"Father."
"What happened to your face?"
The Naruto world, night.
When Kakashi finished his day's training and returned home, he stood there staring blankly at Sakumo Hatake with two black eyes.
Even though he had used ice to reduce the swelling beforehand and used a mask to cover his nose, he couldn't hide the fact that he'd been beaten to a pulp.
Sakumo Hatake glanced at him with a hint of surprise...
Kakashi, whose white hair was inherited entirely from his father, feigned indifference and acted tough. "It's nothing."
He brushed past Sakumo's shoulder, pushed the door open, and walked inside.
"Dinner is warming in the pot. Eat it while it's hot."
"Got it."
*Creeeak—* The door opened and then closed.
Sakumo gave a simple reminder without digging deeper. It was common for young ninja to get hurt during training; it wasn't a big deal—in fact, it was a good thing.
After all, was it not common knowledge that sweating more in training meant bleeding less on the battlefield?
Sakumo pushed aside his wandering thoughts and pulled a sheet of paper from his robe to examine it closely. On it were written the words [Thunder Breathing]. This was the gift Roy had condensed into a stream of information and given to him that morning.
Perhaps it was mutual respect, or perhaps it was because they were both swordsmen... Sakumo never expected that at his age, he would actually find a young friend, and more surprisingly, he had gone in with the intention of taking the boy as an apprentice, only to end up being the one taught. It was quite beyond his expectations.
'Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash... Second Form: Rice Spirit. Third Form: Thunder Swarm. Fourth Form: Distant Thunder...'
*Clang—*
The White Fang was unsheathed, held firmly in Sakumo's hand. The man tucked the paper away, took a deep breath, and began to dance with his blade. Amidst the flickering lightning, brilliant arcs of electricity erupted, illuminating a small patch of the night sky...
Inside the house, Kakashi heard the commotion. He served himself a plate of curry and ate as he held it... He quietly appeared at the window, peering into the courtyard through the moonlight. His eyes, which were thirty percent similar to Sakumo's yet held an air of not caring about anything, blinked rapidly. It was a style of swordsmanship he had never seen his father use before!
'Father's sword style isn't like this... Or is he hiding something from me?'
'Is this actually his true trump card?'
While the genius youth would later be dubbed the Copy Ninja thanks to the Sharingan, even now, the fact that he could develop the Rasengan just by imitating his teacher Minato Namikaze and later create [Chidori] and [Raikiri] using [Lightning Style] showed his talent far surpassed his peers.
'Thunder Breathing, Fifth Form: Heat Lightning. Sixth Form: Rumble and Flashing...'
The blade moved with his will, lightning pouring like spilled mercury. Sakumo immersed himself in the Breathing Style, moving faster and faster... Gradually... Kakashi's eyes widened. The spoon hung in his mouth, and he forgot to eat, unable to catch Sakumo's movements anymore!
He was too fast... and he was getting even faster.
Why did it suddenly become so fast when it looked so slow a moment ago?
Kakashi was stunned. Though the young boy had just begun his ninja path and shown unparalleled talent in Ninjutsu, when it came to Kenjutsu, he was still leagues behind Konoha's White Fang!
'This isn't swordsmanship. It's clearly [Lightning Style]... a [Secret Technique] that forcibly boosts combat power by regulating [voluntary breathing]!'
'It's not inferior to the [Kekkei Genkai] of those clans in the village at all!'
"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Honoikazuchi no Kami!" This finishing move, originally created by Zenitsu Agatsuma, appeared in the night sky. The lightning turned from silver to gold, condensing into a golden thunderstorm that struck the ground... After finishing the dance, Sakumo sheathed his sword, feeling an indescribable sense of relief... It was as if every pore and cell was cheering. Nourished by the lightning, his vitality improved as if he were reborn!
*Exhale—* He released a cloud of turbid air.
*Clang—* The White Fang returned to its scabbard.
Sakumo stood with his back to Kakashi, his expression complex. 'I owe him a massive favor,' he thought.
Without waiting for Kakashi to ask, he explained, "Don't overthink it. This doesn't belong to me. Without the owner's permission, I cannot teach it to you."
