Konoha's Mission Master

But Jiraiya lost his smile after just hearing Yakumo's brief introduction; the bloody and dark side of power struggles in the Land of Fire was something he had always loathed.

"How is Tsunade doing?"

"She's addicted to gambling and alcohol all day long... I feel like she's not doing well. I heard that Lady Tsunade always loses when she gambles."

"Fine, let me see if you've been slacking off these past few days!" Jiraiya sighed first, then burst into hearty laughter, his hands rapidly forming hand seals, and his full head of white hair began to grow rapidly.

The two then began practicing ninjutsu, their white and black hair colliding and twisting against each other, occasionally converging and crashing together violently, like two wild beasts wrestling with each other.

Yakumo's 24-hour non-stop practice had made him proficient in Jizo Needle, but when he sparred with Jiraiya, he only showed a beginner level of combat ability.

"Hoohoohoo."

A dozen minutes later, Yakumo pretended to be short of chakra and released his ninjutsu. At the same time, Jiraiya also removed his white hair.

"You've made good progress... It seems you haven't been slacking off these past few days on missions," Jiraiya commented with a smile.

"The effort we put in now is to increase our chances of survival on the battlefield in the future."

"How many years do you think it will be before the Third Shinobi World War breaks out?" Orochimaru suddenly walked over from a distance, his eyes full of a strange smile, making Yakumo very uncomfortable.

"Lord Orochimaru, I don't know..."

"But you are certain that war will break out."

Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a bright light, his tone was firm as if he wouldn't allow Yakumo to argue, and his cold aura swept over Yakumo.

"I was just saying it offhand." Yakumo feigned fear and immediately moved away from Orochimaru, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable standing next to him.

"Alright, Orochimaru is still just a child."

Jiraiya took two steps forward to shield Yakumo behind him, while Orochimaru's cold aura was also blocked.

"How about letting Anko and Yakumo have a spar?"

"No, Orochimaru is a good kid. Don't you think your behavior is a bit excessive? You're becoming less and less like the Orochimaru I used to know!" Jiraiya's tone was somewhat cold and hard.

Orochimaru focused his gaze on Jiraiya, letting out a silent laugh that sent chills down everyone's spine.

"Yes, I've changed, Tsunade has changed, but you haven't changed. You're still as foolish and trusting as ever!"

The two parted on bad terms, but thankfully it didn't escalate into a contest of strength. Otherwise, tomorrow's biggest headline in Konoha's newspapers would be: Shocking! The legendary Sannin are suspected of breaking up, Orochimaru VS Jiraiya.

Chapter 56 Visiting White Fang

Orochimaru left with Mitarashi Anko, and Jiraiya also lost the mood to teach Yakumo. This was not the first time the two had quarreled because of their differing ideologies. Jiraiya smiled again and took Yakumo to Minato Namikaze's house for a free meal.

As the number of meals he ate at his place increased over the past month, Yakumo's relationship with Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki grew closer and closer.

Sometimes after meals, Minato would give Yakumo some combat tips. Yakumo found that Minato's reaction speed was much faster than his, truly deserving of the title of the fastest man in the ninja world.

At 1 p.m., Yakumo went to Konoha Hospital to ask Aoyama Reiko about the Bloodline Disease and directly obtained Tsunade's research on the Bloodline Disease from many years ago.

Unfortunately, it was useless. Tsunade's research was to prevent Nawaki from developing bloodline disease, so she was targeting the defect, while Mori Masako's problem was conflict.

"Integration or suppression."

Yakumo created ten shadow clones to read through the obscure and difficult knowledge. He could only be considered to have a basic understanding of bloodline diseases. Now, he was drawing upon the wealth left behind by the Senju clan.

Yakumo spent the entire afternoon engrossed in his research on bloodline diseases, while Aoyama Reiko also completed her analysis of Mori Masako's blood, but without any immediate results.

Feeling dizzy and disoriented, Yakumo left Konoha Hospital and headed to the Ninja Academy to wait for Kakashi to finish school. For some reason, he felt like he had forgotten something very important.

