Hatake Shibu glanced at his father.
There was no feather duster in his hand, and he wasn’t carrying the White Fang’s sword on his back either.
That meant this was definitely a bluff.
He absolutely couldn’t back down!
Strictly speaking, the White Fang’s weapon should be called a wakizashi rather than a short sword, because it was simply too short to be considered a proper sword.
“Father, is there something you need? If not, I think I should go to sleep.”
Although Shibu’s expression had changed in an instant, returning from his initial panic to his usual emotionless face, what kind of person was Hatake Sakumo?
He was the commander of the Anbu.
He had personally interrogated hundreds of shinobi, if not a thousand.
He was exceptionally skilled at reading the tiniest changes in someone’s expression.
His son had concealed it well, but Sakumo still noticed.
He was certain this matter had something to do with his son.
“Is that so? Actually, it’s nothing important. It’s just that a strange illness has recently started spreading through Konoha. I wanted to remind you to be careful when you go outside.”
Although Sakumo had already reached a conclusion, he had no evidence.
After all, this was his own son.
He couldn’t simply kill him the way he would an enemy shinobi from another village.
He still had to catch the thief red-handed.
“Is that so? That’s really dangerous. I suppose I should remind Kakashi tomorrow. I hardly ever see him around these days!”
Faced with Sakumo’s probing, Shibu smoothly changed the subject and shifted the conversation toward Kakashi.
Sakumo was stunned.
Good grief.
This kid’s shamelessness is something else.
Kakashi spent every day training on the practice grounds.
It was Shibu who was constantly disappearing without a trace.
If it weren’t for the fact that his grades were good, Sakumo would have made sure he learned exactly what bamboo shoot fried with meat meant.
Sakumo quickly composed himself.
Since Shibu wasn’t willing to admit anything, he would simply change his approach and give him a chance to receive a lighter punishment.
“Ah, now that you mention it, you’ve reminded me of something that’s been giving me a headache. Why did the Hokage have to assign this matter to me?”
“The epidemic is so serious right now. If someone could come up with an effective treatment, I’d definitely reward them handsomely.”
Oh?
Has he already suspected me?
This was Sakumo giving him a chance to turn himself in.
At the same time, he was telling Shibu plainly:
If you stop now, I’ll pretend nothing happened and let the matter go.
But if you insist on continuing, you’d better make sure I can’t find any evidence.
Because once I do, your father may have to uphold justice at your expense.
It was a completely naked threat.
You’re really a great father, aren’t you?
Shibu’s heart was churning like a storm, but his face remained expressionless.
He had truly achieved the state of having thunder roaring inside his chest while his face remained as calm as a still lake.
Sakumo was quite satisfied.
Although this little bastard spent all day doing everything except proper business—either flirting with girls at school or acting like the big brother of the class—his ability to remain calm under pressure showed that his son had the potential to become Hokage.
“Ah, Father, to be honest, this herbal tea that can treat the epidemic was invented by me!”
“But this is proof that I’m supporting myself through honest work. Every ryō I earn comes from my own hard work!”
Sakumo looked at him with an expression that seemed to say:
Do I look like an idiot?
You call this hard-earned money?
And honest money?
If Shibu weren’t his beloved son, Sakumo would have thrown him straight into the Anbu prison on charges of poisoning.
He wouldn’t even have let the Konoha Military Police Force deal with him.
There hadn’t been any serious consequences yet, so his good father could still cover for him.
But if Root found evidence later, Shibu would be drinking tea in the Hokage’s office that very same day.
And you call this supporting yourself?
The pocket money Sakumo normally gave him was already nearly equivalent to a genin’s monthly income.
And this kid still thought it wasn’t enough and wanted more?
Although they weren’t biologically related, the understanding between the two of them was something even Kakashi couldn’t match.
So Sakumo immediately understood what Shibu was implying.
You want me to make you surrender?
Then give me more pocket money.
In exchange, I’ll hand over the herbal tea recipe and we’ll consider this matter settled.
If you don’t want to pay, then there’s nothing to discuss.
Shibu was confident they wouldn’t be able to find any evidence against him.
He trusted the system.
You natives think you can compete with my system dad?
What a joke.
Besides, Shibu knew where to draw the line.
He only wanted to earn enough starting capital.
Sakumo really couldn’t simply force the herbal tea recipe out of Shibu.
Knowing this little bastard as well as he did, Shibu would definitely run outside afterward and loudly complain that the Hokage was so greedy that he was even trying to steal a child’s money for buying lollipops.
And there was no doubt he would do it.
He had already managed to persuade someone to carve a face onto the Hokage Rock.
What wouldn’t this kid dare to do?
“Is that so?”
“Then I suppose this is your father’s fault. I’m sorry you had to suffer.”
“Supporting yourself through honest work is a good thing. It’ll also teach you how to become self-reliant.”
“Go to sleep. Have fun tomorrow.”
Sakumo stroked his chin, clearly enjoying this little father-and-son game.
Since Shibu wanted to keep playing, he would see who ultimately came out on top tomorrow.
Just make sure you don’t fall into my hands.
Just as Shibu was about to close the door, Sakumo smiled.
“Shibu, your hands are so dirty. How can you sleep like that? Go wash them before you go to bed.”
With that, he turned around and left.
Shibu looked down at his perfectly clean hands and smiled.
What his father meant was obvious.
The money you earned through these methods isn’t clean.
Hopefully, Shibu wouldn’t eventually go down the wrong path.
As for shinobi, they generally didn’t care whether the money in their hands was clean or dirty.
That was simply Sakumo’s personal view.
After all, most of a shinobi’s income was hardly clean to begin with.
Gathering intelligence, assassinating high-ranking officials, and countless other missions—what part of that could be called clean?
Sakumo simply felt that targeting one’s own comrades wasn’t right.
Besides, at most, this could be considered a joke.
And judging from the information they had received earlier, it wasn’t anything particularly serious.
So he was merely reminding Shibu.
After returning to his room, Sakumo looked at the Anbu shinobi standing before him.
“Go back. I’ve already figured everything out. I’ll report to the Hokage shortly.”
The Anbu was stunned for a moment before immediately replying,
“Yes, sir.”
Just as he was about to leave, he hesitated and asked,
“Sir, what about Root…?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll discuss it with the Hokage.”
“Have all the operational units currently outside return.”