Naruto Dream Fulfillment Master

Page 204

He paused, his gaze sincere, "The true source of that quote is my son, Kakashi."

Sakumo Hatake shook his head and sighed softly: "I also doubted myself at first, but fortunately Kakashi woke me up in time... otherwise, none of this would have happened."

His voice was slightly low, and he still felt emotional as he recalled the past.

During those dark years, if it weren't for his son's words that pulled him out of a dead end, he would probably have already fallen into endless regret and darkness.

"Huh?" Yahiko paused in his hand as he was serving the dishes, clearly not expecting such an answer.

He exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide: "There's more to this story? I didn't even know about this!"

You see, he always knew everything about Lord White Fang like the back of his hand, but he never expected that his idol would reveal a detail he didn't know.

Jiraiya chuckled and glanced at Yahiko teasingly: "Don't you find it strange?"

His words were teasing yet indulgent, making Yahiko blush.

"Hmph, I remember Lord White Fang's deeds very clearly!"

Yahiko put his hands on his hips and retorted defiantly.

He had heard the rumors about White Fang countless times and regarded them as a guide in life. Now that Jiraiya was teasing him, he naturally had to argue his point.

Xiao Nan covered her mouth and burst out laughing.

She glanced amusedly at Nagato beside her, who looked completely bewildered, and said in a low voice with a hint of disdain, "Yahiko's about to start again!"

Nagato: "Start what?"

Nagato was completely bewildered, as if a huge question mark was hovering over his mind—

He had never seen such a scene before and was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

Sure enough, Yahiko became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and began to recount Sakumo Hatake's great achievements.

His eyes lit up, and he spoke with great enthusiasm: "What I admire most about Lord White Fang is that even when the Eight-Tails went berserk, he still managed to save his teammates... At that time, almost none of the Konoha ninjas survived, but it was all thanks to Lord White Fang's composure in the face of danger that he successfully protected his comrades..."

As Yahiko spoke with great emotion, his voice rose several decibels, and he gestured with his hands to depict the scene, as if the thrilling moment was right before his eyes.

His admiration was palpable, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop.

Yahiko then proceeded to recount in detail all the major and minor events of Hatake Sakumo's past, as if they were his own treasures.

In the firelight, his expression was more excited than ever before.

……

In the audience, those who initially witnessed this scene were completely baffled, especially Jiraiya and Konan in real life—

The two looked bewildered and confused, clearly unable to understand why Yahiko in the dream would regard Sakumo Hatake as an idol.

However, as Yahiko explained, Jiraiya gradually understood a bit more.

He recalled the past and couldn't help but nod to himself:

If the original Sakumo Hatake got stuck in a rut and walked into a dead end in life because of a momentary lapse in judgment, then the Sakumo Hatake in the dream, after being awakened by Kakashi's words, underwent a magnificent transformation in his life trajectory!

He completely embraced the belief that "the safety of his teammates is the most important thing" and persevered to the end.

Sakumo Hatake, who initially insisted on this philosophy, faced a lot of misunderstanding. Many people in the village secretly mocked him for being "indecisive" and "unworthy of the ninja mission."

However, as time passed, the shadow of the Third Shinobi World War gradually loomed, friction between the major powers intensified, and the mission environment became increasingly dangerous.

Many ninjas are killed by their teammates during missions if they make a mistake, and when they go on missions with other Jonin, their lives are often in danger, and they survive entirely by luck.

In comparison, being a ninja under Sakumo Hatake was incredibly "safe": not only was dying in battle rare, but even being wounded was extremely uncommon!

Nobody wants to die if they can live a good life!

Moreover, not everyone is like those ungrateful wretches who turn around and blame their saviors after being rescued.

This is why Sakumo Hatake gradually gained many followers in Konoha.

As the friction between the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning intensifies, Sakumo Hatake not only successfully completes several extremely dangerous S-rank missions, but also mediates several battles that were about to break out at the critical moment!

These earth-shattering feats made the name of Konoha's White Fang spread throughout the ninja world, and Hatake Sakumo became famous overnight.

Of course, because he openly violated the ironclad rule in the current ninja world that "ninjas must prioritize missions," there were naturally many voices of doubt and criticism.

But there are also many people who envy him – after all, talk is cheap, and criticism is inevitable, who would dare say they wouldn't want a captain like him?

As Xiao Nan listened to Yahiko recount his story with great familiarity, she nodded silently.

She understood Yahiko's dream.

So after listening to Yahiko's story, I immediately understood why Yahiko so highly praised White Fang in the dream.

After all, Yahiko traveled a great distance to become Jiraiya's apprentice because he sought the power to protect his comrades.

Protecting one's companions is precisely the belief that White Fang practices!

At this moment, the scene of the idol and Yahiko appreciating each other on the screen made Konan reveal a complicated expression: everything in the dream seemed so natural.

On the other side, Obito was dumbfounded in the audience, almost thinking that his one eye was hallucinating.

What Kakashi? That's clearly his word!

Moreover, he never dreamed that a casual remark he made would cause such a big change!

Kakashi's father has turned into this?

[Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Uchiha Obito have been detected! Emotional value +500!]

