Hatake Sakumo stood up slowly, pushed open the closed wooden partition door, looked at the waning moon hanging alone in the sky, tightened his loose home clothes, and said, "Do you know the Warring States Period?"

Hayama frowned and became impatient. Every elderly ninja was talking about the Warring States Period, which made his ears prick.

"I don't know about the bullshit Warring States Period. I just know that you have chosen to escape now."

Hatake Sakumo smiled slightly and did not refute, but Hayama saw endless fatigue in his smile.

"Hayama, you were born in the 24th year of Konoha. Naturally, you have never seen the cruelty and chaos of the Warring States Period. I..."

"I don't want to hear these old stories. It doesn't make any sense to talk about them now!"

Before Hatake Sakumo could finish speaking, Hayama interrupted him rudely and walked around the room like a trapped animal. He was extremely irritable.

"Then instead of talking about the Warring States Period, how about I tell you my story?"

Hayama leaned over and grabbed the burnt black Konoha forehead protector. After a burst of chakra surged in his body, thunder and lightning shot out of his palm, electrifying the iron piece again and again. Only then did the depression in his heart dissipate, and he nodded expressionlessly.

, signaling Hatake Sakumo to continue.

"I was born in Konoha in the sixth year. At that time, the village was small and pitiful. There was not even the concept of a 'village'. It was just a street about two kilometers long from north to south. Despite this, everyone's face was full of smiles.

With satisfied smiles, everyone is full of pride in what they are doing and full of energy."

"You know, during the most difficult time, the entire village's food reserves were exhausted, and the cold winter was coming soon. It was Madara Uchiha who licked his face and asked the daimyo for food for the winter. At that time, I only had

When I was four years old, a bowl of batter was handed to me from the hands of five people. Everyone was looking forward to me eating the batter, even though they were all hungry. From that moment on, I knew what hope was and what

It's a village."

"When I was ten years old, the first generation of adults and Uchiha Madara died one after another. The second generation of adults discovered that other villages were eagerly looking at them and began to actively prepare for war. At that time, there were countless ninjas who signed up to go to the battlefield. Everyone loved this from the bottom of their hearts.

For this village, which still has many loopholes in its maturity, my father and three uncles died on the battlefield. When the corpses were brought back, they all had smiles on their faces. I think they all believed in it until they died.

I am proud to be a Konoha ninja."

"When I was thirteen years old, I was promoted to chuunin by the Second Generation Master based on my military exploits, and began my true career as a ninja. From the dusty Wind Country to the high-altitude Earth Country, to the Thunder Country with sturdy folk customs.

, I have been fighting for more than twenty years. During this period, the number of close friends around me has continued to decrease, and I have almost died on the spot several times, but in the end I survived and was crowned the White Fang of Konoha by the good guys.

title."

"But I am not really strong. Compared with the adults who determined the Warring States Period, I can't compare with anything. But I have never felt the slightest shame because of my strength, because no matter what my strength is, I still love the village.

Stronger than anyone else."

Hatake Sakumo stopped talking, looking at the dilapidated and desolate scene in the clan with a nostalgic look in his eyes, sadness and self-blame welling up in his heart.

"When I was seventeen, I became the thirty-ninth clan leader of the Hatake clan. However, when the once powerful clan passed into my hands, there were not many clan members left, and there were even fewer ninjas who were truly capable.

A few. Before he died, my uncle held my hand and begged me to be a qualified clan leader instead of a qualified ninja, to save the only remaining males in the clan and leave the seeds of revival for the clan."

Speaking of this, Hatake Sakumo pointed to the only weed-free ground outside the house and said to Hayama: "At that time, I stood here and announced that I was going to close the family to rest and recuperate. But do you know, the only remaining weeds in the family?

More than a dozen ninjas knelt there together for a day and two nights, just to make me take back the order. The blood on their bodies was still warm and had not drained yet. The village they loved in their hearts needed them, so

I took back the order and took them back to the battlefield."

"At the age of twenty-two, all the adult ninjas in the clan were dead and wounded. Only I survived, and the war temporarily stopped. Years of melee caused the Hatake clan to become a civilian ninja family. Hundreds of clan members fought for the village.

Dying is something I will never forget in my life."

There were actually two lines of tears on Hatake Sakumo's stern face. This ninja who had made enemy ninjas frightened by the news actually shed tears of sadness when he recalled the past.

The irritability in Hayama's heart calmed down, and he looked at the tearful Hatake Sakumo, but could not say anything to comfort him. The pain and sadness in people's hearts cannot be healed by words. Only the passage of time in the world can make people temporarily forget these.

Live every day bravely.

