Haseo once had a viewpoint that was actually quite accurate—that ninjas could be considered a variant type of *Jianghu children* (wandering souls unbound by societal norms), whose sense of life's uncertainty made them indifferent toward many formalities or rituals...
To sum up in one sentence: there were quite a few ninjas who experienced pregnancy outside marriage; those who stayed together for years without conceiving were the exception.
Regarding the matter of Kagami Uchiha and his descendants, Haseo had merely performed a simple investigation. When it involved the Uchiha clan, many things would become particularly thorny.
Besides, Haseo couldn't possibly muster the same level of determination to trace Kagami Uchiha's descendants as he would hunting remnants of pirate kings.
This just wasn't something worth going that far for, so the oversight was understandable—he was only a character in the story, after all, not some omniscient observer.
Don't overcomplicate it—it's not like Shisui's some big mystery; he's just Shisui, that's all.
As for why his name surfaced only now—perhaps it was a form of reserved protection? Or maybe it was simply someone wanting to change their name. After all, besides Haseo, practically no one else would immediately connect Shisui Uchiha with Kagami Uchiha.
Changing names was also perfectly normal. Take someone—or even something—as an example; if Haseo gave them a name, wouldn't they naturally want to change it later?
Chronologically speaking, Shisui wasn't significantly younger than Kakashi, so it was almost time for him to display his presence—"[Flash Body] Shisui."
During his time as Hokage, right up until he planned to leave Konoha, Haseo never interfered with Uchiha affairs. Within Konoha, the Uchiha operated somewhat like a self-contained system, an "independent kingdom." To completely change them would certainly require enormous effort, cost, energy, and time.
Even after investing such effort, there was no guarantee of a positive outcome...the Uchiha might even collapse entirely.
Trying to alter people's thinking and long-standing rigid mindsets within a clan was always an incredibly difficult task.
So why should Haseo bother? He had better things to do—like focus on making little baby humans. Wouldn't that be more enjoyable?
Well, apparently not that enjoyable—it was too much pressure.
Ultimately, everyone must take responsibility for themselves. Let them save themselves when necessary, and let them perish when it comes—this wasn't indifference out of choice, but rather cold hard reality.
...
On the day Haseo left Konoha, he arrived at his office early in the morning as usual to report for duty.
Because he'd appeared quite diligent recently, nobody suspected anything unusual about his behavior today...until Uzumaki Shikou came in to report on her tasks.
She had a lot to handle today, so she showed up early.
"Lord Haseo, regarding the distribution of new logistics resources and the Daimyo's 'special wartime support' for Konoha Village, you need to personally review and approve these matters..."
While speaking, Uzumaki Shikou, out of habit, glanced at Haseo—and then noticed that this "Haseo" was secretly sticking out his tongue to lick the back of his right hand.
"..."
Uh... what's going on?
Some animals naturally possess an acute awareness of being watched, even without conscious thought. So when "Haseo" locked eyes with Shikou, he realized his actions had been discovered and froze in place, looking like a clumsy fool caught red-handed.
This was a bit awkward.
Shikou was an Uzumaki after all. Faced with such strange behavior, her chakra senses naturally extended outward—while Haseo possessed many unique traits and differed from traditional ninja in many ways, secretly licking his own hand?
Something was definitely very wrong here.
"Black Cat? Is that Lord Haseo's Transformation Jutsu?"
Immediately, Shikou identified the true identity of the person sitting on the chair… he wasn't human at all.
[Transformation Jutsu] was a unique form of ninjutsu capable of transforming a toad into a fox. Therefore, it could also turn a cat into a real human being… Unfortunately, this Black Cat hadn't become a catgirl—it had fully taken on Haseo's appearance through impersonation.
When someone imitated themselves, the appearance was naturally extremely realistic… Obviously, this wasn't something the Black Cat did itself. It didn't even have hands to form Hand Seals.
With a paw's physiological structure, how could it possibly perform Hand Seals to activate the jutsu?
"Lord Shikou, you found me out."
Once its identity was exposed, the jutsu covering the Black Cat's body dissolved as well. It shifted from sitting upright on the chair to lying flat on the table, freely licking its paw again… Let's be real—walking around like a two-legged thing just doesn't feel right for a cat.
"Where is Lord Haseo?"
Seeing the Black Cat transformed to look exactly like Haseo, Uzumaki Shikou already had a vague idea of what had happened.
