"We... Uchiha... Hokage..."
Uchiha Takuya collapsed heavily to the ground, muttering a few delirious words before his eyes rolled back and he fell completely unconscious.
Kakashi, gasping for air, didn't even have the strength to tend to his bleeding wounds. He was about to turn and go find his father when Kyosuke suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pointed silently behind him.
Kakashi turned around and saw his father casually walking over. In his right hand, he was dragging Uchiha Takeru by the collar.
Sakumo Hatake showed absolutely no signs of injury. His clothes weren't even wrinkled. Takeru was tossed onto the grass, as motionless as a dead pig. The disparity in strength was clear at a single glance.
In fact, Sakumo had finished his own battle in mere seconds. But he hadn't appeared immediately to help Kakashi and the others. Instead, he had treated this conflict as a final, critical test for the three boys, observing them silently from the shadows.
As it turned out, the trio's performance and teamwork had been utterly stellar. Sakumo smiled with genuine pride and satisfaction.
"Let's go inside. We're having barbecue tonight!"
Guy was overjoyed. Despite being black and blue and practically limping, he still managed a massive, goofy grin. "Great! I'm starving to death right now!"
Kakashi's left arm hung limp at his side, but he was in a fantastic mood. Fighting side-by-side and protecting his father's honor had greatly cleared his mind.
Only Kyosuke's smile was a bit forced and stiff. Looking at Sakumo's serene face, he had a sinking, dreadful feeling that Sakumo might commit suicide tonight.
Sure enough, after a warm, lively dinner, Sakumo pulled Kyosuke aside. He quietly handed over his signature short sword, along with several highly classified Ninjutsu and Swordsmanship scrolls.
"Kyosuke, these are for you. Don't forget our promise."
"I... I'm a man of my word."
Kyosuke nodded vigorously, his heart incredibly heavy. He was unusually silent on the walk back home, which left Guy looking confused and concerned.
The next day, out of a cowardly sense of avoidance, Kyosuke deliberately didn't leave his house. He sat in silence until a frantic, desperate knocking echoed at his door.
"Kyosuke! This is bad! I heard... I heard Kakashi's father committed suicide!"
Throwing open the door, Kyosuke saw Guy completely drenched in sweat, his voice trembling and filled with bewilderment.
Kyosuke slowly poured a glass of water for Guy. He sighed, feeling a crushing weight settle on his shoulders. "Guy, this is going to be the hardest moment of Kakashi's entire life. We must help him."
Guy took the cup, gulped it down in one go, and slammed it on the table. "Of course! Let's go see Kakashi right now."
The two sprinted through the village and arrived at the front of the Hatake compound, only to see Uchiha Obito walking out the front gates, looking incredibly dejected and pale.
Guy went up to greet him. "Obito, why are you here? Did you come to see Kakashi?"
"I... I... I came to apologize," Obito stammered, tears welling in his eyes.
Yesterday, members of the Uchiha Clan had violently provoked Sakumo, leading to a major fight in his own home. And then, Sakumo had committed suicide that very night.
Obito felt convinced that his arrogant clansmen had directly driven the kind man to his death, so he had rushed over to grovel and apologize on their behalf.
Seeing Obito consumed by guilt, Kyosuke stepped forward and comforted him softly. "Obito, don't feel guilty. Guy and I were there yesterday. Although we fought your clansmen, this whole tragedy has very little to do with them... and absolutely nothing to do with you."
Guy nodded fiercely. "Yeah! It was just a fight. We even had barbecue with Uncle Sakumo that night, and he didn't act like anything was wrong at all."
"I... I hope that's true," Obito whispered, wiping his eyes. "Go see Kakashi. He's... he's not in a good state."
Obito left with a lonely, hunched posture. Kyosuke and Guy entered the courtyard and quietly walked into the main hall.
"Kakashi..."
Just as Guy spoke, Kakashi—who had been kneeling silently before a newly erected memorial tablet—suddenly stood up. He rushed at Kyosuke like a wild animal and punched him violently in the face.
"What are you doing?!" Guy shouted in shock, immediately leaping forward to grab Kakashi's arms.
Kakashi's eyes were bloodshot and completely lifeless. He broke free from Guy's grip and continued to pummel Kyosuke, screaming, "You knew! You knew this would happen all along, didn't you?! You bastard!"
Kyosuke didn't dodge, nor did he raise his arms to defend himself. He allowed Kakashi's grief-fueled fists to land heavily on him. Soon, Kyosuke was covered in bruises, with blood flowing steadily from his nose and the corner of his mouth.