"Good brother!" Upon seeing Yakumo, Obito Uchiha immediately opened his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I brought you gifts from the City of Fire." Yakumo broke free from Obito Uchiha's embrace and took out a storage scroll.

"First of all... Lin's butterfly hair clips. I thought they were pretty, so I bought dozens more."

Yakumo took out a wooden box from the storage scroll. Inside were neatly arranged butterfly hair clips. Each design was meticulously drawn by the craftsman according to the butterfly pattern, and they were colorful and lifelike.

“Um… I really like Yakumo’s gift…” Nohara Rin said with a smile. She really didn’t like these colorful butterflies, but considering that it was a gift from a friend, she still tried her best to show her joy.

"These are the goggles I gave to Obito. The lenses are said to be hard enough to withstand attacks from kunai." Yakumo took out another gift from the scroll.

"This is a breathable black mask for Kakashi..."

"What about mine? What about mine?" Masako Mori asked anxiously, her eyes filled with longing.

“I forgot…” Yakumo lowered his head, looking somewhat guilty. He had originally spent a lot of money to buy a silver dress, the pattern of which was said to be made of gold mixed with extremely fine silver threads. However, Masako Mori would have to wait until she was at least eighteen years old to pull off that dress.

But this bright girl in front of him would most likely not live to be eighteen. The bloodline disease was more troublesome than he had imagined; it was a genetic problem.

“Okay…” Mori Masako lowered her head, her bright eyes suddenly clouded over, like the mist swirling around a mirror-like lake on a plateau.

"Actually, I was prepared..." Seeing this, Yakumo felt a pang of pity and added.

I'll give it to you when I get home tonight.

“Okay!” Masako Mori immediately smiled again.

The group walked along the gate of the ninja academy into the distance. Yakumo was mainly talking about his experiences on this mission, but he deliberately ignored the bloody banquet. In his opinion, his friends, who were still somewhat childish, did not need to be exposed to the darkness of this world in advance.

The darkness referred to here is not the fighting between opposing forces on the battlefield, but rather the turning of friends or relatives in the same camp into enemies and swords drawn against each other because of certain interests.

The leaves on the trees swayed in the breeze along the street, and the sky was overcast.

It seemed like a sign of heavy rain, but no raindrops fell. The weather was rather oppressive. The group dispersed at the end of the street, and Yakumo casually mentioned that Lord White Fang had invited him to be a guest.

Logically, the identities of members of the Dark Side should be kept absolutely secret, but White Fang's signature white hair and unique fighting style made his identity completely transparent.

"Father praised you highly." Kakashi led the way, and the two quickly traversed the streets of Konoha until they stopped in front of a somewhat ancient gate.

"I still need to work harder," Yakumo replied with a slight smile, somewhat modestly.

“Father rarely praises people…” Kakashi now feels more and more that Yakumo is the mistake his father made back then, the older brother he raised outside…

Kakashi is six years old this year and has his own worries. He has started to think about how he should face his father if he acknowledges Yakumo's identity. Should he call him "big brother" affectionately?

but…

My mother, in heaven, will never forgive my father!

He... absolutely not!

"Kakashi, what are you thinking about...?" Yakumo asked.

"It's nothing..." Kakashi's eyes were somewhat cold. Although he liked Yakumo's gift, he would never be so easily bought off!

Kakashi pushed open the gate and led Yakumo through the long corridor. The houses on both sides were empty, without lights or people. Only when they approached the main house did Yakumo notice a few servants, most of whom were quite old.

In front of the main house, Yakumo met Hatake Sakumo, who was dressed in black casual clothes. Sakumo had a kind smile on his lips, as if he had been waiting for Yakumo.

Kakashi's heart broke at that moment.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was slightly somber, but the food was indeed very lavish, so lavish that Yakumo wondered if this was a trap, as if after the meal Hatake Sakumo would simply pull out his White Fang, easily defeat him, and then send him to the Hokage's office for disposal...

He thought so because the meal was too grand. On the table were the fattest king crabs from the coast of the Land of Fire, two huge blue lobsters, and beef, a specialty of the Land of Lightning.

