Konoha: Prepare to defect, the system is coming.

Chapter 564 Your father did the right thing!!
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood by the window and watched Jiraiya leave.

Then, his eyes swept across Naruto's house, then across the former Uchiha clan territory, then across the Hokage Rock standing in the distance, and finally landed on the street below.

The bustling streets are filled not only with Konoha villagers, but also many outsiders.

When they passed by the red Hokage Building, they would always subconsciously slow down their pace, look up at the top floor of the building, with respect, awe, and complexity in their eyes.

The Kage who controls Konohagakure, one of the five great nations, lives here.

"Whoo~"

He exhaled a puff of smoke towards the window. The light yellow smoke suddenly shattered when it hit the glass. Sarutobi Hiruzen took another deep puff of the cigarette.

"Youth~"

As the powerful voice came from the street, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly lowered his eyes and looked at the man in the green tights. His heavy mood became much lighter.

Sometimes Kai would radiate this magical energy, he could bring other people's IQ to the same level as his own and defeat them at this level.

Thinking this in his mind, he took out the note from his pocket, and his cloudy eyes suddenly gleamed with a gleam of light.

There was only one sentence written in black on the note.

[Ninjas from the Sand Village gathered near Kikyo Castle.]

"Good morning, Sandaime-sama."

"Hokage-sama, I haven't seen you out for a long time."

"Yes, it's not good to be bored in the office all the time. You should go out and relax and walk around."

"Third generation, I am anxious to go home. I still have two kilograms of fresh green vegetables. You can take them back and make soup."

"Third generation, come and try the freshly cooked meatballs. This is what I dreamed about last night. You see, just add some mustard, some soy sauce, some white vinegar, and finally some chili.

The taste is amazing!!”

Sarutobi Hiruzen:? ? ?
He stared at the colorful balls in front of him, and his eyelids twitched faster and faster.

When it comes to cooking, the most taboo thing is to have a sudden flash of inspiration.

The same goes for making meatballs.

Of course, some people would choose to eat something else because the type of meatballs has remained the same for thousands of years, but this change is too big and it is not easy for people to accept, at least Sarutobi Hiruzen could not accept it.

The sweet meatballs have a mustard flavor.
Thinking this in his mind, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly raised his head and was about to say no when he saw the meatball stall owner holding a few strings of meatballs in his hand, looking at him with anticipation in his eyes.

Silence, staring at those strings of colorful meatballs, nothing but silence.

After a while.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of cigarette silently. In order to make his tongue lose the sense of taste, he tried to let the smoke stay in his mouth as long as possible. Then he reached out to take the meatball and took a bite.

"Ok!"

Tasting the meatball in his mouth, he gave the stall owner a thumbs up and praised, "It tastes very good, and it makes me want to cry, but I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in this meatball.

Unfortunately, the tricks involved are too profound and far beyond what an old man like me can fully understand.

Although this meatball is a new product, I can still feel its potential. As long as you take it back and do a little research, your meatballs will definitely amaze those diners.

Go back and study it.”

Snapped!
Hearing the praise, the stall owner clapped his hands together, unable to conceal the surprise in his eyes.

"The respected third generation master said that his meatballs are delicious, and there is still room for improvement." Then, he swept the new meatballs on the table into the trash can, waved at the villagers who came over, and said disdainfully, "Wait for me to go back and study it. Although the meatballs are delicious now, they are still a bit flawed."

After driving away the guy who came over to taste the meatballs, the vendor looked up again and found that the Hokage was no longer in front of him.

"Hokage-sama is so humble!!"

After searching the crowd for a while without finding it, the vendor shook his head and said with a smile, "How can a 'Ninjutsu Professor' not understand a simple meatball?"

It's just that Hokage-sama is focusing all his energy on village affairs."

at the same time.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had already left the street with the meatballs.

After running forward for a while, he looked down at the colorful meatballs in his hand, and his old voice sounded a little helpless, "The most taboo in cooking is a flash of inspiration.
Doesn’t he taste it before selling it?”

After saying this, he sighed heavily in his heart, then looked up to identify the direction, and walked towards the east of the village.

The layout of Konoha is very simple. In the middle of the village is the Hokage Building. Due to their own reasons, some major ninja clans choose to live in the center of the village, while others choose to live in the corners of the village.

