“Hmm?
Yugao?
What’s wrong?”
Yasuka turned around, looking at Yugao with confusion.
Yugao’s face was somewhat pale, but fearing that Yasuka would notice her embarrassment, she shook her head repeatedly, indicating it was nothing.
Yet in her heart, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Kakashi.
Yugao believed that if she and Kakashi were to fight, it would be an even match—as in, Kakashi would solo-kill her five times in five minutes.
One had to know that Kakashi had long been famous in the Anbu, known as the Silver-Haired Shura.
No matter who it was or how important the mission, anyone who encountered Kakashi had the right to abandon the objective and retreat.
The reason was simple: Kakashi was not only an elite Jonin, but she also fought without any regard for her own life!
Even those stronger than her still had to look after their own bodies, but Kakashi fought entirely by trading life for life.
Over the years, she had over a dozen near-death records alone.
“Hey, say something…
I’m at least a friend of your teacher, Kakashi…”
Yasuka kept calling out to Kakashi softly, but Kakashi remained like a machine.
Aside from acknowledging the mission when she first heard it, she showed no response whatsoever.
“…”
Yasuka felt a bit helpless and developed a headache.
Kakashi’s issue was simply too severe; this was a clear sign of social withdrawal, and it hadn’t just started yesterday or today.
Most likely, when she was attacked by Naruko, what Kakashi had thought was that dying at the hands of her teacher’s daughter could be considered a form of atonement for her years of neglect.
This was no longer ordinary social withdrawal; it was a volatile mix of deep-seated trauma, depression, and various psychological illnesses.
In short…
it was a miracle that Kakashi was even alive.
Letting out a deep sigh, Yasuka didn’t have any good immediate solutions either.
He could only wear her down slowly with persistence, starting by getting Kakashi into contact with the outside world first.
With this thought, Yasuka planned to start from Naruko’s side.
Kakashi didn’t react to anyone, but Naruko, as her teacher’s daughter, was the only one who could draw a slight response from her.
Afterward, Yasuka began to arrange a room for Kakashi to stay in.
Although her withdrawal was severe, she could still handle her own daily life.
Otherwise, Yasuka wouldn’t even know what to do.
He couldn’t exactly ask Yugao to be a nanny, could he?
No matter how one looked at it, she was still a guard assigned to him by Konoha.
Come to think of it, why was Yugao always so absentminded lately?
Yasuka looked at her dazed expression with a hint of curiosity, telling her that if something was on her mind, she should just speak up, as bottling it up would only make her miserable.
Faced with Yasuka’s concerned inquiry, Yugao ultimately couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked when she could leave.
“Ah?
Why do you have to leave?”
“Isn’t Senior Kakashi here to replace me?”
Upon learning the truth, Yasuka didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He explained that Kakashi was a patient who had come for treatment, and that his guard had been Yugao from the very beginning to the end.
“Eh???”
“My~ you’re blushing, Miss Yugao.
You wouldn’t happen to be reluctant to leave my place, would you~”
Yasuka teased with a light chuckle, intending to use the moment to liven up the atmosphere.
However, Yugao’s entire face flushed bright red, and she began stammering out unintelligible murmurs.
“Ah?”
Even if Yasuka was as dense as a block of wood, he realized something was off.
Looking at the rosy-cheeked, profoundly charming Yugao, Yasuka also felt a bit awkward.
He wanted to explain that he was just joking.
But if he did that, it would probably make things even more awkward between them right now, wouldn’t it?
In the evening, Yasuka personally cooked a meal to welcome Kakashi.
However, Kakashi consistently maintained a dull, world-weary attitude, which made Naruko a little angry.
So what if her whole family was dead?
She made it sound like no one else had ever suffered a loss.
Brother Yasuka had done so much for her, yet she didn’t show the slightest appreciation.
“Naruko.”
Yasuka held Naruko back.
Seeing Kakashi maintain her detached, unbothered stance gave him a bit of a headache as well.
No matter how divine the power of the Horse Talisman was, it couldn’t instantly cure psychological withdrawal.
But perhaps…
the Sheep Talisman could?
Late into the night, Yasuka finished telling the bedtime stories to the two girls as usual.
Right after, Yugao suddenly appeared, explaining that a friend of hers was gravely ill, so she probably couldn’t continue acting as his guard tomorrow.
“No problem, just take my note with you later.
The Anbu won’t make things difficult for you.”
Yasuka readily agreed and wrote an approval slip for her.
As Yugao accepted it, she said with utmost solemnity:
“I…
really like this mission.
So…
I won’t back down easily!
Please…
do not replace me.”
After saying her piece, without waiting for Yasuka’s reply, Yugao vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
“…”
Yasuka was momentarily at a loss for words.
Even if he was a total block of wood, after being told something like that by Yugao, he should understand what the situation was.
But…
Nodding helplessly, he put the matters regarding Yugao aside for now.
Yasuka returned straight to his room and used the Sheep Talisman to perform astral projection.
Experiencing his soul state, Yasuka felt a bit peculiar as he began to float in mid-air, purely by instinct.
“Well…
let’s go take a look inside Kakashi’s dream.”
Passing through the wall into her room, Yasuka saw a dark dream bubble, resembling a chat box, floating above Kakashi’s head.
It was completely pitch-black and didn’t look like anything good.
Reaching out and diving into the dream bubble, Yasuka only felt his vision go dark before finding himself in Konoha Village.
“Look, she’s the White Fang’s daughter.
The one whose father caused the village to suffer massive losses.”
“Hehehe~ As expected of the White Fang’s daughter, she doesn’t look like a good person at all.
A genius?
So what if she’s a genius?
What’s the difference between a ninja who can’t complete a mission and a piece of trash?”
All kinds of voices from the toxic Konoha villagers overwhelmed the small, distant figure like a tidal wave.
Yasuka furrowed his brows.
He had been to many countries and seen other ninja villages.
Undeniably, the Konoha villagers lived the best lives, but they also had the sharpest tongues.
Furthermore, any other village would be more than eager to worship a powerhouse like the White Fang as a god, yet Konoha actually subjected him to verbal attacks and insults.
Annoyed by the noisy villagers, Yasuka simply waved his hand, erasing all of them from existence.
“…”
The young Kakashi in the dream was clearly bewildered, staring blankly at Yasuka.
Yasuka, however, returned her look with a smile and a thumbs-up.
“Strange person…”
The young Kakashi muttered, but for some reason, she felt a lot better inside.
Immediately after, the dream changed again.
Yasuka arrived inside a residence.
Following the young Kakashi into a bedroom, Yasuka saw the White Fang, who had already committed suicide.
“…”
The young Kakashi looked at this scene numbly, as if this wasn’t the first time.
Seeing this, Yasuka frowned.
He walked straight forward, pulled out the short-sword the White Fang had used to end his life, grabbed him by the collar, and delivered a succession of slaps.
“Hey!
What are you dying for?
Old man, get the hell up!”
Watching Yasuka subject the White Fang to body slams and elbow drops, the numbness in the young Kakashi’s eyes gradually transformed into daze, bewilderment, and…
a trace of anger.
Her father was already dead, yet this person was actually desecrating her father’s body.
This was absolutely unforg—
“Cough, cough, cough!
Stop!
Stop hitting me!!!”
The dead White Fang suddenly cried out in a hurry.