In the early morning, the first rays of sunlight shone through the window onto a hospital bed with neatly folded bedding.
Kakashi, who hadn't slept all night, had already returned home, changed into black clothes, and arrived at the burial site.
That's right, today was Sakumo Hatake's funeral.
As the paulownia wood coffin was lowered into the grave, the Third turned to look at Kakashi, who silently shook his head.
Thus, the Third lightly raised his left hand, and the ANBU Ninja beside him stepped forward, forming hand seals before pressing them against the grave.
"Earth Release: Earth Burial!"
The soil on both sides quickly surged toward the center, forming a hemispherical burial mound.
Seeing this, the Third moved to the Memorial Stone, looked at the newly carved name of Sakumo Hatake, and began to recount his life's achievements to the attendees.
There weren't many people behind him, all dressed in black and holding white flowers for the offering.
Kakashi watched all of this silently as a wave of sadness washed over him; after the soul fusion, he had also inherited some of the original owner's emotions.
This powerhouse of the Kage level, who was once so famous that even the Sannin held him in awe, had now become history.
Kakashi had also lost his only relative from then on.
Before long, the Third finished his speech.
Having presided over the ceremony, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi now walked up to Kakashi.
"Kakashi, Sakumo was a hero of the Village. Since he has passed, I will be your family from now on, and the villagers will be your family as well."
Kakashi remained silent.
Seeing this, the Third sighed and said no more.
He knew he had to give Kakashi time to process his grief.
The funeral lasted all day.
In the evening, Kakashi dragged his exhausted body back to the Hatake residence—oh right, it was his home now.
The empty house was very lonely. After a simple wash, Kakashi lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
He was truly too tired.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Kakashi woke up groggily.
Having recovered his energy, he got up and walked into White Fang's room.
He found the inconspicuous 'Geographical Atlas of the Land of Fire' in the corner of the bookshelf and gave it a hard pull.
The bookshelf in front of him moved slowly, revealing a hidden door behind it.
Kakashi approached the hidden door, formed a special seal with his hands, and pressed it against the energy convergence point on the lock.
With a soft click, the hidden door opened automatically, revealing a staircase leading underground.
Kakashi took a flashlight from the desk drawer and walked down the steps.
A secret chamber made of blue granite, the same size as the room above, came into view.
Inside the dim room stood three rows of bookshelves, holding over a hundred scrolls categorized by type.
Ignoring the sections recording family secrets and Ninjutsu, Kakashi went straight for the long-dusty 'Hatake Sword Style' scroll.
The sword style was the foundation of the Hatake clan, the ultimate technique with which the White Fang of Konoha dominated the battlefield, and the secret art for which Kakashi had practiced the basics since childhood.
Unlike what ordinary people understood as swordsmanship, the Hatake Sword Style was essentially a form of Nintaijutsu.
Its greatest feature was that it could be combined with different attributes of Chakra, using the same sword movements to produce completely different effects.
Due to the Hatake clan's natural affinity for all elements, successive clan heads had developed it to varying degrees based on their own strengths.
The most profound of these were the Flame Blade combined with fire, the Wind Blade combined with wind, and the Lightning Blade combined with lightning.
The Flame Blade was explosive; the sword light swung out could combine with the air to create violent explosions;
The Wind Blade was sharp; with one swing, the enemy would be torn asunder;
The Lightning Blade was penetrative; when mastered to the extreme, it could pierce through even a Susanoo with a single strike!
Unfortunately, the Hatake Sword Style was easy to learn but difficult to master.
To achieve great success, one had to go through countless life-and-death battles!
At the same time, the practitioner needed to have an extremely strong physique and a massive amount of Chakra for support!
This led to an extremely high casualty rate among ordinary clansmen.
As a result, the lineage dwindled until, by Kakashi Hatake's generation, he was the only one left.
Thinking of this, Kakashi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
If he accidentally died, there would be no one left to carry on the Hatake Sword Style.
After reading the sword style scroll, Kakashi tucked it away on his person.
As for the other Ninjutsu scrolls, Kakashi didn't touch them; he had no use for them for the time being.
With his built-in system, as long as someone performed a Ninjutsu in front of him, he could master it instantly.
Rather than spending time practicing those now, it was better to focus on building a solid physical foundation; that was the true path!
Walking out of the secret chamber and restoring everything to its original state, Kakashi used his movement technique to quickly reach the waterfall in the Konoha Forest.
He took off his shoes and socks, walked barefoot across the water's surface, and stood beneath the waterfall.
Unlike basic tree climbing or water walking, accurately controlling one's body under the violent impact of a waterfall was far more difficult!
Fortunately, White Fang had taken him through similar training before, so he avoided the fate of being swept away by the current.
After stabilizing his stance, Kakashi closed his eyes and, matching the unique breathing of the Hatake Sword Style, adjusted his body to a specific rhythm.
Suddenly, Kakashi snapped his eyes open and swiftly drew his sword!
Lift, cleave, pare, thrust, chop, intercept, parry, press, burst, flick, and hook.
The basic movements he had long since mastered became several times harder under the pounding of the waterfall!
Kakashi gritted his teeth, ensuring his form didn't falter while performing each movement a thousand times!
After an unknown amount of time, Kakashi, his stamina finally depleted, crawled onto the bank with difficulty and collapsed, gasping for air.
The training that pushed past his physical limits made his consciousness a bit blurry; he really wanted to just fall asleep right there.
But his remaining logic told him that if he collapsed here, even if he luckily avoided wild beasts coming to the river to drink,
his soaked clothes alone would cause enough heat loss to easily claim his life once night fell!
So he forced himself to stand up and, as if walking on cotton, stumbled back toward the Village.
Finally, having barely made it home, Kakashi took a quick rinse and plunged onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep.
...
One year later.
A silver-haired youth was nimbly wielding a tachi under the waterfall, his movements light like a dancing spirit.
Suddenly, the youth sheathed his sword and retreated, holding his breath and focusing his mind.
With his left hand on the scabbard and his right on the hilt, he shifted from motion to stillness, faintly merging with his surroundings.
As his Chakra circulated, the youth could clearly feel a force gathering in his right hand.
Gradually, the palm gripping the hilt began to vibrate...
Now!
"Hatake Style: Wind Blade - Drawing Slash!"
Kakashi gave a low shout, and the tachi in his right hand, poised for action, suddenly slashed toward the waterfall ahead!
In an instant, a crescent-shaped sword light flashed by, cleanly severing the waterfall in front of him horizontally!
"Whew~"
After a stylish sword flourish, Kakashi sheathed his blade and breathed a sigh of relief.
During this year, he had practiced his swordsmanship daily without fail and had been constantly attempting the nature transformation of Wind-attribute Chakra.
Perhaps heaven rewards the diligent, for he had finally achieved preliminary mastery of the Wind Blade!
"Counting the days, tomorrow is the opening ceremony for the new school year again."
Putting away his joy, Kakashi mused to himself.
Unlike the original story, Kakashi had not chosen to graduate early and become a Genin because of Sakumo's death.
Compared to those Genin missions of catching cats and dogs, he needed sufficient training more.
So, after enduring the initial painful special training and his body gradually adapting,
he had maintained the existence of a Shadow Clone while training.
Therefore, the Ninja Academy classes were all handled by his Shadow Clone, and aside from Rin and Obito, no one had noticed for now.
And the campus challenges Guy initiated every time, unaware of the truth, were all brushed off by Kakashi with various excuses.
However, for the opening ceremony, he had to be there in person.
After all, with the Third present, it was better to keep a low profile.