……

In the scene, Yahiko continues to recount Sakuya's various deeds with great enthusiasm.

His admiration was almost palpable, making Sakumo Hatake a little embarrassed, his face slightly flushed as he waved his hands repeatedly.

"Hahahaha!" Jiraiya burst out laughing upon seeing this, gesturing to interrupt Yahiko's long-winded speech, "Alright, alright, I know you know a lot, so say less!"

As he spoke, he put his arm around Sakumo Hatake's shoulder and winked, saying with a smile, "See? I didn't lie to you! I told you long ago that this kid idolizes you terribly."

Sakumo Hatake nodded, both amused and exasperated, and gave Yahiko a grateful yet helpless look: "Yahiko's enthusiasm... truly makes me feel flattered."

After saying that, he sighed and said, "But I really think I just did some small things within my ability, I didn't expect you to praise me like this."

Being praised so highly by a younger person made him, as an elder, quite embarrassed.

"How can you say it's a small matter! This is very important!" Yahiko exclaimed anxiously upon hearing this, waving his hands repeatedly and saying excitedly with a flushed face, "Protecting our comrades and stopping the war, each and every one of these is very important!"

In his heart, every deed of Lord White Fang was shining brightly, and there was no such thing as a "small matter".

Jiraiya waved his hand, signaling Yahiko not to interrupt.

He turned to Sakumo Hatake and asked earnestly, "Sakumo, what about that thing I mentioned to you before? Have you thought about it? Do you agree?"

After saying that, he looked expectantly at Hatake Sakumo, waiting for his reply.

Sakumo Hatake was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, seemingly not expecting Jiraiya to bring it up directly in front of Yahiko.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Yahiko with a solemn yet gentle expression.

Seeing this, Jiraiya sighed and patted Yahiko on the shoulder, his words tinged with regret: "This child's ninjutsu talent is average, but his taijutsu talent is very strong. If I were to teach him, it would be a waste of his strengths, since taijutsu is not my forte."

It was clear that he greatly admired Yahiko's talent and felt some regret.

Sakumo Hatake nodded, stood up and walked over to Yahiko, giving Yahiko's shoulder and elbow joints a gentle squeeze with his large hands.

After a moment, Sakumo Hatake gave an approving smile: "Indeed, your physical fitness is quite good!"

He could naturally see that the young man before him was a rare talent with great potential.

Completely bewildered by the two teachers, Yahiko scratched his head and stammered, "What's wrong? Jiraiya-sensei, what are you talking about?"

A sudden sense of foreboding arose in his heart; his intuition told him that something was wrong.

Jiraiya remained silent for a moment upon hearing this, then sighed deeply, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes, but still said, "Yahiko, actually... I'm about to leave."

"What?!" Yahiko and Konan exclaimed in unison, as if struck by lightning.

Yahiko stared wide-eyed in disbelief, feeling a surge of heat in his eyes as a bittersweet emotion welled up, and tears instantly blurred his vision.

Konan's eyes also reddened, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tightly, her breath trembling slightly: "Master Jiraiya, don't you want us anymore?"

When Jiraiya saw Yahiko crying, he was also a little flustered. He chuckled awkwardly and comforted him, "Yahiko, don't cry, or Sakumo will think you're a coward and won't accept you!"

He tried to ease his apprentice's emotions with jokes, pretending to be relaxed, but a trace of guilt could not be hidden in his voice.

"I don't want to become someone else's disciple!" Yahiko cried out, gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face like a broken string of pearls.

Xiao Nan, who was standing to the side, was already in tears, but she didn't cry out loud. She just kept wiping her tears with her sleeve, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Seeing Yahiko so heartbroken, her heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, her nose tingled, and tears streamed down her face again.

Nagato, meanwhile, frowned to himself: So it's this day?

I see……

This is clearly the scene from when Jiraiya left Amegakure!

However, in their original memories, Jiraiya-sensei simply abandoned them and left alone.

There's no such development as "bringing in Sakumo Hatake to replace him".

Why did this change occur?

Nagato was filled with questions, feeling saddened by the recurrence of the master-disciple separation, and also surprised by the addition of Sakumo Hatake.

Seeing his two disciples crying so bitterly, Jiraiya was at a loss for what to do.

He had assumed that by personally inviting Yahiko's idol, Lord White Fang, to replace him, Yahiko would be overjoyed to accept the arrangement.

Unexpectedly, the result was the opposite—Yahiko cried his eyes out, and Konan also looked very sad.

This left Jiraiya frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

Just as the atmosphere became awkward and heavy, Sakumo Hatake stepped forward.

He smiled and walked to Yahiko's side, gently wiping away the tears on Yahiko's face, his voice as warm as a spring breeze: "Actually, it's not that I want you to become my disciples."

Sakumo Hatake explained gently, "It's because Jiraiya-senpai received another important mission and had to leave Amegakure for a while, and I just happened to be assigned to be stationed near the Land of Rain."

Yahiko raised his head, sobbing, a hint of confusion flashing in his red, swollen eyes.

Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo supported Yahiko's shoulder, his broad palm applying slight pressure to give him unwavering strength.

"So, Jiraiya-sama asked me to take care of you for a while."