kakashi retsuden: the sixth hokage

and the failure boy

“Oh! Finally, the top…”

Hatake Kakashi took a deep breath as he crawled up to the top of the

rocky cliff, 20 days after leaving the Land of Fire. Constantly moving
during day and night, the scenery and climate have completely
changed. The land is rough and bumpy, full of rocks - as if someone
had broken the Moon down with bare hands. Beyond the mountains,
there seems to be a manmade townscape that looks quite small. It’s
been a long journey, but he finally arrived at his destination country.

“I wonder if there is a hot spring here …” He kept hoping there would

be one, despite it being nearly impossible based on the topography.
Kakashi slid down the cliff with his heel cutting down the slope, while
his cloak that covers his body left a dark green trajectory behind him.

Heading towards Redaku Country, which is built on the flat

mountainous area. It is almost entirely isolated from the outside
world. In this land filled with water and lots of greenery throughout
the four seasons, the rocky and sandy mountains are quite blessed
and people have been living a calm life for centuries. During the
ancient times, Rikudou Sennin loved this place himself, and came
here to rest with his tailed beasts.

However, in reality, Redaku Country was quite different from the

peaceful view that the outside worlds’ poets convey.

“Is this really Redaku Country…?”

Kakashi who entered the capital met with deepened wrinkles
between the eyebrows, the townspeople looked at him as if he had
been an evil demon. As the wind blows from time to time, the odour
of death can be smelt.

The area is terribly quiet, and one can hear the voices of the people
as well as the chirping of the birds. A few thin goat corpses are
randomly placed on abandoned wagons, but it seems that this is not
the only source of this death odour. On both sides of the road with
the cut out rocks, there are houses lined made of mud, piled with
sun-dried bricks, unique to this region. In terms of size, most of them
are probably private houses. Kakashi was walking towards the centre,
feeling unhappy and wondering if he was hungry. The altitude of this
town is about 4,000 metres. Natural breathing becomes shallower at
this height.

Kakashi suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of garments

carried by the wind. A little child fell down from a tree, and when
Kakashi caught him, he was surprised how little the child weighed,
moreover, it felt like he was holding a bone due to the thin shoulders
the child had. Malnutrition and dehydration.

“Are you able to drink water?”

As Kakashi was speaking quietly, the child lifted his sunken eyelids.
His black eyes slowly turned to Kakashi’s face, but even that was
painful for him and he soon closed his eyes again. Kakashi took his
cloak off, put it on a branch and moulded chakra in his palm. He
slowly spilled water towards the edge of the child’s mouth. The child’s
lips were dry and peeling off, and his tongue also became whitish due
to the lack of nutrition. He took a long time to drink enough water to
gain some strength. Kakashi lifted his small body up and made him
sit down with his back leaning towards the wall of a house. The child
thanked him with his frail voice and lifted up a lump of clothes from
his chest towards Kakashi.

“This child also needs water, please give some …” The baby was
wrapped in knitted clothes, however he was already cold when
Kakashi touched him. Kakashi moulded chakra and pretended to
pour water into the baby’s mouth. Most of the water was sucked into
the clothes without going into the mouth, but the child closed his
eyes reassuringly as he misunderstood that the baby was drinking
water.

“Where is this child’s parent?” Kakashi opened the door of a nearby

house and saw that the room was tidy and nobody was there. “What
happened to this country?”

The town centre was even worse. There were corpses that were
somewhat crushed and covered with sand, some old corpses even
turned black. The newer ones were scattered with watery spills from
the inside. There was no corpse that seemed to be killed and the
remains of the corpses were intact. On the road, Kakashi finally
found an adult who was alive; an old woman carrying a hay on her
bent back.

“You’re not a resident of this area, where did you come from?” asked
the old lady while frowning.

That information was confidential and Kakashi couldn’t share it.

“Where are the other inhabitants?” asked Kakashi.

The old woman sighed deeply.

“I’m only answering you because I’m extremely tired and it takes me
half a day to go home. We’re extremely short of water ever since the
king died.”

“The king died?!”

“Did you not know?” the old woman looked strangely at Kakashi’s
face.

“Around this time last year, there were suddenly various rumours
about his illness etc, those were all true.”

“Who is the king now?”

“The eldest daughter, Manari succeeded. For how long have you been
living in a cage not to know that?”

“I’ve been sick for a long time.”

“Oh, that must have been tough.”

The old woman narrowed her eyes to sympathise with Kakashi.

“When did the water shortage start?”

“I don’t really want to say this, but it was after the start of the reign of
Queen Manari. It just stopped raining.”

In the afternoon, people who were going to draw some water from a
nearby valley returned. A child who looked like he was at the end of
his life was carrying a bottle of water in his hands.

“When will it rain, when will it rain…” murmured a man. It seems that
everyone is exhausted. Kakashi started helping the people carrying
water.

“This water that remained in the valley is mixed with soil and moss,
so it cannot really be used for drinking.” said Kakashi.

“This is the only kind of water around here, so we can only drink this
one, there is nothing else” a sunburned young woman said with a
bitter smile.

“The water source in the valley is drying up and there is no place to

draw water. It’s because there is still water in this shady pond, but it’s
going to run out soon, and then the town is done for.” another man
sighed and looked up at the sky.
Kakashi dropped his gaze on the cracked earth. Water shortage.
According to the information that Kakashi has obtained in advance, it
is the king’s duty to enrich the country with water in this dry climate.
The king uses a tool called Shuigu, which is passed down in the royal
family that can manipulate the water to make it rain. That means it
doesn’t work well currently. Kakashi looked up at the stone palace,
and thought the source of the problem was over there. As the Sun
began to tilt the border between the shade and light began to fade,
the first lights were lit up in the top floor of the royal palace. The
outside is still bright enough that even birds are flying in the sky, but
he could see that they were starting to use expensive lamps, so that
room was probably the king’s room. Kakashi waited for the sky to
darken then climbed up the walls of the castle. The girl standing in
the middle of the room was queen Manari. Straight black hair, down
to her shoulders, about in her mid-teens, holding the Shuigu, which
was a golden cane with a ring.

“I’ve heard about it before, but it’s the first time I’ve actually seen it…”

There was another person in the room besides the queen. He was an
old man with a crimson robe and a grey beard extending to his chest.

“Manari, you need to make a decision.” the old man approached the
queen with a firm tone.

Based on his expensive clothes, he is probably the prime minister.

That position is like being the right hand of the king, the most
powerful person in the country after the royal family.
“The number of deaths due to starvation is increasing every single
day. It’s only a matter of time before the news reach the villages in
the suburbs. It’s already too late, but let’s do what we can now.”

“Of course… I’d like to do that, but what should I actually do…” -
Manari squeezed the Shuigu.

“I know I have to use the Shuigu, but I’m thinking of running away, I’m
not brave enough… I’m afraid of using the Shuigu”

“You don’t have to use anything you cannot use. If you’re worried and
run away after using it, the country might flood this time and the
fields will be washed away. If the capital of the country is destroyed,
the entire country falls. “

“The previous kings of this country have been using the Shuigu for
centuries to enrich this land with water. So surely, I should be able to
…”

The minister sighed and stared at the queen from the corner of his
eyes.

“It’s been recorded that all the previous kings have been able to use
the Shuigu quite well ever since they received it for the first time. It
was clear how to use it when they touched it. Not for Manari-sama…
but it’s not because of that. Perhaps one needs a natural ability to
handle the Shuigu. Maybe Manari-sama wasn’t born with that. You
don’t have to stick to tools that you cannot use”.
The footsteps of the prime minister stopped. He is looking down at
the capital from the window. He should be able to see the same sight
as Kakashi: a dusty town full of bricks sinking in the dark night. Fires
are burning in the streets and people gather together. In this thirsty
land, people are still desperate to survive. But it won’t last long. If the
water shortage continues like this…

“Nanara hasn’t tried using it yet. Perhaps that child could handle it”
said Manari.

The minister was laughing while looking at the town.

“What are you going to do with that failure?”

“Aren’t you a bit too rude, Prime Minister” Manari’s voice was sharp
for the first time. “Nanara is my brother and part of the royal family”

“Excuse me, Manari-sama. Unfortunately, I only spoke the truth.” He

looked back and apologised for his rudeness. “Nanara is now living in
Nagare village. I heard he keeps playing every day instead of
studying. He’s such a naughty child, I don’t think he’s capable of using
the Shuigu. Manari-sama, make a decision.”

“I am…” Manari kept silent and did not move as if she had been
frozen. “ I will never use Shuigu again. I will do whatever you say and I
will do what I can for the country.”
“If there is no water in the country, we can only take it away from
other countries.”

Kakashi, who went down the wall, leaned against the wall as it was
and thought he infiltrated this country to get some information, but it
doesn’t seem like this country could be left alone. The country is
exhausted by man-made disasters and people are hungry. Moreover,
the idiotic prime minister is trying to start a war with other countries.

“I can’t say why Manari can’t use Shuigu at this stage… but most of
the time there are some conditions which can trigger this. For
example, only men could use it, or a contract is needed… it could be
because the previous king died suddenly, so such conditions were
not met.”

Kakashi looked back at the royal palace. This building is probably

plagued by the Prime Minister’s dictatorship. It would take a long
time to reach the queen after infiltrating as a maiden or a bureaucrat.
Moreover, the minister said Manari’s brother lived in Nagare. It
seemed easier to get close to him.

The old woman he met during the day said it takes approximately
three days on horseback from the capital to the village of Nagare.
With Kakashi’s feet, it will only take a few hours.

The problem is how to get in touch.

*****************************
The smell of grass is travelling by the wind, and the palm tree is
shaking its leaves.

The eldest son of the king, Nanara, ran across the field with his
playmate Sumure.

“Kukuku, the Sixth Hokage. Let’s settle it now.”

“Fufufu, Momochi Zabuza imitation: Great waterfall technique.”

“Well, if that’s the case, … Lightning style: Purple Lightning!

The two are in the middle of their Sixth Hokage role play.
Grasshoppers, surprised by the strong steps remove the morning
dew and flee.

"Get ready, break again! Earth Release: Earth-style wall!” He raised his
voice, took the branch of a fallen tree and shook it.

Then, Nanara suddenly turned face to face, and as if trembling, he

scolded Sumure.

"Don’t do that, seriously. The Earth-style wall is a defence technique

for making a huge earth wall! So you can only use it for things like
stopping kunais”.

"Oh yes. Is that a technique to call Ninja dogs?”

“No! You cannot remember anything at all!.”

Nanara sighed in vain. The Earth-style wall and the Summoning Jutsu
are also very famous techniques that appear many times in the
legends about the Sixth Hokage. That is why Sumure is annoying, not
remembering these correctly.

“I remember a lot. I love the Sixth Hokage.“

While she slips, Sumure throws the branches of the trees she had on
the ground.

"Then I will play the role of the Sixth Hokage! Sumure, you will be
defeated!”

“Eh, I just want to do a little more but …”

“No! It’s my turn!”

Nanara hurried to Sumure, saying “Lightning release: Chidori”

She screamed vigorously and threw the tree branch away.

“Wow, it works ~!”

Sumure fell in the field with exaggeration. Nanara turned towards
her and tickled Sumure’s sides.

“Enough! That’s enough for me!“

Sumure tickled Nanara back. The two shook their bodies and
screamed, and rolled on the grass like a rice ball.

"I’m playing in the morning too, and I’m playing the Hokage. I can’t get
enough of this”

“You’re always so crazy about the legends surrounding the Sixth

Hokage.”

***Throwback to the past***

It’s been almost a year since Nanara was brought to Nagare Village.
He used to live in the royal palace in the capital with his father and
sister. He came here immediately after his father died, as suddenly
his sister took the throne. Since the royal palace is a political place, it
is not appropriate to have children there

“Nanara should be raised without haste in more rural areas. For

example, how about the village Nagare?” The fact that the monk
manipulated his sister with such words can be understood even by
Nanara. But he thought it was a good thing. It is already outrageous
to be confined in a grumpy, shaky and embarrassing royal palace,
surrounded by overwhelming adults. Here he has friends of the same
age, and all the adults of the town speak to him freely, so that he can
forget that he’s part of the royal family.

Running across the fields and playing the Sixth Hokage, and letting
the adults know about the legends surrounding him. Every single day
since he’s arrived at Nagare Village, it’s been a lot of fun.

“Nanara really likes the Sixth Hokage” The adults of the town always
say this and laugh. Each time, Nanara takes more pride in his heart.

The Sixth Hokage is a legendary ninja. A ninja is a very special person

that can use great techniques. It seems that there are many ninjas
with a formidable ability in the Land of Fire, which is far from the
country of Redaku.

“The Sixth Hokage is an overwhelming super leader of charisma,

rising above all shinobi” says Nanara.

“The legends of the Sixth Hokage are nothing but fairy tales”
Sometimes adults in town say such things.

“There is no real person who can manipulate the earth and

lightning… There is no doubt that the Sixth Hokage, or even the Land
of Fire, may or may not even exist.”

At that moment, Nanara decided to say “That’s not true! The Sixth
Hokage is absolutely real. He’s alive and is the leader of the Land of
Fire!”
"Don’t say stupid things. If a ninja really exists, how do you make
lightning from where there is nothing?”

“That’s …” He’s ashamed if he gets stuck in the details.

“The legends of the Sixth Hokage are just stories, so I don’t know the
details. It’s said that with one of his skills he is able to cut thunder,
and that there is nothing but a sound that sounds like a thousand
birds chirping. Therefore, when playing Hokage, it is important to
compensate for the details. Oh yes, and ninjas are awesome, so they
can do anything! You can even make lightning and flames! My father
told me so it’s definitely true!”

He told Nanara the legends of the Sixth Hokage. His father, who was
the king of Redaku Country, despite being busy, always spent time
with Nanara and let him sit on his lap and talked about the stories of
the Sixth Hokage. Fighting against demons, or the evil Akatsuki
group. The Sixth Hokage, who has managed to squeeze the enemy
with skill, has a great ability to have enough power to cut lightnings.

“The legends of the Hokage that my father used to speak of were so

interesting…”

The Sixth Hokage is more than a role model for Nanara.

***Throwback over, back to the present***

“Nanara-sama, how long have you been playing?“

Nanara was in the middle of a serious game when Margo ran

towards him. He picked up the neglected weed that had grown in the
field and used it instead of a sword, and was about to cut Sumure
down with it.

"What, Margo, I was about to win!”

"It’s time to study. Please come back!”

However, Nanara did not move. He was already used to Margo’s loud
voice.

Margo is a tall woman in her mid-twenties who lives with Nanara and
takes care of him. At one point, she said she was a maiden who has
received an official order from the Prime Minister, but in reality
Margo is completely different from the ladies who were in the royal
palace. She always watches Nanara, and she is more like a cowardly
aunt.

“I am not going to study today, because there is no one to teach me!”

declared Nanara to Margo.

As Nanara is part of the royal family, he must have a home tutor. The
first one was a very gentle woman who came from the capital. At
first, she was delighted to be the private teacher of a prince, but after
Nanara pulled a few pranks she cried and took out her luggage the
next morning. Since then, many tutors have been there, but they
have all left after about half a month. A middle-aged professor who
came recently fell into a hole that Nanara dug, and broke his glasses,
and was outraged just a week ago.

"I can’t study because I don’t have a teacher. So I can play.”

“We have a new tutor starting today.” Margo looked down with a
clear face at Nanara and told him with confidence.

Nanara was confused and very annoyed. “She already found a new
tutor… Oh well, if I do something mischievous, I’m sure he’ll cry and
run away.”

“I’m waiting in the living room” having said that, Margo went to the
kitchen to make tea. Nanara dragged his muddy shoes into the living
room. Someone was sitting on a wooden chair near the wall.

"It’s late, Prince Nanara” said a calm, low-toned voice.

Someone sitting in the chair slowly turned towards him. Nanara

couldn’t see him well because his face was backlit due to the window.
However, he could see the silhouette of a tall man. Blinking at the
edge of the silver-haired man in the sunlight, Nanara narrowed his
eyes to see the shadow of the man.

"Are you my new tutor?” Nanara put his arms together and listened
closely.
The man got up from the chair without making any noise.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi.”

It sounded like a strange name to him. Especially the surname.

Kakashi approached him so that he could finally see him. He seemed
like a mysterious man with very sleepy eyes.

He seems to be a lenient man. That was Nanara’s first impression of

his new tutor. His scruffy hair looks like a goat’s beard. Tensionless,
deep voice with a strangely quiet way of speaking.

“Dont take it personally, but I don’t want to study, and that’s the only
thing tutors want to do.” Nanara immediately declared to Kakashi
right after his first glance at him. Shortly after Nanara looked up at
Kakashi with sparkling eyes.

“Could you tell me about the legends of the Sixth Hokage?”

“Sixth… what?”

Nanara wrinkled his eyebrows.

“The Sixth Hokage. You know, the hero of the Land of Fire!”

“What is that? What is the name of that person again?

As Kakashi turns his head and listens to him again, Nanara finally
opens his eyes quite wide.

“Do you know about the Sixth Hokage? He’s super famous! Everyone
knows about him! He’s the strongest shinobi, and the best leader!”

“…”

“Hmpfh, well…” Nanara looked disappointed. “I can’t believe you

haven’t heard about the Sixth Hokage. If you live in Redaku Country,
you should have heard about his legends like everyone else here!”

Nanara thought the tutor must be ignorant and that’s why he hasn’t
heard about the Sixth Hokage.

“I’m quite interested, and I’d like to get to know about your interests,
Nanara. Please, tell me about the legends of the Sixth Hokage.”

“It’s fine.” Nanara refused.

“In that case, we need to study. That’s why I’ve come here, after all.”

“The tutor’s best assignment is for me to tell about the Sixth Hokage?”
Nanara raised his eyebrows.
“What did the previous tutors teach you then? … so tell me about the
legends of the Sixth Hokage.”

“Anything else to do?”

“No, the rest of the day is free-time.”

“is that so?”

Kakashi nodded and stood up.

“It seems that your past tutoring has been quite a formal one. By the
way, I can’t find any kind of books in this house.”

“Do you need a book? They’re all in the library, but it’s closed now.
About half a year ago, the Prime Minister issued an order that all
libraries have to be closed.”

“The Prime Minister?”

“In order to protect the precious books, because everyone used to

tear them apart or they made them dirty. Before that, libraries were
always open and anyone was able to browse the books freely.”

Kakashi looked around in the room again and murmured.

“I see. Can you show me where the library is?”

“Nagare Village is built on the slope of a valley. If you don’t go up or

down the hill, you can’t go anywhere. The library Is at the end of the
hill. A steep cliff rises in its back and there is a watchtower for a guard
next to it. It’s the deepest part of the village. Surrounded by a short
fence and columns standing on both sides.”

As they arrived at the library, they could see that there were chains
hanging in front it if so that they couldn’t pass. They were tightly
closed with a lock. Kakashi crossed the gate, so Nanara was surprised
and rounded is eyes.

