Jiraiya recounted the first half of Kakashi’s life: losing her father in her childhood, losing her friends in her youth, and losing her teacher as a young adult.
Like a star of absolute misfortune, everyone around her had died, leaving only her alive.
“Is there no one to keep her company?”
In Yasuka’s memory, there was a bowl-cut guy who babbled about youth all day long who seemed to have a decent relationship with Kakashi.
“No, uh…
I did hear about someone who wanted to challenge her, but because he followed her around, he was warned off as a stalker.
Combined with Kakashi rejecting him multiple times, he eventually gave up.”
Jiraiya thought it over before answering.
This was among the few pieces of information he knew; beyond that, he was powerless to help.
After all, he couldn’t exactly ignore all the beautiful women around just to keep his eyes glued on how a silver-haired little girl grew into a mature older sister.
“Is that so…”
Yasuka was instantly enlightened.
Because of the gender difference, Kakashi hadn’t become friends with the other party, and the two had ended up as total strangers.
As a result, a friendless Kakashi had drifted further and further down the path of despondency, reaching the point where she was now intentionally seeking death.
“What, are you interested in her?”
Jiraiya leaned in close to Yasuka with a sleazy expression.
In his view, Yasuka’s conditions were simply too exceptional—he had both the looks and the hardware.
Compared to him, he himself was practically an acorn…
cough, cough, cough!
In short, if only Yasuka would wise up, he wouldn’t still be so uninitiated in his twenties.
Thinking up to this point, Jiraiya felt rather proud.
After all, in this particular aspect, he was far more capable than Yasuka.
“Her mental state is terrible.
I intend to try and help her step out of it.”
Speechless, Yasuka slapped Jiraiya away.
This guy’s head was completely filled with nothing but nonsense.
“Is that so…”
Hearing Yasuka say this, Jiraiya’s sleazy expression turned serious.
He stated that if Yasuka needed anything from him, he just had to say the word.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, Kakashi could be considered his grand-disciple.
“Forget it, you should just stay obediently in Konoha.
It’s safe to say the position of Fifth Hokage is practically yours.”
Yasuka waved his hand.
As things stood, the Third Hokage’s physical condition could no longer sustain the mantle of Hokage, while the Uchiha still required time to build up their foundation.
So, barring any surprises, the Fifth Hokage would be Jiraiya.
“Huh?!
I don’t want to be any Fifth Hokage, what kind of joke is that?!
This lord will absolutely never agree to it!”
Jiraiya shouted in exasperation.
He was resolutely opposed to becoming Hokage.
Besides, weren’t there still Orochimaru and Tsunade?
Neither of those two were rogue ninjas; they could just casually call one of them back.
Yasuka remained silent, merely looking at Jiraiya with a playful smirk.
Right now, out of the Sannin, you’re the only one still in Konoha.
If they don’t look for you, who else would they look for?
Having grasped Kakashi’s past, Yasuka believed that standard courses of treatment would no longer be effective.
With the kinds of things Kakashi had experienced, throwing any single one of them at a three-tomoe Uchiha Jonin would likely be more than enough to trigger a Mangekyō.
It could be said that Kakashi blindly seeking death was already a gentle response; at the very least, she hadn’t thought about taking revenge on the world.
Thinking back to the chuunibyou tendencies he had corrected in the past, Yasuka couldn’t help but shake his head.
Why was he overthinking so much?
The most important thing at hand was Kakashi.
After a moment’s thought, Yasuka turned and headed to the Konoha Hospital.
Inside the hospital at this moment, the other two members of the Konoha F4 were currently debating with the Third Hokage.
As successors to the Second Hokage’s will, they naturally would not allow the Uchiha to return to the upper echelons of power.
Where would the physically and mentally exhausted Third Hokage find the energy to care about this?
He was already old, having endured Shisui’s first unrest, the questioning surrounding Minato’s resurrection, and Shisui’s second unrest.
He had long been unable to hold on.
If it weren’t for Jiraiya still resisting, the position of Hokage would have already transitioned to him by now.
“Sarutobi, pull yourself together!
If Danzo saw the state you’re in right now, who knows what he would say!”
Homura Mitokado spoke with deep exasperation.
When the Third Hokage heard Danzo’s name, a spark of light finally flickered in his eyes, but in the end, he only let out a dejected sigh:
“Danzo is already dead.”
“Who said I am dead?!”
Danzo suddenly appeared, walking quite openly into the hospital room.
Seeing the Third Hokage in such a state, he couldn’t help but complain with disappointment:
“Sarutobi, can you handle this or not?
If you can’t, just hand the position of Hokage over to me.”
“Danzo…
you’re still alive?”
Koharu Utatane wore an expression as though she had seen a ghost.
One had to realize that Shisui’s Susanoo back then had swatted Danzo thousands of meters away; any normal ninja would have been turned into a meat patty long ago.
“Hmph!
Do you want me dead that badly?”
Danzo, who had resurrected relying on Izanagi, spoke with a huff as he came before the Third Hokage, hoping he could secure the responsibility for compensating the Uchiha this time.
“Stop messing around, Danzo!
Do you truly intend to force the Uchiha into open rebellion?”
The other two were startled into a cold sweat on the spot, assuming Danzo still wanted to stir up trouble.
But this time, Danzo expressed with total sincerity that he genuinely wished to repent to the Uchiha.
Both Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane merely felt that Danzo was looking for an excuse.
Only the Third Hokage’s face turned pale, guessing that Danzo might have already been controlled by Kotoamatsukami.
Looking at the Danzo before him, whether it was his appearance, his tone, or even his covetousness toward the position of Hokage, everything was so familiar, yet…
he was no longer the Danzo of his memories.
Thinking up to this point, the Third Hokage couldn’t help but weep silent tears.
In the end, he had still failed to stop Danzo, allowing him to turn into what he was today.
“Sarutobi?
Why are you crying?
Sarutobi?”
Danzo furrowed his brows, taking hold of the Third Hokage’s hand to inquire with concern.
“Uh…
did I come at a bad time?”
Yasuka’s mouth twitched.
He had only come over to get a nod from the Third Hokage to let Kakashi stay at his place, but he hadn’t expected to witness this the moment he walked in.
The Third Hokage’s state was visibly a bit better by now, though being seen like this was still rather awkward, so he hurriedly signed a permission slip for Yasuka.
By the time Yasuka returned home, Kakashi was currently being questioned by Naruko about the past.
Naruko already knew that Kakashi was a student of her deadbeat dad.
Although she lacked an emotional foundation with them, Naruko was still somewhat curious.
When her teacher was mentioned, Kakashi finally showed a sliver of a reaction.
Her mouth moved beneath her mask, and her raspy voice began to recount the teacher of her impressions.
“…”
Naruko listened in silence.
Her memories of Minato and Kushina were limited to the few recollections Minato had given her; from Kakashi’s mouth, she gained a deeper understanding of the two.
Only when mentioning her teacher would Kakashi recover just a tiny bit.
But judging from that low, raspy tone and her somewhat degraded ability to organize her speech, it was evident that Kakashi hadn’t spoken to anyone in a very long time.
“Kakashi.”
Yasuka pulled out the slip signed by the Third Hokage, stating that from today onward, she would be staying at the medical clinic—it was a mission.
*Clatter!*
Accompanied by the sound of a notebook dropping to the floor, Yasuka turned back to look at Yugao with a hint of confusion.
Meanwhile, only a single thought occupied Yugao’s mind at this moment: *I’ve been replaced?*