The Nara and Aburame clans live in the corners of the village near the forest, while the Hyuga clan prefers quietness and lives far away from the bustling city.
"Whoo~"

Looking at the tall wooden door in front of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen gently exhaled a puff of smoke forward, and then knocked on the wooden door a few times.

"Which one?"

Hearing this rather lazy voice, Sarutobi Hiruzen silently took a puff of his cigarette, and his expression became more helpless.

soon.

The tightly closed courtyard door was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man with long silver hair and a black mask poked his head out, his voice mixed with a hint of laziness.

“It can’t be Kai, right?

Remember to tell him that I'm on a mission today, he shouldn't be able to tell that I'm lying."

Suddenly, he looked at the Sandaime Hokage standing at the door, his pupils slightly dilated, and the whole person instantly became energetic, and hurriedly greeted, "Sir Sandaime!"

"Kakashi, I'm sorry to disturb you during your rest time!" Looking at Kakashi's casual clothes and the sleep marks on his face, the Sandaime smiled and handed him a string of meatballs and continued.

"New meatballs!"

"Don't bother, I thought it was Kai!"

Kakashi took the string of colorful meatballs and invited the Sandaime into his house. At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder why the Hokage came to see him.
Naruto? Sasuke?
"Kakashi!"

Before he could continue thinking, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly turned around and asked, "Have you ever thought about getting married? You are not young anymore. In the past, you were considered an older ninja."

Hearing this abrupt question, Kakashi was slightly stunned, then he subconsciously shook his head, his face full of resistance.

Who would want to find a wife when single life is so good?

It is said that finding a wife can help you deal with risks in life together. But Kakashi finds that his current life is extremely comfortable. Let alone finding a wife to deal with risks, his wife is a risk in his eyes.

Sometimes, Kakashi even thought about letting Kai move into his house when he got old, so that the two elderly people could help each other in their old age.

marry? ? ?

This word is not in his dictionary. Thinking of this, he looked down at the old man in front of him and brought out Might Guy, "Hokage, there is no rush to get married. Many of my peers are still unmarried.

Kai, Red."

"Ugh!"

The Sandaime sighed softly, then turned around and walked into the yard.

Although Kakashi lives alone, his home is not as sloppy as that of some bachelors. Instead, it is so clean that people can't help but wonder if the owner of the house has some kind of mysophobia.

After the two took off their shoes and entered the house, Kakashi poured a glass of water from the kitchen and asked as they walked.

"Hokage-sama, is there something wrong with Naruto and Sasuke?"

During this time, Naruto and Sasuke took part in the Chunin Exam, and killing was not restricted in the Chunin Exam, so Kakashi thought for a long time and felt that only if something went wrong in the Chunin Exam could the Hokage suddenly come over.
Plus the recent incident with Orochimaru.
Thinking of this, he sat opposite the Sandaime Hokage and his expression became serious.

"They are fine, they are still taking part in the Chunin Exams."

This sentence instantly relieved Kakashi's tense nerves, but the next sentence made him nervous again, "I came here mainly because of your matter."

Putting the meatballs in his hand on the plate, Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back, a deep look of fatigue appearing on his old face.

The series of events that have happened recently have made it difficult for him to breathe.

The medical ninjas said it was because they smoked too much.
"Hokage-sama, I wonder..." Looking at the confused Sandaime Hokage, Kakashi was silent for a moment, then took the initiative to ask, "I wonder if you have anything to tell me when you come here this time?"

"No."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head, then bit the cigarette holder with his teeth and exhaled smoke one puff after another.

Looking at the light gray smoke slowly rising, and looking through the light smoke to the opposite side, he suddenly realized that as Kakashi got older, he and Sakumo looked more and more alike, almost like they were cast from the same mold.

"Sakumo!!"

While muttering the name, the figure of that man slowly emerged in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind, and the old voice slowly said, "Kakashi, after so many years, how do you view your father?

Or, how do you view what your father did?"

Suddenly hearing the word "father", Kakashi was stunned for a moment and then fell silent.

It had been a long time since he had heard anything about his father from anyone else.

It seems that this name has become a "taboo".