“Hey, what are you doing? Anyway, it’s closed and we don’t have the
key so we can’t enter!”

However, when Kakashi put his hand on the door and pulled it
sideways, it opened somehow, even though it was supposed to be
locked.”

“Please, stop!” Nanara raised his voice, and Kakashi who was entering
the library looked back.

“It is illegal to enter without permission. Even if I’m part of the royal
family, we will be punished.” However it was inevitable that Nanara
would follow. He touched the door at the entrance and felt that the
bell-shaped lock built in was extremely hot. It looked like the inside of
the keyhole has been forcibly melted with a strong flame or
something.
“Kakashi… wait a moment…” Nanara looked into the library. Tall
bookshelves were lined up. Although the Sun comes in from the
window and shines light on them, the entire library seemed dim. The
smell of parchment (a stiff, flat, thin material made from the
prepared skin of an animal; ancient writing surface) is mixed with
dust throughout the entire room. Nanara caught up with Kakashi and
grabbed his jacket.

“It is indeed important to follow the rules, but it is also important for
you to read books.”

“… I dont understand, even if you say such important words.”

Kakashi started to look for books on the bookshelves. As it was

boring to look silently, Nanara started running around and looked for
a book while dusting the other books.

“I don’t want to read books, but there should be something here…

Kakashi, there it is!”

Nanara took off a yellow-discoloured book.

“The Sixth Hokage book! I’ve found it! The cover of the book with the
story of the Sixth Hokage always has the same mark: a whirling spiral
with a small triangle in the lower left. I don’t know what it means, but
it must be the Sixth Hokage’s trademark.”
***COMMENT***: it took me a few seconds to realise that was the
sign on the Hidden Leaf Village headbands!

The two of them returned to the mansion with some books selected
by Kakashi and the Sixth Hokage book too. Kakashi was flipping the
pages of the book that Nanara brought, which made Nanara seem
happy. Somehow, the atmosphere changed and it felt like it’s a place
where classes are held.

“Kakashi! I won’t study.”

“Would you like to use this book?” Kakashi left the book with the
spiral on the table. Nanara’s face immediately loosened.

“This book is fine. Come on, read it then!”

“What are you talking about? You are reading it. I’m listening here.”

“Huh? I can’t read letters. Read the book. That’s the role of the tutor.”

“Well then, let’s start by learning to read and write.”

Nanara rounded his eyes again.

“Learn?! Letters?”
“Yes.”

“All of them?!”

“Yes.”

“There are a lot of letters!”

Kakashi didn’t smile, which was evidence that he wasn’t joking. He

picked up some paper that was close to him and wrote some letters
smoothly.

“Your name is Nanara.”

Nanara started writing his own name in front of Kakashi.

“It’s easier than expected.”

Since it was only two letters, he managed by looking at the letters

Kakashi wrote and copied them.

***COMMENT***: Nanara is written as ナナラ. Indeed, easy?

After finishing writing his name three times, Kakashi replaced the
previous paper with a new piece of paper, so that Nanara wasn’t able
to see the previous writing.
“Please, try it again.”

Nanara was completely lost. Even though he wrote it three times, he

couldn’t remember anything. What was the first letter again? He was
thinking. Sure, it seemed like it started with a horizontal bar… As
soon as he lost his concentration, he looked out of the window. The
weather was nice outside and he didn’t understand why he was
staying in the house on such a sunny day.

He felt like he didn’t have to remember the letters. He was getting

frustrated, not being able to remember the characters in “Nanara”.

“That’s it! That’s it!” Nanara stood up, slamming the paper in front of
him. “The class is canceled! It’s more fun to play the war together. Me
and Sutoku will be the Western army, and Chemun with Arichi will be
the Eastern army.”

“An army?” Kakashi gazed at the Sun shining through the window.

“This is a war game where two teams divide each other and fight
each other. The weather is good today anyway.”

“huh? Then the Eastern army will win.”

“There’s no way the Eastern army will win! Stop saying stupid things.”
Nanara grabbed Kakashi’s wrist and tried to walk vigorously.
However, he was about to fall. Kakashi didn’t try to stand up.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Kakashi sighed as he pulled his wrist out
of Nanara’s hand.

“I don’t want to force myself. It’s better if someone else reads these
for me. When I was in the capital, the prime minister told me so.”

“I’ll be here, so come here if you change your mind, or even if you
don’t change your mind.”

Nanara rushed out and left the mansion. Kakashi didn’t chase him.
He just put his elbows on the table and flips through books. Nanara
was running towards the fields.

***LATER***

“So, which one won?”

Nanara, who came back to the mansion replied that it wasn’t

interesting. Kakashi turned back to the book he was reading. As
Kakashi said, the Eastern army won. Surely, it happens: there are only
two choices: Eastern or Western. Nanara thought he was just hit by
chance. Nanara changed his muddy clothes and helped prepare the
meal and stir the lunch. In the afternoon, he wanted to go play with
Sumure who came back from horse riding.

“Kakashi, I won’t attend the afternoon classes! You cannot order me

around!”
Nanara rushed to the outside. Sumure, who was taking care of his
horse looked surprised when Nanara came.

“I was hesitant to come here, but I thought I should come. How’s the
new tutor?” Asked Sumure.

“He’s some tall man. The lower half of his face is covered, so it kind of
looks cool. But that’s only the face. He’s a boring guy, he doesn’t
know anything about the Sixth Hokage. “

Nanara took the horses to the plains in the southwest of the village. A
leopard falcon flew next to the horse that started running, which was
the bloodline of the king’s falcon that had been kept by successive
generations. The falcon’s role is to bring the king’s messages to the
local village, and he was brought to the village along with Nanara so
that they can interact with the capital. However, no one has received
a letter, and Nanara cannot write one.

“Sumure, let’s go to the forest!”

“Nice, I feel like I can pick up a good branch today!”

They pulled the horse’s reins and ran across the field and entered the
forest. They went through the trees and across a stream of snowmelt
that was present here and there. Nanara was pleased to see young
leaves sprouting on the treetops. It was spring. Sumure’s horse shook
his nose.
“We just had a foal (young horse) born, and my dad lets me give him
the name I like. Nanara, any good ideas?”

“How about Pakkun?”

“It’s a horse, not a dog!” Sumure’s horse shook his nose again. “This
guy has a runny nose.” Sumure leaned forward to look into his
horse’s nose. Immediately afterwards, the horse shook his forefoot
vigorously. He was shaking his face to the left and right. The horse
went on a rampage as if he was trying to run away.

“Oh, what, why, stop!” Sumure pulled the reins but the horse wouldn’t
calm down.

Sumure lifted the reins and clung to the horse’s neck. In this
situation, it’s only a matter of time before he’s shaken off.

“Hey, calm down!” Nanara went to the horse. The horse turned
towards Nanara while rampaging, raising his forefoot.

“Nanara! It’s dangerous!” A kick from a thick horse-leg was coming

towards Nanara’s head. The next moment Nanara felt a strong, short
burst of air next to his body. It felt sharp like a knife, and the small
body of Nanara was blown away while the neckline of his jacket was
caught on the top of a tree branch. When he thought he was hanging
for a moment, he took his jacket off and hit his face against the
ground. He didn’t know what happened. When he raised his body
while shaking his dazzled head, Kakashi was calming the horse down
by holding his hand over the nose of the previously rampant horse.

“Nanara, are you okay?” His entire face was hurt, but thanks to being
blown by the wind, Nanara wasn’t injured.

“Kakashi, why are you here?”

“I was taking a walk, and I was here by chance.” Kakashi looked back
at Sumure while petting the horse. “Is this child part of your house?”

“No, he belongs to the neighbours, to Aunt Byan.”

“I think the horse has hay fever.” Speaking calmly, Kakashi looked
back at Nanara. “Today, the wind is so strong that the pollen of
various plants fly around. Horses that are allergic to some of these
pollens are not uncommon here.”

“Speaking of which, there was someone who suddenly started

sneezing in a certain season because of some plant pollens. I thought
it was just a human disease, and horses wouldn’t suffer from it.”

“… and I thought the Eastern Army would win, because it was in the
morning that you went out. The Western Army would face up against
the Sun, and the horse would keep sneezing.” Kakashi kept his eyes
on Nanara. “The book I got for you says something like this, anyway…
Studying may be boring, but it’s surprisingly more useful than you
might think.”
*********

The next morning, Nanara was holding a brush, and started writing
the letters one by one, learning their shape.

“I didn’t give in, I just know that there are many things I don’t know
about in the book. I just want to be able to read it.”

Even so, he couldn’t forget that strong wind from yesterday. He was
blown off at the right time and protected from the rampage. It was
like a ninja skill. Perhaps the Sixth Hokage is watching over him and
helping him…. Nanara’s hand was suddenly stopped. Kakashi pointed
out some of Nanara’s mistakes, such as Nanara rushing and sliding
the brush on the paper.

“Nanara-sama, we’ll be preparing food soon.” Margo came to tell that

classes were temporarily suspended, because when the Sun reaches
the highest point, the village women gather together to prepare
meals that day, and a portion for tomorrow’s breakfast. Cooking at
night is dark and dangerous, so they make it all at once.

Margo and the village girls were all staring at Kakashi while he was
peeling and cutting vegetables. Kakashi turned into a strange picture
just by standing silently, whether the balance of the arrangement of
his eyes and nose was good or not.
Nanara threw chopped tea leaves into the valve. When he added salt
and butter and as the leaves were mixed, Kakashi threw the dried
meat in that was on the cutting board.

“This food is already so good” the girls were happily teasing. The
women of the village were all familiar with the newcomer.

“The pot is overflowing!” As Nanara spoke, Kakashi turned his face to

the furnace. Recognising the spilling pan, he got up, hurried to the
furnace and tried touching the handle of the hot iron pan with his
bare hands but immediately withdrew them. The women approached
him laughing and put some sand in the flame of the furnace to
weaken the fire.

“Look at it properly, Teacher!”

Kakashi laughed and pretended he was struck by Aunt Byan’s arm.

Nanara was very enthusiastic and was swinging around the stirrer
lever.

**********

The afternoon class was about reading a book, not about practising
reading or writing. Without even looking at the cover of the book that
Nanara brought to him, Kakashi dismissed him. “The story of the
Hokage is no good.”
“Why?!”

“Too many difficult characters. We need to start with simpler things.”

Kakashi placed a book with a wooden cover on the table. When the
cover was opened, the pages were combined like a picture book, and
it all turned into one big piece as he unfolded it.

“Wow! This is actually a book?”

Nanara began looking through it. On the paper paintings of

mountains, seas, rivers etc were drawn with a brush.

“This is a map. Where the countries, villages and the roads going
through them are depicted. This is a summary of that on a piece of
paper.”

Kakashi’s finger pointed to the left edge of the map.

“The capital is near this point, and you are here.” Kakashi’s finger
pointed to the same place.

“What are you talking about? The distance between them is very
small and almost nothing, hahaha.” Nanara thought it was a joke, but
Kakashi wasn’t laughing.

“But it takes three days to reach the capital!”

“Indeed, and the world is much larger. If you walk across the
continent, it will take much longer.”

Nanara was staring at the map. If he is to believe Kakashi’s words, a

small scribble on a paper appears to be like all of your country…

“…what about the Land of Fire?”

Kakashi pointed to the right edge of the paper. A group of dividing

lines drawn on a large continent facing the sea seems to be the Land
of Fire.

“Is it that far?!”

On the scale so that the distance from the capital to the villages was
put together, the distance from Redaku Country to the Land of Fire
was unimaginable.

“While there are many nations around the Land of Fire, Redaku
Country is alone in the mountains. I’m disappointed…”

“Is that so?”

“It’s boring, because it’s like hiding.”

“If you had some neighbours nearby, it would be much harder to

avoid conflicts and fights.”
“Really?” Nanara was wondering.

“The first time I had a fight with someone was after I came to this
village and made a friend of the same age. It is hard to imagine
conflicts for me.”

“Your ancestors built the country in this place to avoid conflicts. In

fact, this country has never experienced any war.”

As far as Nanara heard, Redaku country has never had a war with
another country, of course, because it has nothing to do with other
countries. For the people of this land and of Redaku Country, war
was something that is in the far-off world existing only in stories.

“I think it was a brave choice. It’s better to avoid fighting than to win
the fight.”

“Does the Land of Fire fight a lot? Like the Land of Earth and Water?”

“No. The risk of a war between The Land of Fire and another country
is much less than in the past.”

Nanara raised his head.

“Why?”
“Now everyone knows that there are too few benefits for the amount
of sacrifice a war needs.” Kakashi continued looking at Nanara’s face,
not the map.

“A few decades ago, what was most needed to protect peace in the
Land of Fire was strength. Attacking other countries happened in
order to protect one’s own country, and ninjas were originally a tool
for that.”

“What did they get in return?”

“Uh… to feel good and cool.”

“Is it just that?”

Kakashi nodded and continued.

“There are already a lot of things in the Country of Fire, so if they

want something, it’s probably land, natural resources or technology.
You can buy all of that with money, and buying things with money is
much less dangerous than killing people for something, hence
nobody dies, which is often cheaper than war.”

“I see…” Nanara nodded.

“Because this perception pervades among people, the possibility of

war is much lower. Instead, an economic competition is born.”
“So, are there no shinobi anymore in the Land of Fire?”

“That’s not true.” Kakashi shook his head. “Ninja schools that train
shinobi still exist to protect the country. They haven’t been able to
eradicate crime, and there are terrorist groups who try to break the
balance between countries. Still, it’s safe to say that the threat of
great wars between nations almost disappeared… unless a new
group of malicious creatures appears.” Kakashi relaxed. “I just read
what was written in this book in front of me.”

“I heard too many things at once, so my head feels too heavy…”

Nanara went to sleep right afterwards. At least this way, he can be
watched while sleeping.

Nanara was so excited he was rolling on the floor. He didn’t feel like
sleeping at all. He got up during the night and stared at the map in
the moonlight.

“The legend of the Sixth Hokage book is about the “The Land of Fire
in the age of the Sixth Hokage”. The Land of Fire has grown rapidly
with unprecedented economic development. In other words, the
“world where war is unlikely to occur” that Kakashi was talking about
today was created by the Sixth Hokage. He is amazing!”

“I thought studying might be boring, but it might be a little fun.”

Every day, he looked forward to their classes with Kakashi. “I really

felt like I wanted to stop studying and rather play outside. I tried to
say that every morning but the tone of the first day was gone. I want
to study hard, and I’m always excited about what I can learn every
day. “

After five days, Nanara was able to read more characters. When one
can read, they’ll simply want to read. Nanara read various books with
Kakashi helping him. Kakashi taught him a lot every day. Crops that
grow well during the summer and crops that grow well in the winter.
It helps with how to keep the crops intact, what diplomacy is going on
between big countries and what changes the society in what time.
There are many other things too.

“Kakashi knows a lot, but sometimes it’s a little bit strange. He didn’t
know hot to make butter tea or sugar candy, or about the Sixth
Hokage.”

Nanara told Kakashi about the monarchy, the prime minister and the
queen. Ten days passed since Kakashi appeared as Nanara’s new
tutor and the village reached the night of ”Rikutou Nagashi” (literal
translation: Night of Six Floating Lamps… I think). Six lit butter lamps
are put on a ship made from leaves of Matsubusa (マツブサ, some
green plant in the pine family from Southeast Asia & Japan according
to my Googling skills). (The event seems to be based on the real
event, 灯籠流し (Tourou nagashi, during which participants float
paper lanterns down a river in Japan.)

Since ancient times, it has been a habit that was passed down
throughout the generations. Nanara crouched down and waited for
the lights to come down from the upstream along the river.
“It’s been flowing for a while… how many have we seen? Four …
maybe?”

There are many villagers who do not participate because they think
it’s foolish.

“Is there any meaning of the number six?” Asked Nanara, curiously
looking at Kakashi’s face.

“It’s in order to show gratitude to Rikudou Sennin. Don’t you know

that?”

***Short explanation***

“Rikutou” (from the event) is written with the kanji 六灯, out of which
六 (read as “riku” here) is the kanji for number 6 in Japanese (… and
Chinese too). Hence the SIX butter lamps. Rikudou Sennin is written
as 六道仙人, and you can discover the same kanji for the number 6 in
his name too. The official English translation is “the sage of SIX paths”
as you may have heard.

***Explanation over***

“No, I wasn’t listening for the first time.” Nanara shredded the grass
at his feet.
“Well, you’ve only read a map and a plant book, if something is
difficult to read you’re not that interested in the story.”

“Anyway, what’s your favourite book?

Kakashi’s expression suddenly became serious. After thinking for a

while, he opened his mouth.

“My favourite book… is called Icha Icha Paradise.”

“Icha Icha Paradise? What a strange name!”

“It’s a masterpiece… I’ll lend you when you grow up and… you can
read more characters.”

“Is it such an interesting book?” Throwing shredded grass towards the

river, Nanara lay down on the spot. The starry sky that is like a piece
of ice blown spreading across the field.

“What kind of relationship does this country have with Rikudou

Sennin?”

“There is a legend. This country was in trouble because there was no

water, especially around the capital. Rikudou Sennin came here and
brought a tool with himself that held the “power of water”, which
could only be wielded by the person who takes the throne. When the
king swung the equipment, it suddenly rained and the whole country
had water again.”

Nanara woke up when the fifth light approached them.

“Since then, the kings of the successive generations have been able
to borrow that power using this equipment…” Kakashi’s eyes slowly
followed the paths of the boats flowing down the river. The lights
reflected off his black eyes, which seemed like the shadow of burning
fire confined in a glass of black balls.

***Pun***

Kakashi’s eyes looked like the “shadow of burning fire”

“hokage” literally means fireshadow. Ho(fire) + kage (shadow)

***Pun Over***

“It’s a fairy tale, so I don’t know if Rikudou Sennin was really here, but
there is actually a tool. When the golden cane is shaken, it rains.”

Nanara nodded with no hesitation.

“Right now, it is your sister using that tool as queen.”

“That’s right. I haven’t returned to the capital since I came to Nagare
Village, but I have no doubts she is doing a good job. She is a proud
sister who has excellent results.”

CHAPTER 1 OVER

A letter arrived from the Royal Palace to Nanara. It says that the first
anniversary of the King’s death will arrive soon and he needs to show
up at the Capital. Nanara doesn’t want to go to the Capital and
decided to go to his room after shutting the door. There’s no key to
the door, but Kakashi decided to knock and call out to him anyway.

“Let’s come out and choose a horse. If we don’t leave tomorrow, we

won’t get there by the anniversary date.”

“I don’t want to go.” Nanara was stubborn.

Kakashi looked at Margo. “Is this always the case?”

“This is the first time that the Royal Palace has contacted us.”

Kakashi knocked on the door once again. “The message from the
Royal Palace is public. It doesn’t matter that you’re the Prince, you
simply can’t ignore this.”