Kakashi's heart was broken even more... He had never eaten such a sumptuous dinner at home before, it was just a preference... a preference that disregarded his own feelings!

Father actually treated Yakumo to such a lavish dinner. Could he really be my older brother...?

After the meal, Yakumo was somewhat restless, waiting for Sakumo Hatake to speak.

"then…"

"As expected, he made a mistake back then!" Kakashi's eyes suddenly lost all their light, and the towering and glorious image of his father gradually crumbled.

"Back then, your father was one of my few friends."

"We met on the battlefield. During the truce, I taught him cultivation, and he taught me how to grow flowers..."

"It's a pity that Kakashi's mother didn't get to see how hard I took care of Desert Flower, and your father died on the battlefield."

A deep sadness was etched on Sakumo Hatake's face, enveloping the two of them like clouds or mist.

"I promised Brother Jing Guangxi that I would treat him to a big meal at home after the war was won, but unfortunately the war was won, but Brother Jing can't come back... But treating you to a meal is still a way of fulfilling my promise from back then."

Kakashi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief…

Mother... Father did not wrong you!

Chapter 57 Teaching

At the dinner table, Yakumo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

That's it?

While eating, he had already planned where to settle in the ninja world after his defection, but he never expected that his father would have such a deep relationship with White Fang.

With this connection, what reason would Yakumo have not to cling tightly to White Fang's coattails?

After the meal, Sakumo Hatake led Kakashi and Yakumo to the training ground in the courtyard. Although the equipment here was old, it was very complete and in no way inferior to the training ground in the backyard of the Senju clan.

The most numerous pieces of equipment were ironwood dummies, which were covered in knife marks. Clearly, the Hatake clan had always regarded swordsmanship as the core of their combat system. One of the newest dummies should belong to Kakashi.

“Yakumo, your mastery of the Hatake sword technique is already quite good, but it’s a bit too rigid. Although the sword technique that Kakashi taught you is very orthodox, his understanding has not yet reached the level where he can teach others.”

As Hatake Sakumo spoke, his aura suddenly changed when he gripped the sword... Only a master-level level of proficiency could produce such a sharp and imposing presence.

"Hatake swordsmanship originated in the samurai era and later merged with the chakra system to form today's ninjutsu and taijutsu. But remember that the most important thing is intention rather than technique."

Sakumo Hatake swung his sword in the training ground, deliberately maintaining an extremely slow speed so that Yakumo could see it clearly. Yakumo glanced at it a few times and then became completely absorbed in it, realizing that this was a level of skill far superior to his own.

As he swung his sword, it was as if a current of air automatically gathered and wrapped around Sakumo Hatake's blade, giving it an extremely sharp feel.

Even though he swung his sword slowly, every cell in Yakumo's body trembled, and the warnings from his intelligence attribute kept reminding him to stay away from the man in front of him.

Suppressing his instinct to stay away, Yakumo began to follow Hatake Sakumo's movements, swinging his sword as much as possible to imitate his form. Although his movements were slow, he felt that his mastery of the Hatake Secret Manual was rapidly improving.

Kakashi, standing beside him, also began to follow Sakumo Hatake in wielding his sword, leaving only the faint sound of blades cutting through the air in the training ground.

The moon was bright, the stars were few, and all was quiet.

The three were immersed in the sea of ​​swordsmanship. Hatake Sakumo gradually increased his speed, as if drawn by some inexplicable force. Yakumo and Kakashi responded to Hatake Sakumo by gradually increasing the speed of their sword swings, until the three sword shadows formed a dense net of swords, and the entire training ground was filled with a murderous atmosphere!

Leaves fell, only to be torn apart by the blade's shadow before they even got close. Each cut was perfectly smooth, the result of extremely precise control over power.

One hour…

Two hours... four hours...

Sakumo Hatake sheathed his sword, and Yakumo stopped his movements, still feeling unsatisfied. In the past four hours, he had increased his proficiency by nearly a hundred points, equivalent to the results of his usual efforts over ten days.