Kakimu Harusora's face took on a look of reminiscence as he said, "My uncle was the head of our clan, a man everyone respected. I still respect him to this day. I can still remember what he looked like—he was a gentle man."
"But I never understood why Uncle made such a mistake. The Hatake Clan was once held in great esteem, yet after his death, we were shunned by everyone."
Uchiha Yuan folded his arms across his chest and asked, "Harusora, do you think the White Fang was wrong back then?"
Harusora lifted his head and met Uchiha Yuan's eyes. The sharpness in that gaze pierced him like a blade, making his eyes sting.
He couldn't help but turn his head aside and murmured, "I… don't know."
Uchiha Yuan pressed, "When you become a shinobi, would you rather be on a team with someone like the White Fang, or with a comrade who'd abandon you at any moment just to complete the mission?"
Harusora opened his mouth to answer, but under Uchiha Yuan's intense stare, he fell silent.
After a while, he said quietly, "I'd rather be with someone like my uncle."
A bright, sunlit smile broke across Uchiha Yuan's face. He clapped Harusora on the shoulder and said cheerfully, "Congratulations—you got it right!"
"Harusora, your answer proves you're the same kind of person as the White Fang."
Uchiha Yuan smiled. "So tell me—was it wrong to value your comrades?"
"No! It wasn't wrong!"
Uchiha Yuan nodded. "Exactly."
"So my uncle wasn't wrong back then, either."
Again, Uchiha Yuan affirmed, "That's right."
Harusora frowned in confusion, his tone anxious. "But… that's not what the village teaches us."
"Then it means the village is wrong," Uchiha Yuan said flatly. He lifted his head and gazed toward the Hokage Rock in the distance, a faint sneer tugging at his lips.
At those words, Harusora's eyes went wide. He stared at Uchiha Yuan in shock, completely at a loss.
The village is wrong?
How could the village be wrong?
For a moment, Harusora felt he couldn't accept it.
Uchiha Yuan drew his gaze back from the Hokage Rock and said solemnly, "Harusora, you have to understand—before we're shinobi, we are people."
"We are not cold, lifeless shuriken—tools that only know how to kill under the village's command. We have feelings. We laugh when we're happy and cry when we're sad; we can be brave, but we can also feel fear."
"You've trained so hard—was it to become a mindless weapon that only obeys orders?"
"No! I don't want that!" Harusora shouted immediately.
Then he said, troubled, "But even if Uncle wasn't wrong, his decision caused the mission to fail. It hurt the village."
Uchiha Yuan replied, "A failed mission can be redone. But a life, once lost, can never return."
"We have parents, siblings… The most important duty we have is to protect our family."
"If we throw away our lives carelessly, the village may just cross out a name on a list. But for our family, that loss is an unbearable pain."
"Remember this—after you become a shinobi, protecting your own life is the most important thing.
As for sacrifice… only when that moment truly comes will we understand it for what it is. Not the way the village teaches us—to die lightly for the sake of a mission."
"No mission is worth more than the smile of your loved ones."
Harusora slowly nodded, as if something within him had finally clicked. "Yuan-kun, I think I'm starting to understand."
He sighed softly. "If that mission could happen all over again, maybe my uncle wouldn't have died."
Uchiha Yuan was silent for a moment before saying, "I don't know what kind of classified mission the White Fang was given back then.
But I believe that as a veteran jōnin with Kage-level strength, he must have weighed the situation carefully before making his choice. Even if the mission failed, it probably didn't cause any serious damage to the village."
That so-called top-secret mission might have been a trap set for the White Fang himself, he thought silently.
Harusora frowned. "But the village said we suffered huge losses because of that mission."
Uchiha Yuan's lips curved into a faint, mocking smile. "Then the question is—was the village telling the truth?"
"If it wasn't true, why would the village lie?" Harusora asked, puzzled.
"Who knows?" Uchiha Yuan shrugged. "But I always found it strange—after the White Fang's mission failed, it seemed like overnight the whole village knew about it.
Just like the rumors about the Uchiha that have been spreading lately."
Harusora asked, "What's strange about that?"
"Do you know what kind of missions Kakashi-senpai takes on?"
Harusora shook his head. "No."
Uchiha Yuan turned away, walking as he spoke. "Then think about it yourself. And remember—don't tell anyone about our conversation. I'll head back first."
After leaving the training ground, Uchiha Yuan turned a corner and came to a stop. His eyes drifted toward a large mansion nearby.
It was Kakashi's home.
It wasn't far from the training field, and during his training sessions with Harusora, Uchiha Yuan had sensed a gaze watching him from that direction.
He could feel a cold, lifeless aura emanating from within Kakashi's house.
Now, behind the front gate, he saw a transparent figure staring at him.
The figure had silver hair—just like Kakashi.
The White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.
So it really is him. A familiar presence… it's been a long time.
Uchiha Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, his heart giving a faint tremor.
He hadn't expected to see Hatake Sakumo's spirit!
It was a soul bound to this world by lingering regret.
Yet Uchiha Yuan's expression didn't change. He acted as though he hadn't seen the ghost at all, his gaze passing straight through Sakumo's transparent form as he regarded the house beyond.
"So this is Kakashi-senpai's home. Quite a large place… though it feels terribly lonely."
He spoke softly to himself.
After a moment, he turned and walked away.
As he passed the front gate, he brushed right past Sakumo's spirit—so close they could have reached out and touched. But Uchiha Yuan's steps never faltered.
Sakumo stood motionless, watching Yuan's retreating figure until he disappeared from sight. Then his spectral form slowly faded away.
Feeling the weight of that gaze finally lift from behind him, Uchiha Yuan let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He had long known that Hatake Sakumo's soul lingered in the mortal world, but he hadn't expected to actually see him today.
I wonder if the White Fang heard what I said to Harusora just now…
Was his appearance at the door just coincidence—or has he noticed me?
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