"Those who don't follow the rules are trash. But those who don't value their comrades aren't even worthy of being called trash."
The Third hesitated slightly.
Then he couldn't help but sigh, putting down the manga in his hand and leaning back in his chair, lost in thought.
"Hitoshi!"
Homura Mitokado rushed in hurriedly from outside, holding a manga book in his hand, only to find the Third calmly lying in the chair.
"There's no need to make such a big fuss. Sit down."
The Third pointed toward a seat.
Actually, he could already guess roughly seventy to eighty percent of the manga's plot just from readers' reactions, so he wasn't particularly shocked or surprised. The situation was different for this advisory elder though.
He hadn't read any reviews beforehand, so you can imagine how shocking it was when he suddenly saw something that shook him deeply.
As ninjas, what resonated most with them naturally were Obito and Kakashi's choices. These two characters almost represented the two possible paths each of them might take when facing similar dilemmas.
Yet as high-ranking officials, they weren't thinking about personal issues, but rather larger concerns regarding interests and power.
"We cannot let things develop like this. Once ninja get used to breaking the rules, who will follow missions and regulations? Wouldn't the entire Konoha just fall apart then? Who would still entrust us with missions?"
Homura spoke in an urgent tone.
If White Fang were painted as a hero we officially endorse, then everyone might start breaking rules recklessly—who would still respect these rules?
The Third handed him a cup of tea.
Homura took a sip before continuing, "We must ban this book, stop discussions about it, and reinforce the authority of Ninja Rules."
"Mitokado, everything you said makes sense. However, just now I was thinking—if someone held the same status as White Fang and encountered the same event, facing the same choice, perhaps his ending would be the same as White Fang's."
As the Third spoke, a flood of emotions surged inside him.
What kind of position did White Fang hold in the manga?
His prestige surpassed even the Sannin, and he wore half of the Hokage's cloak. Without unexpected developments, he would undoubtedly have been the best candidate for the Fourth Hokage.
For someone with such high standing to break the rules, people like Homura wouldn't forgive him—and neither would the other Hokage candidates.
White Fang's death wasn't some accident or act of cowardice—it was the inevitable outcome of clashing forces and tangled loyalties.
Homura opened his mouth but couldn't quite figure out what Sarutobi meant, so he shut up again, waiting for the Third to reveal his thoughts.
"You head out for now. We'll discuss this matter later."
Leaning back against the chair, the Third himself had yet to decide on a course of action, his mind still occupied with figuring out the right decision.
"This..."
Homura hesitated, wanting to say more.
In his view, there really was no reason for hesitation—the village could simply confiscate all copies of the manga and suppress the entire issue directly.
Looks like he'd have to go find Danzo.
However,
If Danzo had wanted to express his opinion about this matter, he should have come earlier to talk with either the Third or Akaba. After all, the Anbu were under his command—shouldn't Akaba know exactly what he was doing?
When Homura showed up at the Anbu HQ, he got the cold shoulder.
Regarding his anxiety, Danzo had only one sentence:
"Homura, that's precisely why you're merely an advisor while Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Hokage."
Homura was furious.
Before, Danzo was the most enthusiastic and proactive about these matters. Now he volunteers himself only to be met with sarcastic remarks.
This guy's definitely got some serious issues going on in that head of his!
Fuming, he wanted to vent to Koharu Utatane, but she was currently occupied with medical system research. Who had time for such trivialities?
So Homura Mitokado ended up offending again.
Regarding Kakashi's side story, the village ninja were discussing it enthusiastically. With no official stance from above for so long, everyone took it lightly and simply talked about their views on Ninja Rules and comrades from a ninja's perspective.
After repeatedly hitting walls, Homura seemed to give up entirely and didn't take any further action.
Akaba hadn't known anything about all this—until Sakumo offhandedly brought it up a few days later in the Preparatory Division, saying that his latest project nearly got abandoned midway through.
What puzzled him more, however, was what this mutt meant by constantly coming around swinging three blades at him?
