“Me?”

  “That’s right—you. It was never about whether Shimura Arima would apologize to Mr. Sakumo. The point is that you, Kakashi—Sakumo’s only son—went to meet Shimura Arima and asked him to apologize.”

  Miketsuki stared at Kakashi, his gaze unwavering.

  From the start, Miketsuki’s goal had been clear: prevent the tragedy of White Fang’s suicide. The opinions of vilgers, the rumors, all of it was secondary.

  The moment he heard the name Shimura, everything clicked into pce. There was no way to make Shimura Arima apologize sincerely enough to reignite Sakumo’s will to live. That was a fantasy.

  Anyone who’s watched Naruto knows exactly which Shimura casts the longest shadow—Shimura Danzo, the infamous "5.5th Hokage." Miketsuki wasn’t just making baseless assumptions.

  In the original storyline, it was mentioned that White Fang led a squad on a covert mission deep into enemy territory—a mission so secretive that its success or failure should never have been public knowledge.

  Because in wartime, each hidden vilge had spies crawling through the shadows. If the outcomes of top-secret missions were broadcasted freely, the shinobi world would’ve descended into chaos.

  Besides, public opinion was just that—noise. Vilgers’ spit might drown a samurai, but trying to drown a seasoned shinobi with mere gossip? That’s a joke.

  The true goal of whoever orchestrated the backsh was simple: smear Konoha’s White Fang, tarnish his name just long enough to knock him out of the power game.

  From Danzo’s point of view, Sakumo’s growing battlefield merit posed a threat—one that could tip the scales away from Orochimaru becoming the Fourth Hokage.

  A disgraced Sakumo couldn’t compete with the spotless, hand-picked pupil of the Third Hokage.

  Of course, the Third must’ve seen through Danzo’s schemes. But at this point in time, he still favored Orochimaru as his successor, so he let Danzo have his way.

  What neither of them accounted for—what never crossed the minds of two men raised under the harsh doctrine of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—was that not all ninja are the same.

  They believed that shinobi should be above emotional turmoil, above public opinion. But the Hatake cn was different.

  Everyone knew the Hatakes weren’t originally a ninja cn—they came from a line of samurai. And for a samurai, honor is everything. The snder cut deep.

  In simple terms: Sakumo broke.

  And so Miketsuki’s goal was equally simple: give Sakumo a reason to live. Once a person has a reason, death becomes a far less straightforward option.

  And besides, Miketsuki didn’t believe Sakumo ever had any ambition to become Hokage. All the man wanted was to end the war and raise Kakashi in peace.

  “Kakashi, you’re his only family. As long as he sees your actions, your resolve—as long as he himself doesn’t give up—then no matter what the world says, that noise will fade with time.”

  “But... there are still so many people in the vilge—sorry, Miketsuki. It’s not that I don’t believe you.” Kakashi trusted him, but the anxiety was still written all over his face.

  “No but. Trust my judgment.” Miketsuki waved off his hesitation, calm and composed. He knew this kind of fear—he’d faced it when confronting Kenjin, too.

  After reviewing the pn one st time, the four of them made their way to Konoha Hospital.

  Following directions from the on-duty shinobi, they arrived at Shimura Arima’s room.

  Outside the door, Kakashi raised a hand and knocked.

  “Come in.”

  “Excuse us.”

  Inside, a man was half-reclined on the hospital bed. He had short bck hair, his body wrapped in bandages, and his face pale and exhausted.

  Despite the ongoing war, Konoha Hospital—one of the rgest in the shinobi world—wasn’t overcrowded. Shimura Arima had a room all to himself.

  “You’re Shimura Arima, right? Do you even realize what you’ve done?!” Obito stormed forward the moment he saw the man, furious and ready to unleash a torrent.

  He knew what they were really here for. They didn’t need Arima to do anything. From Obito’s perspective, venting his rage at this backstabbing bastard was more than enough.

  “That hair... You must be Kakashi.” Arima ignored Obito entirely and addressed Kakashi directly.

  Obito opened his mouth to speak again, but Miketsuki and Rin each grabbed an arm, pulling him back behind Kakashi.

  “Alright, Obito. Let Kakashi handle this,” Rin whispered gently.

  “Tch...” Obito grumbled, clearly annoyed, but kept his mouth shut.

  “I want to know... Why did you accuse my father?” Kakashi stepped forward, voice trembling with emotion. “He gave up the mission to save you. Doesn’t that mean you were close? Why would you say those things about him?!”

  Even with the mask covering Kakashi’s face, the intensity in his eyes made his emotions crystal clear.

  Arima didn’t answer. Instead, he reached for a crutch near the bed and struggled to rise, stepping down from the far side.

  That’s when the others finally noticed—Shimura Arima’s lower leg was gone.

  Limping, he hobbled toward Kakashi.

  Then, softly, he said, “I’m sorry.”

  And with that, he fell to his knees—a full dogeza—bowing low before Kakashi.

  Before Kakashi could even react, Arima grabbed his crutch and forced himself back to his feet.

  Kakashi tried to help him, but Arima pushed his hand away with a quiet shake of the head.

  At that, Arima returned to his bed, y down, and turned his back on them—refusing to say another word.

  The group exchanged gnces. With no way to continue the conversation, they silently exited the hospital.

  Kakashi had imagined a thousand different scenarios for this meeting... but never this.

  Miketsuki hadn’t expected it either—but it didn’t surprise him.

  Sakumo wasn’t a fool. On the contrary, he was a clever man. And a comrade he was willing to break orders to save... wasn’t likely to be some heartless traitor.

  Miketsuki had also noticed the fresh carnations at Arima’s bedside—probably changed just that morning.

  Still, there was no need to dig too deep. Whatever reasons Arima had for his uncharacteristic behavior, they wouldn’t derail what came next.

  “Kakashi, what do you think?” Miketsuki asked, watching him closely.

  “I... think maybe Shimura Arima didn’t really mean to accuse my father. There must be something else going on,” Kakashi replied, deep in thought, resting his chin on one hand.

  “But he clearly doesn’t want to talk to us anymore,” Obito grumbled.

  “At the very least, we know he does feel guilty toward Uncle Sakumo. That should mean something to him... right?” Rin chimed in gently.

  Miketsuki looked at Kakashi again.

  Looks like it’s time for a hard push, he thought.

  He pced both hands on Kakashi’s shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze.

  “Kakashi. From this point on, there’s only one thing you need to do.”

  “Act as if your father—Hatake Sakumo—is going to die from the pressure of public opinion. Use that worst-case scenario to push yourself.”

  “Go and talk to him. Convince him to live.”

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