The Black Cat didn't explain much further—it didn't understand much about human affairs. Next, it simply flipped its paw across the table, handing a letter to Shikou… The only thing making Black Cat feel slightly upset was that when its master left the village, he hadn't taken it along—the reason given was so that it could cover for him.
It was said that everything was just "temporary." Soon enough, Black Cat would reunite with its master… What else could it do but passively accept and feel dejected? After all, cats were no match for humans.
Haseo definitely knew Black Cat would be quickly exposed, otherwise he wouldn't have left a letter behind.
Uzumaki Shikou accepted the letter, skimmed through its contents hurriedly, then paused in thought before coming back to her senses… Then, she wasted no time informing the two Elders.
There was no way to hide this matter, nor was it something that should be hidden… Rather speaking, if it needed concealing, everyone had to conspire together to keep the secret—Shikou alone couldn't handle it.
Soon after, the two Elders rushed to the office upon hearing the news.
"Where is the Fourth?"
Almost barging through the door, Homura Mitokado spoke with a tone bordering on accusation.
Uzumaki Shikou handed him the letter, then replied, "...Lord Haseo has gone traveling with Tsunade-sama to celebrate their 'Honey Year.'"
There were plenty of things wrong with that explanation. Foremost among them was… what exactly was a 'long-term honeymoon' anyway?
Most people only know about the so-called "honeymoon period."
"When did the Hokage leave?"
"Must've been today..."
"Can we bring him back?"
"Elder, we're talking about Lord Haseo here. First off, it's extremely hard for us to even detect his trail. Second, even if we located him, there's no way we could catch up with him—much less drag him back to the village."
"And when will the Hokage return?"
"Lord Haseo said it was uncertain, but he *would* come back—no doubt about it."
"…"
What kind of answer is that? A blank check?
"He's the Hokage! How could he just… walk away like that?!"
Both Elders were too furious to speak.
Haseo had inherited a complete mess after the Third's death, stabilized Konoha's situation, and regained control during the war. He'd worked tirelessly as Hokage for so long—he'd more than repaid Konoha's "raising" of him. Now they were square, and he felt satisfied enough to leave without hesitation.
To the Elders, however, Haseo's actions were seriously irresponsible. Achievement? Wasn't becoming Hokage reward enough? And once you're Hokage, you're supposed to stay put and keep working—no complaints, no quitting.
How could he just quit like this? It was absurd beyond belief!
Hadn't Konoha already given him honor, status, and prestige enough?
Frankly speaking, the Elders' view was the orthodox one and quite reasonable.
But none of that could stop Haseo from doing as he pleased.
"Can we still get in touch with the Fourth?"
"…" Elder Shikou couldn't answer that question.
However, Black Cat carefully pulled open the inner drawer of Haseo's desk and then raised a small slug with both paws...
"There's Lady Katsuyu."
Ah right, there was the "teleportation worm" too.
Seeing the slug, everyone inexplicably relaxed a bit; at least now they had a method of contact.
Haseo was currently at home in the Uzumaki district hot spring… Everything inside remained exactly as before. The house still held faint traces of daily life, as though its owner had simply gone out as usual and would soon return normally.
The room was quietly silent.
Only on the table facing the door lay two Konoha forehead protectors, neatly stacked one atop the other. When morning light streamed through the window, they reflected an incredibly vivid shimmer…
P.S.:
1. Please support me with subscriptions.
Friends, if this book were fully subscribed at full price, you'd probably be top-tier Patrons by now—or at least Senior Supporters as VIP readers.
By the way, this is actually the longest book I've ever written.
2. Don't accuse me of filler anymore—my plot is moving forward steadily.
Some may find the main character's conversations with Kakashi, and even this chapter's follow-up, seem unnecessary.
Plot buildup, extra explanations, obscure jokes, ambiguous references, casually placed foreshadowing, psychological details, ripple effects of events, transitional and everyday scenes, dual perspectives—descriptions of lifestyle creation, and even my accustomed depiction of fight sequences… Many readers might not bother distinguishing these elements, but they'll summarize them all using one word:
Filler.
"Cut the crap. Do you really think a fanfic writer would overthink things that much?"
Well then, I'm just a fanfic writer after all.
Even my fanfics are barely staying afloat—right on the edge of flopping.
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