Might Guy was not in a hurry to add the newly obtained monk value points. Instead, he simply lay on the ground while turning his head toward Kakashi.
"How is White Fang Senior doing now?"
Kakashi remained silent for a moment before answering in a muffled voice.
"He locked himself inside his room and refuses to come out."
Might Guy was slightly stunned.
"How many days has it been?"
"Three days."
Kakashi lowered his eyes.
"He hasn't eaten anything, and he won't talk either. I keep knocking on the door, but he never responds."
Might Guy slowly frowned.
"That won't do."
He forced himself into a sitting position despite the pain all over his body and looked seriously at Kakashi.
"The easiest way for someone to walk out of pain and doubt is to first walk out of the room."
"If he keeps locking himself inside, those thoughts will only keep growing bigger and bigger."
Kakashi froze slightly.
He looked at Might Guy with a strange expression.
This loud, hot-blooded bushy-browed guy who fought like a lunatic earlier could actually say something this calm and reasonable?
"...How do you know that?"
Might Guy scratched his head casually.
"My dad said it."
Without hesitation, he directly pushed the responsibility onto Might Duy.
After all, Kakashi would never actually go ask him.
Kakashi quietly lowered his head and thought for a while before suddenly sitting upright.
"Then what should I do?"
His eyes suddenly became frighteningly bright as he grabbed Guy's shoulders tightly.
"You were right earlier."
"If this keeps going, something bad will happen."
"But I don't know what to do."
"Teach me."
Might Guy was made slightly uncomfortable by the intensity of Kakashi's gaze.
"Me? Teach you?"
"Yes."
Kakashi nodded immediately.
"You clearly already thought of something."
Might Guy looked at him for several seconds before finally sighing.
"Fine."
"Then listen carefully."
He leaned slightly closer before whispering several instructions directly into Kakashi's ear.
As Kakashi listened, his expression gradually became more and more strange.
"...Will this really work?"
Might Guy shrugged casually.
"Whether it works or not, it's still better than him staying locked inside the house forever, right?"
Kakashi immediately fell silent again.
That was true.
For three entire days, his father had remained shut inside that room without seeing anyone.
If things continued like this...
Kakashi slowly clenched his fists.
"...Alright."
"I'll try."
However, after agreeing, another problem immediately surfaced.
"But how am I supposed to get him to come out?"
"He won't even open the door for me."
Might Guy suddenly grinned before pointing toward the injuries all over Kakashi's body.
"These are your best excuse."
Kakashi froze briefly.
Then he slowly looked down at himself.
His clothes were torn.
His arms were bruised.
Both knees were scraped badly.
Even his face had a bloody scratch across it.
Then he looked back toward Might Guy.
Compared to him, Guy looked even more miserable.
Blood covered his body.
His clothes were nearly ruined.
His swollen face already resembled a pig's head.
Kakashi suddenly understood everything.
He stared blankly at Might Guy.
"...You planned this from the beginning?"
Might Guy only shrugged without answering.
Kakashi remained silent for a long time before quietly speaking again.
"...Thank you."
Might Guy still said nothing.
He simply raised a thumbs-up while flashing his usual bright grin full of white teeth.
Under the moonlight, his swollen face looked especially ridiculous.
Yet strangely enough, Kakashi felt that smile was the best thing he had seen all day.
Soon afterward, the two battered boys supported each other while slowly walking out of the forest.
...
The next morning, the Ninja Academy gate was as lively as usual.
Students continuously entered the school in groups while some were accompanied by their parents.
At this moment, Sakumo Hatake stood outside the Academy gates with a complicated expression on his face.
Truthfully speaking, he had not wanted to come at all.
Ever since the mission incident three days ago, he had shut himself inside his room without wanting to see anyone.
Those gazes.
Those whispers.
Those judgmental voices.
He simply could not endure them anymore.
However, earlier that morning, Kakashi had desperately knocked on his bedroom door.
"Dad!"
"Dad!"
At first, Sakumo ignored him completely.
Then Kakashi's increasingly anxious voice sounded again.
"Dad! I fought with someone from school!"
Sakumo's heart immediately tightened slightly.
But he still did not open the door.
Then Kakashi shouted once more:
"Dad! I'm injured!"
"I'm covered in wounds!"
