's happening around you. Someone is clearly doing this deliberately to stir up the villagers' anger. Going out there now will only make them push back and curse him even more." Shisui sighed and continued, "If I'm not mistaken, these rumors will spread through every street and alley in Konoha tomorrow."

"Besides, won't talking like that hurt Koki?"

"Koki, I'm really sorry." After calming down for a moment, Obito realized he had been too impulsive and sincerely apologized to Koki.

"Ah, it's all right. I'm angry too, but Brother Obito, don't be so impulsive in the future." Koki knew Obito's temperament well and did not blame him too much.

"Shisui, you think these people are doing it deliberately too?" Koki had sensed something was wrong from the start. These people seemed to be deliberately spreading the news.

Manipulating public opinion? This is getting more and more interesting. It seems Hatake Sakumo's death was no accident. Someone must have been behind it, fanning the flames.

Shisui nodded slightly.

"Baby, wait here. I'll be right back." Koki could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He let go of Itachi and motioned for Obito to follow. The two went over to the man Sakumo had saved.

"What do you want?" Seeing the two Uchiha youths approach, the group demanded rudely.

Koki said expressionlessly, "What do we want? Didn't you say you'd rather die than be saved? Then hurry up and die! Do you need a hand with that?"

"What? You little brat, you don't know your place!"

Just as the arm the man swung was about to touch Koki, Shisui appeared in an instant and stood in front of him, blocking the blow.

Sharingan, activate!

"Sh-Sharingan?" Looking at the two identical pairs of Three-Tomoe Sharingan before him, the man instantly slumped in his chair.