Finally, Guy had to use all his physical strength to tackle Kakashi and pin him to the tatami mat.
Only then did Kyosuke wipe his mouth and speak.
"Yes. A few days ago, Uncle taught me his sword techniques. He told me that with me and Guy as your friends, he no longer had any regrets in this world. I guessed what he was planning back then."
Guy looked up at Kyosuke in sheer surprise, not expecting Kyosuke to have known something so massive.
"Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't you stop him?!" Kakashi shrieked, struggling against Guy's hold.
Kakashi fell silent for a long moment. His chest heaved as he sobbed. He couldn't suppress the unwilling resentment and crushing loss in his heart, pressing Kyosuke for answers even though he already knew the painful truth.
If a legendary powerhouse like Sakumo Hatake wanted to commit suicide, how could a seven-year-old Kyosuke have possibly stopped him? It was a tragedy set in stone; what difference would it have made if Kyosuke had spoken up?
Kyosuke didn't answer, and Kakashi didn't push further. He simply went limp, burying his face in the floorboards and weeping bitterly. Guy looked back and forth between them, opening his mouth but not knowing what to say to make it better.
The three boys just sat there in the dim funeral hall, before Sakumo's memorial tablet, keeping each other company in a heavy, mutual silence.
As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the room, Guy's stomach growled loudly. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and forced a loud laugh. "Oops, I'm hungry. How about we eat first?"
Kyosuke glanced at Guy, thinking the sound of his hungry stomach was incredibly timely, and then looked down at Kakashi.
"Even if you want to keep hitting me, you have to eat first," Kyosuke said softly. "You'll only have the strength to actually hurt me once you're full. Your punches just now were weak; they didn't hurt at all."
Kakashi looked up at Kyosuke and saw that his friend's face was swollen like a pig's head, with two red streaks of blood across his mouth making him look like a tragic clown.
Despite his crushing grief, Kakashi's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.
Kyosuke saw the minute change in Kakashi's expression and knew the blinding, suffocating anger in his heart had dissipated somewhat. He gave Guy a look.
The two of them, one on each side, hooked their arms under Kakashi's and supported his weight as they slowly walked out of the empty house.
That day was the first time Kyosuke had ever willingly paid to treat Kakashi to a meal. And it would be the last.
Although Kakashi didn't eat much and remained in low spirits, not speaking a single word throughout the dinner, Kyosuke felt that Kakashi had survived the darkest moment of his life.
A day later, Sakumo Hatake was buried. A cold, drizzling rain fell steadily from the gray sky, as if the heavens themselves were mourning the passing of a true hero.
Shinobi who were on good terms with Sakumo, along with Kakashi's classmates, all attended the somber funeral to express their condolences. Kyosuke even saw Orochimaru standing in the treeline.
However, Orochimaru did not come close. He only watched the burial from a distance with an unreadable expression before turning and melting into the shadows.
In the evening, as the crowd finally dispersed, Minato asked Kyosuke to spend more time with Kakashi before he left. Guy also stayed behind of his own accord. Three small figures stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the freezing rain for a long time.
As a powerhouse whose name alone had shaken the entire Ninja World, Sakumo's death had an incredibly wide impact.
Deep within the Root Organization, Danzo gave a cold snort upon hearing the final confirmation of Sakumo's death.
"How fragile, to actually choose suicide over duty. When I become Hokage, how incredibly useful it would have been for him to obediently act as my pawn."
Danzo hadn't necessarily intended to drive Sakumo all the way to his death; he merely needed the man to be thoroughly disgraced so he wouldn't threaten the Hokage succession. In fact, Danzo had fully intended to make good use of Sakumo's peerless combat power after taking the seat.
Unfortunately, Danzo had severely underestimated the unbreakable pride in Sakumo's heart, never expecting the man to choose the most resolute, tragic response.
"However... his suicide can also be put to exceptionally good use," Danzo mused, his single visible eye gleaming with malice. "Spread the news immediately. Spin the narrative that it was the physical and political pressure from the Uchiha Clan that ultimately drove Sakumo Hatake to suicide. Point all the villagers' anger directly at the Uchiha!"
Danzo felt a deep, paranoid loathing for the Uchiha Clan. Through this single tragic event, he had simultaneously eliminated his biggest competition for the Hokage seat and struck a devastating political blow against the Uchiha.
Danzo felt he had achieved a perfect win-win situation. He alone had won twice.
What Danzo failed to realize, however, was that Sakumo's death wouldn't just affect Konoha's internal politics. The fall of the White Fang rippled violently across the geopolitical landscape, and every Great Shinobi Village reacted differently to the sudden weakness of the Leaf.