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"Kakashi, we finally found a hot spring that isn't crowded. You really don't want to take a soak?"
Kurenai asked gently.
Kakashi shook his head.
Bath?That would slow down his training.
His mind was completely filled with one thing—shaping the chakra sphere. Until he mastered it, nothing else mattered.
He could form the basics now, but real mastery was still far away.He needed to work harder.
Kakashi held the spinning chakra sphere in his hand, but it collapsed after a moment, instantly losing its shape.
He'd learned it…But not fully.
Still, considering he'd only been practicing for a few days, this progress was insanely fast.
From a distance, Leo watched quietly.
When he saw Kakashi struggle again, he walked over.
"Come on, let's go together. The men's bath is right next door to the women's. If someone attacks, we'll be close enough to back each other up."
Kakashi hesitated. "What about them?"
He meant the two Kirigakure nin.
"Sensei's watching them," Leo said. "Don't worry. Come on—talk a bit, relax. You might actually learn faster once your nerves unwind."
He didn't wait for Kakashi's response and headed straight inside.
Kakashi paused a moment, then got up and followed.
They grabbed towels, set aside their clothes, and Kakashi even removed his mask.
The moment they slipped into the hot spring, the exhaustion of the day melted away.
But—
Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi caught a glimpse of Leo and couldn't help thinking back to what happened earlier.
Just like Leo said… most missions weren't that important. Delays weren't fatal. But if Leo thought like he used to—
Kakashi couldn't do what Leo did.
Which one was right?
He had no answer. Only confusion.
Leaning against the stone edge of the spring, Kakashi looked up at the stars and suddenly spoke.
"Leo."
"Mm?"
Leo lay in the water, his whole body relaxed, but his mind was alert, chakra subtly spread with the rising steam to detect ambushes.
The moment Kakashi spoke, he focused.
Kakashi was sitting straight now, his unmasked face youthful and delicate—but clouded with uncertainty.
"I… don't know how to say it."
"Just say whatever."
"If you had to choose between the mission and your teammates… which would you pick?"
Kakashi tried to sound casual, but his posture, his tense expression—none of it was casual at all.
This was the shadow left behind by Sakumo's death.
Leo needed to answer seriously.
He thought for a long moment.
Truth be told, he didn't fully agree with Kakashi's future philosophy.
From next door came a splash.
Kurenai had clearly leaned closer—she was curious too.
Leo said, "I don't think there's a standard answer. Like the Second Hokage once said, a lot of things in this world don't have one."
"…What do you mean?"
Kakashi blinked. The Second Hokage? Really?
In his old worldview, the answer was simple and absolute—
The mission comes first.
That's how he'd lived.
But recently… everything was contradicting that belief, tearing at it, pulling it apart.
That was the source of his unrest.
Leo continued.
"Like the Second Hokage said, not everything is black or white. You choose based on the situation. For example—today's mission. Was I supposed to abandon my teammates for it?"
"…"
Right.
From Kakashi's perspective, anyone who couldn't help with the mission—anyone who held it back—was trash.
Even if that person was himself, they should be discarded.
"Or at least, it wouldn't make sense to waste effort protecting them, right?"
"But our squad has the ability to handle both. So why throw anyone away?"
"…"
Kakashi froze.
He fell silent, replaying countless small conflicts from the past two years.
Yeah…
Why?
Why had he assumed it had to be that way?
He couldn't answer.
Even Kurenai next door seemed baffled by his thinking—because from her view, Leo's choice was normal.
Isn't that how ninja should be?
Kakashi finally asked, "Then… when should the mission come first?"
"If we're doing something that saves many more people, and if we all understood the risks before setting out—if we knew death was possible—then in a situation where a sacrifice is unavoidable, I'd choose to complete the mission."
Leo leaned back against the stone.
Some missions carry more weight.
Sakumo had acted too impulsively, yes—but the way the village twisted the aftermath…
Leo didn't buy it.
Kakashi's eyes dimmed.
"So… the mission is more important after all?"
"???"
Leo turned, baffled.
Was he even listening?
Leo just stared at him, speechless.
Kakashi had listened to the entire explanation… only for the last sentence to override all of it?!
Bro, are you Yuan Shao or what?(You only hear what you want?!)
Annoyingly, Leo couldn't openly discuss Sakumo's suicide.
Officially, the village claimed Sakumo died on a mission—not by his own hand. The jonin knew the truth, but Leo wasn't supposed to.
So he could only hold back.
"Kakashi! Don't get stuck in one way of thinking!"
Kurenai shouted from next door.
Kakashi blinked and slowly came back to himself. He remembered the earlier part of Leo's answer—
There was no absolute.
He couldn't go to extremes.
After a long silence, Kakashi murmured, "Let me tell you a story… will you listen?"
"Of course," Leo said, sitting up.
Kakashi began, "There was once a samurai…"
He retold Sakumo's story, disguised as something from the distant past.
Then, carefully, he asked, "Do you think that samurai did the right thing?"
"He might not have been right," Leo said, "but there's something that bothers me."
Kakashi blinked. "What is it?"
"That samurai's comrade—if he was truly ready to die, why did he survive and return to the village? If he really saw death as nothing, then after learning the samurai came back for him, why didn't he die to stop the samurai from turning back? Maybe things could've still been saved."
Leo tilted his head in genuine confusion.
Kakashi stared, stunned.
He… had never thought about that.
He'd spent years agonizing over whether his father was right or wrong—and never once questioned the survivor.
Yeah…
If that guy was so noble, so self-sacrificing—why didn't he kill himself right then and there?
"Especially since he should've known what kind of person the samurai was. Otherwise how would they have been partners?"
"…"
Kakashi was speechless and dazed.
Leo stood and grabbed a towel.
"I don't know how to answer the deeper questions. But I think that samurai was incredible."
"…Why?"
"Because I've been reading a bit lately. And the core problem he faced was this:Are ninja tools… or people?"
Leo's voice grew quiet, conflicted.
"I don't know the answer."
"Tools… or people…" Kakashi whispered.
So this was the real question.
He felt like he'd just woken up—only to fall into an even deeper maze.
Which is more important?
"Leo, that's… a really deep question. I never even thought about it that way."
Kurenai commented softly from next door.
Leo shook his head.
"I just read too much. Other people have already asked these questions."
"So what did he do?"
"He built the ninja villages. He created the ninja academy. He made sure kids couldn't take missions until they were twelve—so the mission system stayed efficient, but children stayed safer."
Recognition dawned instantly.
The Second Hokage.
"And later, Lady Tsunade pushed for medical ninja to be assigned to every team, even though everyone opposed her at first."
"Medical ninja…"
Kakashi's eyes slowly cleared.
Leo didn't say it outright, but Kakashi finally understood—
Both the mission and your comrades matter.
Ninja aren't tools.Their lives have value.
And Leo's own parents died in the war too.
So he understood that more than most.
"....."