Konoha Village.
Smack!
A rotten egg flew straight at Kakashi Hatake, splattering against him. An angry middle-aged woman glared at him furiously. "Go to hell, you bastard!"
Immediately after, leaves, and even small stones, joined the barrage, pelting Kakashi mercilessly. By the time he reached a restaurant, he was already in a disheveled state.
"Sorry! We're closed," the restaurant owner said, though his insincere tone made it clear he wasn't being truthful.
It was only noon—how could they possibly be closing?
Besides, there were plenty of diners still sitting inside, clearly enjoying their meals. Were they supposed to be invisible?
Kakashi sighed deeply and trudged home, his steps heavy.
Ever since the failed assault on Sunagakure, the blame for the defeat had been conveniently pinned on Kakashi and Shikaku Nara by Danzo. Both had even faced temporary imprisonment.
But compared to Shikaku, who had the backing of the Nara Clan and the solidarity of the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance, Kakashi had no such foundation to rely on. Danzo dared not push Shikaku too far, only giving him a light reprimand.
As for Kakashi, however, the portion of blame that should have fallen on Shikaku was also dumped onto him. He became the village's scapegoat, the target of all the villagers' anger. Families of fallen shinobi unleashed their grief and rage upon him. If not for Jiraiya speaking up for him, Kakashi's situation would have been even worse.
In the distance, two shinobi walked out of an alley. They had been chatting and laughing, but their expressions turned cold the moment they spotted Kakashi.
"It's that bastard! If it weren't for him, we never would have lost! So many wouldn't have died!" one of them said loudly, making sure Kakashi could hear.
"Hmph! I don't know how he has the nerve to keep living. He should just follow in his dead father's footsteps and commit seppuku already," the other shinobi added venomously.
"Yeah! Since he's the son of the White Fang, he should live up to his father's legacy, right?"
Kakashi clenched his fists tightly, feeling a surge of anger rise from deep within him. But just as quickly, it turned into a bitter sadness.
He recognized those two shinobi—they had fought alongside him in the assault on Sunagakure. They should have known the truth!
But reality was often absurd.
Those former comrades, whether coerced by Danzo, deluding themselves, or outright lying to themselves, had all accepted Danzo's version of events. They pointed their fingers at him, as if the failure of the mission was solely Kakashi's fault.
As if the assault on Sunagakure would have succeeded if not for him!
Ridiculous! The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was still alive—that was the real reason for the failure!
Father, Kakashi thought, is this how you felt back then?
He used to think his father was weak. But now, he realized he wasn't much stronger.
As thoughts of ending his own life crept into his mind, a small, golden-haired figure suddenly flashed through his memory.
Naruto... You grew up in this kind of environment. How did you manage to stay strong? How did you remain so optimistic?
In the past, Kakashi had found it hard to understand. Today, he realized it was nothing short of a miracle.
Naruto's image distracted him, and the thought of suicide began to fade. Kakashi sighed deeply and continued walking home, his steps as lifeless as a walking corpse.
At that moment, a green figure appeared from around the corner.
"Yo! Kakashi!"
"Let's have a youthful duel!"
It was Might Guy, another person who had endured ridicule since childhood yet remained optimistic and cheerful.
Seeing that confident thumbs-up, those gleaming teeth, those thick brows, and that ever-energetic expression, Kakashi felt some of the negativity in his heart dissipate. His body felt just a bit lighter.
Thank you, Guy.
Father, I will live on with strength.
Elsewhere in Konoha.
The Inuzuka and Aburame clans were holding a secret meeting.
Neither clan enjoyed resorting to such clandestine actions. But with Danzo's increasingly oppressive rule, they had become the first to bear the brunt of his policies. They were reaching their breaking point.
When Danzo first assumed power, he had demanded personnel from every clan to bolster the ranks of Root.
It was important to note that bolstering Root was fundamentally different from bolstering the Anbu.
Joining Root meant being brainwashed, having a Binding Curse Seal placed on one's tongue, and becoming nothing more than a killing tool for Danzo, severed from one's original clan. It was essentially equivalent to Danzo stealing people directly from the clans.
No one wanted this.
But Danzo was the Hokage now, and appearances had to be maintained. No one wanted to be the first to openly defy him, so they reluctantly complied.
Yet not long after, Konoha suffered a major defeat, and Danzo once again demanded personnel to replenish Root.
This was unacceptable!
Did Danzo think their clansmen were like crops, ready to be harvested and regrown at will?
These were living, breathing people!
From pregnancy to becoming a qualified shinobi, it took at least fifteen or sixteen years. Previously, each clan would send one person to Root every three years. But now, Danzo had demanded three people at once. And less than six months later, he was asking for more!
For small clans like the Inuzuka and Aburame, with only three to five hundred members in total, this was devastating. While their ninja-to-population ratio was higher than average, they still only had about a hundred ninja.
Subtracting retired elders and young children, only about fifty were active combatants. And many of those had already been lost in the two recent wars.
"What should we do?" asked Tsume Inuzuka, the head of the Inuzuka Clan. Known for their directness rather than their intellect, the Inuzuka often relied on others for strategy.
"I don't know," replied Shibi Aburame, head of the Aburame Clan, equally at a loss.
This time, Danzo's demands were excessive. The Hyuga Clan, with its vast resources, could withstand the pressure. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans, being Danzo's allies, were naturally spared. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio also managed to hold their ground.
That left the Aburame and Inuzuka clans as the primary scapegoats.
The quotas that other clans refused to fill were shifted onto them. Each clan was now expected to provide ten people!
Adding in their losses from the two wars, their pool of capable shinobi would be halved. Their clans would be severely weakened!
Even more worrying was the lack of an end in sight. To put it bluntly, they were like pigs being raised by Danzo, slaughtered at his whim, utterly powerless to resist.
"What if we defect?" Shibi Aburame blurted out, a certain figure flashing through his mind. Someone had once promised to repay the Aburame Clan—perhaps now was the time to see if that promise held any weight.
"Defect... defect?" The word sent shockwaves through the group. Such a decision could lead to their clan's annihilation if mishandled. It was not a choice to be made lightly.
Seeing the others' reactions, Shibi quickly calmed down. In truth, his suggestion had been made in a moment of desperation. While their current situation was dire, it hadn't yet reached the point of no return.
After all, even if they defected, where could they go?
If they fled to Amegakure and the village later fell into chaos like it did under Hanzo, their fate could end up even worse than it was in Konoha.
For now, they would endure.
As long as Konoha could stabilize in future conflicts, the pressure on them might ease.
After all, Konoha was still the strongest of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even with two major setbacks, it was unlikely to fall so easily.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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