Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

610. Obito before he was vilified was a real coward.

This is understandable, though. When he first joined the Dark Division, he also dreamed of making a name for himself and rising to the top. After all, who hasn't been young? In peacetime, the Dark Division certainly has far more opportunities to rise to the top than other departments. But now, having been beaten down by reality, he is long past the age of being brave and decisive.

Now he has a son and a daughter, and a beautiful wife. Although his rank isn't very high, he's worked his way up to squad leader after so many years. He's quite satisfied with his current position and doesn't need to work himself to the bone anymore.

Going to kill the Golden Lion? That's a death sentence!

Having been in the ninja world for so many years, he had only ever seen a former leader fight Golden Lion one-on-one and escape unscathed. Now, Golden Lion hadn't even made a move and they were already rushing in. Wasn't that just courting death?

........

"Kakashi, are you alright?"

"Yeah, did this bad guy do anything to you...?"

"......."

While the villain was talking to Obito, the girls seized the opportunity to rush up to Kakashi and chatter incessantly, making the surrounding kids green with envy and jealousy. Seeing their dream goddess go to care for Kakashi was like a machete stabbing into their chests.

"That damn Kakashi.....(▼he▼メ)"

Especially Obito, who was almost face-to-face with Kakashi in his own world, instantly forgot his impulse to call him "Dad" and watched all this with gritted teeth.

"Hey kid, is that the girl you like? Kakashi's practically stealing her away, why aren't you going for her? Ugh! It's such a waste, the Hatake clan's luck with the opposite sex is truly enviable!"

Following Obito's gaze, the girl with two purple patterns painted on her face was closest to Kakashi, almost touching his face. He really couldn't understand how Kakashi, who had clearly kept his face intact, had captivated these girls. This wasn't an era where looks mattered, was it?

"Who...who likes Lin? Don't talk nonsense..."

Obito seemed to have his secret exposed, and he became awkward and hesitant, his anger from before vanishing.

"No wonder you still can't get this girl even after Kakashi graduated. You're such a loser! A real man should show some guts and go for it if you like her! She's not even with Kakashi yet, so you have plenty of opportunities. If you go for it, your chances are fifty-fifty. If you don't, you'll never have a chance."

Masato hooked his arm around Obito's neck, pulled him down to squat down, and said in a manner reminiscent of a love guru.

He wanted to see if Obito would awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan immediately after being rejected in front of so many people, skipping the Sharingan step altogether.

If that's the case, the idol should thank him...

"Hmm...that makes sense..."

Before they knew it, the kids around them squatted down and surrounded them. When they heard what Masato said, they nodded in agreement like love mentors.

Anyone with a slightly more complex mind and who is at their age can basically tell that Obito likes Rin, so they aren't too surprised. After all, Rin isn't their type. If Obito plays the forward and manages to get the first kill, it might boost their morale, and they can just copy him afterwards.

and so.

Obito, it's up to you!

"This...this isn't right, it's so embarrassing. I think it's fine as it is..."

Obito hesitated for a moment, then backed down. If he were rejected in front of everyone, he would really hang himself. He just wanted to have a proper relationship. Did he really have to go to such lengths?

"Tch! You're such a coward, you gangster. Tell him how I confessed to your Lady Tsunade back then."

Looking at the cowardly Obito, Shinto smirked disdainfully and said to Asuma while smoking a cigarette.

This brat is Hiruzen Sarutobi's youngest son. Although he's somewhat useless, he's quite well-informed.

"What?! You actually confessed your feelings to Lady Tsunade?"

"Is this fake? Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

Some of the second-generation members were stunned. Apart from a few kids born on the outskirts of Konoha, the rest were all second-generation members. Back then, they knew who Lady Tsunade was, and that she had a temper that could knock down a mountain with one punch.

This Golden Lion actually dared to confess his feelings to Lady Tsunade?

And to be alive until now, they're inhuman!

"......"

Asuma looked at his friend's speechless expression and stared at the sky. He absolutely couldn't tell anyone about this. If he did, who knew if Lady Tsunade would come back and beat him to death? Just thinking about that fist that could shatter mountains made him panic, especially with so many big mouths around...