He looked at the Sandaime Hokage shrouded in smoke, and Kakashi suddenly thought of the companion who had given him the Sharingan as a gift. In Obito's eyes, his father was a hero, a hero who saved his companions.

But in the eyes of the people around him, his father was a ninja who brought great losses to the village.
"Hokage-sama."

After a long silence, Kakashi's mouth trembled slightly. He didn't want to talk too much about his father. Although he now approved of his father's original actions, this matter could only be buried in his heart.

"Then listen to what I say!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath of the cigarette, letting the smoke flow in his lungs, but in the end he only exhaled half of it, leaving the other half completely in his body. "He was a ninja who died in the gap between the rules and his friendship with his companions.

He put the lives of his companions above the mission, something that had never happened since the founding of Konoha.

In the past during the Warring States Period, there were several cases where some people in the Ninja Clan chose to abandon their missions because they could not bear to see their loved ones die."

Hearing these words from the Hokage, Kakashi couldn't help but have a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Rules (missions) are more important than the lives of companions! This is the sentence he least wants to hear, but he has to admit that this is also the sentence that everyone in the ninja world is following. The idea of ​​mission priority has long been rooted in the hearts of all ninjas.

So, his father was the one who broke that rule and caused great losses to the village."

Looking at Kakashi's dim eyes, the Sandaime was silent for a long time before he spoke, "Cruel, cold-blooded, and mission-first, this is prevalent throughout the ninja world.

Ninjas are the most patient people. They can endure the pain of losing their companions, the pain of losing their loved ones, and they can endure all hatred, just to prevent their village from suffering losses.

And your father is an outlier who broke the rules."

Hearing this, Kakashi's eyes dimmed again.

Of course he knew these things, a naive, idealistic ninja is not a good ninja.

Call ~
He blew a puff of smoke into the air, and through the gray smoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to see Sakumo's figure. The man's conflicted expression was just the same as when he first saw him.

Is it wrong to save your companion? Yes!

Is it wrong to complete the task? It is not wrong!!

What's wrong with that?
"Hokage-sama, it's my father's inability."

Hearing Kakashi's painful voice, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and said calmly, "You don't think that I came here specifically to belittle your father and to expose his scars?"

"what?"

Hatake Kakashi suddenly raised his head and looked at the old man sitting opposite him with a puzzled look.

"It's right to save your companions, and it's right to complete the mission"

Seeing the confusion in Kakashi's eyes, the Sandaime Hokage slowly stood up, put his hands behind his back, the decayed aura on his body slowly disappeared, and his hunched back slowly straightened.

He raised his head and looked towards the Hokage Rock in the distance. A sharp light flashed in his turbid eyes, and the aura that belonged only to the "Ninjutsu Professor" suddenly overflowed from his body.

“This is all my fault!

It is because I am not as strong as the first generation, otherwise there would not be so many annoying things, so the fault lies with me, the fault lies with me not being able to suppress an era, the fault lies with me standing in this position for too long, doing things with hesitation, and being worn down to the point where there is not a single edge or corner left."

He turned to look at Kakashi who was standing there in a daze, and his eyes finally fell on the family portrait on the wall. He said in a sonorous and powerful voice, "All this is my fault. I promised the teacher to protect every villager in Konoha, but I didn't do it.

I choose to sacrifice the minority for the sake of the majority, and sacrifice personal interests for the sake of collective interests. This is my incompetence.

I am not a qualified politician, and sometimes I cannot control my emotions. I once let Orochimaru run away without permission, causing great losses to the village. Just like Sakumo, he could not control his desire to rescue his companions. "

"Hokage-sama"

Looking at the Sandaime Hokage who suddenly seemed like a different person, Kakashi widened his eyes and suddenly didn't know what to say.

This answer is too clever, but this sentence came from the mouth of the Sandaime.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Kakashi who was standing there in a daze. His sight flickered slightly, and the face that originally belonged to Kakashi in front of him suddenly turned into that of Hatake Sakumo.

He stared at that familiar face for a long time and sighed slightly in his heart.

"Sakumo, you did nothing wrong. Someone who doesn't know how to cherish his companions is just a cold-blooded task machine. But as ninjas, we inevitably develop feelings for each other."

"We were born in the wrong era after all. If we were born in the first generation."

(End of this chapter)