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Tiange walked up to the three of them.
He looked at Sasuke’s expression, that simmering, unaccepting anger, and his voice came out cold and without mercy.
“Before I came here, I looked into all three of you.”
“I know you want to kill him for revenge.”
“But at your current level, let me be straight with you.”
“You have no hope of doing that in this lifetime.
Sit back and wait for him to die of illness.”
Sasuke’s fists went white.
His fingernails drove into his palms, and blood ran freely across both hands.
“Please teach me.”
He didn’t argue.
He knew the man standing in front of him had every right to say it.
He couldn’t afford to miss this chance.
Miss it, and there was a real possibility he’d spend the rest of his life with no hope of revenge at all.
“Good.”
“I like that look in your eyes.”
“I can teach you.
But…”
“You need to be ready to die at any moment.”
“I’m not afraid.
Death is nothing.
I’m ready for it right now.”
Sasuke didn’t flinch from Tiange’s gaze.
His eyes were absolutely steady.
As long as he could have his revenge, he would pay any price.
Tiange’s gaze moved to Sakura.
The indifference in it was total, and it sent a chill sinking straight to the bottom of her stomach.
“You are the most useless of the three.
You don’t even have the courage to fight.”
“You have no goal of your own.
You don’t know what you want.”
“Marry him?”
“But have you ever thought about this, even if it’s only to carry on the Uchiha bloodline,”
“Would he really take someone like you?
A weakling who amounts to nothing?”
“As you are right now, I’d suggest you quit the ninja profession.
It doesn’t suit you.”
“With you around, you’ll only drag the other two down.
If you want to get them killed…
that’s no concern of mine.”
“When I take on students, unless you face an enemy beyond your own ability to handle,”
“I will not step in.
Whether you live or die is entirely up to you.”
Sakura’s face went pale.
Her body wouldn’t stop trembling.
All she had ever wanted was to stay close to Sasuke, she had never once thought about any of this.
She was just dead weight.
Would she actually get them killed?
Maybe…
she should just give up.
Her heart tore itself in two directions.
She swung back and forth and couldn’t find solid ground.
The thought of quitting the ninja path had already taken root.
Tiange paid no attention to what she was thinking.
His gaze moved to Naruto, who had been holding something back this whole time.
“You feel sorry for her?”
“What right do you have to feel sorry for her?”
“You can’t even manage your own life.
What exactly are you going to feel sorry for someone else with?
Pathetic.”
“Your dream of becoming Hokage?”
“The Hokage isn’t something you become just by shouting about it every day.
I may have no respect for the title myself.”
“But you want to earn the recognition of others, don’t you?”
“That doesn’t require becoming Hokage.
You just need to be strong enough.”
“Look at me.
Does anyone in Konoha — in the entire ninja world — dare cross me?”
“And besides, someone once said: it isn’t that becoming Hokage earns you recognition.”
“It’s that earning recognition first is what lets you become Hokage.”
“Though I find that pretty naive.”
“Because some people are destined from birth to never become Hokage.”
“Like him.
Do you know why?”
“Simply because his name is Uchiha.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as ridiculous?”
“So you think your hard work alone can change everything?”
“You were about to say that once you become Hokage, you’ll fix all of it, weren’t you?”
“And what good would that do?”
“If he’s already dead before you get there, what exactly are you changing?”
“I said she’s the most useless.
That makes you the most naive.”
“Of the three of you, honestly?
The only one who satisfies me even a little is this grudge-filled kid.”
“At least he’s always known what he wants.
Right or wrong.”
“He can do whatever it takes to reach his goals.
You, you’re far too saintly.”
“And you?”
“You only know that you like him.
Do you even know what he’s trying to do?
And if you did — with your strength, could you actually help him?”
“I was protecting my own family at nine years old.
I was willing to fight the Third and cut down an Elder to do it.”
“And you three?”
“You’re already twelve, and you still need someone else watching over you just to keep yourselves safe.”
“That’s enough for today.
Go home and think it over.
Tell me your decision tomorrow.”
“Even if only one of you shows up, I’ll take that one.
If you’re in, be at the front of the Hokage Building tomorrow morning at 8.”
“Dismissed.”
He turned and walked away, paying no attention to the three still frozen in place behind him.
Kakashi glanced at them, then hurried to catch up.
“Is it really fine to leave things like this?”
“Shouldn’t you test their teamwork first?”
“Teamwork?”
“What for?”
“Do you really think, against someone like me, numbers make any difference?”
“And even if they lack it, are you going to send them back to the Academy to repeat a year?”
“You wouldn’t.
The old Third wouldn’t either.”
“Then what’s the point of wasting the time?”
“Go make your report.
Stop following me.”
With that, Tiange stopped acknowledging Kakashi entirely and headed off alone toward the Hyūga compound.
Kakashi watched his retreating figure and found himself thinking: this person wasn’t as frightening as the rumors made him out to be.
As long as you didn’t do something that put him off, he was actually decent enough with his students.
This was probably the most words he’d strung together in one sitting, wasn’t it?
Kakashi shook his head and stopped thinking about it, then shot off toward the Hokage Building at full speed.
The Hokage’s office.
“That covers everything Tiange Hyūga said.
Including the message he asked me to pass on to you.”
“Puff…
puff…”
The Third drew on his pipe, listened to Kakashi’s full account, and didn’t rush to respond.
“In your opinion, what do you make of him, for those three children?”
“He cares.”
“With a personality like his, he shouldn’t be the type to say that much.
Everything today was probably meant to provoke them.”
Kakashi answered plainly and directly.
It was his honest, objective read.
“Mm.”
“He just has no respect for his elders.”
Clearly the Third still had a few thoughts about the bluntness Tiange had shown.
“Let him take them, then.”
“I won’t be sending anyone else over to keep watch.”
“With his strength, nothing will go wrong.”
The Third reached his decision with ease.
The three kids were not taking it as well, especially Sakura.
She didn’t know what she should do.
Give up?
But…
she wasn’t willing to accept that.
Could she actually cut it as a ninja?
“Ugh…”
She started to sob.
She felt completely helpless.
“Hey.”
“Big Forehead, you look awful when you cry.”
“Ino, are you here to laugh at me too?”
“I heard about what happened with your class.”
“I think your teacher was right.
You’re not cut out to be a ninja.”
“You should quit while you’re ahead.”
“That way, Sasuke is all mine.
You’re not even worth competing with.”
“In your dreams.”
“There’s no way I’m giving him up to you.”
“Ha.”
“In the state you’re in, you think you can pull that off?”
“And honestly, I think your teacher had some fair points.”
“When you’re strong enough, nobody dares mess with you.”
“For Sasuke’s sake, don’t you even have the resolve to fight with everything you’ve got?”
“You call that liking him?”
“I do.”
“Even if it costs me my life, I’m going to get stronger.”
Watching Sakura’s furious face, that blazing, sworn declaration of resolve,
Ino smiled.
There she was.
That was the Sakura she knew.
➤ Next: Bloom as the Most Beautiful Flower
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