......

"...You guys keep chatting, I'm hungry."

Having finally escaped from the encirclement of a group of girls, he saw the blond middle-aged man chatting with a group of friends. His dead fish eyes rolled in surprise, and after saying a few words, he turned and left.

But what puzzled him was that the village had issued a kill order against this guy a while ago, yet now he was openly strolling around the village streets without any disguise and no one seemed to be coming...

Kakashi didn't know that the Anbu had already discovered Shinto's appearance when he descended from the sky and appeared in front of his sister. However, since White Fang wasn't there, Hiruzen Sarutobi, in order to avoid being driven crazy by this bastard again and to prevent him from destroying Konoha in a fight, only instructed his Anbu underlings to keep a close eye on him until his right-hand man returned. Although Shiki was despicable, shameless, and had no bottom line, his relationship with Sakumo was still okay, and he wouldn't do anything to Kakashi.

As for that so-called kill order... it was just something Koharu Utatane said in anger. If that bastard were so easy to kill, he would have been dead hundreds of times over. So after Hiruzen Sarutobi was discharged from the hospital and returned to work, he basically didn't mention the kill order anymore. He even strictly ordered his Konoha underlings not to get carried away when they encountered Shiki. They should run away if they needed to. Being cowardly isn't shameful; it's shameful to rush in and get killed without any self-awareness.

Of course, he didn't intend to withdraw the kill order. He just needed to make sure his Konoha underlings didn't blindly go and get themselves killed. As for the others, he couldn't control them. Besides, what if there really was some exceptionally talented person who could break through Shiki's defense and kill him?

Isn't that a wonderful surprise? ヾ(^?^)?

"Hey...wait for me, I haven't eaten yet either..."

"I'm going to have dinner first, I'll chat with you guys later!"

Shinto said he couldn't be bothered with the current cowardly Obito. Before he was vilified, Obito was both cowardly and easily fooled, so he seemed rather pointless...

611. The Golden Lion's Inevitable Trouble-Making Law

"Boss, give me a bowl of pork rib ramen. Order whatever you like, it's on me."

"I've long heard that there's a famous Ichiraku Ramen in Konoha that's known far and wide. Everyone within a 50-meter radius knows it. Today I finally have the chance to try it."

At the Konoha-branded "Otsutsuki" Ichiraku Ramen shop, Masato pulled Kakashi down to sit while scanning the legendary "Otsutsuki" Ichiraku. The young man, a spirited man in his early twenties, sported the same shrewd, businessman's smile as any other merchant—a large face and thick neck, likely an official or a cook. Masato was now certain that this legendary "Otsutsuki" Ichiraku was just an ordinary ramen shop owner and chef, probably only lucky enough to have been accidentally injured by Pain during the attack on Konoha.

"Haha, you flatter me, sir. Is this your first time here? It's on me today! ヾ(^Д^*)/"

Everyone likes to hear nice things. The energetic young man grinned from ear to ear upon hearing this, and with a hearty pat on his chest, he declared, "This meal is on me!"

"That's wonderful, thank you so much!"

Seeing the spirited young man's confident demeanor, I chuckled. I was quite surprised; I never expected to get something for nothing from his habitual boasting. It would be foolish not to take advantage of such a bargain.

"I'd also like a pork rib ramen, please...-_-||"

Kakashi stared blankly at the sky, subtly shifting his position to the side, trying to get as far away from this guy as possible. He didn't know why, but he felt a little embarrassed; a guy on par with his father was actually trying to get a free bowl of ramen...

So embarrassing...

"Hey kid, what's with that look on your face? Is it shameful to get a free dinner? Be more magnanimous. Don't be so petty and concerned about so much. Life is short, and worrying too much will only make you tired. Look how happy the boss is. Saying nice things won't kill anyone. It's a win-win situation. He's happy to hear it, and we're happy to eat it, isn't that good?"