"Akaba, you haven't updated *One Piece* in a long while."
Sakumo twirled his swords.
His talent with blades was undeniably outstanding—now juggling dual blades, adding a third one was like circus acrobatics. But anyone who underestimated that third sword would suffer an embarrassing defeat.
Take Nightdance, for example.
The real reason Sakumo kept bugging Akaba was simple—Nightdance had already been completely taken down by his Three-Blade Style, despite her Sword Clone technique initially showing promise.
He took a deep breath, reminding himself not to lose his cool.
"Oh right, excluding the side stories, Hokage hasn't been updated in over twenty days either. Hurry up and update, or else I'll come practice my swordsmanship on you."
Sakumo idly sat atop a tree.
A vein popped on Akaba's forehead.
How could this person become so shameless? Wanting to train against him, yet still making up excuses trying to push for updates?
"Also, when will you release something new?"
"Kid, I've tolerated you for quite a while now. Come on, let's fight! Who's gonna back down?!"
CRACK!
With a thunderous crash, under monstrous force, a tree trunk snapped midsection, crashing down.
Sakumo hesitated momentarily, then his eyes gleamed, "Didn't expect you've learned Tsunade's Monstrous Strength. Here I come."
Blades already drawn—no need for unsheathing.
He jumped down from the tree, his left tanto bent like a bow, launching the hovering blade forward.
In the next second, before Akaba could react, Sakumo chased after the blade, kicking it again midair before landing and dashing forward rapidly.
It had been a while since they last sparred—Sakumo's speed had indeed improved. In the blink of an eye, he was already standing right before him.
As the blade passed through, Akaba's body turned into splashing water.
[Water Clone Jutsu].
"What happened?"
Anbu agents and chunin instructors rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
"Nothing much. Just Akaba sparring with White Fang."
Ryosuke watched casually from afar atop another tree, clearly enjoying the scene.
"Understood!"
Soon enough, a group of Genin all came running over.
At this moment, the battlefield shifted again.
Sakumo used the third blade to harass Akaba's real position while simultaneously summoning Fang to assist in battle.
With lightning-fast moves like that, Akaba didn't even have a second to use [Genjutsu].
However,
next second, as Sakumo swung at him, Akaba acted too slow to dodge and took the hit head-on. Then, with a light touch of his left hand on Sakumo's body, he quickly followed up with a powerful punch.
Boom!
Even though he held back some force, the punch still sent Sakumo flying over ten steps backward. If not for Sakumo's preemptive chakra protection, he might have been seriously injured.
More than that, he could feel unbearable pain in his arm muscles, as if they had been cut through.
As for Akaba—
the effect of [Yin Healing Wound Destruction] activated, and the wound caused by the blade rapidly regenerated.
"That was one powerful strike. And very annoying too."
Sakumo took a breath and prepared to stand up for another round.
But when he tried to push himself up with his right foot, his left hand moved instead.
This was the effect of [Disturbance Taijutsu]!
"What's going on?"
"It seems like that punch had such strong effects!"
Sakumo's movements appeared strange, and everyone immediately noticed something was wrong—apparently, he temporarily couldn't control his own actions.
"You've already lost."
Akaba swiftly pulled out his Chakra Sketchpad and Brush.
Within just over a second, the Genjutsu took effect.
In the blink of an eye, several strands of Sakumo's hair were sliced off.
The illusion faded.
At first, Sakumo flailed around in a clumsy, comical way—but after about ten seconds, he slowly got back up, still struggling against the technique's effects.
He has been defeated.
Everyone was rather shocked, especially the Anbu members.
They, as comrades-in-arms, knew best how powerful Sakumo was. Yet against Akaba, he was defeated in only a few exchanges.
While Akaba had the advantage of surprise, it clearly proved his strength was extraordinary.
Several Anbu members looked at Sakumo with concern, fearing he would be deeply affected.
