The sky had yet to brighten.
Kakashi stood alone before an old compound.
This was the Hatake clan's old residence, the place where he had spent his childhood.
After his father's death, overwhelmed by grief, he had moved out not long afterward, sealing away all the memories tied to this courtyard together with the house itself.
He had tossed and turned all night, barely closing his eyes.
"Resurrection"… the word itself carried a weight that defied common sense. But in front of Shinju-sama, it had already become reality—more than once.
Kakashi had experienced too many farewells, seen too many lives end. More than anyone, he understood the boundary of life and death. It was precisely because of that understanding that the scales in his heart shook so violently.
In the end, Kakashi still came.
Before the appointed time, he left his current quarters. Kakashi didn't know whether, on this trip, he was looking forward to something… or afraid of something.
He reached out and gently pushed open the unlatched gate of the Hatake residence, then stepped inside.
The sight that greeted him in the courtyard was even more desolate than he had imagined. Weeds had grown wild and tall, nearly up to his waist, completely swallowing what used to be the path.
Parting the grass with his hands, he walked toward the backyard, relying on memory to guide his steps.
At last, the training ground behind the house came into view. This was where his ninja life had first begun.
He gazed at the empty field, and countless scenes surged up in his mind.
He seemed to see his younger self, struggling to imitate his father's stance.
His father's hand had been broad and powerful, wrapping around his small, childlike fingers as he taught him how to properly grip the short blade known as "White Fang."
"Kakashi, a blade is an extension of a ninja. You have to feel its weight… and its heartbeat." His father's voice had been low and steady.
Then he saw himself a bit older, training alone in this very field. White chakra gathered in his palm, emitting a sharp, piercing chirp.
That was the prototype of Chidori (One Thousand Birds).
The faint scars from countless failed attempts and chakra backlashes still seemed to linger in his memory.
He had practiced tirelessly, repeating the same motions over and over, his clothes often soaked through with sweat.
Until one day, lightning finally formed completely in his hand and pierced through a massive boulder at the edge of the training ground. Success.
Back then, his heart had been full of pride and the burning desire to surpass his father.
But this place could also be called the starting point of all his nightmares.
That morning, the sky had been overcast and gloomy.
After finishing his morning training, he had come here, intending to call his father out of bed. And it was in this very field that Kakashi found his father's body.
The body was already cold, completely devoid of warmth.
The short blade of White Fang that had felled countless enemies lay by his father's hand. There was no enemy's blood on the edge—only its master's.
He hadn't screamed or cried that day. He had simply stood there, rooted to the spot, as all sound in the world vanished in an instant.
His father, just like that… was gone, right before his eyes.
With every step he took into the training ground now, it felt like he was reliving a fragment of that painful past.
His father teaching him how to wield a blade.
His younger self practicing Chidori (One Thousand Birds).
The moment he discovered his father's cold corpse.
Those three images alternated violently in his consciousness, tearing at his mind. His breathing grew short, and his chest felt heavy.
What if…?
What if Shinju-sama was telling the truth?
Uchiha Shisui and the Fourth Hokage were both real, living examples of people who had already been brought back before his very eyes.
He saw the figure of the one who brought hope.
Shinju was already waiting in the center of the training ground. Once, there had been a small pond there, but it had long since dried up, leaving behind only a cracked, parched basin. Shinju stood at the edge of it, looking toward the distant horizon.
He wore simple black casual clothes, yet his presence felt completely incompatible with the surrounding ruin and decay.
Kakashi's footsteps halted. He didn't know how to open his mouth.
"You're afraid."
Shinju's voice drifted over, calm and without the slightest ripple. He did not turn around.
"You're afraid this is just a trick… that you'll end up happy for nothing."
Kakashi's body went rigid. Those words pierced straight through all his carefully maintained composure.
"But even more than that," Shinju turned, meeting his gaze directly, "you're afraid that it's real. Because you don't know how to face him."
Yes. He was afraid.
He was afraid that all of this would turn out to be nothing but an illusion, because the greater the hope, the deeper the pain when it shatters.
He was even more afraid that if his father truly stood before him again… what should he do? What should he say?
Should he apologize for his lack of understanding back then?
Or should he question why his father chose to abandon him and end his own life?
He wasn't even sure he had the right to stand in front of his father.
He had gone against the very warning his father had left him, placing the mission above his comrades—and in the end, he lost Obito and Rin.
Then, afterward, he had walked back onto his father's path, valuing his comrades more than anything else.
Sometimes, fate really did seem like a cruel circle, forcing people to repeat the same "mistakes" over and over.
"Kakashi." Shinju's voice sounded again. "I'm resurrecting him not only for your sake…"
Kakashi was slightly taken aback. If not for him, then for what?
"It's also to tell all of Konoha this: a hero who abandons a mission for the sake of his comrades should not be nailed to a pillar of shame."
Shinju's tone was still flat, but the weight of his words fell like a mountain.
"What I want to correct isn't only your personal regret," he continued. "It's also the mistakes this village once made. Just because others couldn't do it doesn't mean I, Shinju, can't."
These words completely shattered the last of the doubt and defenses in Kakashi's heart.
In that instant, he understood that Shinju-sama's vision had long since surpassed the level of personal emotion.
Everything Shinju was doing… was paving the road toward a brand new Konoha in his heart.
A Konoha without tragedy and regret.
Though that goal was lofty, in Shinju-sama's hands it truly seemed possible.
Reviving Sakumo was not just for reconnecting a father and son. It was to establish a new standard, to correct the village's twisted values.
Who said that protecting one's comrades from harm had to be a disgrace?
Human life was more important. Once someone died, everything ended there.
White Fang had not been wrong.
Kakashi had always been trapped by his own knot of guilt and self-blame, but he had never truly considered that his father's death was also a scar on the village itself.
After taking a deep breath, he felt a lightness he had never experienced before.
He no longer tried to judge whether the outcome would be real or false, no longer forced himself to picture in advance what their reunion would look like.
He raised his hand and removed the forehead protector that had always covered his left eye.
But he still did not take off his mask.
In the next moment, he bent one knee and dropped to the ground.
His movement was firm. His knee sank into the damp earth, but he paid it no mind.
"Shinju-sama!"
All hesitation was gone from his eyes, leaving only trust and resolve.
"No matter what the result is, Kakashi is willing to believe in you!"
Shinju stepped forward with a faint smile and helped him back up.
"With me, there is no 'no matter what'," he said.
"Then… be ready to welcome back Konoha's lost legend."
Shinju extended his right hand, palm facing upward.
A vast surge of chakra began to gather in his palm, spinning rapidly. The very air around them seemed to twist faintly in response.
A voice only he could hear echoed in his mind.
[Host command confirmed. Legendary heroic spirit — "Konoha's White Fang" Sakumo, resurrection program… start.]
(End of Chapter)
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