A reply came back from behind the door. “…What happens if I ignore
it?”

“You will be punished, or at least Margo will be.”

Nanara’s official guardian is Margo. If Nanara doesn’t go to the Royal

Palace, Margo will probably be whipped.

The door opened a little bit. Nanara peaks at Kakashi’s face then
looked at Kakashi and Margo in turn.
“… let’s go to the capital.” Margo had a relieved expression while
Nanra jumped out of the door, and added…

“but… you come with me, Kakashi. That’s the condition.”

If three horses were brought out, that would hinder farming,

therefore Margo stayed at home and Kakashi took two horses with
Nanara. 

It takes about three days to get to the Capital from Nagare Village,
therefore the two of them stopped at a village on the way. Nanara
didn’t reveal his identity, but the villagers welcomed them and
offered a nice stay nevertheless. Since there were no inns, Nanara
and Kakashi were asked to stay separately in a house with futon
(traditional Japanese bedding where you sleep on the floor on some
mattress.)

That night, Nanara was rolling over and over again in his bed. He
couldn’t sleep. He was thinking how he’ll be in the capital in two more
days, and he felt like there was a massive stone buried in his belly
because of that. He gave up on trying to sleep and got out of bed.
Although it was late night, even without a lamp the view of the field
was good enough. While walking steadily, he noticed the butter
lamps swaying under wisteria*** branches in the village square.

*** Wisteria: Some tree with long and swinging branches that look
lilac and smell nice. Official definition: a climbing shrub of the pea
family, with hanging clusters of fragrant flowers, typically pale bluish-
lilac in colour.  ***

Kakashi was there.

He was sitting on a rock instead of a chair and was reading a book

with the book spine leaning on one of his knees. The wisteria was
shaken by the wind to show or hide Kakashi. When Kakashi noticed
Nanara, he quickly closed the book while hiding the book cover
casually with his long fingers.

“What are you doing here?”

“… I couldn’t sleep, so started walking around.” Nanara murmured.

“If you can’t sleep, why don’t you try to learn how to read your
favourite story of the Sixth Hokage. If you manage to read that, you’ll
be sleepier.” Kakashi walked up to Nanara.

“… I’m going to sleep right away.”

The smell of wisteria that Kakashi has dragged along with himself is
as cold and sweet as a frozen nectar. Nanara was actually well aware
of why he couldn’t sleep.

“Kakashi, I don’t want to go to the capital…”

“Are there people there who you don’t want to meet?”

Nanara nodded reluctantly.

“There are people I don’t want to meet… mainly, my big sister.”

Kakashi waited for Nanara to speak again, but Nanara stayed silent
and stayed near Kakashi without going anywhere.

“I’ve always wondered,” Kakashi opened his mouth. “Why is it your

sister, and not you, who inherited the throne? Based on the rules of
this country, it is the eldest son who should inherit it.”

“My sister is much better than me, she’s studied a lot more.” Nanara
stared at the butter lamp that Kakashi had in his hand.

The cold night air is a little loosened by the flames around the lamp.

“I didn’t want to do it. I was asked by the Prime Minister if I was

willing to take the throne… but I said I wouldn’t do it, I want my older
sister to do it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to work from morning will night…” Like his father,
Nanara added in his head. He should have a lot of fun memories, but
now all he can remember is his father’s frowning face. He was always
in his office, except very rarely when they played together.
“Anyway. The Prime Minister told me he’d respect my wishes… then
my sister had to take the throne.”

“Did your sister want it?”

“I don’t know. But she took care of herself, and I was encouraged by
the Prime Minister to live in a local village that was not involved in
politics.”

“Do you regret that choice?”

Nanara shook his head immediately.

“Living in Nagare Village is really fun… but… I could’ve done

something really bad to my sister.” Nanara knew. His kind sister will
take the throne on his behalf anyway. If he refuses first, his sister will
not refuse. That’s why Nanara was able to give up his right to his
inheritance with a peace of mind. He knew his sister wouldn’t be
irresponsible like himself. Manari accepted the throne and Nanara
gained his freedom.

“I pushed everything onto my sister, therefore I’m scared to go to the

Capital.” Nanara hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “I’m afraid
to meet my sister.”

It’s fine if her sister enjoys being the Queen. But if not… “If my sister
wants to leave the throne…”

Nanara speaking the words he avoided previously, Kakashi looked

closely at Nanara.

“Do you intend to become the King yourself then?”

Nanara didn’t want his sister to have a hard time. He pulled his lips
and dropped his gaze. Kakashi’s shadow on the dry ground stretched
in an irregular shape. It was his father’s face that came to Nanara’s
mind.

“… I won’t become king.”

After muttering, Kakashi’s voice suddenly became gentle.

“You can’t force yourself. But if you go to the capital and talk directly
with your sister, you may have a change of heart.” Kakashi touched
Nanara’s shoulders and turned him back. The house where they’re
staying at could be seen at the end of the road.

“It’s better to go back to bed now, it’ll be tomorrow soon.”

Nanara nodded and walked straight away, but suddenly stopped and
looked back.

“Kakashi, will you follow me all the way to the Capital?”

“Of course. I’m your tutor after all.”

Waiting for Nanara to go back to bed, Kakashi opened the book again
he’s been reading:

The legends of the Sixth Hokage.

Probably, someone put some rumours together spoken from

merchant to merchant in one book. That was transmitted to Redaku
Country, and the rest was settled…

“If they want to make it a myth anyway, they should choose a more
heroic person as the main character….” Kakashi thought.

His best recommendation was the Fourth Hokage. It’s difficult to

ignore the Seventh Hokage, but his story is still incomplete and it
would be awkward to make legends out of it. Nanara was such a fan
of it, and Kakashi was curious to read what was written but he
“laughed at the beautiful fiction.”

The Sixth Hokage in this book is depicted as a hero at all times, with
strength and tenderness, always pulling everyone forward.

“I couldn’t even save my best friend and I could only find the reason
to keep fighting in his atonement.”

A story that looks great, with a memorable part that was extracted
and transformed. Just like the Legendary Sannin, who were also
treated as legends in other countries, or even the White Fang of
Konoha… but in reality, they were all human beings. If one is in a
difficult situation, they will suffer and will be hurt by the words of
others just like everyone else.

Kakashi remembered the day when his father died while watching
the wisteria swaying in the darkness. When he was mourning during
that night, Kakashi was less than 10 years old. He remembered the
moisture containing heat that was stuffed in his chest and felt like he
was trapped in the soil. Kakashi discovered his father’s body, and it
was also him who reported his father’s death to the Hokage at that
time.

Sakumo was well known and therefore lots of people turned up that
night. But no one was really jealous. At least it was that way in the
eyes of Kakashi.

“I was so strong, but I couldn’t face it.” He could still hear the voices of
the people who attended. Kakashi himself was sitting at the back of
the room while the attendees were burning incense***.

***incense: some substance that is burnt for its sweet smell

“I don’t think we killed him though.” The companion his father helped
now turned against him. “I didn’t ask him to do so, but he stopped
the mission on his own, and now the last thing he does is self-harm
(suicide).”

“What a terrible man.” 

Kakashi said nothing to them. There were many people who spoke
kindly and highly of his father too. When he started thinking about
what was right and wrong, he felt like going crazy.

One thing that is clear is that his father died because he was
rebellious. If he had completed the mission and killed the enemy, he
would’ve surely been still alive. The number of people at the funeral
the next day has decreased. It seemed that everyone was satisfied
with the rumours about his father. After the short ceremony finished,
Kakashi walked home alone. Whether or not he was tired from
reading, he was uncomfortable because his vision was shaking.
Neither his head nor his body moved well. The darkness in front of
him was getting darker, and the rain whose noise is supposed to be
loud was going further away. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about it,
and he didn’t care about these things. His feet were wobbling.

Someone caught Kakashi’s body that was about to fall down. A bright
blonde young man came to sight, and made things a little bit easier.  

“I’m Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konoha.”

“You can stay back as it is” as Minato said so, Kakashi immediately
pulled his body together and could stand on his feet again.

Minato, known as the ninja of sharpness, was a famous individual in

the village who was regarded as the next Hokage. Kakashi has
exchanged words with him several times, but they were not
particularly close.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been sleep deprived and my feet got staggered.”

“Kakashi, Sakumo-san was…”

“My father broke the shinobi code and he died as a result.” Minato’s
words were interrupted with a strong tone, and Kakashi continued
differently.

“As a ninja, it’s only natural to follow the rules. My father couldn’t kill
his feelings - but feelings of that level were just disturbing, and he
couldn’t fulfil just duties.”

Even though it was just after his father died, Kakashi became scary to
others. He was stubbornly obsessed with obeying the rules. It was
only a few years later after Minato became Kakashi’s teacher and
formed a four man cell with Rin and Obito. Rules and regulations are
not everything; Kakashi learnt from his teammates what the things
are that should be given priority.

It is thanks to them that Kakashi has become able to accept his father
whom he didn’t recognise before. Minato and Obito both affirmed
the father Kakashi denied. They both recognised his father. It wasn’t
until they all died that Kakashi felt like these people were his father in
some sort of disguise, and that he was beaten every time [in ideals].
Born as the child of the White Fang of Konoha, he’s truly proud of
him now.

Flashback over~~ Next time we’ll be back to the present & Kakashi
and Nanara will arrive at the Capital. 

Nanara and Kakashi continued moving steadily towards the Capital.

On the third morning after leaving Nagare village, a messenger was
waiting for them on the way to the Capital. “It’s easy to get lost,
therefore I was sent by the prime minister.”

But this sounds strange, because he was leading them on another

road to the capital. The messenger has taken the lead on the path.
He walked, detoured around, and entered the capital from the North
instead of the East near the pass. The main street from the North
gate to the Royal Palace is the centre of the capital with large houses
on both sides. There were many stalls selling salt, liquor, silk etc..
which are exclusively sold in this country, appear here and there, all
of which are hard working businesses. The only people who come
and go are the aristocrats and those who work for the royal palace.
They are all well dressed and don’t have mud on their faces.

“The capital is so lively and it hasn’t changed at all” Nanara says,

looking at the street from the top of the horse.

In the hall of the corridor just after they entered, the Queen came to
pick them up. In contrast to Nanara, who responded by taking a step,
Manari came happily and looked at Nanara’s face.

“How are you doing? How’s your life in Nagare?” After hearing her
voice like in the past, Nanara was finally relieved. It felt good. Her
sister was smiling.
“It’s fun every day. Elder sister, you seem to be in good shape
yourself.”

“That’s right. I wanted to give this to you.” Manari grabbed something

hidden in her sleeves and put it in Nanara’s hands. “It’s a relic from
our father.” It was a silver chain with a blue gem cut into a hexagon.
“Keep it secret from the Prime Minister.”

“Thank you, elder sister!” Nanara hung the chain around his neck and
hid the jewel inside his clothes.

“Don’t lose it.”

“I’ll never lose it, I promise.”

“Nanara, please speak to the Queen with more respect.” As soon as a

low toned voice was heard in the corridor, Manari’s face became
pale.

It was the Prime Minister who was dragging along his clothes which
were quite long. Grey beard and a scary voice. Whenever he talked to
Nanara, he always wanted to make him look like an idiot and teach
him manners. The Prime Minister glanced at Kakashi.

“Who are you?”

“He’s my new tutor. The previous one decided to quit.”

“Is that the case?”

“Indeed.”

The Prime minister glanced at Kakashi’s face and moved on to

Nanara. “You must be tired, so please have a rest in your room and
when you’re ready to eat, a maiden will pick you up.”

“I understand. If it’s possible, I’d like Kakashi to attend the dinner

too.”

Kakashi, who looked into Nanara’s eyes shook his head in agreement
since he understood Nanara’s feelings.
“For an outsider to attend, I’m sure there will be many obstacles.”

“Is that so… Please prepare a room for Kakashi as well.”

“For this person too?” The maidens overwhelmingly gazed at Kakashi

from top to bottom.

“If he’s not a royal or bureaucrat, he can’t stay at the Royal Palace.”

“No. I refuse to stay at the Palace if Kakashi cannot stay.”

The Prime Minister didn’t like it, but he called out to the maiden who
was standing at the wall nearby.

Nanara was waiting in his room for dinner. It was past noon, but the
Prime Minister was happy to announce “Nanara-sama’s meal is
ready.”

The adults have finished eating and were having apricot liquor after
their meals, apparently after having talked about some inconvenient
story that children shouldn’t hear. Nanara drew his chair with full of
disgust. Forcibly put both his elbows on the round table that was “too
expensive” for children and looked around the adults.

“A prime minister who takes the precious goat’s cheese to his mouth
after eating falcon by taking a seat next to the Queen and a high
ranking politician who pretends to listen to the Prime Minister’s lame
story.” Thought Nanara.

Queen Manari dropped her gaze on the table and tried not to meet
anyone’s eye contact.

“We will send troops to the village of Nagare. Within a few weeks
there will be fifty soldiers stagnating for about ten days, so we need
to prepare food and drink supplies for that period.”

“Hm?” Nanara didn’t really understand what the Prime Minister was
saying.
“It’s the start of a war.” It was Manari who explained the situation.
“The capital is in a serious water shortage, so we need to invade rich
countries to get new water sources.”

“What are you talking about? Elder sister, please explain this to me
properly.”

“Soldiers? Invasion? Isn’t this a bit too difficult for Nanara-sama?” The
Prime minister says.

“Then speak until I understand.”

“First of all, the environment in Redaku Country is considerably

harsher compared to other countries. The summer is hot and the
winter is cold. No one will come to help us even if we’re hungry, and
we haven’t developed as long as to continue grinding wheat under
such circumstances.

“We need to go to war with a rich place. Take away some new land
for ourselves, and live there.”

“New land… where do you want to live? The Land of Fire?”

The minister kept nodding.

“Some years ago, I got to go away from the mountains because of the
king’s health struggles. The Land of Fire surely existed beyond the
mountains and beyond a number of countries, and the leader of that
land was called “daimyo” and not a “king”.”

Some of the senior officials haven’t even heard about the Land of
Fire. The existence of Land of Fire was officially confirmed for the first
time in the history of Redaku Country.

“Was the Sixth Hokage there?”

“Yes, he exists too. Unfortunately, I went out of the country for a

meeting so I didn’t get a chance to see it, but what surprised me was
the development of the country. Amazing food, excellent medical
care and welfare system. Highly developed technology. They move
dozens of kilos of iron at a tremendous speed. On top of that, people
even ride on it as passengers [I suspect that’s the train]. Then
everyone has a small palm-sized machine and uses it to instantly
share information from far away places [mobile phone?!]. No one in
that country starves to death. Rather, there are more people who die
because of too much sugar. “

“I don’t know …” Nanara drank some water.

“Indeed, the Land of Fire hasn’t experienced war for more than a
decade. Now it’s more of an opportunity for invasion when they focus
on peace. Nanara-sama, did you know that there is a group called
“shinobi” in the Land of Fire and it’s neighbours?”

Nanara nodded.

“Great guys who manipulate chakra and produce fire and water from
nothing. The Sixth Hokage is a shinobi himself.”

“I travelled around the country and learnt how to make heavy

weapons. On top of that, there are ninja who leave their countries
and operate individually. For this war, we have already hired 50
shinobi. In the first place, I think they are different creatures from us.”

The atmosphere of the place was clearly beginning to change. Fifty

shinobi on their side. They feel like they can surely win this war. The
existence of shinobi is so special for the residents of Redaku Country
because they have no military strength. It is inevitable that the facial
expressions of the senior officials began to shine.

“This year’s water shortage is a test given by God. When we get over
with this and secure some new land, we can develop ourselves and
be like the Land of Fire.”

In front of Nanara, there were plain noodles made from wheat and
beans. Salted goat meat and butter tea. Even in Nagare Village, there
are only a few of these items, but one can eat similar things that are
abundant in this country. However, it came to Nanara’s mind that
what Kakashi said, namely that if one starts trading with other
countries, they can get more and different food on the table.

Nanara, who has never left the country, has no idea what other foods
there are in this world. However, he wasn’t sure why he was
dissatisfied with the food in front of him. For Nanara, what was in
front of him was a feast. He never thought about what else he
wanted to eat. He was wondering what the Prime Minister saw in
foreign countries. What could be so delicious in a foreign country?

“Elder sister, are you in favour of this?”

“We have already received approval from the Queen.” Said the Prime
Minister, who stood up and leaned towards Nanara. “The Land of Fire
has achieved a remarkable technological development in just over a
dozen years. This is the result of the skill of the Sixth Hokage. Nanara-
sama, if you’re so obsessed with the Sixth Hokage, don’t you want to
do the same thing to the people of Redaku Country, just like the Sixth
Hokage did to his own people?”

Nanara nodded vaguely and threw apricot into his mouth as if

cheating with the nodding.

***change of scenery***

The Prime Minister chose a room for Kakashi that was full of
moisture. There was only one small window in the room so it was
dim even though it was midday.

“Kakashi, I brought some tea.” A maiden came in.

“Thank you.” Kakashi directed his eyes towards the wooden column
near the wall. Kakashi struck the back of the shrine maiden’s neck
lightly and was holding the body that has lost its power. She should
have fallen asleep naturally without feeling any pain. It was a
technique that was taught directly by the principal of the ninja
academy. Kakashi lay the maiden down on his bed and changed his
appearance to that of the maiden.
He immediately started walking the long corridors of the palace.
There were two things he wanted to investigate. The first one is the
Shuigu, which is handed down within the royal family. The other one
is what happened to Rikudou Sennin during his stay here long ago.
Kakashi came to this country in the first place to investigate Rikudou
Sennin for Naruto.

It is best to gather information in a place where people gather

together themselves. Laundry room, kitchen, etc…

“Oh hello newcomer!” Another maiden greeted Kakashi.

“Newcomer? Me?” Thought Kakashi.

Two other maidens brought their faces close to Kakashi entering the
room.

“Did you bring tea for Nanara sama’s tutor?” “What kind of person is
he?”

“Ehm…”

Why do they care about Kakashi, since he’s just a guest? Kakashi was
carefully hiding a kunai under his skirt while being undercover. The
shrine maidens continued gossiping.

“Why did he find such an awful tutor!”

The shrine maidens didn’t know that Kakashi himself was right in
front of them, and they keep saying things like…

“Hey, I’m hiding my face, so sly!”

Kakashi was fine with it as long as they weren’t suspicious. He

casually gazed at the maidens. One of the shrine maidens is the boss
as seen from her clothes. Her pocket garment bulges in the shape of
a key bundle. The one Kakashi is impersonating is the newcomer so
he decided to be open to conversations.

“There seems to be lots of rooms here, but there aren’t many guests
coming to the Royal Palace. Why is that?”
One of the maidens walked towards the window and pointed outside.
“See it yourself, over there.”