Seeing Kakashi's disdainful expression, Masato launched into a long lecture about how to be a good person. He explained that while children from prestigious families might have a high starting point, they were often rigid and inflexible, always speaking and acting in a very formulaic way. He figured this kid had never gotten anything for free from White Fang...

"..."

After getting the same dead fish eyes as the Hatake clan member, Kakashi didn't say anything. He just wanted to finish his ramen quickly and leave. Being with this guy was too damn embarrassing. For the first time, he hoped his father would come back quickly and get rid of this guy.

.....

"Lord Hokage, after Kakashi returned, Shiki took him to the street and they ran into Asuma and some other kids. I don't know what they talked about, but after the two of them ate ramen at Ichiraku Ramen, they went back to the Hatake clan. Nothing else happened in between."

While Shinto and Kakashi finished their ramen and returned to the Hatake clan, the ANBU squad leader who had been monitoring them came to the Hokage Building to report on their surveillance.

"Hiss... Huff... What's this guy up to, coming to Konoha instead of staying with Tsunade in Daimyo's Mansion..."

After waving his underlings away, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, took two deep drags of his opium pipe, inhaling as much as he could into his lungs, and muttered something under his breath as he exhaled.

He already knew that this guy had been hanging out with Tsunade in their Fire Country Daimyo's mansion for a year, but since he was outside their defense range, he could only watch helplessly and pray that Tsunade would be reserved enough not to be led astray by this guy.

However, this guy's arrival was also a good thing, at least it greatly alleviated their financial pressure. After he came, Tsunade never borrowed money from loan sharks again. After all, she was the top courtesan of Sunagakure, and her funds were substantial enough to allow her to live a carefree life for a whole year. This shows how amazing his wealth was. Even in Konoha, probably only the Uchiha and Hyuga clans could afford to let Tsunade live so carefree for a year... So, even though he knew this guy was there to flirt with Tsunade, as long as he didn't do anything immoral and Tsunade wasn't abducted by him, he turned a blind eye.

But now this guy has suddenly come to Konoha again... According to the rule that Golden Lion will cause trouble when he comes to Konoha, he is always uneasy, afraid that the guy will cause some trouble again.

The village had finally achieved a period of peace, and he didn't want to cause any more trouble, as there had already been enough trouble in recent years.

"Sakumo hasn't returned yet, and we can't fight this guy in the village. For now, we can only keep an eye on him."

The scholar and poet Mitokado Homura also frowned and said, "I'm not afraid of Shiki coming to Konoha, but my friend Hiruzen can't have his blood vessels burst again. If it bursts again, I really don't know if he can be saved. After all, he's already quite old. After being discharged from the hospital this time, you can clearly see that his beard has turned white. If it happens again, who knows if he can withstand it?"

The next Hokage has not yet been chosen. If the Hokage dies and there is no qualified candidate, Konoha will be leaderless, and war will not be far away.

"This is the only way now..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement with his friend's statement. Shiki's ability to cause trouble was outstanding, and he almost always managed to time things perfectly, making him a real headache. Moreover, they dared not confront him directly in the village, as his destructive power was too great when he went berserk. Even the barrier might not be able to withstand his destructive force. If he were to demolish the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi would become a sinner in Konoha's history.

.......

Sunagakure Village, Miyaretsu clan.

"That guy's been out chasing girls for a year now, hasn't he? Sis, Scorpion's about to graduate, should we call him back?"

The ninja world has been peaceful lately. Apart from occasional minor skirmishes between villages, nothing major has happened in Sunagakure. Ebizo, who usually goes to the Kazekage Tower to clock in at this time, is unusually not in a hurry to go out today because he worked overtime until the early hours of the morning last night. Instead, their crown prince, the future successor of the village, and the hope of the whole village, Sasori, is about to graduate in a few days, so he plans to discuss his future work arrangements with his sister.

With handsome Sasori graduating, it goes without saying that their security measures will be much stronger than Yecang's. After all, Sasori debuted as a child star and was already on the blacklists of various villages when he was very young. Without a powerful figure to guide him, if he were targeted by those villages and something happened to him, they would be devastated. With no hope for Shinto, Sasori is their only hope.

