Escape from Konoha.

Kakashi heard someone call his name, looked up, and saw that it was Shiraishi and Ruri. He nodded slightly to indicate that Sakumo was home.

Shiraishi and Ruri breathed a sigh of relief; things would be much easier if they were at home.

"However, Father..."

Kakashi looked like he didn't know how to explain this further.

“Take us to see him.”

Shiraishi sighed, knowing that Kakashi must be feeling terrible right now.

With the rumors spreading so widely, Kakashi couldn't possibly be unaware of them.

Kakashi led the way, bringing Shiraishi and Ruri into the Hatake residence.

The Hatake residence is a typical Japanese-style building, and the house has a somewhat antique feel. The three of them walked a few steps before arriving at the door of Sakumo's room.

Before he could even knock, a voice inside said, "Come in." Clearly, Sakumo inside already knew someone had arrived.

Shiraishi had no choice but to slide the door open and call out to the people inside, "Sakumo-sensei, we're here..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

Shiraishi and Ruri stared blankly at Sakumo in front of them.

"Teacher Sakumo, what's wrong...?"

Sakumo, standing before them, did not appear dejected as they had imagined due to the rumors. Instead, he sat at the table, eating a large bowl of ramen with a good appetite.

Upon seeing Shiraishi and Ruri arrive, he calmly wiped the grease from his mouth with a napkin and asked the two visitors with a puzzled look, "What brings you two here?"

"..."

"..."

Shiraishi and Ruri didn't know how to respond to Sakumo's words.

Before they came, they had imagined many scenarios where Sakumo would be depressed because of the rumors, but they never expected this kind of scenario.

"Teacher Sakumo, about the rumors circulating outside..."

In the end, it was Liuli who stepped forward.

"Is this why you've come to me?"

"Yes, this is the work of our security team. I would like to know the whole story. Please answer my question, Jonin Sakumo."

Ruri walked up to Sakumo and spoke to him in a serious tone.

He wasn't questioning him as a member of the original Sakumo squad, but rather as a squad leader of the security team, to investigate the cause and effect of the matter.

Sakumo thought about it for a moment, and since this was the garrison's job, then there was no problem.

So he readily gave a brief account of what had happened.

"We were on a top-secret mission this time, but we encountered some trouble en route. Considering that my comrades were no longer able to fight, I chose to abandon the mission and return with my men. This led to the mission's failure."

When Sakumo spoke these words, he did not express any personal emotions. He was simply recounting the events as an observer, leaving it to Ruri, a member of the security force, to judge.

Shiraishi and Ruri frowned, and even Kakashi looked puzzled.

I always felt that things happened too easily.

"What kind of classified mission is it?"

Ruri stared at Sakumo's face.

That was her main purpose in coming.

Even classified missions vary in importance and scale.

Some matters could determine the survival of a village, while others were merely insignificant.

"I don't know. My orders were to seize something, but the mission failed, and naturally, that thing wasn't brought back to the village. I don't know exactly what it was."

When asked about Ruri's question, Sakumo shook his head slightly, indicating that he did not know what the mission involved.

Liuli felt that things were getting a bit tricky.

We have very little information from Sakumo. To find out what Sakumo seized during his mission and how much the village lost due to the mission's failure, we can only start by getting information from higher-ups.

After all, the mission was initially handled by them before being handed over to Sakumo for him to complete.

But the rumors have already spread this far, and there's been no response from the higher-ups. Even if we go and inquire now, we probably won't get any answers.

Otherwise, they would have already clarified the rumors and minimized their impact.

As they left the Hatake residence, Shiraishi and Ruri both looked up at the sky and let out a soft breath.

They exchanged a glance, and Ruri asked Shiraishi, "What do we do next? We can't use Sakumo-sensei as a starting point. Should we look for the guy Sakumo-sensei rescued?"

“What we could think of, the people spreading the rumors had already anticipated. They were probably already being ‘protected’ when they were planning the operation. By the time we got to the hospital, they had already ‘disappeared’.”

"Was it done by higher-ups?"

"Besides them, there seems to be no one else. With such a big commotion, according to usual practice, Professor Sakumo would have been invited by the Anbu for tea and a chat long ago, instead of sitting at home."

Shiraishi is certain that this was done by someone in the upper echelons, or perhaps more than one person was behind it.

"Is this a dispute over the Hokage position?"