Towards the East of the Capital, several white mobile tents are
stretched out. “The troops newly hired by the Prime Minister are
stationed here. It’s already difficult to provide food for them.”

“It also seems he paid a lot of money to hire them. They are ninja.”

Looking at the movements of the people going back and forth

between the tents, Kakashi immediately thought about its size and
number, about 50 people.

“It’s a problem if there’s too much water or not enough water. About
half a year ago, a huge flood suddenly occurred and all the fields
around here were washed away. According to the investigation of the
Prime Minister, it was due to a landslide or the flow of some melting
water changed.”

Kakashi thought the flood probably occurred due to Manari not being
able to use the Shuigu and it seemed that the maidens weren’t
informed of the presence of the Shuigu either.

“Because we work at the royal palace, our meals are provided, I

wonder how…” one of the maidens was wondering.

“I’m kind of worried about Manari-sama’s reign. I prefer the previous

king.” Kakashi changed the topic after finding an opportunity for the
flow. “I lived in another village until recently, so I don’t know what his
face looks like.”

“There’s a portrait of him in his previous office, but the room is

locked.”

“Where is that office?”

“At the end of the corridor on the third floor.”

The two maidens were smiling as they were seniors to the

newcomer. Kakashi walked down the corridor, turned around the
corner and took out the key to that staircase which he just
“borrowed” from the maiden a moment ago. After making sure
nobody sees him, he unlocked the double door.

The room was quiet. The books’ spines placed in a thin and dusty
bookshelf without being arranged in any direction were actually
arranged like a mosaic pattern. Kakashi reached out to find a back
cover with no title among books that had been lined up among the
history books, anatomical and botanical illustration books, and of
course, “The Legends of the Sixth Hokage.” The top corner. Since he
was undercover as a maiden, his height wasn’t enough to reach for it,
so he had to change back to his original body.

Eventually he found what he was looking for: The record of Rikudou

Sennin’s stay. Unfortunately, only the cover was written in a modern
language, and on the inside the language used was different from the
common letters and he couldn’t read it. Nevertheless, it was a big
success he found it. He decided to hide the manuscript in his jacket
and continued to investigate the bookshelf. It is likely that the
previous king was hiding some books in this room. If Kakashi’s guess
is correct, the solution to the water shortage could be resolved with
the help of one of the books here…

Kakashi looked up at the bookshelf and noticed a familiar spine.

“I saw the same thing in the lower part of the shelf. It’s a red leather
book… why are there two identical books?”

“What are you doing here?” The Prime minister’s voice was heard.

Kakashi quickly changed his appearance back to that of the maiden’s.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to clean up here since it’s dusty.”

“The king’s office is an administrative division. Anyway, how is the

tutor who’s stuck with Nanara?”

“Let’s see… he’s fine.”

“Alright, but did you notice anything suspicious about him?”

“No, I didn’t notice anything in particular.”

“I see.” The wooden heel hits the floor strongly, and the Prime
Minister stopped in front of Kakashi’s eyes.

“The tutor I hired for Nanara-sama was a young woman… On top of

that, ninjas seem to be able to change their appearances and deceive
others… You should be careful, too.”

“Huh. Kakashi is just a tutor.” He was pretending to be innocent, and

the Prime Minister was surprised somehow.

“One more thing. Some weeks ago, someone, somewhere filled the
water tanks with clean water. Thanks to that, no one has starved to
death since then.”

“I don’t know who did that.”

“Oh, really?”

The Prime Minister carefully looked at the expression and gestures of

the shrine maiden, then left.

Undoing the transformation, Kakashi returned to his original form,

and went back to his room.

“I’m really, truly, very sorry! I fell asleep in your room. I’m really tired.”

“Don’t overwork yourself…here’s the empty cup. Would you have a

look at this book for a moment please?”

Kakashi showed the manuscript about Rikudou Sennin which he took

from the former King’s office. Kakashi said “I borrowed this from the
Prime Minister, but I can’t read it.”

The maiden answered immediately. “This is a language that was used

in this land a very long time ago. I hear that nobody is using it
anymore and that there is no way to translate it.”

“Is there anyone who could possibly read it?”

“Not quite, and because of that, it’s a useless book.”

When the altitude is over 4,000 meters, the temperature suddenly
drops in the evening. It was on the Southern side of the Royal Palace
where Kakashi sneaked out with Nanara; an area where ordinary
citizens live.

“Something smells strangely… as if it was rotten.”

“I wonder what is rotten here…”

Nanara’s mouth was stuck small and open.

Someone’s body was folded up in the street. It seemed that it had

been a long time since it was left there, and it turned black
everywhere giving off a horrible smell. There were things rising up
from his stomach, mainly gastric juice mixed with undigested butter
as he was probably starving.

“eh…?” Nanara didn’t understand why people were dead like this.
“Kakashi, let’s go home.” He was pulling Kakashi’s sleeves, but Kakashi
pushed Nanara back and forcibly moved him forward.

“This is your country.”

“That’s not true…” Since Nanara turned the position down, he felt it
was his sister’s country. He was a royal but not a king. “Kakashi, did
you know the town was like this?”

“I was told by the maidens. It seems that there are dead people due
to lack of water”

Nanara had no idea. Wasn’t his sister using a tool for that issue?
Water shortage? After walking for a while, Nanara went to the square.
Finally, he was relieved a little when he saw people gathering and
igniting some wood, some of them even smiled a bit. Everyone
seemed to be skinny with no exception, and their limbs seemed to
have only skin on their bones. Nanara now understood why Kakashi
asked him to change his clothes; he could’ve got into trouble if he
had worn expensive clothes. When he walked a few steps, he started
panicking. The square was full of discouraged people, everyone was
hungry.

“What’s up with that scary face? Eat it.” A thin man noticed Nanara
and offered the top of a wooden skewer in the fire. A gecko with his
back opened was skewered. Nanara turned pale and shook his head.
The gecko with that S-shaped twisted body was so creepy that it
didn’t seem like food and its legs were backwards too.

The capital wasn’t supposed to be like this. He couldn’t believe his

sister and the Prime Minister were unaware of this situation. Because
they knew this, they decided to go to war. Everyone was thirsty and
hungry. This country needed water and food. Nanara once again
looked around the square. He noticed a little girl that was peeling and
sucking a spear. Her body thickness was probably half of a healthy
child of the same age. Nanara put his hand in his jacket and grabbed
the jewel on his chest. This was an important memento from his
father that he just got from his older sister. But he didn’t actually
need that gem. He approached that girl and quickly gave her the
jewel. The girl was looking at Nanara with surprise.

“There is still a lot of water in the Northern area. If you sell this for
money, you can buy water.” He said. This doesn’t improve the
situation by a huge amount, but probably better than nothing. If his
father was in this situation, would he give up? He ran without looking
and bumped into Kakashi. “Let’s go home, Kakashi.” Nanara grabbed
Kakashi’s jacket tightly. “Now I know…”

On the way back to the castle, smoke was rising in the Eastern part of
the Capital.

“The shrine maidens told me they have food over there.” said
Kakashi.

Nanara was surprised. Even though sunset was recently, it was

getting dark quickly and the grey smoke almost melted into the
dimness.
“The Prime Minister seems to have hired 50 shinobi.”

Nanara dropped his gaze on the ground

“If you deal with that amount of shonibi, could the Sixth Hokage kill
all of them?”

“Of course, it would be an instant kill. The Land of Fire has a lot of
strong shinobi in addition to the Hokage. Redaku Country cannot win
against the Land of Fire. Nevertheless, what we need to do now is
stop the war.” Kakashi says indifferently. “It’s better to build
friendships than fighting other countries. The history of the Land of
Fire is proof for that.”

“Why is it that water can solve the problem, why?” Nanara closed his
mouth as he said that.

*********Next morning*********

When Kakashi entered the cafeteria while wearing a jacket and

everyone was already done with their breakfast.

“I’m late again…”

Including Nanara, the Prime Minister and the Queen. A shrine

maiden was serving breakfast without a sound as Kakashi arrived at
the table. Just how far is Manari following the Prime Minister? Is this
just a lottery or is she forced to follow him somehow? He wanted to
explore the situation but she doesn’t show much interest in kakashi.
Well, she doesn’t show interest in anyone.

He was scooping some jam from a jar.

“It seems that you were taking a walk with Nanara-sama last night.”
Kakashi nodded

“eh…” Kakashi was frowning on the taste of the jam that was sweeter
than expected.

“I was surprised. Actually, this country is short of water, which truly

bothers us.”
“Shouldn’t you take immediate action then?”

“The truth is, that 3 weeks ago someone filled up the water tank
overnight. Thanks to that, there has been no human death recently.”

Kakashi continued to stare.

“Yesterday, the water tank was reduced to two-thirds. However, it

was full again this morning. Who could do such a magical thing? Do
you have any ideas?”

Kakashi was shaking his head for a while. “Wouldn’t it be better to

deal with this situation? Just because the water tank has been filled
up twice that doesn’t mean there will be a third time.”

“Elder sister.” Nanara suddenly called Manari. Despite being called by

his younger brother, she stiffened her expression and raised her
gaze awkwardly.

“…What?”

“Why don’t you use the Shuigu?”

At that point, Manari and the Prime Minister changed their faces all at
once. Recognising that they were both frozen, their eyes met each
other in suspicion.

In that disturbing atmosphere, only Kakashi carried on with his

breakfast with a cool face as if nothing had been heard.

“The Shuigu… like father did, you could use it and then you could
solve this shortage problem. Why don’t you use it?”

“Shut up.” Said in a low voice. Nanara was disappointed.

“The existence of Shuigu is a confidential matter. Even though we’re

in the Royal Palace, we shouldn’t be talking about it.”

“Are you not able to use it then?”

Manari’s face turned deep blue.

The Prime Minister struck his wine glass on the table. “You have
nothing to do with the Shuigu, you left the palace. Manari is seriously
suffering from this.”

“You can’t use it then because you’re suffering. You can’t use it, and
now you don’t have enough water.”

“Did you manipulate Nanara-sama into this in some way?” Asked the
Prime Minister from Kakashi.

“Haaa? Me? About what?” Kakashi tilted his head strangely.

“I have no idea what the Shuigu is like.”

Whether Kakashi and Nanara leave the Palace in the afternoon or

even if the first act of this breakfast party was just trailing them, the
Prime Minister and the Queen both left. Kakashi and Nanara walked
through the Southern residential area instead of the North boulevard
while pulling the horses.

Adults and children were all going to get some water. Nanara was
looking away from the dead bodies on the street, which were all
extremely thin. In addition, because of the dry climate, many of them
looked like a mummy rather than rotted, but there were flies around
them. The surviving residents were surely in trouble because of the
disposal of these corpses. Clay coffins are used in Redaku Country,
but it takes a lot of effort to make them.

Individuals get heavier when they die. Kakashi knows the weight of
the recovered corpses’ remains, the weight of many comrades whom
he carried on his back, and the weight of one eye that his friend gave
him whom he didn’t even carry on his back. He didn’t want to feel like
that again. This is why Kakashi, as the Sixth Homage, promoted the
development of Konoha. There were times when he was criticised
that he ignored traditions. But Kakashi never wanted to repeat the
era of war. It’s peace that he wants to last forever. That’s what
Kakashi wanted and continued to do so as the Sixth Hokage. Even if
Kakashi is no longer the hokage, one day when the role of hokage will
disappear, the orderly society will still continue. Hopefully a system
that will never fall into war. That was the way his dead best friend
wanted him to survive, as he told Kakashi to become the hokage. He
was desperate because he wanted to bring his friend’s dream reality.
The existence of Obito has been a reason for Kakashi to keep fighting
for a long time. Now, it’s a guide for walking forward. It will be a long
time before he can meet Obito, Rin and his Sensei, but he wants to
live a life they they can be proud of. That’s why he couldn’t overlook
the current state of Redaku Country that was happening in front of
him. Also Naruto, who was trapped in the Land of Fire.

“Uncle” a thin girl stood in front of Kakashi. Kakashi met her during
the first day he came to Redaku Country, and it was also the girl
Nanara gave the jewel to. Some nosebleed was dried on her face
down to her chin, it seemed like she was beaten up. The girl offered a
wooden basket in her hands to Kakashi. “Please give me more water.”

Kakashi moulded some chakra and poured water with his left hand.
While doing so, he touched the girl’s face with his right hand as he
was trying to use some medical ninjutsu. The technique wasn’t
perfect, but it eased her pain.

“What’s wrong with her face?” Nanara was watching behind Kakashi.
“What about the jewel?”

Nanara grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “Where is the jewel? Who did
it?!”

Surprised by Nanara, the girl pulled her body. The wooden basket fell
from her hands wetting the ground. The girl saw the basket falling
but ran away without picking it up.

“That girl…” Nanara murmured, looking back at her. “Why hasn’t that
changed anything? I gave her a jewel…”

“You gave her a jewel?”

“It’s blue and beautiful, and if she sells it for money, she should be
able to buy food and drink, so why is she still in trouble with water?
Maybe she doesn’t know how to exchange it for cash… but even so,
the adults around her should help her…”

“Do you know what happens if you give a jewel to just one person in
a country with lots of hungry individuals? She is just a small and weak
child.”