Kakashi looked down at his food. The steam was gone; without realizing it, the rice had gone cold...
"Oh," he replied.
The boy opened his mouth and mechanically shoveled a spoonful of curry in. He didn't even notice the oil splashing onto his mask, drawing a sigh from Sakumo. The child's mother had died early, and Sakumo was often busy with missions, neglecting his upbringing. Perhaps this was why Fugaku was a good father and he wasn't...
"You can take your mask off when you eat."
"A ninja's mystery isn't expressed through their appearance."
"Oh," Kakashi said, taking another spoonful of curry. This time, he pulled the mask up a bit more, revealing more of his face.
Seeing this, Sakumo pushed the door open and walked in. He hung the White Fang on the wall and ruffled Kakashi's head. "When you're done, just put it in the sink. I'll wash it after I take a shower."
With that, Sakumo took off his jonin vest, brushed past Kakashi, and walked toward the bathroom.
*Step... step...* At night, the lights in the room were already on.
The light flickered, casting Sakumo's shadow onto the living room floor, swaying with him...
Just as he was about to disappear into the bathroom.
Kakashi suddenly asked, "Who is it?"
"Father, can I know whose swordsmanship that was?"
The boy didn't quite understand why it was so impressive, but that didn't stop him from thinking it was amazing, especially since he had a keen eye...
Who? Sakumo stopped in his tracks. A face immediately appeared in his mind—thirty percent like Fugaku, seventy percent like Mikoto, with a pair of eyes that were far too mature for his age!
"Jin Uchiha. Your Uncle Fugaku's son..."
'It's him?' Kakashi was stunned.
"What, you know him?" Sakumo noticed his son's reaction and looked back.
Kakashi slowly shook his head. "I don't know him. I've only heard about him from Obito."
"Your teammate Obito Uchiha?"
"Yes." Kakashi shrugged. "I feel like he really admires Jin Uchiha. Today, he was the one who beat me like this."
"Of course," Kakashi added quickly, "I beat him even worse."
"Is that so?" Sakumo was a bit surprised. Regarding Kakashi's two teammates, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, he had discussed them with Minato. It was said that Obito Uchiha was a dead-last who got beaten by his son in every training session. Yet today, something unusual happened... Thinking back, a possibility occurred to him:
"It seems he awakened the Sharingan."
Kakashi didn't think he could hide it from Sakumo. He admitted frankly, "Yes. He awakened his eyes."
A hint of frustration appeared on the boy's cool face as he recalled that afternoon's training match with Obito. His movements, including his Substitution Jutsu, were laid bare under the Sharingan... It was an indescribably uncomfortable and restrictive feeling.
Kakashi had to admit... the Sharingan was truly formidable.
"No wonder." His suspicion confirmed, Sakumo comforted him gently, "Kakashi,"
"Since Obito has awakened his eyes, you can't treat him as a dead-last anymore. You must learn to rely on him more. After all, like Rin Nohara, he is your comrade..."
"I know," Kakashi said sullenly. "Father, to be honest, I didn't think he could awaken them. According to Teacher, even among the Uchiha, not many can awaken the Sharingan."
Not many? Sakumo thought of the two pairs of Sharingan he had seen this morning—one belonging to Shisui and one to Roy. Both were young, and even... Jin had awakened his own sword domain, the Sword Eye. He fell into an eerie silence...
*Whoosh—* A gust of wind blew in through the window, cooling the last bit of steam from Kakashi's curry...
The boy's white hair moved with the wind. Noticing Sakumo's strangeness, he raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had said something wrong.
He looked at Sakumo again.
The man stood with his back to the bathroom. As his thoughts churned, an absurd idea suddenly popped into his head... Was it possible—
That all Uchiha could awaken their eyes?
In an instant, Sakumo forcibly crushed the thought. He was almost frightened by his own speculation...
"Minato is right. The Sharingan isn't that easy to awaken."
"Even among the Uchiha, Obito would be considered a genius. You should take him more seriously." Sakumo snapped back to reality, gave Kakashi a final instruction, and pushed open the wooden bathroom door. This time, the man uncharacteristically took a cold shower to calm his mind and drive out the absurd thoughts...