In his previous life, Hayama always believed that those things that he swore he would never forget would always be forgotten in the trivialities and nagging of life. After all, this is the charm of time. But after coming to the world of Naruto, everything he experienced was...

It is as unforgettable as if it happened yesterday. To this day, the scene of Doug the Bear being disemboweled by the Wind Release Ninjutsu, his intestines and internal organs spilled all over the floor, is still a nightmare he cannot get rid of.

At this moment, he could understand the grief in Hatake Sakumo's heart. It was a pain that would still make people cry even if they were recalled in five hundred years. Time will not heal this, it will only accumulate it more and more.

strong.

Hatake Sakumo wiped his tears and continued: "I often wake up in the middle of the night. I dream about my dead father scolding me for being so incompetent. I also dream about my uncle's wide-open eyes before he died. I also dream about his flag after his death."

The destruction of the Mu clan."

"All of this made me panic and blame myself. It wasn't until I hugged Kakashi for the first time that I truly became a man. From that moment on, the ninja in my heart was confirmed and my strength was gained.

A huge improvement."

"Yeshan, the feeling of being connected by blood is so wonderful. It can make people grow up in an instant. You will know this later."

Hayama walked to the corridor, sat down cross-legged, took out a kunai and carefully cleaned the weeds around him, not feeling much about what Hatake Sakumo said.

"So, you are going to abandon Kakashi and commit suicide?"

"I said, no one can accompany you through life. Kakashi is the son of Konoha White Fang. He must shoulder this responsibility, even if it is extremely difficult."

"Duo"

After a kunai shot through the wooden pillar supporting the house, it penetrated into the wall full of cracks, but Hayama interrupted Hatake Sakumo again.

"I have always believed that the reason why ninjas are stronger than samurai is not only their magical chakra, but also their perseverance and unyielding will and their use of all possible means. People who commit suicide to apologize for the slightest setback are called

A warrior might be more appropriate."

Hayama's meaningful words did not make Hatake Sakumo give up his idea. The purpose of calling Hayama was not to find someone to persuade him, but to explain his funeral arrangements.

"Everyone's experience is different, and their reactions to things are naturally different. If you encounter these two missions, the most you can do is smile and do whatever you want..."

"No, this kind of thing will not happen to me." Hayama said firmly, "I will not hesitate to order my subordinates to press forward. It doesn't matter even if I die, as long as I can complete the task and ensure my survival."

, sacrifice is inevitable."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head and disagreed with Hayama's idea. It is normal for ninjas to sacrifice themselves during missions, but the mood they have when they sacrifice is very important. To die as a mission tool and to know why you die are completely different.

Two different things, just like the ancestors of the Hatake clan, they died for the village, so they wore a smile without regrets until they died.

Ye Shan picked up a withered yellow weed and held it in his mouth, asking: "Do you have any cigarettes?"

The old servant who had taken Kakashi away appeared ghostly next to Hayama and handed him a pack of unopened cigarettes. Hayama hesitated, but took it, tore open the package, lit it, and took a puff.

"Hiss~hu~"

The unique burning sensation of tobacco passed quickly through Hayama's lungs, bringing a strange sense of comfort. After exhaling the faint smoke, Hayama said: "There are many choices for the path of ninja, you can join the root or defect."

"

"I have never considered joining the ninjas as tools. As for defecting to Konoha, the dead ancestors of the Hatake clan are watching me in the sky, and I will never consider it."

Hayama threw the cigarette in his hand fiercely into the yard and roared angrily: "Only living ninjas are qualified to mention their ancestors and rebuild the glory of the family. When they die, there is nothing! Honor, power, ninjutsu, and family all matter.

No, believe it or not, as soon as your front foot dies, Sarutobi Hiruzen on the back foot will turn Kakashi into a pure mission tool!"

"You talk about the past glory of your family all day long and think about how to implement your own unrealistic way of ninja. Have you ever considered the subordinates who have been with you for many years, the young Kakashi and the bright future? If you do this, in addition to letting others

Relatives hate enemies and nothing can be gained. Why choose to die when you can live!? "

"That's why I came to you tonight."

Hatake Sakumo's faint words stopped Hayama from all his emotions and words, and he immediately said: "Do your own thing, don't expect anyone else."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I have finished talking about my experience and determination. Next, I will introduce a few people to you."

Hayama lit up another cigarette and stared at the waning moon in a trance amid the smoke. He couldn't understand why some ninjas would value honor more than their lives.

Hatake Sakumo is a man with a sense of honor, not a political ninja. When Hayama lit up his second cigarette, he thought of this.

Ninjas can work hard to survive, but a pure person will have things more important than his own life to protect, such as national justice, the safety of his family and country, and the pride in his heart.
Chapter completed!