Nanara noticed what he did and began to tremble with a screaming

throat. Kakashi put his hands on Nanara’s shoulders, and Nanara
grabbed Kakashi’s fingers in anger.

~~~ Chapter 2 END ~~~

In any case, Kakashi thought it’s best to send this book to the Land of
Fire as soon as possible. Waiting for the maiden to go out, Kakashi
signalled out of the window. When he threw the book out, a hawk
caught it with sharp claws and changed the direction of his travel
immediately. It will arrive at the Hokage’s office in 2 days at the
earliest. Kakashi wrote down where he found this book and the
situation in Redaku Country, and put a note in the book. He even
apologised that it was written in an ancient language, but he thought
that if they have Shikamaru or Sakura, they should be able to
decipher it.

***a bit later***

“How was the dinner?” Asked Kakashi from Nanara. Nanara didn’t
answer Kakashi’s question and tied his lips. As he was, he pushed out
a book towards Kakashi.

“Read me. I tried to read myself using the letters you taught me but I
stopped as the book is difficult to read.”

“Uhm… alright.”
As Kakashi sat on the chair and opened the book, Nanara was sitting
near him. Of course, the book Nanara brought was “The Legends of
the Sixth Hokage.” It had a different cover compared to the one in
Nagare village. When Kakashi opened the book, he looked at Nanara
without looking at the pages.

“Your sister and the Prime Minister seem to be willing to go to war.”

Nanara became surprised. “How do you know?”

“I concluded it based on the maiden’s rumours.” Nanara gazed at the

characters on the cover of of the “Legends of the Sixth Hokage” book
while messing around with his hair. “He said he was going to fight the
Land of Fire. Kakashi, what do you think?”

“I think the Prime Minister really just wants to trade. He wants to

become richer in relation to other countries. But because there are
no other countries around, he wants to take some land by fighting.”

Speaking slowly, Nanara looked at Kakashi as if whining. “Kakashi, like

you told me before, the Land of Fire has become peaceful and
successful because of a lot of trade, but this country has always been
peaceful… So why bother stealing from other countries?”

“Perhaps.. it’s not that peaceful right now.” 

As Kakashi was getting up, he gazed towards the outside landscape

towards the sunset.

Nanara and Kakashi left towards Nagare Village on horse. Nanara

was in silence and dropped his line of sight to the back of his hand.
He was firmly grasping the rein of the horse to the point that his
palm was bleeding.

“Who did this…” Kakashi saw Nanara as Nanara murmured. “Do you
think it was bad to scold that child?” The bad thing was his ignorant
self who gave the jewel to that girl, and, of course the leaders of the
Royal Palace, who created a situation where people beat children due
to lack of water. In order to gain some water, the Prime Minister and
Manari are trying to cause a war with the Land of Fire.

On top of that, 50 shinobi will stay in Nagare Village. They must start
preparations as soon as they return to the village to prepare the food
requested by the Prime Minister.

“Kakashi, is that huge amount of wheat needed to feed 50 shinobi for

10 days?”

“Yes” Kakashi answered. The amount was much higher than Nanara
had imagined.

The villagers were working on harvesting wheat. Men were

harvesting and women were carrying wheat. Some women were in a
shade chatting, and were throwing around the husks left by exposing
the wheat to the wind.

“Welcome back Nanari-sama, Kakashi-sensei.” Margo cheered as she

stood across the field fence. As she was carrying a basket filled with
wheat, she lifted it over her head as if she was taking a spoon of air
after which the husks were spooned by the air itself and spilled.
Nanara liked this view. Spending days to save up food for months in
the winter. He appreciated the blessings of nature. But most of the
wheat harvested today is dedicated to the military for war…

“Everyone, listen” Nanara climbed up to the partition between the

fields and started speaking to the villagers. The villagers with their
faces covered in dirt were gathering while getting rid of the rice husks
piled up on their clothes. Nanara looked around everyone’s face with
a serious facial expression.

“The harvested wheat does not have to be transported to the

warehouse.”

“Huh? Why?” Sumure was leaning over Nanara’s head with a bunch of
wheat.
“Soon, the Queen’s army is coming to the village from the capital. I
was asked to prepare the food for them while I stay here.”

“How many?”

Nanara looked back and looked at Kakashi, who stood and watched
the events.

“Fifty people. It seems that they will stay for about 10 days.” When
Kakashi responded on behalf of Nanara, the villagers were suddenly
short of words. It was a huge burden for them to feed 50 people for
10 days.

“The prime minister told me so…” Nanara tried to excuse himself

while looking at the ground so as to avoid condemnation. “It seems
that there is going to be a war.”

Margo, who rounded her eyes, repeatedly asked questions. “Against

whom? And Why?”

Nanara tried not to look at her while murmuring with a voice that
seemed to fade away.

“Against the Land of Fire, because of water shortage.”

The villagers looked surprised. “So the Land of Fire really exists…”
“But it’s so far away… how are they going to get there?” “The army,
when did it all happen?” “It wasn’t like this in the days of the previous
king…”

Fighting against a foreign country… They have never experienced

war. They all thought it was unimaginable to fight a foreign country.

“Starting a war in search of a water source… is there not enough

water in the capital?”

Nanara was stuck with words.

“It’s still fine. But it’s going to be bad soon.” His voice was weird as he
lied. “But the water source will run out in the next few years, so
another land has to be taken early, said the Prime Minister.”
“Is the Prime Minister’s army strong enough to beat the Land of Fire?”

“Margo, you can’t seriously expect Nanara to know that.” Said one of
the villagers. “It’ll be fine I’m sure!”

“but…” Margo was still anxious, but many villagers had a compliment
on their faces and looked pleased.

“Even though I harvested a lot, I could do more.” Sumure murmured

while looking at the piled up wheat.

***********

“Nanara, are you reading properly?”

“Yes…” Nanara responded casually and dropped his gaze on the “Four
Seasons Mushrooms” book, which was left open on the desk.

Kakashi’s classes that would normally be fun just isn’t good now. It
may be important to be able to distinguish between mushrooms that
can be eaten and mushrooms that can’t be eaten, but now more
important issues are imminent than mushrooms. The Queen’s army
is coming soon. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister said that water
would become available after the war. If that is true, he should give
the wheat to the Queen’s army which is coming soon in order to
support this cause. By doing so, this country will be rich. However,
with the gathered shinobi they cannot beat the shinobi lead the the
Hokage - Kakashi said so. If that’s true, it’s a mistake to start a war.

“Argh!” Nanara’s head was confused. What should he do? The red,
swollen face of the little girl appeared in his thoughts. He didn’t want
to see that sight ever again. That feeling was certain. But what is the
correct thing to do?

“I got worried after you became my tutor.” Nanara looked up to

Kakashi, looking envious. He couldn’t stop talking about it while
becoming more and more frustrated. “I would play pretend Hokage
every day without knowing anything challenging. It would’ve been
much easier if I could go along with that. I have learnt a lot because
you teach a lot, and that’s why I started thinking about this war…”

“Well, if you want to protect people, you have to be strong. You have
to have a strong spirit that can lead everyone.”

“I’m not a king, so I don’t need to lead anyone.” His mouth that
moved freely didn’t stop. “I’m not as smart as you are and I don’t
know anything. I don’t think everyone can be like you.”

Kakashi stared at Nanara in a very cool manner, in contrast to

Nanara who was getting worse.

“I don’t think you’re as average as you think. If you think you are,
you’re blessed with great people around you. I was so fortunate to
become your disciple.” He closed the book full of mushrooms and
listened. “Kakashi… What should I do?”

“It doesn’t matter what I say because you have to decide.” Kakashi
always says things that aren’t the actual answer. Even though Nanara
was so worried, it didn’t help him at all.

“If you don’t follow your sister and the minister, you will surely be
attacked by the people in Nagare Village. If you follow them and allow
the war to happen, lots of people will die.”

“I can’t choose. There’s still no choice to forcibly stop the minister’s

army. It’s fifty shinobi! I can’t win!” Along with the throbbing
heartbeat, emotions overflew from the back of his chest. It’s also
annoying that Kakashi has been acting cool.

“If you make the right moves, nobody will die.”

“I can’t choose my moves!” Nanara jumped out of the room.

That night, Kakashi rarely slept and was looking at the low ceiling all
the time. He didn’t want to choose either. He understood very well
that it hurts a lot. Kakashi himself faced choices that he didn’t want to
make many times as the Sixth Hokage. He doesn’t think he always
made the best choice. When he visited the Land of Waves as Hokage,
he was confused by the crowd who greeted him with cheers. There
was an old woman who deliberately wanted to hurt Kakashi. She
cried and screamed to complain that her son was killed by Konoha
Shinobi. After the war, there were many people who lived with
wounds that cannot heal. For some people, Konoha Shinobi are
heroes but there are also those who turn towards them with deep
hatred. Kakashi always belonged to both of these groups as the Sixth
Hokage. The Hokage is able to bring various feelings from an
unspecified number of people together with respect and jealousy.
Kakashi has made a lot of difficult decisions as a leader. Like this one
now. If Nanara gets to know the identity of Kakashi, he’ll be
wondering why Kakashi hasn’t helped him. He could actually solve
the water shortage by continuing to supply water until his physical
strength lasts, but that doesn’t make sense. Whether to give bread to
the hungry, or teach them how to make wheat, Kakashi always chose
the latter of the two.

A child’s voice made Kakashi wake up. Nanara came into the room.

“I have something to ask. I was thinking of what I should do… first of

all, we can’t win against the Land of Fire. Even if we take something
away from them and become wealthy, maybe that won’t make
anyone happy. I don’t want to fight the Land of Fire… I want to be
friends with them.”

The Prime Minister said “If you want to be like the Sixth Hokage”.
Therefore, Nanara decided to think about what the Sixth Hokage
would do in this situation. Kakashi taught him the answer. The aim of
the Sixth Hokage was coexistence and mutual prosperity with the
surrounding countries.

“I want to accompany the Prime Minister and go to the Land of Fire.

Instead of forcibly taking it away, I’ll ask for support in an equal
position.”

“That’s not an acceptable solution.” Kakashi refused to accept

Nanara’s conclusion.
“Why is that?” Nanara frowned while watching Kakashi lit the lamp.

“There has always been an easy way to contact the Land of Fire
without actually going there.”

“An easy way to contact them?”

Kakashi pulled out a parchment [ancient paper made from animal

skin] and spread it on the desk where the lamp was placed.

“Letters.”

“Huh?”

“You can use it to write to your friends and send it instead of going
there.”

“The Land of Fire is far away. How is this delivered?”

Kakashi silently threw his gaze towards the window. The hawk called
“Leh” was outside on a rod.

“Leh is no good!” Nanara rushed to spread his hands, protecting Leh.

“With the flying ability of a hawk, it takes less than two days to the
Land of Fire.”

“But he’s a royal hawk!”

“Is he special if he’s a royal hawk? How is he different from other

hawks?

Nanara fell silent. Kakashi offered one of his arms towards Leh, who
put both his feet on Kakashi’s arm as he flew forward and stopped
there.

“It cannot be the first time he flies to the Land of Fire. I found this in
the king’s office.” Kakashi lined up the paper rolled up on the desk.
Nanara was wondering if Kakashi had sneaked into a closed office. At
the beginning, his father’s name was written in ink.

“A letter… Who is it from?” Spreading the curled paper to the end and
seeing the name of the sender, Nanara opened his mouth wide.
It was sent by the Sixth Hokage. At the end of the letter, it was clearly
signed with a brush.

“It seems that the previous king was exchanging letters with the Sixth
Hokage.” Nanara’s hand began to shake as he was squeezing the
scroll. He just couldn’t believe it. “Kakashi! The Sixth Hokage really
exists!”

“Yes. The Prime minister also said that.”

Nanara was very happy. He pointed at some of the strokes. It was the
characters making up “Sixth Hokage”. He felt like he was directly
touching the legend and his body was trembling. The handwriting
uses a lot of difficult kanji, that looked a bit like Kakashi’s handwriting,
and he couldn’t read it all, but there was a part mentioning “Shuigu”
written in katakana [Katakana is one of the phonetic alphabets in
Japanese]. Apparently, his father was talking about the Shuigu.

“Leh, did you ever carry a letter to the Land of Fire?” Nanara shouted,
and Leh seemed like he understood him.

Nanara was thinking what he should do with the parchment on his

desk. Should he send a letter to the Sixth Hokage? He started writing
fresh letters one by one.

<<My sister and the Prime Minister are trying to start a war against
the Land of Fire. I want to stop it. There might be a civil war because
of that. When the battle is over, I want to avoid situations where the
land is rough and people are starving. Therefore, I would like you to
help me with food supplies to prevent this war. >>

He was a bit lost as he tried so hard to write this. What should he do

if he gets a reply? If he doesn’t come, he will be in trouble, but if he
gets a reply by hand, he may be overjoyed and die of happiness… He
was so glad, but he was also troubled because suddenly it all got real.

“The long awaited first letter to the Sixth Hokage will be something
like this.”
Kakashi looked surprised.

“Is there anything else you wanted to write?”

“That’s right. I wanted to write a fan letter, not this. Like, what is his
life story, how is he so fascinating and encouraging, etc.. I’m sure
even 10 parchments wouldn’t be enough.”

Nanara rolled the letter up and tied it to Leh’s nails.

“Take this to the Sixth Hokage, and bring his reply back.”

Leh left from the window, however, Nanara noticed that his line of
flight continued back to where he started. Nanara narrowed his eyes
and took a deep breath.

“Impossible… Why is he back so early…?”

The Prime Minister’s army is marching in the mountains, and two

days later in the morning they were close by. “Senpou” is a light-
hearted ninja unit dressed in plain clothes. Although it should have
been secretly hidden, and it was supposed to happen a few weeks
later, they arrived much earlier than planned. There was a bigger
problem though: it wasn’t just 50 people. There ware ninjas in an
artillery army in a row. The carts pushed by the men in turn were
loaded with cylindrical iron blocks.

“Cannon… “ Kakashi muttered with a low-toned voice. It is a weapon

that is unique to a certain region between the Land of Fire and
Redaku Country; a device for launching a lead ball. Phosphorus is not
used by the major five powers because it is very weak against
moisture. During his overseas visit, the Prime Minister learnt how to
refine canons without fail.

Kakashi was the first to see the “real thing”: The total number of
artillery troops approaching Nagare Village is about 300 soldiers, with
roughly 40 cannons.
“Are those shinobi carrying cannons…?” Looking down on the plain
from the watchtower in Nagare Village, Nanara asked Kakashi who
was next to him.

“No, based on their movement they’re not all shinobi. I think they just
recruited some people for this.”

“I wonder if the Land of Fire will be attacked with those cannons…”

“No… it’s a lot of hard work just to carry those cannons here. It simply
isn’t practical to carry them as far away as the Land of Fire.”

“So why bother…”

“It’s probably to keep Nagare Village in check.” Kakashi had deep

wrinkles between his eyebrows. “If you happen to have a coup d’etat
while the Queen and the Prime Minister are away, you’ll be in trouble,
hence the check. They’re willing to monitor you.”

“Really…?!”

To supply such a huge army with food in Nagare Village, which has
less than 150 inhabitants is extremely difficult, they won’t have
enough food left. Nanara looked stunned.

“Do they want us to be exhausted.. and not to revolt?”

By noon, the entire army reached the pass. They set up a field in the
wilderness, Southwest of the village, assembled some tents and
started the preparations for stationing. The Prime Minister was
escorted by several shinobi to the village.

“Her Majesty the Queen’s army will advance to the East. Supply them
with food.” Said the Prime Minister with a loud voice.

“Listen, Prime Minister…” Nanara was in front of the Prime Minister.

“I’m against this war. I don’t think we can win, and it doesn’t make
sense to win.”

“Don’t worry Nanara. Reinforcements will come.” The Prime Minister

replied.
“Did you hire more shinobi?”

The Prime Minister gazed towards the North. At the end of that gaze
was a mountain range ridge that stretched from North to East. There
should be an Astronomical Research Institute there since ancient
times. [This is supposed to be the reinforcement]

“What’s the meaning of this?” Asked Nanara.

Ignoring Nanara, the Prime Minister suspiciously looked around the

villagers. “Please bring as much food as there are in the village to the
camp.”

The villagers were silent as the Prime minister was leaving. “We’re
going to run out of food…” “We can’t help this…”

Margo was trying to encourage a woman in the village who seemed

to cry. “We’ll still be able to pick up the wild plants and catch some
fish!”

Nanara realised that the wild plants and fish that can be harvested
around the area will not be enough to support the lives of all the
villagers. Kakashi approached.

“Eh?”

“I will help you if you need it. But the Prime Minister is about to start
an invasion. I can’t cooperate with that one.”

“Then what will you do?”

“Stop it. By force.”

“Will you fight?” Nanara nodded with hesitation. He would lie if he

said he has no fear. But he wrote a letter to the Sixth Hokage. He
asked him for support because he cannot fight alone.

“Oh, but do fight. And then… I’ll help you as much as I can.” Kakashi
joined his hands in front of his chest [started making hand signs], and
then, at that instant put his hands on the ground which started
shaking. Nanara looked around. During the next few seconds, the
ground around the village was rising and rising high while rolling up
dust. After a while, it became a wall as high as a smaller hill in no
time. As soon as the wall lifted, a ninja responded quickly and threw
something like a kunai, but it was easily bounced back by the wall.

“Did Kakashi do this?!” Nanara looked at the wall. Looked at Kakashi.

Looked at the wall, and looked at Kakashi once more… a defensive
soil barrier. Just like the Sixth Hokage’s Earth Style: Mud Wall.

“Kakashi… you, no way….” Nanara’s voice was shaking as if he had

discovered something. Kakashi decided to face Nanara. “No way,
you’re actually the Sixth Hokage?!”

“………….Yeah.”

That was a strange scene. But in any case, it was confirmed that
Kakashi was a shinobi at least and therefore was shining in Nanara’s
eyes.

“Wow… Kakashi was a ninja all along…” Somehow he was even more
shining than the usual 100%.

“I would like to apologise for hiding my identity.” Kakashi said it in his

usual ordinary tone, looking around the desperate villagers.

In the plains, the Prime Minister was angry and screaming at the mud
wall. “Prince Nanara, what is the meaning of this?! If you don’t break
that wall right now, it’ll be considered as treason!”

“I’m rebelling.” Nanara shouted back from the top of the watchtower.
“Nagare Village doesn’t agree with this war!”

Manari suddenly lost her normal skin colour because she knew what
her brother’s rebellion could mean. A signal was sent to the artillery
army. The artillery moved all at once and turned the wheel the
cannons towards the mud wall.

“After all, they’re going to shoot at us… Kakashi, are you okay?”

“Ah, maybe.”
He said maybe. Nanara watched the artillery fire the cannons. The
fire goes down the lead and disappears into the gun barrel.

BAM!!!

The cannons erupted with fire and the bullet was shot. The surface of
the mud wall was reached as soon as the sound was heard. The
villagers were screaming.

However, only a small amount of smoke has come up.

“Not a single scratch…” The villagers looked up at the Earth Wall. “This
wall was made with great skill.”

A young shinobi went ahead and advised the Prime Minister.

“Techniques used by shinobi are compatible with each other. The
weak point of Earth Style is Lightning Style.” The man’s right hand
made a sound and discharged electricity. “The trick is…”

“Raikiri. The legend of the Sixth Hokage cutting thunder remains in

the Land of Fire, a secret skill.” Smiling with plenty of confidence, the
shinobi man moved froward towards the mud wall. In general, Earth
Style is considered to be vulnerable toward Lightning style because
there are many impurities in the soil which conduct electricity. “Let
me smash it with my Raikiri”

Nanara was terrified as he saw the ninja from the top of the
watchtower. “Kakashi, it’s crazy! He’s going to use some sort of great
skill!”

“………………”

“Kakashi! It’s dangerous! Dangerous!”

Ah. So noisy. Kakashi was looking at the end of the trajectory where
the man’s jutsu would land. The enemy man moved onto the target,
concentrating his consciousness onto the point of attack. He started.

CRACK!
The thunder smashes and the lightning strikes the mud wall. It
seemed that the wall would be destroyed, but….

“What…?”

The shinobi who carried the attack out stared at the mud wall in a
suspicious manner. The moment the discharge reached the mud
wall, it disappeared as if it had been sucked in. It was clear. It looked
as if the material had been instantly changed from soil to glass. In the
blink of an amazement, the transparent part quickly disappeared and
returned to the original soil.

“What is it now? The wall became transparent then it seemed to have

returned to the original soil right away.”

“Could be some kind of a genjutsu.”

The shinobi man was screaming in anger.

“Don’t worry, to maintain such a huge mud wall uses a huge amount