Liuli shook her head. The higher-ups had handled this matter flawlessly, and the security team alone couldn't accomplish anything.

Compared to the Anbu, the Security Force does have more power, but its reputation in Konoha is not good, and it does not have the same strong authority as the Anbu.

When the Anbu are mobilized, it represents the will of the Hokage himself.

"That should be the case, after all, the Fourth Hokage candidate conference will be held soon. It would be a natural result to exclude some irrelevant people at this time."

It's a bit cruel, but in Shiraishi's view, Sakumo was merely a victim of the power struggle.

His subjective will and ideas are not the most important thing, and no one will understand them. As long as his current reputation can damage some of his interests, that's enough.

Whether one desires to become Hokage is irrelevant; what matters is whether one possesses the qualifications and the threat to be promoted to Hokage.

"That's good. Now that we've lost our political capital, the higher-ups will have no reason to suppress Professor Sakumo after this matter is over."

Ruri understood what Shiraishi meant and realized that she was being a bit anxious on her own.

The struggle for the Hokage position involves the interests of many factions in Konoha.

A person whose reputation and strength surpass those of the Three Ninjas, and who does not belong to any side, is naturally the highest priority to exclude.

Suppressing his reputation, plundering Sakumo's political capital, and letting him become a Konoha Jonin in peace doesn't seem to have any bad effects.

On the contrary, in the days to come, Sakumo will definitely be given important responsibilities again.

This is a crucial period for candidates to become the Fourth Hokage. As long as they get through this phase, Konoha's White Fang will remain Konoha's White Fang.

In my personal opinion, Sakumo is indeed not very suitable for the position of Hokage.

He had neither ambition nor the desire; he was simply an excellent Konoha Jonin.

that is it.

"Really? If that's the case, then..."

Shiraishi muttered to himself, a shadow falling over his heart as he thought of Sakumo's nonchalant demeanor.

That doesn't mean nothing happened.

◎

Two days later, the rumors became even more intense.

More and more people are causing trouble at the garrison, and the garrison's cells are no longer sufficient.

These people's crimes are not serious enough to warrant imprisonment in Konoha's Great Prison. Those are serious criminals. Although these people were spreading rumors, it did not reach the level of 'serious punishment'.

Sending these people to Konoha's Great Prison will definitely attract the obstruction of the Anbu and cause unnecessary conflict.

"What's going on? Are there still so many people causing trouble?"

Liuli arrived at the guard station's hall early in the morning and found it almost overflowing with people. The area outside was also noisy, like a bustling market.

Two members of the Liuli Squad saluted Liuli and replied, "Yes, new rumors have surfaced this morning, and the guards are completely short-handed."

At this point, the guard member smiled helplessly.

He had no idea that a rumor could be spread like this.

It was just a failed mission. Konoha's White Fang was indeed a famous ninja in the ninja world, and in recent years, he had gradually become a symbol of Konoha's ability to deter enemies.

Even the White Fang of Konoha is a human, not a god.

An occasional mission failure is not a big deal, since the higher-ups haven't mentioned any serious consequences for the failure.

If that's the case, then the so-called Three Ninjas are nothing special, since that title belongs to defeated generals.

But how many people would dare to underestimate the Three Ninja?

In the eyes of this Uchiha ninja from the security team, it was just that these villagers were making a ruckus, talking all at once without knowing anything, and even saying some unpleasant things that the security team members couldn't stand, gradually deviating from the core essence of the problem.

Beating them up is against the rules, but bringing them to the garrison for discipline means there aren't enough rooms available.

Therefore, the ninjas from the security team who came to work this morning were all very troubled by this problem.

If these people are released, the rumors will only intensify.

If we don't release them... the overcrowding will affect the efficiency of the garrison.

"Find a few people who know how to use earth magic, and set up a few makeshift prisons outside."

Liuli's face was frighteningly cold.

"……Yes."

One of the guards immediately went down to find a few people in the guard unit who knew earth magic, and expanded the temporary prison outside.

"Won't this have a negative impact?"

The remaining guard ninja gave a wry smile.

"What's wrong with that? We're just following the rules. Even if the Hokage comes, I'll still have a reason to argue with him."

"That's true, but if things continue like this, what will happen to the reputation of our garrison..."

"The garrison has a bad reputation, why bother with all this? Don't give them lunch or dinner, and don't let their families bring them food. Just give them some water, they won't starve."