Chapter 115: Rumors of the Dead Returning
"Did you hear? Someone else said they saw a deceased friend again."
"No, but that's gotta be fake, right? According to those psychologists, it's just post-war trauma. People miss their fallen comrades so much that they start hallucinating."
"I hope it's just hallucinations. But in the past six months, these kinds of stories have been getting more frequent. It's kind of creepy."
"Creepy? What's there to be scared of? It's not like the dead can really come back to life. Besides, the people they supposedly see are friends or loved ones. Even if they did show up, it wouldn't be terrifying. Did you see the joy on their faces when they talked about it?"
As she wandered through the village, Chino overheard the conversation between two passersby and blinked in confusion.
The dead?
She thought back to the reanimated ninja she had seen on the isolated island.
Those were the dead, right?
She even recognized some of them from portraits—famous figures in the ninja world who had died during the wars.
But didn't the people in Konoha know that someone had the ability to bring back the dead?
As this thought crossed her mind, Chino remembered the Konoha ninja responsible for escorting her from the island.
They had to know, didn't they?
How strange…
---
No one knew exactly when the strange rumors had started spreading within Konoha.
Stories spoke of deceased ninja returning to life, disguised in other people's forms, smiling as they stood beside the living.
If someone realized they had been revived, these individuals wouldn't shy away from communication. Instead, they would ask if the observer wished to join their side and seek the truth of the world.
This rumor had been circulating for quite some time, but few could verify its authenticity. For most, it was merely idle gossip during meals.
Yet Kakashi, while skeptical of its truth, couldn't help but hope it was real.
"Are you there?"
At home, Kakashi spoke to the empty air. "Tomorrow, I'm going to try becoming a jinchūriki. Will you come to watch?"
There was no reply.
In front of him, White Fang's blade hung silently on the wall, untouched.
Seeing this, Kakashi let out a sigh—whether of disappointment or resignation, he couldn't tell—and turned to leave.
That blade, the one Sakumo Hatake had used to end his own life, had always weighed on Kakashi's heart. For years, he had carefully kept it hidden, never once drawing it.
Recently, however, he had broken that habit.
With a vague, unrealistic hope, Kakashi had placed the blade in a prominent spot, hoping the mysterious figure in the rumors would take it.
But a fantasy was just a fantasy.
The dead couldn't truly return.
Kakashi chuckled bitterly to himself.
Was this delusion the result of Obito's betrayal and Rin's death?
It felt like he, too, had begun hallucinating.
The arrangement of his home's objects somehow mirrored how they had been when his father was alive—both unfamiliar and painfully familiar.
After Kakashi left, Sakumo Hatake appeared beside the White Fang blade, his expression complicated.
He reached out toward the sword but ultimately stopped himself, vanishing from sight.
Moments later, Kakashi returned, his gaze sweeping over the unchanged room. He reined in his wandering thoughts and began preparing for the trials of the next day.
---
"If you want to see him, I wouldn't stop you."
"I have no face to meet him with." Standing near Hyuga Fuji, Sakumo shook his head, his eyes dull. "I wasn't a good father."
Suicide had been his escape—but what about Kakashi, still just a child back then?
At that moment, Sakumo had only thought of himself, never considering his son's future. What right did he have to face him now?
"Is that so? Becoming a jinchūriki is dangerous. Meeting him might be for the best."
"Dangerous…"
Sakumo glanced at the desk where Hyuga Fuji's pet turtle sat, looking as sluggish as ever. He fell silent.
The three-tailed beast's clone was right in front of them. What danger could there be when Hyuga Fuji controlled it?
At some point, Sakumo had grown used to seeing combinations of the turtle, a slug, and a beetle around Hyuga Fuji.
Each represented a tailed beast: the turtle was the Three-Tails, the slug the Six-Tails, and the beetle the Seven-Tails.
Unbeknownst to most, it seemed that these three tailed beasts had already reached some kind of agreement with Hyuga Fuji.
Under these circumstances, if Hyuga Fuji approved of Kakashi as a jinchūriki, what danger could there be?
As Sakumo silently grumbled, Hyuga Fuji tapped the sleeping Three-Tails clone on the head.
"Why don't you explain it to him?"
Through the Seven-Tails, Hyuga Fuji had communicated with the Three-Tails and Six-Tails. Offering them a measure of freedom, he had negotiated a cooperative relationship.
Though his superior strength had tipped the scales in his favor, the Seven-Tails' tendency to flaunt its ability to freely summon clones had ultimately swayed the other two tailed beasts. Reluctantly, they had agreed to his terms.
But ever since creating its clone, the Three-Tails had developed an odd habit: the turtle would find a spot to lie down and do nothing, living the ultimate lazy lifestyle.
The Three-Tails wagged its tail lazily, raising its head to look at Sakumo. "Kakashi isn't Hyuga Fuji. If I'm sealed inside him, I won't be able to come out like this anymore."
To the Konoha ninja, it might have seemed like the Three-Tails was under the control of a Mangekyō Sharingan. In truth, the Seven-Tails' chakra had enabled direct communication between Hyuga Fuji and the other tailed beasts in their unique mental space.
This was the first time such a deep-level exchange had occurred, and the Three-Tails' clone was a product of that connection.
But if a jinchūriki not under Hyuga Fuji's control were to arise, summoning clones like this would become much more difficult.
Especially if that jinchūriki wasn't one of Hyuga Fuji's trusted allies.
"You could negotiate with him," Sakumo suggested earnestly. "If you're willing to lend him your strength, I believe Kakashi would agree."
The Three-Tails yawned lazily. "If he has the guts to forgo a sealing jutsu and lets me summon clones freely, I'll consider it."
"This…" Sakumo hesitated briefly. "You should ask him yourself."
In his current state, Kakashi, desperate for power, might actually agree.
"Fine. We'll see what happens. I'm tired. Time for a nap."
With that, the Three-Tails dispersed into smoke.
"It only comes out to sleep. What's the point?" Sakumo couldn't help but complain.
Hyuga Fuji replied, "Apparently, it feels uncomfortable after being subjected to genjutsu. Sleeping outside makes it feel like it hasn't slept at all."
Sakumo: "…"
What a lazy way of life. Then again, it was a turtle.
---
"Lord Fuji, I've finished arranging accommodations for the people from the island."
A knock came at the door, followed by a report.
"Come in," Hyuga Fuji called.
A ninja from the Nara clan stepped inside, showing no surprise at Sakumo's presence. He simply performed his duty without question.
Sakumo, in turn, acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary, unbothered by the Nara ninja's awareness of his existence.
In the shadows, a pair of unseen eyes observed the scene, sending chills down their spine.
(Chapter End)