of chakra. It won’t last long. If there is only one caster, we could just
wait for half a day and it will simply self-defeat and solve the
problem.”

That man [the enemy] probably used to live in the Land of Fire. The
fusion of science and technology that was developed in the time of
the Sixth Hokage suddenly allowed ordinary people to use the skills
of shinobi that had been handed down since ancient times.

The one Kakashi used wasn’t a separate ninjutsu, he simple changed

part of the mud wall into glass. There are many ingredients that are
used as raw materials for glass [glasses are insulators], and if this
glass component is collected in one place and the atomic
arrangement is adjusted, the earth wall will partially change into
glass. Because of the nature of insulators, the part that has been
changed to glass should theoretically invalidate the attack of
lightnings.
“No way, no!” The man was shaking his head. The technique of earth
quartz is a fantasy ninjutsu created by a clever scholar who does not
know ninjutsu. It is simply too difficult to do it. It would take many
many years for an individual to increase the purity to only the glass
component in the soil. Furthermore, in practice it is necessary to
pinpoint the change only in the place where the thunder strikes while
keeping the rest the same. Moreover, after a lightning strike, it is
necessary to make an immediate change and return the glass part to
its original form. Glass parts can prevent thunder and lightning
attacks, but they can be easily broken by simple physical attacks. The
technique of earth quartz is nothing more than an empty theory on a
desk. Speed and accuracy. When you need that quick and accurate
chakra control that makes you feel dizzy just by imagining it. If there
is a shinobi that can do that in this world….

The man thought this far and suddenly changed his mind. Speaking
of which, the previous hokage in the Land of Fire has a reputation for
being a master of all 5 great nature elements. If it’s him…

“No. No way.”

The man shook his head and denied the thoughts that came to his
mind. The previous Hokage was a driving force that developed the
Land of Fire rapidly and built peace. World-class man. There is no
logical reason for him to be part of such a coup.

“That wasn’t really raikiri…” Kakashi felt it was a bit ridiculous and
looked down at the returning Prime Minister and shinobi. The name
of the technique that once he was good at. He didn’t really care, but
either way, this one was a fairly simple lightning attack. Kakashi
learnt the technique of earth quartz a long time ago, and it took a
long time to master it. It’s a technique to nullify thunderbolt, but it’s
impossible to bounce off a very strong electric shock because the
glass melts upon heat.

More importantly… Kakashi looked back at the villagers in the midst

of confusion.
“Nanara… you’re up against the Prime Minister. Also, what’s that
wall…?”

“It isn’t too late… apologise and give them food. Isn’t it really bad to
go against the Queen?”

The villagers suddenly turned pale. They didn’t know the mud wall
was protecting them.

“Ah… please, calm down.” As soon as Kakashi raised his voice, the
villagers suddenly calmed down. “I understand you’re confused, but
first you can listen to Nanara’s story. I also know what’s going on
because I went to the capital with him, but apparently this country
seems to be in an insane situation.”

“Weren’t you just a tutor?” A man looked at Kakashi in a creepy way.

“Only a good tutor could use such amazing ninja skills.”

“I see.” Another man quickly agreed. “Looking at how popular you are
among women, I thought you were suspicious when I heard the
rumours. Originally, I came to this village because the Prime Minister
sent me to investigate if you’re a spy.”

“So that’s why…” Nanara tried to say something, but he could find the
right words to use.

“Kakashi-sensei. Just who are you?” Margo asked him. “That skill, that
shinobi technique…”

Kakashi shook his head loosely. “I’ll tell you everything when this
battle is over.”

“Why don’t you say it now?”

“Your homeland could be in danger and you could be tortured if you

knew too much. Either way, let’s listen to Nanara’s story first, and
make a decision what to do once you have that information.” Kakashi
started walking away.

“Where are you going?” Nanara asked with anxiety.

“It’s easier for the villagers to talk without an outsider being here.”

If one thinks about it, Kakashi is actually kind of suspicious. Nanara

was walking around the village looking for Kakashi once he finished
the discussion with the villagers. To begin with, they don’t know
anything about Kakashi. In retrospect, even Nanara was suspicious
thinking he was sent from the capital, but for some reason, he gained
his trust. He wants to follow him. Surely, a good leader is someone
like Kakashi.

“I told everyone about the situation in the capital city and so on.” He
found Kakashi, who was reading a book.

“How was it?”

“They still can’t fully understand the situation. We’ll meet again
tomorrow morning to have a discussion.”

“I understand why the villagers hesitate.” Kakashi said while closing

the book. “It’s only natural to be afraid of rebelling against the Queen
as they could get themselves killed.”

*****************************

Next morning, forty sets of cannons were placed around the village in
a semicircular shape. They were all pointing towards the village, as if
they said “surrender”. Nanara looked at them from the watchtower,
and he could see the Prime Minister’s crimson robe moving around
the base, but he couldn’t see his sister. He thought she could be
trapped in some tent. Fear spread through the village as they saw all
those cannons. Nanara talked with the villagers about progression in
the future again and again, but even now, the number of people who
want to surrender remain overwhelming. In particular, Margo
refused to fight the Prime Minister. She wants to return to the capital
again safe and sound. However, it is obvious that they will start
starving soon if they feed that many people. The situation was a
check-mate.

“What should we do…” Margo murmured while almost crying.

A middle-aged man crossed his arms and sighed. “The Prime Minister
holds such huge power… Moreover, isn’t he the source of all of this?
Who appointed him to this position? Was it the king?”

In response to the man’s questions, Nanara suddenly stopped

moving. “I’m not able to say that right now.”

“Based on that, the king might have been incompetent then.

Believing in such a man and appointing him, what a mess…”

“Do not speak badly of my father!” Nanara started shouting. He felt

that everyone’s glances were pointing at him, but his feelings were
escalating and he couldn’t calm down.

The man was silent for a moment, then laughed and shrugged his
shoulders. “What is it, Nanara… I’m barely angry. I only told you the
truth.”

“Don’t be silly!”

The man tried to grab him but Nanara was picked up. “Relax.”
Recognising that he was picked up by Kakashi from behind, Nanara
twisted his body.

“Tell him, Kakashi! This man knows nothing about my father!!” Nanara
tried to resist, but was dragged out of the square by Kakashi. Kakashi
climbed up a hill holding a fuming Nanara. “My father wasn’t
incompetent!” Nanara complained vigorously. “He worked really hard
for this country!”

Kakashi sighed. “Everyone gets angry when they hear bad things
about their family. But no matter what happens, it’s usually not good
for the royal family to reach out to people like this.”

“The royal family is foolish.” It really was. “They’re no different from

other humans.”

“Sure, that might be true. But your father did lack some qualities he
should’ve needed as king.”
“NO!” Nanara shouted with red eyes. How could Kakashi say such a
thing to him… “Despite having never met, how can you say something
so inappropriate! My father wasn’t inadequate. He was respected and
needed by everyone!”

“Was he a splendid king?”

“Yes.”

“If you respected the king so much, why didn’t you take the throne?
Didn’t you want to be like your dad?”

“That’s different …. !”

Kakashi’s tone was catching up with Nanara’s. As usual, Nanara didn’t

wait for Kakashi to find his own words.

“The opposite… I wanted to be like my father, I just lack the

confidence…  so…”

“You didn’t become king because of that?”

Nanara backed this up. Kakashi wanted to stop sounding like this, as
he felt Nanara’s real feelings are likely to be dragged out soon, but he
pretended not to notice.

“Even though I’m not a king now, I’m trying to convince everyone in
the village to go against the Prime Minister!”

“Why? Why do you want to protect this country?”

“Because I’m the son of my father!”

Nanara’s eyes were finally filled with tear. Even though he didn’t
believe in the “royal blood”, he grew up looking at his father, which
was important for him.

In the shinobi world, the “special ability” of ancestry has great power.
Our blood. The Hyuuga’s white eyes. Although not due to ancestry,
the tailed beast chakra is similar in the sense that it was often held
undesirably by the jinchuuriki. The faces of students and comrades
came to his mind in order. Each of them has been proud of their
origin, sometimes to the point that they craved violence because of it
( *** cough… Sasuke… cough***). He also remembered the cheerful
ninja who was not blessed with ninjutsu talent, and gained strength
through efforts only.

Nanara went silent dropping his gaze onto the ground. Kakashi
unconsciously touched his left eye while watching him. In the past,
Kakashi’s left eye possessed the ability of an extraordinary power
that he was gifted by his friend. Unfortunately, the eye that had
unparalleled power wasn’t handled efficiently by Kakashi, due to the
limit of his blood. His body didn’t fit that eye. Even so, Kakashi
continued to refine this ability that he could not fully use, and he
became proficient gaining the title “Kakashi of the Sharingan”. He
wanted to see the world with his friend’s eye, as it was none other
than Obito who gave Kakashi the will to overcome “his blood” after
what happened to his father.

“What do you think it is that makes a king a king?” Nanara asked. “I

was born royal… but the Sixth Hokage was chosen and became the
leader of the Land of Fire… what should I do to become like him?”

“You have to take action.” Kakashi pointed his gaze towards the sky.
“Leh is back.” Eventually they told Leh to go to “The Hokage” to deliver
the letter.

Nanara raised his head. Leh spread his dark brown wings out and
flew. “Leh!” Nanara waved at Leh. Leh was certainly a royal hawk, and
not because Leh’s parent was a royal hawk, it’s because of his strong
body. In response to Nanara’s request, a letter from the Land of Fire
brought back by Leh said that they were ready to help. It is possible
to arrange for food and medical products, and they were ready to
help as much as possible. Nanara was slowly reading the letter from
the Hokage - one sentence at a time - crying, and seeing the signature
written at the end.

Seventh Hokage.
Written in a wrinkled handwriting. “So it [hokage numbering] went up
by one!” Nanara’s hand holding the letter trembled. “So you’re not
dead, right … ?”

“Well… I just retired when I was old enough.”

“I see. So you’re relaxing.” Nanara stroked the signature of the

Hokage that smudged on the paper. Hm… He was sure that the Sixth
Hokage also worked very hard.

The Hokage’s real name was written under the title. Uzumaki Naruto.
“It sounds like a strange name, but it feels warm and positive.”
Nanara, who had been looking at the Hokage’s handwriting with a
read face for a while, decided to run to the square with the letter.

“Everyone! Look at this! A letter from the hokage!” The legendary

Hokage name should have enough power to push the villagers. The
fact that the Seventh Hokage of the Land of Fire promised support
gave many villagers the courage to confront the Prime Minister. Of
course, not everyone. In the end, however, more than half of the
villagers agreed to fight the Prime Minister.

After seeing Nanara who squeezed the letter running to the square,
Kakashi finally leaned against the watchtower. He sat down and
exhaled a big sigh. He continuously used the Mud Wall for more than
half a day. Kakashi’s combat power has significantly increased
compared to when he was fighting Obito and Madara. It’s no
surprise, since many years have passed since then, and he’s been
diligently working. Although he lost the Sharingan and he can no
longer use Chidori, he learnt several new techniques to replace them,
and now his amount of chakra is enough to keep up this wall and it
also remains strong enough to withstand cannonballs. He wiped his
sweat away from his temple and took a shallow breath, as it was still
challenging to maintain it. He is going to keep the Mud Wall up until
they decide on a strategy.
Midnight. Nanara, Kakashi and the villagers gathered in front of the
mud wall. The Moon was covered behind thick clouds. It was
convenient that the visibility was bad. They also have the terrestrial
advantage here.

“Everyone has been evacuated.” Margo came to report to Nanara.

“Thank you Margo, please, evacuate too.”

Margo is also supposed to evacuate with the rest of the villagers. But
Margo shook her head to Nanara’s words and put the pot she had in
her hand on her head.

“After all, we will fight.” Margo asked if it was okay, and Nanara
nodded. Not only Margo, but all the villagers gathered armed with
pans and pots on their heads. They all grabbed farm tools like
scissors and sickles in their hands. The strategy is simple. Kakashi will
take on the ninjas. At that time, the villagers will enter the artillery
base and moisten the phosphorus to make it useless, as this is the is
the driving force of this unit. Nanara said that he would search for
the Queen and try to stop this.

“Are all the preparations good so far?” The whole group nodded
silently in response to Kakashi’s question. Kakashi combined his
hands in front is his chest, and the ground vibrated slightly. It began
to crumble while “melting”. The mud wall was dissolved.

“Let’s go!” Nanara jumped out. So did Sumire, and the rest of the
villagers.

The troops were quiet. Most ninjas who were not on the lookout
were sleeping in tents. There was a man exiting one of the tents who
felt that the Earth was shaking a little bit. For a moment, he was
wondering if the user of the mud wall somehow stopped the
technique, but the vibration was too small for that. Because it would
release the chakra that made such a huge mud wall, there would be a
considerable vibration and a roaring sound accompanying the
release of that technique. Even for a “master” of this jutsu. Perhaps
he just drank a bit too much. The man -after coming to this
conclusion- was very surprised when he reluctantly looked back
eventually. The mud wall surrounding the village was “melting”.

“What….” To be exact, it just disappeared. Each sand grain of the

earthen wall that made up that giant wall was just in the air,
disappearing quietly. Like smoke. What a wonderful chakra control!

Suddenly someone grabbed and hit him from behind.

“Kyahh….” It was difficult for him to make a faint voice. His body was
numb from the core and he couldn’t move a single finger. The last
thing he saw behind his falling eyelids was a silvery hair like a wolf
with the eyes of moonlight. The appearance of a ninja with sleepy
eyes like a goat.

The people collected by the Prime Minister generally lacked

motivation. They were not fighting for beliefs or in order to protect
something. They were just hired for money. Of course, they do their
best as long as it’s a mission, and maybe even give their lives if
needed, but they don’t really want to do that if possible. Even the
farmers carrying long cannons to protect the capital have more
motivation.

The role of the shinobi who watch the East side of the troops is to
check the village and monitor it for any strange movements.
However, they are more interested in playing shogi than watching the
enemy.

“So who’s winning?”

“Don’t know…” a man crazy about the game returned a lifeless reply
that he suddenly thought of.

He looked up on the board and suddenly raised his face as to who

was speaking to him. The opponent sitting in front of him was
blowing bubbles. A light shock ran behind their necks, and the man
trying to place the next piece now covered the board with his upper
body.
The three shinobi who watched the North side were doing something
rather more serious than the East side. While paying attention to the
mud wall surrounding the village from time to time, the main man
was watching the cliff spreads towards the North, considering the
possibility that the villagers might make a detour.

“Why don’t we have that kind of shinobi who can keep the mud wall
for such long time?”

“No, it would be impossible to keep that alone. This must be a

combination technique of multiple people.

“You’re right.”

Then one of them looked back. The mud wall that should have risen
to the heavens is covered in darkness and cannot be seen. However,
there was a sign that a figure moved between the village and the
troops. If one stands up and looks with torches of light, they can
notice that the mud wall has disappeared.

“Hey! Villagers….!” Suddenly a fist sinks into the middle of his chest,
and he passes out.

“Did you say something?” Suddenly, the other two put their heads
together as they noticed the incident regarding their friend.

DONG!!

A dull sound to their backs. The two ninjas whose heads were
together had all their eyes white together now. Kakashi stepped on
the torch light that was dropped by the guard. The total number of
shinobi hired by the Prime Minister was 50.

“43 people remain…” The two shinobi made a small murmur and
dropped on the ground. He then slanted the forehead protector with
the Konoha mark on it, hid his left eye and sneaked into a tent. Ninjas
gathered by the Prime Minister are by no means gathering of small
fish. Kakashi held his breath and entered the tent. There were ten
shinobi inside. All of them were were sitting on their knees or taking
a nap with their legs crossed. They are supposed to be trained to
wake up to the footsteps of cats even. Sneak in, hold your breath,
and carefully squeeze a sword into the enemy’s neck from one end to
the other, wait until they’re drowsy and fall asleep.

The trick that he learnt from Iruka was also helpful here. The best
way to disable an enemy without killing them. Prior to becoming
Hokage, Kakashi only knew how to kill people. He didn’t know how to
restrain someone without killing them. When the times changed and
the country was stable and decided to restrain without killing as the
principle of shinobi, they were wondering, including the Sixth Hokage
himself what to write as a guideline. When he went to Iruka who was
already the principal of the ninja academy, Kakashi got laughed at.
Then he remembered what he said.

“It’s okay. It may not seem like it, but the Ninja Academy teaches
techniques to make an enemy fall sleep immediately.”  

He remembered Iruka’s face.

A man who was sleeping in the back of the tent opened his eyes and
slammed the ground as he saw Kakashi. He turned around and tore
the tent with a single sword and raised his voice.

“Intruder! Everyone, wake up!” However, his mouth was covered by

Kakashi’s hand immediately. He continued to squeeze his neck until
he fainted. In a few seconds, Kakashi came out of the tent through
the tear cut by the man, who asked Kakashi to drop his weak body
finally.

The men dressed in ninja uniforms were lined up in front of Kakashi.

Everyone got up … this unit was completely different from the noisy
artillery that weren’t made of shinobi.

“Enemy attack, turn your torches off”

“Wait, don’t turn them off” There were 7 shinobi who rushed to the
intruder and first they wanted to fight with a weapon in order to keep
up with Kakashi.
It’s been a while since Kakashi fought against shinobi, but he couldn’t
really afford to have fun here. After all, if he doesn’t settle this down
before it becomes a large group battle, he cannot guarantee to leave
them undamaged.

“Let’s do this efficiently.” Kakashi said that to himself then put his feet
on the ground with a big kick.

A shinobi rushed to the scene right after receiving the news, and he
immediately saw the intruder. The intruder seemed to be sleepy. He
thought the intruder cannot be that smart if came on his own, and
now he’s surrounded by all these shinobi. They attacked Kakashi
without hesitation. The shinobi were falling to the ground one by
one, if one of them look back and to the front, this intruder is
suddenly in front of them.

CLANG - a sound of something metallic was heard. A shinobi near the

sound fell down in a posture with his hands folded. In the dark,
something like a flat metal shone for a moment. What could it be?
Some sort of a weapon?

CLANG CLANG - the sound was heard again, and the “weapon” was
clearly visible this time. It was the metallic lid part of a cooking pan
that was used to hit the heads of these fallen ninja.

… a pan lid? The high-pitched clanging sound echoed twice in

succession. Two faces with white eyes fell on the ground right after.
The pan melts into the darkness again, leaving a silvery afterimage.
Without being able to fully understand the fact that his allies are
being beaten one after another, the man repositioned himself with
his sword. He thought it must be some really hot pan that uses
chakra. It must be so. He slowly moved the edge of his sword. A
three-legged wooden pillar holding a book suddenly touched his
back.

“Where do you come from…?”

CLANG - the sixth sound resonated. The shinobi who were on the
ground finally stopped sweating and worrying. There was only one
left. The fight that started as a 7 against 1 suddenly became a 1
against 1 in a matter of seconds. In the darkness, the man’s whole
body was sweating he felt like his blood vessels were about to boil. All
his allies were defeated with a single blow by a cooking pan.

There was a sound that the iron sword cut through the sky.

“DAAAAAH!!!” The man was mad and screamed, and as he pulled his
hand there was a response.

He could see the pot lid that had been cut off flying in the sky. He
wasn’t convinced that he won, but he was relaxed and when he
lowered his gaze with the weight on his chest, a kunai was deeply
sticking out of the left side of his chest. The kunai disappeared
immediately.

“Eh?” Genjutsu.

Even if one knows it’s a genjutsu, they are confused for a moment.
The next minute, the man lost his consciousness.

“26 people left.” Picking up his toy weapon, Kakashi sighed.

The shinobi hired were average. They weren’t really weak, but they
couldn’t endure a lot either. Kakashi thought that maybe the last man
he took out was smarter than the rest of them, and because he
showed some unexpected tenacity, Kakashi decided to use a
genjutsu on him, which consumed a bit too much chakra. He is
supposed to preserve his chakra as much as possible until meeting
the Prime Minister.

After hearing that ninja approached again, Kakashi quickly