So Ebizo thought it over and over, and although Sasori and Shinto had never gotten along since childhood and always fought each other, he still had to entrust him to Shinto for the sake of the village's future.

612. Handsome Scorpion is graduating.

Handsome Scorpion is already eleven years old. Although he has never attended school and spends his days at home tinkering, the school has kept his place all these years. For him, whose grandmother is on the school board, graduating is just a formality. Special geniuses get special treatment, after all.

The education system in Sunagakure is different from that in Konoha. No matter how talented a child is in Konoha, they still need to be brought into the school by Hiruzen Sarutobi so that the children can grow together and build a bond with each other.

But that's because Konoha has a lot of talented people; after all, Konoha has enough talented young people to form an elite class.

The Sand Village doesn't have that kind of resources. There are too many children with average talent in the Sand Village, and at most four or five with real talent. It's impractical to go to such lengths to create an elite class for just four or five talented children. However, if these talented children were put together with those with average talent, although it might build bonds between them, it would mainly hinder their growth. So, over the years, any child with talent would only register at school in their first year as a formality, and then go home to be taught by their elders. Only children from commoner families who have talent but lack resources would be sent to school, like Kudo Yusaku. His physical talent was obvious, but unfortunately, his parents were just ordinary people who couldn't teach him and had to send him to school. Although his growth was slower, gold always shines eventually, it just comes later.

Back then, handsome Scorpion's dad and mom skipped school all the time to go on dates, and the teachers didn't care? It's just that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess didn't have to go to school anyway; going to school was just an excuse for two underage kids to go on dates.

Yekura is an exception. Although she has some talent, she is not particularly outstanding. Moreover, she prefers to stay with her classmates. If she hadn't accidentally awakened her Blazing Release after graduation, she probably wouldn't have been noticed by Ebizo and Sunagawa. At most, she would have just been an ordinary Jonin who is good at Fire Release. There are plenty of ordinary Jonin like her in Sunagawa. Without anything special, how could the busy Ebizo and Sunagawa possibly notice a fresh graduate?

Conversely, if Yekura hadn't awakened her Scorch Release, the incident of Shinto becoming her babysitter wouldn't have happened, and naturally, she wouldn't have discovered Kudo Yusaku's obvious physical talent.

Take, for example, Mada's son, Maki. He's quite talented and could potentially become a leader in the future. However, Mada is slow-witted and doesn't take advantage of his father's connections. He obediently sends his son to school every day, and then he has to accept Mada's instruction at home. His upbringing matches his talent, but this is a child who has absolutely no childhood...

So, geniuses like Rasa, who awakened Magnet Release at a young age and could control gold sand, were merely nominally accepted as disciples by Sunagawa after he became his student. They would report to the Kazekage Tower every day to receive Sunagawa's instruction, and as they got older, they could run errands.

Handsome Scorpion was a bit different. His talent was almost exaggerated; he learned things too quickly. However, he was too withdrawn. Chiyo had hoped he would interact more with his classmates, but Handsome Scorpion's mouth was too sharp. He didn't even give girls face, let alone boys. After one day of school where he berated his classmates so badly that two of them committed suicide that very night, Chiyo gave up on the idea. Why were those kids so emotionally fragile...?

However, some things must be faced. In a few months, handsome Sasori will graduate. Although he has never been to school, he still has to graduate and start as a genin. This is a process that every ninja except for Shinto must go through.

"Call him back..."

Chiyo naturally agreed with Ebizo's suggestion. Early fame is a double-edged sword; while gaining sufficient popularity comes with corresponding risks. Shinto's future is uncertain, and ensuring the continuation of the Miyamoto clan depends on her precious grandson. Therefore, his safety must be of the highest standard. Besides, that brat is just sitting around doing nothing; flirting is a waste of time—he's been away for a year and hasn't even found a girl, and I heard he's spent all his money. Why not make use of him and have him act as a babysitter for her precious grandson…

"However, how should we choose the remaining two companions... I think Rasa and Anri are quite suitable."