*Splash—* The sound of water rang out...
Kakashi took another spoonful of cold curry. Just as he was about to go to the kitchen to get a hot refill, he remembered something and shouted toward the bathroom door, "I almost forgot, Father. That Jin Uchiha you mentioned... he seems to have become my teammate too."
*Squeak—*
The faucet was forcibly twisted off by a large hand!
The bathroom door cracked open, and Sakumo's wet head poked out. "What did you say?"
Kakashi said expressionlessly, "Teacher Minato said this evening that a newcomer would be joining our team tomorrow and told us to take good care of him. When Obito asked who it was and heard it was Jin Uchiha, that guy... he just froze on the spot."
Sakumo: "..."
He felt like a piece of his heart had been stolen. After a long silence, he slowly closed the bathroom door.
"I see."
Those faint words carried a lot of desolation...
Kakashi just found it inexplicable.
Usually, when a newcomer joined a team, there would be a test. Since this Jin Uchiha was highly praised by Obito and could create swordsmanship that even his father practiced in the courtyard... he would find out what the boy was capable of tomorrow...
Kakashi mechanically shoved another spoonful of curry into his mouth. This time, he accidentally bit into a grain of undissolved salt. The sudden saltiness made his face twitch uncontrollably, as if he were wearing a mask of pain.
"The world shall know pain... Father, the salt isn't dissolved."
Sakumo: "Eat it or don't."
Kakashi: "..."
Hit by a ruthless blow of fatherly love for the first time, he froze in place...
"Achoo!"
"Why are you sneezing?"
The Hunter World, Mount Kukuroo, Republic of Padokea.
Zoldyck Family castle, near evening as the sun set... After undergoing poison resistance training and enduring the sun for a long-overdue ten thousand grateful punches, Roy, as usual, left the training room. He walked slowly toward the basement to pay respects to his grandfather Zigg and continue exploring the Dark Continent...
Halfway there, he happened to run into Illumi, who was just coming out of the basement.
Seeing him sneeze, his foolish little brother stopped and stared with his hollow, soulless eyes... After not seeing him for a few days, Illumi's skin was much paler—ghastly white, like a ghost.
"Who knows?"
Maybe the toxins in his body weren't fully digested, or maybe it was just a sudden intuition...
Roy twitched his nose and heard a third answer from Illumi—
"Maybe someone is thinking about you behind your back."
"Don't tell me it's you?" Roy glanced at him indifferently. "You know my punches hurt."
"I'm learning [Nen] from Great-grandfather," Illumi said, unfazed by Roy's raised fist. "Once I master [Ken], my punches will hurt too."
"Then congratulations in advance..." Using Grandmaster Dark Step, Roy's figure flickered once, twice, three times, brushing past Illumi's shoulder... This time, the boy tried to imitate Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's [Shunpo] as shown through the Door of Cognition. His movements held a wonderful rhythm, and in the blink of an eye, he left Illumi far behind...
Illumi was stunned. His long black hair swayed in the breeze Roy left behind... When the boy snapped out of it, the mottled ancient corridor was empty. There was no sign of his brother; only he remained.
He seemed still immersed in that wonderful rhythm, unable to snap out of it for a long time...
'Is that [Dark Step]?'
'Why is mine so different from his?'
With a bit of doubt, a fair amount of confusion, a lot of bewilderment, and complete loss... Illumi decided to ask his great-grandfather about it tomorrow.
As he thought, he walked in the opposite direction from Roy toward his own bedroom—that hole.
*Step, step...* Two sets of footsteps moved in opposite directions, drifting apart...
Roy's attempt to imitate [Shunpo] ultimately remained at the stage of imitation. Back when he met Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, he hadn't thought to activate the Sharingan to observe closely; he had only focused on the sword discussion...
Thinking about it now, it was somewhat regrettable...
'Next time... there will definitely be a next time.'
'I'm sure if I copy it right in front of the old man, he... he wouldn't mind.'
A flash of crimson flickered in his eyes...
Roy's lips curled upward as he arrived at the basement.
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