disappeared and was lost in the darkness once more.

Six ninjas gathered together and looked around when they made up
each other’s blind spots. It hasn’t been a minute since they heard the
scream about the intruder. It the meantime, seven of them fell onto
the ground.

“They could be either from the Land of Fire or someone from the
surrounding countries.”  One of the ninjas who was some kind of a
boss murmured.

“Yes” a young man behind him nodded.

None of the fallen shinobi were stabbed, even though it’s quicker to
kill people. They thought there might be at least three intruders, and
out of the Five Great Powers it’s only the Land of Fire that don’t kill
people on spot.

Part of the tent caught fire from one of the torches.

A young man and an old man who were closest to it pulled their
bodies due to fear of burning. The flames were scattered. The fire
continued to burn even on the sand, but the brightness of the
surroundings suddenly dropped. The intruder disappeared in an
instant, and it felt like a shadow was quickly crossing the front of the
shinobis.

DONG - the skull of a shinobi was hit by something hard and he

immediately fell to the ground. His friends’ bodies were also folded
one after another falling to the ground.

One, two, three, four. The last young man heard the sound of a fifth
hit to someone’s head. The intruder sighed and threw something on
the ground. He didn’t dare to open his eyes, but saw from the edge of
his sight, that the weapon looked like …. a pan. Is something wrong
with his perception? There was no time to check. The young man held
a kunai and tried to fight the intruder.

“Anyone who tries to reach the Queen… shall not return alive!” He
was trying to intimidate the intruder, but his voice was shaking. Face
to face, one on one, he was extremely intimidated. The opponent
seemed like some strange monster. He was covering his face with a
forehead protector and some kind of a blanket, so he didn’t
recognise him. However, it felt like he had seen him somehow
before. If it’s a famous shinobi, he cannot win. If it wasn’t a mission,
he would just run away. But he had an obligation to attack the
intruder as long as he could.

“I won’t leave…” he said that facing the intruder. The intruder was
silent. There seemed to be no need to waste time on talking. The
young man held the kunai in front of his chest and stared at the
intruder without blinking. Something wraps around his ankle, and the
next moment his body was floating and swimming in the air, being
attracted towards the intruder. When the intruder embraced the
attracted man’s shoulder, he turned his head straight ahead and was
throwing a shuriken towards the intruder, but it was thrown back by
him and penetrated the man’s leg. Their distance was quickly
reduced to face to face, and the man lost his balance because of the
shuriken wound to his leg. The invader was once again lost in the
darkness, kicking down another man without hesitation who had
been sneaking around.

“Don’t be scattered!”

“Don’t make a blind spot!”

The ninjas were shouting and looking around.

“Where is he coming from next …” Someone murmured.

“He’s there!” One of the men grabbed their small comrade and threw
him towards the intruder. He spread traditional wrapping clothes out
of his chest and started waving hand signs. His special skill was to
blow a whirlwind that kept the windy centre at an extremely low
pressure, in order to crush the enemy’s throat using the pressure
difference between the inside and outside. However, the intruder
was faster than the wind. The intruder’s knee sunk into the boy’s lap,
and the boy fainted. The other shinobi earned a bit of time, finishing
his hand signs:

“Fire Style: Flame Spear!!”

Frightened, they ran towards the intruder. Two of his comrades
supported the fire style user with a sword from both sides. They
thought that if three people fly from three sides at the same time,
one person should be able to reach and cut him. They expected the
intruder to rush and use the fainted young boy’s body as a shield
which he didn’t do. He instead threw a small white ball at their feet.
Along with a popping sound, the area was wrapped in smoke. If one
uses a smoke bomb in this situation, it is rather difficult to escape.
The flames were spreading along the woods horizontally. Behind the
smoke, a fellow’s body was crushed and the intruder was moving
behind it. The man on the left tried to slash him but was
unsuccessful. The intruder quickly pulled a kunai from the fallen
man’s pocket, and fought back. The intruder fled upwards like a beast
and stood on the wrist of the man holding the sword.

“Eh…?”

Soon after feeling the weight on his wrist, he was kicked by the
intruder’s heel in the face. One on one. While the smoke was blocking
the view, the intruder turned around and gazed behind himself.
Burning woods were stuck in the ground.

“Pff…!!” Said the shinobi.

The eyes of the intruder which were expressionless, were wide open
for the first time. Got him! The swordsman cut down a short rod
where the blindspot of the intruder was. The intruder kept paying
attention to the men attacking from the left and the right at the same
time, while also paying attention to the fire. Now the swordsman
penetrated the intruder’s throat and fresh blood was being sprayed
all over. They won—! … or they thought so, as the next moment when
the swordsman was convinced of his victory, suffered a tremendous
impact. He realised he was kicked by the intruder’s knee, and had
fallen forward into the falling blood splash. Although he thought that
he had pierced through the intruder’s throat, he just injured one of
his comrades.
… is this a genjutsu? Kneeling on the ground, seeing the intruder’s
face for the first time beyond the smoke, the man was breathing.
Spiky silver hair and sharp eyes like that of raptors. The mask
covering his face makes his facial muscles stand out in an unpleasant
way. The forehead protector hiding his left eye in a diagonal manner.
The man has seen this face many times. During broadcast videos of
Gokage meetings, and in newspaper articles about the retirement of
the Sixth Hokage.

“You… No way…”

The intruder was the Sixth Hokage.

The intruder was the Sixth Hokage. He had to inform his friends
about this as soon as possible, but the man’s body did not seem to
move, which was a bit of a trouble. The sweet scent of the smoke
bombs was gradually numbing his body, and his thoughts seemed to
be going further and further away. He eventually let go of his
consciousness, and the spear flame that pierced the ground
disappeared.

14 people left.

The intruder shakes his silver hair like a blazing Sun’s flame, as it got
red from the blood in the white smoke. He picked up a bloody sword
and returned it to one of the unconscious shinobi. There was a man
who recognised the frightening figure. No doubt. He’s the Sixth
Hokage… Hatake Kakashi, how can they even meet him in such a
place. He was trying to hide in the thick branches, and the blood
flowing through his body suddenly felt like cheep booze. This man
was once a shinobi of Konoha. After being expelled from the Land of
Fire, he was only hired by such a small country as a shinobi. But the
tables have turned now, he got lucky. He could kill Kakashi today and
and get his revenge.

He knows a good technique to chop up the opponent from the blind

spot by changing the nature of the chakra that is disguised as a
shuriken. The man took a deep breath and waited for Kakashi to
become occupied with fighting. Twelve shinobi surrounded Kakashi.
Some had samurai swords, some had shurikes and others had a
chance to wave hand signs. As one of them tried to attack Kakashi, he
twisted the wrist of the man who was about to slash him, and
suddenly looked back at the man hidden in the branches. Their eyes
certainly met. Immediately, the back of the man’s body shrunk as if
holding a heavy stone. Kakashi quickly diverted his gaze and bent his
body to dodge the thunderstorm shuriken attack from behind. What
an eye! The man put all his power into his trembling hand.

The 12 shinobi all fell onto the ground in no time. The man gave up
the surprise and descended from the hidden branches to expose
himself in front of Kakashi. The distance between them was a few
meters at most. While moving to a side jump, close to Kakashi’s blind
spot, wondering if he could get more time or not, his name was
called as if he had been played.

“Shin Hakubi?” Kakashi remembered the face of a man who was a

special ninja. “Hakubi. Is it a coincidence that you are here?”

“Who knows… it may be a coincidence but I can take revenge now…”

Hakubi suddenly stopped talking, as Kakashi seemed to have smiled
a bit. Feeling hatred, Hakubi went crazy.

“I’ll make you a dead person in this place.” He started moulding

chakra. He knows from watching this battle, that Kakashi is not using
any ninjutsu. Probably, he’s completely out of chakra, and most of
the ninjas expected that the mud wall was maintained by more than
one person anyway. The biggest luck in his life was that he met the
Hokage when he was out of chakra. He laughed.

“I’ve heard rumours… That you’ve lost that special eye of yours. Why
are you still hiding that one eye then? You shouldn’t have been able
to see my chakra nature changing thunder shuriken with your
ordinary eyes.”
After that he threw 8 more shrikes towards Kakashi, who just jumped
lightly to avoid the attack. The electric current which was like a razor
was integrated with the shuriken, and aimed to strike Kakashi from
all directions and would certainly hit him. Or rather Hakubi thought
this would suffice. But then… Kakashi turned around and repelled the
attack with reflexes that couldn’t be followed by the eyes. But three
shurikens were already in his blind spot! Hakubi waited for the
moment when Kakashi’s body was chopped up without blinking.
Kakashi pushed up the forehead protector which was hiding his left
eye.

“I’m so dumb…” Hakubi took a deep breath. Kakashi’s exposed left

eye was shining red. The three tomoe looked like floating irises.
Certainly, Kakashi’s left eye still had that unique ability.

Kyaaa! With a clear sound, a shuriken that was in Kakashi’s blind spot
was blown off and cut Hakubi’s shoulder. It felt quite painful, but he
didn’t mind. Was Kakashi still alive? It shouldn’t be the case. Stupid.
Kakashi lost his Sharingan eye. It’s from a reliable source of
information. However, he actually deflected his thunder shuriken,
and it wouldn’t be possible without the Sharingan! Kakashi jumped
into his field of view, and punched his stomach. He was losing
consciousness while feeling nauseous.

Hiding his left eye under the forehead protector, Kakashi muttered,
looking down at the fallen man.

“Shin Hakubi, a man who was once a special shinobi in Konoha. His
skills weren’t bad at all, but he was repeatedly stealing goods during
missions, and was dismissed as a result.”

[It doesn’t say specifically, but I daresay Kakashi used a bit of

genjutsu.]

Kicking him out seemed the correct decision. Kakashi looked through
his weapons where he also found stolen jewels from the royal palace,
including a large blue jewel on a silver chain. Kakashi put the blue
jewel inside his jacket and looked at the artillery base. He already
defeated 49 of them. 1 remains. If there is an intruder report among
the ninjas, it is arranged in advance that each of them will run
towards the intruder in turn. However, it seems there was one ninja
who did not follow the trap. He must have realised that the villagers
were heading towards the phosphorus in the artillery. Moreover, it is
easier to deal with non-combatant farmers. These farmers who don’t
know how to get rid of their traces must be stupidly telling their
position. In this situation, all of them could be killed.

In reality, the last shinobi broke the darkness in front of Kakashi.

Apparently, he was just hiding. The tip of a bloody kunai was glaring
at Kakashi. The man was about to attack the intruder, however, the
intruder who was supposed to be in front of him is already behind
him, a small shock runs through his neck and immediately sleepiness
rushes in. “How fast…” just before falling down, he heard the intruder
murmuring.

“That makes it 50 people…”

—————————————————

Nanara and the villagers managed to get close to the artillery.Torch

lights are on the lookout swaying at regular intervals. The artillery are
starting to make noises as they begin to notice that the mud wall has
disappeared. With a quiet farewell, Nanara diverted and turned
backwards, while the rest of the villagers stayed on the front line and
moistened the cannon’s phosphorus with water. Margo sighed and
uncovered the cannon’s fuse in the dark night in a clumsy way. She
sprinkled some water from the water sachet and made sure that the
phosphorus was wet enough by pushing her finger into it, and then
ran onto the next cannon. It’s only a matter of time that they are
discovered.

The removed fuse slipped out of her hand and made a noise, and a
guard was around. He seemed to be a farmer, like the rest of the
villagers
“Listen, I want you to help us!” Margo started out as a watch(wo)man
too. “You were forcibly recruited by the Prime Minister in the capital
to carry this cannon. There is no reason for you to follow such a
domineering person forever. Fight with us.”

The man was staring at Margo’s face. “Do we have any chance of
winning?”

“You remember that huge mud wall? A great ninja helping us created
that.”

The man with an expressionless face started walking towards Margo.

Margo, shocked by his face, suddenly fell down. Pain was spreading
all over her body as she was hit by the man. Their eyes met as the
man looked down at her.

“Why…”

“It’s bad, but I don’t want to lie to you.” Said the man, igniting the
cannon’s fuse with a torch flame. “My family in the capital has been
taken hostage. If you’re up against the Prime Minister, I need to kill
you.”

A roaring sound echoed behind Margo, and a cannonball was fired at

the village.

DONG!!

The sound of the cannonballs almost pierced her eardrums, and

Nanara was shaking his body a bit. The cannon was fired — so it
seems that the villagers cannot persuade them to help.

“I have to find my sister as soon as possible.”

The back of the troops was very quiet. There was nobody, only food
and other supplies. He was looking for Manari in a safe place [behind
the front lines] but he couldn’t find her. As he was checking the tent
inside out, running around from one side to the next, the sound of
the cannons was very close. It seems to have reached the East side
near the forefront.
DONG!!

On the west, the cannons fired suspiciously. The voices of the people
fighting can be heard far away.

“Nanara…”

Sumure and the adults of the villages rushed as they noticed Nanara.

“Good, everyone is safe.”

“For now. Anyway, have you found the Queen?”

“Not yet. My sister and the prime minister are nowhere to be

found…”

An arm extending from behind grabbed Nanara’s body.  “If you value
the prince’s life, do not move!” Nanara was relieved to hear the voice.
He’s heard this voice before. It was the man who burned and ate a
gecko in the Souther part of the Capital whom he met during his visit.
Was he also recruited? He twisted his body but the arm pressing
Nanara didn’t let go. He could feel his power. The man pressed a
knife blade against Nanara’s throat.

“Okay guys, if you value this life, throw away your weapons in less
than 10 seconds.”

“Sumure! Don’t mess around, pick the weapons up!” Nanara was
angry and shouted at Sumure who threw his spear away.

“The King is replaceable. But now, if you don’t stop the Prime
Minister, this country will be in ruins!”

“Shut up” The man said in a deep voice, and put some strength into
the hand holding the knife.

The skin on Nanara’s neck was cut a bit, and some blood was flowing
down. Another spear fell next to Sumure’s.

“Everyone, why…” Nanara was lost for words and started biting his
lips.
“Everyone gave up their weapons. Now, tie their necks together with
a rope.” Then, two guys appeared with a bunch of ropes. At that time,
a brown lump came out of nowhere and hit the man’s face. When he
flicked the knife with his hands, Leh [the hawk] pushed the knife
down towards the man’s face.

“Wow…!”

Nanara slipped through the man’s arms. The villagers quickly turned
against the men and tied them up with the ropes.

“Leh! Thank you!” Nanara screamed into the sky.

Leh could fly high enough to give some answers to Nanara. The
movement from Leh’s line of flight was pinpointing a certain location.
The Northeast cliff, where a crimson robe was hovering. It was the
Prime Minister.

“So that’s where you are …”

To get to the top of the cliff, it is necessary to go North from the

troops and make a detour as well.  Even with a horse, it is 30 minutes
from where Nanara is. However, it is only 300 meters in a straight
line. There is no time to lose.

Nanara began climbing the cliffs.

A trembling, cold sweaty hand is holding the Shuigu. Manari stood on

the bare cliff and trembled while looking down at the battlefield.
Below that cliff, the people of Redaku Country were fighting. She saw
as the base was covered with smoke; a scene where people were
fighting in various ways. She saw as some artillery with a chance to
fight shot a bullet that broke through the village houses, which split
under the great force. The houses collapsed in the surroundings that
received the blast. People live in those houses… including her
younger brother. All of this was her fault.

“It seems that they evacuated early on, which was the correct
solution.” The minister was having fun looking below the cliff.
Correct solution? What is this situation? Manari couldn’t keep up with
the thoughts of the Prime Minister. Even so, she couldn’t disprove it.
The day when it was decided who’d take the throne crossed her
mind. The day when the Minister gave this equipment to her. Manari
was proud to think that she would protect this country like her father
did. Let’s start with a light rain that will moisten the vegetation.
However, the Shuigu seemed to ignore Manari’s intentions and
somehow they ended up with a flash of flood. The wheat field, which
was about to be harvested was swept away with the soil, and the
muddy stream just stopped before swallowing the capital. Although
there were no deaths, many of the livestock were killed and the
capital’s stocks were nearly devastated. Shuigu just didn’t recognise
her as a King (Queen? Meh). She felt like it was a big mistake to take
the throne, but it was too late to regret it now and she was just biting
her lips.

The country that lost its ability to make rain fell short of water. Some
bureaucrats suggested that they could train to handle the Shuigu, but
Manari refused. She even briefly thought of running away and
destroying the country, but she didn’t have the courage. However,
there was no solution to the water shortage.

“There is no need to force yourself.”  It was only the Prime Minister
who said that. He gave her an easy way out and so she followed and
trusted him. She wanted to look away from the reality in front of her
eyes and kept following his proposals. This is the result of that. The
Prime Minister’s plan didn’t go well, starting a civil war.

“You’re the queen. Prepare to use the Shuigu.”

Manari raised her head. “…but I can’t handle it.”

“You don’t have to master it.”

“But if it gets out of control again, the village could be wiped away.”
Without knowing what he was saying, Manari looked at the face of
the Prime Minister. “No matter what I do…”
“Can’t you do it?”

Her body was shaking. She raised the Shuigu in front of her chest. “I
can’t.”

Murmured with a trembling voice was her greatest form of

resistance. The Prime Minister shook his body and took the Shuigu.

“Return it!”

He dodged Manari with his arms who tried to get it back. The Prime
Minister shook the Shuigu. A huge mass of water was created and hit
Manari’s face. Manari became soaked.

“Why…”

The Prime Minister was using Shuigu, way better than Manari.

“Why… can you use the Shuigu?”

“Now, why?” The Prime Minister turned the top of the Shuigu towards
the ninja. Then, he noticed the figure of a climbing child up the cliff
and laughed suddenly. “Oh, your brother is climbing up the cliff.”

“Nanara?”

The Prime Minister raised the Shuigu high up. The water stream
started to vortex around the ring attached to the tip. The water was
increasing in mass and became huge.

“Stop!” Manari tried to run towards the Prime Minister but slipped
over the wet rocks and fell down.

The Shuigu started sprinkling water. The water flawed down like a
sea snake, with a sickle-head and fell down to the bottom of the cliff.
Nanara was desperately climbing the cliff. The columnar crystals that
make up the cliff are easy to break vertically. This property, which
makes these cliffs quite convenient for laying on the road and making
it into stone was now a major obstacle.

“Wow!” He almost slipped. He climbed a lot but Manari and the Prime
Minister were still far away. Nanara stretched the palm of his hand,
with was utterly scratched. Suddenly his fingers were in pain but he
clenched his teeth and endured, bent his arms and lifted his body. At
that time, the entire cliff vibrated a bit. Looking up, a huge mass of
water was swirling around the edge of the cliff. In the meantime, its
thickness has increased and started falling towards Nanara with
tremendous momentum. “Oh…”

Nanara clinging to a cliff had no escape. The moment he was

prepared to be swallowed by the water, hot air ran through over his
head. A huge flame bird. The flaming wings were spread out and
plunged into the centre of the approaching water stream, colliding
with each other. The large amount of water evaporated instantly and
diffused like mist. Nanara knows this trick. It’s a technique that he
played in his “imitation games” over and over again. If the Chidori is
powerful enough to cut thunder (raikiri literally means “lightning
cutter) then the flame bird has enough power to turn water into fog.
The name associated with it was “Fire Style: Water-Mist”, one of the
many techniques of the Sixth Hokage, and one of Nanara’s favourite
techniques too.

“It seems there are no injuries…”

There was a gentle touch to it familiar to Nanara. When looking

sideways, Kakashi stands on one foot with plenty of space around.

“Now… was that Kakashi? Using the technique of the Sixth Hokage?”

Kakashi flies lightly from rock to rock while holding Nanara. Jumping
left and right a bit, he immediately landed in front of Manari and the
Prime Minister, who was not surprised.

“What a private tutor… that forehead protector… are you a shinobi?”

For the first time, Nanara noticed a forehead protector the was
hiding Kakashi’s left eye. At the centre of the forehead protector was
a scraped surface that appears on the Sixth Hokage books. Why only
hiding the left eye? Holding the surprised Nanara, Kakashi jumped
sideways and took a distance from the Prime Minister.
“Huh, running away?”

The Prime Minister was gently shaking the Shuigu. Kakashi lowered
