The scene shifts to the main gate of Konoha, where a tall, white-haired figure appears. The two Ninja guarding the gate quickly greet him: "Lord Sakumo."
"Good evening."
Sakumo Hatake's eyes were kind, and he responded with a smile. It was impossible to see the ruthlessness with which he killed the Sand Ninja couple in the second part; he looked more like a kind uncle one might see anywhere.
"Has anything happened in the village these past few days?"
"Nothing major," the guard replied, "just like usual."
Sakumo sighed, "Peace is truly good," then waved goodbye, "I won't disturb your work, I'll be going now."
Walking through the bustling night market, he rubbed his chin, feeling a bit hungry.
When on missions, for convenience, he mostly ate soldier pills (Chakra replenishing pill) to stave off hunger. While those things could fill him up, they tasted terrible, and eating too many was bad for his body. Now that he was back in Konoha, it was time to properly nourish himself with normal meals.
[Sakumo! He's here!]
[My husband, I've waited so long for you.]
[Move aside, the one in front, this is my husband.]
[If you want to eat, just eat, why make excuses (funny face)]
[Come to my house, Sakumo, I'll cook.]
[My abacus beads are flying at my face.]
[Tremble, Scum Shinji, the one who can beat you up is back.]
Sakumo Hatake arrived at a small tavern. As he entered, he saw a young girl with vibrant red hair drinking. The blonde young man sitting next to her quickly stood up when he saw him.
"Hatake-senpai, good evening."
"Oh, are you two young lovers out on a date, Minato?"
Seeing a familiar face, Sakumo smiled and waved.
Minato chuckled, inviting, "No, not at all. Senpai, please come sit with us, it's crowded now."
Sakumo glanced at Kushina's expression and then sat down.
Minato was the first to start a conversation: "Senpai, you've come at just the right time. I was just worrying about tomorrow's mission."
"That's right, Minato has a mission to the Land of Wind..." Kushina began to babble, occasionally revealing her verbal tic, "So, Senpai, please, share some information."
"This location..."
The three huddled together, discussing information in low code for a while. By the time they finished, their food was mostly gone. Before leaving, they had two more small drinks.
"Speaking of which, Senpai," Minato took a sip of sake from his cup, "Kakashi has been doing very well recently. I hear he can already graduate."
"Graduating too early isn't always good. Some things can only be found in school."
Sakumo tilted his head, swallowing the last of his drink, and sighed with a helpless tone, "This kid is just too stubborn, single-minded. I don't know who he takes after..."
After muttering a few words, Sakumo put down his cup and stood up: "Alright, I should head back, otherwise Kakashi will complain again that I only come home after he's asleep."
"Take care, Senpai."
Arriving home, the house was pitch black, and Sakumo didn't sense any Chakra signatures.
"Where did that brat run off to?"
Scratching his head, he decided to go look for him.
[Catching juniors on a date, hehehe.]
[Sakumo even glanced at Kushina before sitting down.]
[This is the discernment of an adult, I love it, I love it.]
[Kakashi is only six or seven, can he really graduate?]
[Who else could he be like? You two, father and son, are cut from the same cloth.]
[A family of stubborn donkeys, neither can criticize the other.]
[Sakumo is truly a good father.]
[Compared to Scum Shinji, he's an angel dad!]
[Yay! Beat up Scum Shinji!]
The camera suddenly shifts. The bright Moonlight outside the window shines into the hospital room. Naraku, lying on the bed, gradually begins to struggle uncomfortably, seemingly having a nightmare.
The next scene becomes blurry and dim, and the characters' voices are somewhat distorted. Various details indicate that this is Naraku's dream, almost entirely consisting of Uchiha Shinji's verbal taunts and physical violence towards him.
[It's all your fault!]
[Do you even deserve to rest, you trash!]
[I'll see if I can beat you into submission!]
[You killed your mother!]
[Uchiha Naraku, you jinx!]
-- No, no!
At the most intense moment of the dream, Naraku suddenly sits up, drenched in cold sweat from the shock, gasping for air.
Episode 7 ends at the moment he wakes up from the nightmare. The screen gradually darkens, but the gasping sounds of his lingering fright still echo in the audience's ears, only to be drowned out when the ending theme song begins.
Even then, the audience was still fiercely condemning Uchiha Shinji's beastly actions in the bullet comments.
[Scum Shinji is a PUA master.]
[Damn, Naraku's mother's death was clearly caused by that scum, what does it have to do with him?]
[Uchiha Shinji knows how to shift blame.]
[If Naraku's mother's spirit in heaven could see all this, how sad she would be!]
Naraku clicked pause, glanced at the pendulum clock on the wall, and told himself he'd watch one more episode and then go to sleep. He then decisively played Episode 8, fast-forwarding past the opening credits to the point where it connected with the previous episode.
In the scene, he was just a dark silhouette in the center, clearly not yet recovered from the nightmare, staring blankly at the white duvet.
Further out from the silhouette was a large window. Outside, it was already late, with scattered starlight adorning the sky, accompanying a full moon. The Moonlight, like a white ribbon, fell equally upon every sleepless creature of the night, like a benevolent blessing from a god.
He sat on the bed motionless until the pain in his body woke him up.
-- Hiss, it hurts so much.
Naraku carefully pursed his lips, and then remembered the broken pottery jar. Had his father already thrown it away as trash?
-- I have to find it. It's important... Even if it's just a pile of fragments... [The Moonlight is like Mom's gaze.]
[I'm crying, Naraku really cherishes the things Kakashi gave him.]
[The only gift, thinking of that description makes me sad.]
[And this gift was even medicine, boo hoo hoo.]
Naraku endured the pain and got out of bed to open the door, encountering Kakashi returning. His first reaction was guilt for not having taken good care of the gift.
Kakashi asked him about his injuries, and he still reflexively denied it, but under the other's continuous questioning, he became speechless, lowering his head and softly pleading not to be asked anymore.
[Take Naraku home, Kaka, that's no life for a person.]
[Kaka, squeeze gently, Naraku must be in so much pain right now, boo hoo hoo hoo.]
[This time, Naraku won't be able to fool Kakashi no matter what.]
[I really want to jump into the screen and shout to Naraku that none of this is his fault!]
After Uchiha Shinji arrived, the conflict that erupted with Hoshino Akira made the audience extremely tense. That slap, in particular, drew a barrage of curses. The bullet comments kept calling for Sakumo Hatake, and he did not disappoint, arriving at the scene at the critical moment, breaking the intense atmosphere.
Sakumo Hatake was higher in both rank and strength than Uchiha Shinji, who had no choice but to back down and leave. Hoshino Akira also felt relieved to leave Naraku with the Hatake Father and Son.
[Ah ah ah ah ah ah! Sakumo, you are my god!]
[Finally here, otherwise Teacher Hoshino would have fought with Scum Shinji.]
[Scum, I still appreciate your untamed look, want to revert?]
[Yo yo yo, Shinji, why did you back down? Didn't you say others couldn't bear the wrath of you Uchiha?]
[Satisfied.]
[Finally escaped from a hellish life.]
[Naraku has a backer now, let's see who dares to bully our Baby Naraku!]