This time, Sakumo could no longer remain seated.
He immediately pulled the door open and looked downward.
The moment he saw Kakashi's injuries, his pupils contracted sharply.
"Who did you fight with?!"
Kakashi lowered his head.
"...A classmate."
Sakumo immediately crouched down and carefully checked his injuries.
Although they were all superficial wounds, for a six-year-old child, they were already considered fairly serious.
However, what concerned Sakumo most was something else entirely.
"How badly was the other child hurt?"
Kakashi froze briefly before remembering Might Guy's miserable appearance from last night.
After hesitating for several seconds, he quietly answered:
"...Worse than me."
Sakumo instantly fell silent.
His son was a genuine Genius.
At only six years old, Kakashi had already mastered the Three Basic Techniques and possessed combat ability far beyond ordinary Academy students.
Sakumo had met every child in Kakashi's class before.
Under normal circumstances, none of them should have been able to injure Kakashi this badly.
If even Kakashi looked like this...
Then what kind of condition was the other child in?
At that moment, Kakashi quietly spoke again.
"...Teacher Umino asked you to come to the Academy."
Sakumo sighed heavily.
Truthfully, he truly did not want to go.
But after looking at Kakashi's injuries and thinking about the child who had fought him, Sakumo finally compromised.
"...Let's go."
Kakashi immediately looked up at him with brightened eyes.
"Dad, you..."
Sakumo did not answer.
He simply held Kakashi's hand before slowly walking outside.
...
At the Academy gate, the moment Sakumo appeared, countless gazes immediately drifted toward him.
"That's..."
"Konoha's White Fang."
"Why is he here?"
"I heard he failed his mission..."
"They said he abandoned the mission just to save his teammates."
"Tsk... how disgraceful..."
The voices were not loud.
Yet every single word still drifted clearly into Sakumo's ears.
His footsteps unconsciously slowed.
Those gazes pierced his body like countless needles.
For a moment, he subconsciously wanted to lower his head.
He wanted to turn around.
He wanted to flee back into that dark room where nobody could see him.
Then suddenly, he noticed someone standing near the Academy gate.
Might Duy.
The Eternal Genin stood there in his washed-faded green outfit like an unmoving guardian.
Sakumo froze slightly.
Then he lowered his head toward Kakashi.
"The child you fought with..."
"Was it that hardworking boy?"
Kakashi's eyes immediately shifted away awkwardly without answering.
Sakumo originally wanted to lecture him.
But after opening his mouth slightly, he realized he could not say anything at all.
In the end, he only sighed quietly.
His face looked numb and exhausted.
After letting go of Kakashi's hand, Sakumo slowly walked toward Might Duy.
However, the closer he got, the more intense the surrounding gazes became.
Parents dropping off children.
Villagers passing by.
Teachers arriving for class.
Everyone stopped to whisper while staring at him.
"That's Konoha's White Fang..."
"I heard he disgraced the village..."
"How shameful..."
Sakumo's footsteps gradually slowed further and further.
Every whisper felt like a knife carving directly into his chest.
For the first time in his life, he suddenly felt afraid.
He was afraid of walking up to Duy.
Afraid of hearing disappointment from him as well.
The dignified Konoha White Fang who had completed countless dangerous missions and killed countless enemies had never known fear before.
Yet now...
He was afraid.
Meanwhile, Might Duy quietly watched Sakumo approach.
As he looked at Sakumo's numb face and those exhausted eyes desperately avoiding everyone around him, Duy suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Was this really still the White Fang Senior he once admired so deeply?
The White Fang Senior who had once taken him on missions despite everyone calling him useless?
The White Fang Senior who had smiled warmly and told him:
"Everyone has their own way of living."
Just as Duy prepared to speakβ
Screeeeeech!!
A sharp burst of static suddenly exploded overhead.
Everyone instinctively looked upward.
A large loudspeaker hung from the utility pole beside the Academy gate.
Normally, it was only used for school announcements.
Now, however, the speaker pointed directly toward the crowd.
"Hello, hello, hello..."
A familiar voice echoed through the speaker.
It was Might Guy's voice.
Everyone froze.
Even Sakumo was stunned.
Slowly, he raised his head toward the loudspeaker.
Then, through the entire Academy entrance, Might Guy's loud voice suddenly rang out clearly.