Nanara to the ground. A huge flame burned over Kakashi’s head, and
a flame bird jumped out of it, protecting Kakashi from the water
column by changing it into mist. The whole water column was hugged
by the burning wings, swallowed, and evaporated.

“Wonderful….” Looking at the water vapour that was scattering

around, the Prime Minister murmured with enthusiasm. Fire style
should be weak against water, but the water mist that Kakashi used
had the power to overturn this disadvantage in elemental
weaknesses. Even though the source of the power of the Shuigu is
Rikudo Sennin’s chakra, is didn’t matter.

“Shouldn’t you be out of chakra after keeping that massive wall up for
more than a whole day?”

“That’s only your desire. That’s what you want to hear.” He turned his
keen eye on the Prime Minister who was listening to Kakashi without
showing his anger.

“You’re not the King, how come you’re able to use the Shuigu?”

He was silent with the Shuigu in his hands. Kakashi glanced back at
the Prime Minister and asked again.

“Did you sign a contract with the Shuigu before Queen Manari?”

“Contract? What’s the meaning of this?” Nanara asked from behind

Kakashi.

“Usually, to be able to use a chakra-hiding tool, it is necessary to have

a contract with the caster. Perhaps, after the death of the previous
king, the prime minister secretly signed the contract before Manari.”
While speaking, Kakashi looked at Manari who was on the ground
staring at the battle between them.

“It’s not your fault that you can’t handle the Shuigu. You simply
haven’t signed the contract.”
The scared Manari slowly understood Kakashi’s words and was
amazed.

“Hatake Kakashi… it’s just as you say.” Said the Prime Minister with a
laughing voice. “I signed the contract before Manari, and I’m able to
use the Shuigu. This is proof that the King is just a piece of
decoration.”

“So do you just want to impersonate?”

“YES!!” Screaming, the Prime Minister flipped his long sleeves. The
ring of the Shuigu was raised and was pointed at Manari. When
Nanara finished screaming, the Shuigu’s annulus was shining and a
vortex of water that was several times the size of the previous one
was rolling up, heading towards Manari. At the same time, a fire
broke out of the palm of Kakashi. A giant bird was formed, and
jumped out in front of the vortex of water and was struck at the
speed of a flash. The water mist collapsed in the shape of the bird
and returned to a bunch of flames, while the vortex of water shook
like a curtain by the impact of a collision.

It seemed that the water mist disappeared, but the flames stretched
out to the sky swallowed the torrent of water. A sound was heard as
the water and the fire cancelled each other, and only water vapour
was rising into the sky.

“I can’t understand why you of all shinobi dare to protect such an

incompetent child.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say against the royal family whom you
served for many years.”

“I served the King! I swore allegiance to him and served for more than
thirty years. I didn’t have a family so I worked hard for public service,
devoted myself to the country.” He looked at Manari and Nanara with
an angry face. “Nevertheless, it’s you who becomes the next ruler, not
me!” It’s unreasonable! Is your bloodline that important? It should be
effort and experience that matters!”
“It’s not important.” It was Nanara who answered. “I know that
myself. I’m a shame of the royal family. We are people like everyone
else, but I met Kakashi and it changed me. It made me proud of the
blood line I inherited from my father, and that’s it.”

“If you think so, you can die here for the sake of this country.” The
outline of the water current was bending and turned into a giant bird
made of water. In response, a flame erupted above Kakashi’s head
and a burning water mist appeared.

It was a flame bird against a water bird. The water bird spit out a
water column. In response, the flame bird spit out a fire pillar. Water
and flames were colliding violently. A tremendous shock wave struck,
and both of them held together as if the time had stopped. However,
at the next moment, the body of the water bird was pierced. Flames
were swallowing the water column.

Kakashi used up much of his chakra by now, but he spoke to the

Prime Minister with a generous expression on his face. “Even if I’m
defeated here and you invade the Land of Fire, your ninja group
cannot win against them. You know that yourself too, don’t you?”

“The astronomy institute told me that reinforcements are on the way.

Neither artillery nor shinobi can be relied on to begin with. I also have
the Shuigu. Even this tool that can freely use Rikudou Sennin’s
chakra, the ancestor of all shinobi wouldn’t be enough.

“That tool is not a weapon meant for killing people!” Nanara shouted
in anger. “That’s… that’s for bringing water to this country. Isn’t it your
fault that people starve in the capital? My sister couldn’t use it
because of you and now the country is messed up!”

They heard the sound of cannons under the cliff. Even now, Nagare
Village was being attacked.

“It’s just a small sacrifice. This country is poor because of its land.
Everything is far away and we cannot trade with other countries.
Therefore, we cannot develop. I want to make Redaku Country into
something like the Land of Fire! All in all, we need a new, rich land.”
The Prime Minister shifted his eyes from Nanara to Kakashi. “Shinobi
of the Land of Fire… is it acceptable for people to die just because it
doesn’t rain?”

Kakashi’s line of sight passed through the Prime Minister and faced
the sky behind him. “Prime Minister. It’s fine to be fond of foreign
countries, but you’re delusional. The Land of Fire hasn’t been rich for
that long.” Kakashi took off his right gloves and threw them away.
“There was a time when it continued to fight wars without a purpose,
desolated. A country that has become prosperous through wars and
now lives quietly avoiding wars. I don’t know which one is better.
Even though, this country was peaceful until the previous king died…
and now, you are trying to invade my country. I cannot overlook that
as a shinobi of Konoha.”

The Prime Minister shook the Shuigu a bit and laughed a little.
Kakashi slowly removed the forehead protector hiding his left eye,
and the Prime Minister’s expression got frozen. “That eye….”
Kakashi’s left eye which was just revealed was shining reddish.
Anyone with some knowledge of shinobi has heard of it. “Kakashi of
the Sharingan” as he was known in other countries.

“Oh… so you were that Kakashi [of the Sharingan]?”Although his tone
was confident, the old man was trembling. It seems that he was in
fear, knowing that there is a legendary shinobi that is famous in front
of him. “I heard that Kakashi lost the Sharing in the Fourth Ninja War
a decade ago… was that only a rumour?”

“Oh, unfortunately, as you can see…”

“No matter how powerful you are, you won’t be able to defeat
Rikudou Sennin’s power.” The Minister stopped moving, disrupted his
facial expression and stared at Kakashi. “….what?”

“You misunderstood the power of that tool. Its strength won’t last
long, because it gains that strength from you.”
Kakashi glanced up at the sky again. The mist from the water vapour
struck by moisture from the air collide with the wind from below,
being swept into the sky. The fog was no longer clear. The Minister
was shaking the Shuigu that was now over his head. The next
moment a terribly powerful thunder and lightning pierced the
Minister’s body. The whole area was lit up in white, only light and
shadow, and it went back and forth several times. At the foot of the
minister who was now kneeling, the rocky place was torn apart, and
the deep crack was cut.

“What happened…” the roar dazzled everyone’s eyes and ears.

Nanara looked up at the sky at the spot. Even though the sky is
cloudless now, there are gray clouds over Nanara’s head. A large
amount of water vapour born from the battle between Kakashi and
the Prime Minister quickly became a thunderstorm cloud with an
updraft. In such a situation, the Prime Minister raising his armour
became a lightning rod and attracted lightning. [***you know,
lightning strikes to the highest spots!***]

There was no change in Kakashi’s appearance… except, for one place,

his “sharingan” that has now disappeared. He just changed his eyes
to look like the sharingan, it was a trick all along, but thanks to his
well known name “Kakashi of the Sharingan” this simple trick is quite
effective in avoiding useless battles when used in combination with
hallucinating smoke bombs; and thus “Kakashi of the Sharingan”’s
eye appears to be still alive and well. Unexpectedly, the sound of the
thunder stopped. The Prime Minister has collapsed as if folding over
the rocks.

Kakashi pressed his ears against the chest of the Prime Minister while
approaching Nanara. After confirming his pulse has stopped, he
started pushing the centre of his chest with his right hand. It was
heart massage. When Kakashi stopped pressing the chest, he was
breathing air in. Even though he was continuing it for a while, there
was no reaction. When Nanara began to think that he was gone, the
Prime Minister suddenly exhaled.

“He was revived then…” After confirming that his breathing was back,
Nanara suddenly collapsed. His limbs just became heavy. A lot of
things have happened in the last few days, and he got very
exhausted. A murmured voice of Kakashi reached Nanara’s ears,
looking up at the sky. “Thank God….” He was always calm in any
situation and always guided Nanara. There is no other such reliable
guy anywhere else out there.

Nanara laid down and rounded his eyes. Was it a good idea to revive
the Prime Minister? They’ve won, right? Did they even get back the
Shuigu? In any case, Kakashi just had no limits. Nanara woke up
slowly and stared at Kakashi who was sweating. It was difficult to see
because of his clothes, but if you look closely it’s visible. Kakashi
seemed good at pretending to be fine, but now it seemed painful.
Nanara wondered if he could stop by to support Kakashi’s shoulders.
He was wondering if this is how he lived all his life; hidden feelings,
always protecting people, but living alone. Although not knowing him
but he was sure Kakashi was blessed with very good friends and
there were people supporting him.

After getting the Shuigu back, luckily it wasn’t even scratched. When
Nanara touched it, the ring at the tip came off and a scroll came out.

“Kakashi, this is …”

“It’s Shuigu’s contract.”

No matter how hard he looked in the office, he couldn’t find it.

Kakashi spread the scroll. As with normal contracts, the names and
fingerprints of successive kings were left there in bloody letters. On
the far left, there was the bloody character of the Prime Minister.

“Nanara, sign up.” Manari said it immediately.

“I kept listening to the Prime Minister and harmed this country. I

should be punished together with the Prime Minister.”
Nanara stared at the Shuigu, which was now in Kakashi’s hands and
kept silent. Even though he started making up his mind, his
determination was shaken when his sister was in front of him.

“Well. I’m sure I can be a good leader. Like the Sixth Hokage.” Nanara
tightened his expression and looked up at Kakashi. “I want to make a
contract. Kakashi, what should I do?”

Kakashi cut the tip of Nanara’s finger with a kunai. Nanara calmly
raised his face after entering his name, which he couldn’t even write a
little while ago, and pressed his fingerprint under it.

“I’m done. … what do I do next?”

“That’s it. Now you can use the Shuigu.”

Nanara grabbed the Shuigu with a suspicious face. Although it was

the first time he touched it, it perfectly fit in his hands. This tool is a
gift for Nanara from three fathers. One person brought water to this
dry land, Rikudou sennin, and supported the founding ancestors of
this land. The second is his biological father who ruled the country as
a wise emperor and inherited wisdom of many generations. Of
course, the third person is…

“Can you use it?” Manari looked at Nanara’s face with anxiety. Nanara
nodded powerfully.

“It’s okay. I somehow understand it.” Standing on the edge of the cliff,
Nanara raised the equipment. The ornament hanging from the ring
started to shake with a clear sound. It felt like the Shuigu had some
invisible power flow. Was it chakra? A long time ago, Rikudou Sennin
left a special power to ensure the prosperity of this country.  Chakra
spreads slowly and greatly like ripples created by falling leaves on the
surface of water. Eventually, Nanara’s request was granted.

“Rain…” Manari murmured silently. The rain they’ve been all waiting
for was soft. Water was soaking into the dry land. Kakashi was staring
at the figure of Nanara holding the Shuigu while getting wet in the
rain. From now on, he will lead this country as a young king. Kakashi
knows exactly how hard it is to walk in front of people as a leader. It’s
not an easy way, but he was sure Nanara would be able to do it.
From time to time, he loses confidence that what he did as Hokage
was right. Rapid development is accompanied by great pain. While
Kakashi changed the society, there were new things, but many things
disappeared. To get the majority of the profits, sometimes a few
were abandoned. When he meets Obito someday, will he be
confident and excited? As the Sixth Hokage, he fulfilled his
responsibilities. The answer to Kakashi’s hesitations was an
inexperienced youngster who couldn’t even read a single letter.

“The Sixth Hoage is the strongest shinobi and the best leader ever!” -
Kakashi was so happy beneath his mask that was hiding his face. It
was the first time he met such a fanboy.

**************************

The Prime Minister was returned to the Capital and judged under the
laws of this country. Ninjas will be returned to their respective
villages. The rain that Nanara created using the Shuigu made all the
cannons useless. The battle was over and people finally rejoiced in
the grace of the rain without enemies. The village buildings were
destroyed but all the people who were evacuated are safe. There
were a lot of injuries acquired during the cannon base fight, but there
were no casualties. Neither one of them had decent weapons, as all
the villages were empty. The adults laughed and said that the fact the
nobody died was the best proof that nobody really wanted a war. The
artillery members recruited in the capital did not attack any further
opponents who fell down with injuries. Waiting for the rain to come,
Nanara gathered everyone in the square and told her sister to leave.

“Nanara is becoming the king….?”

“Well…. yeah.”

The villagers kept asking Margo who answered in a shy way.

“Nanara~~ say something. If you become king, you will have to make
a speech in front of everyone.”

“That’s after a formal coronation in the capital…”

“So practice now.”

He tried to escape because he was embarrassed but he was forced to

do this by the adults.

Nanara eventually stopped resisting. Climbing on the top of a pile,

stretching his back with his hands stuck in the pocket of his jacket.

“Hey, bad behaviour, the king doesn’t put his hands into his pockets!”

The palms that were full of scratches due to having climbed the cliff
weren’t seen be the people. Nanara was taught by Kakashi the it was
a leader’s job to endure the pain and walk ahead. Nanara looked
down at the top of the pile and looked at each person’s face.

He started talking while looking at them. What he wanted to do as a

king. He’s still immature and full of things he doesn’t know. He’s not
very good at explaining complicated things so he’s stuck with words
even when he feels what to do. He was relived to see Kakashi
standing at the back when he was almost ready. When this speech is
over, he wanted to ask the most important question from him.

“Are you really the… well, I really know you are, but I want to confirm
it now that things have settled. Why were you even here? I was so
angry with myself, and now I just want to thank you for your help…”

Kakashi, whose eyes met Nanara’s eyes smiled with wrinkles under
his eyes. That was the last time Nanara saw Kakashi. After his speech
was finished, Kakashi was no longer in the village. He only left the
blue gem behind that was a memento from his father.

Half a year has passed since Hatake Kakashi left Redaku Country. The
mountains were full of snow and even people in neighbouring
villages couldn’t come and go until spring. The rain that the king was
able to provide for the wheat made it possible for every village to
store food for themselves during winter.

“Nanara, a letter from Konoha arrived” Manari came to the office with
Leh. Manari, who “retired” from the throne by herself was hoping to
be punished in the same way as the Prime Minister, but she ended
up becoming an assistant in politics in response to the demand from
the bureaucrats. He took care of Nanara’s paperwork and supported
him who was essential in rebuilding the country. Leh jumped off
Manari’s arm and landed on Nanara’s desk.

The letter came from the Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. A book
was also packed in the package. It said “All-new version of Icha Icha
Paradise” on the cover page.

“Ah! This is the book Kakashi was talking about!”  Picking up the book,
Nanara shouted with excitement. It had a thick bookbinding with a
shiny and smooth cover. The first page said “Recommended by the
Sixth Hokage!” Next to which there was a photo of the Sixth Hokage’s
face that winked with a thumbs up. Looked like a vague man who
slept on his eyes. Whether or not a good leader is the one who
prevents wars instead of winning them, Kakashi is still the best leader
for him.

When glancing at the cover of the “All-new version of Icha Icha

Paradise” Nanara suddenly started crying. It was his way of
expressing that meeting Kakashi was the best gift he could’ve ever
received.

****************************

15 days after saving the kingdom and leaving Nanara, Kakashi was
back in Konoha. The journey took 20 days for the first time, and to
return it took shorter it seems. When he went home, he headed to a
pub in the modern parts of Konoha. An acquaintance looked at
Kakashi’s face and smiled, then pointed to the back room. Kakashi
was late for a drinking party he’d been invited to.
Because he’s always late, he ends up standing out of the crowd, so he
made use of the skills he had as a ninja and in order not to make his
lateness obvious, he gently opened the shoji*** at the back of the
room and casually mixed in with the others. Suddenly someone
grabbed his shoulders from behind.

***Shoji: In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door,

window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame
of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo.

“Well, well… if it isn’t the always-late-teacher!” Sai was getting drunk

and his face was completely red.

“No, it’s the starting time that’s wrong, not me being late. I must have
remembered it wrong.” Kakashi had a bitter smile. Only a small
number of people were informed of Kakashi’s infiltration into Redaku
Country. “By the way, Sai. What about your wife?” Kakashi casually
changed the topic. Ino’s face was only slightly reddish.

Now that the country is stable, it’s become more popular for people
to get drunk.

“Sensei ~~~ how much do you drink?” Asked Sai, while Ino was
supporting Sai’s back. Kakashi sat down at the corner seat. Their
bodies were in close contact and Kiba made fun of them. Next to
them, Rock Lee, with his eyes fully set talking to Karui. Chouji was
scolded by Tenten saying “Don’t you dare eat all the food alone!!!”

They’re all so lively, aren’t they…  Kakashi gave up on his sake and
decided to look at the people instead who were messing around.
Some have become adults and even parents of others, while others
are still active at the forefront of shinobi . Nevertheless, these
students have been important for Kakashi and for the next
generation too to protect. Watching them happily already helped him
relax. If Asuma and Hayate were alive, they would probably think the
same thing. A square glass was presented in front of Kakashi’s eyes.
On the large, round glass filled with ice, a dark blue coloured liquid is
flowing.

“Welcome home, Kakashi sensei.” The current Hokage sat down next
to Kakashi  and drank the content of the glass. When swallowing the
cold distilled alcohol at room temperature, the exhaustion from the
mission rushed through Kakashi and he let his back lean against the
wall.

“Redaku Country was saved.” Naruto turned his blue eyes to Kakashi.
“I want to avoid wars in any country, and I don’t want to leave the
spark of conflict either.”

“I hope you get along with the new king. He said he’d do his best.”

“Of course. I’m his senpai after all.” Naruto’s tone was strong as ever.
However, his face didn’t look happy at all. Moreover, it may not be
solely due to the hokage’s hard work.

Kakashi left the earliest time possible. Because the altitude of his
position has fallen a lot, the Moon felt much farther than in Redaku
Country. Shikamaru leaned against the wall of the building and was
waiting for Kakashi while smoking a cigarette.

“Where are Sakura and Sasuke?”

“They still haven’t returned from the Astronomy Institute. The

situation seems to be a bit difficult over there.”

“The two of them should manage.”

“Yes. The problem is Naruto’s condition.” He seemed distressed and

took out a second cigarette. “We need to hurry, there’s no time left.
At this rate, Naruto …”

“Aaahhh!! Lord Sixth!!!” Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki were

approaching. Kakashi and Shikamaru withdrew their serious
expressions as they started listening to the kids.

“Uncle Kakashi!”
“Everyone’s inside. You can also go in to eat and drink a bit.” Said
Shikamaru while enjoying the warmth of the cigarette. “It’s a treat.”

Boruto swung up both his arms. “We don’t drink alcohol, we’re only
kids so we drink juice.”

“I know!”

“I’m going home. I bought some presents for Iruka sensei.” Sarada
lifted up a cherry paper bag containing strawberry daifuku. It’s a rare
sweet that one can’t buy easily because it’s popular and therefore
sells out quickly. “I’m staying at Iruka Sensei’s house. Papa and Mama
are on a long mission right now. Iruka sensei is really good at
cooking!”

“Ah… that person is dexterous.” Since he is a man who lives alone

much like Kakashi, one would think they share a few things in
common. Or rather…

The Sixth Hokage’s desk was always scattered with documents and
materials, whereas the principal’s office at the ninja academy is
famous for being neatly organised at all times.

“Lord Sixth, I haven’t seen you around in the village recently. Where
have you been?” Mitsuki asked Kakashi. However, Naruto’s difficult
situation, or Kakashi’s infiltration to Redaku Country is top secret, and
not even known by Boruto.

“He went to a hot spring again ~~~ That’s where Uncle Kakashi goes
all the time” Boruto said so.

“Indeed, I was soaking in hot baths.”

“So problem-free…”

Kakashi casually smiled with his sleepy eyes, like he usually does.

It’s overrr ~~~~~~~