But he wasn't disheartened. Instead, he happily smiled and asked, "Looks like you've all been up to something good. What techniques were in that punch?"
"[Disturbance Taijutsu] and [Chakra Scalpel]. Both are Medical Ninjutsu."
Akaba walked beside him, formed Hand Seals with both hands, and began healing him using [Mystical Palm Technique].
"Can medical techniques actually be used for combat?"
Sakumo felt surprised.
He had heard about the reformation of the medical system before, and also knew that Akaba contributed greatly to it. But this was his first time hearing about medical techniques being applied directly in battle.
"Of course they can."
Akaba replied briefly, then withdrew his chakra.
The muscle damage was repaired.
"Do your medics really have combat-style Medical Jutsu?"
Some curious Anbu nearby poked the medic who had originally planned to treat Sakumo.
"I've heard of [Chakra Scalpel] from Tsunade-sama before, but I've never heard of [Disturbance Taijutsu]. It might be a new technique recently developed by Akaba-sama."
The medic shook his head and then focused intently on watching Akaba.
So skillful in medical techniques—he truly deserved to be known as Akaba, the developer of Battlefield Medical Ninjutsu.
Previously, nobody had seen Akaba use any medical techniques, but today's demonstration made clear that someone capable of inventing these techniques must be extraordinary indeed.
"Wait a second, don't remove the [Disturbance Taijutsu] effect from me. I want to get used to fighting like this."
Sakumo declined Akaba's continued treatment and began moving around in awkward positions.
After all, this technique itself wasn't truly frightening.
As long as he adapts for a while, or uses chakra to counteract the chakra affecting his nerves, he could handle it.
However, combined with Akaba's genjutsu, even just one or two seconds could prove fatal. Plus, he had slashed Akaba earlier, only to watch the wound heal as if it never existed.
This fighting style combining brute force and bizarre ninjutsu was truly troublesome — his own attacks might not be effective, yet if the opponent lands even a single punch on him, it would all be over.
If he has to fight this guy in the future, he must definitely keep his distance.
"Alright, I'm going into seclusion for a while to do some painting. Stop bugging me every day."
Akaba, who recently had been constantly annoyed by Sakumo's pestering, didn't know what had transformed the once cold young man into such an unabashed person. To avoid further harassment from him, Akaba thought it better to continue his painting.
Not only that, but he also figured he should keep Sakumo busy with something.
After thinking for a moment, he got an idea.
"Don't worry, I won't come bother you until I've figured out a concrete tactic to defeat you."
Sakumo shook his head.
He wasn't discouraged — just honestly aware of how big the power gap was between them. For example, against Sakuma clan's genjutsu, he had absolutely no resistance at all. He had already tried mental defense — the opponent was like a flood beast, while he was weak as a chicken.
Although he could escape genjutsu by inducing a state of [Self-Unconsciousness], he didn't have Orochimaru's unnatural ability to snap back into consciousness in an instant. Ultimately, he still suffered complete defeat, since against an unconscious enemy, Akaba simply needed to walk over and finish him off with a single punch.
This battle had shocked everyone, especially those genin.
Though they were roughly the same age, their power levels already seemed worlds apart. Not to mention Akaba, even Sakumo alone could wipe out all of them.
No wonder he is a jonin, while they are mere genin.
"Oh right, I'm going into seclusion for painting now, so help me train the Preparatory Division. Your teaching methods a few days ago worked well — you're much better than me."
Before Sakumo could object, Akaba turned directly to Ryosuke and others, "From today onward, Sakumo Hatake will temporarily serve as training instructor. Everyone got it?"
"Yes!"
Everyone enthusiastically responded.
Compared to Akaba, Sakumo was more popular among them, and this had nothing to do with strength. It was because Akaba's abilities seemed beyond their reach, whereas after Sakumo taught them for just one day, they had gained tremendous insights.
Confused and bewildered, Sakumo had unexpectedly become a temporary instructor?
What really stood out was this,
Right after issuing the command, Akaba vanished in just one second.
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