Chapter 12: Another Bout

Seeing that Kakashi was feeling a bit of indigestion from the bowl of "poisonous chicken soup" Uchiha Feiyu had force-fed him, Hatake Sakumo turned his head to look at Uchiha Feiyu, seemingly truly hoping that Uchiha Feiyu could enlighten Kakashi.

Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes inwardly, but he couldn't ignore his current number one lackey, so he could only continue by saying to Kakashi:

"I know what you want to say—that ninjas are tools, that one must obey orders, or perhaps issues like the bonds between comrades, but please consider this carefully: is what is called a 'ninja' not composed of human beings?"

"Since they are composed of human beings, it is impossible to completely erase human nature and turn into a true tool."

"Otherwise, if all ninjas were tools, then why bother electing a Hokage? Why distinguish between Jonin, Chunin, and Genin? Everyone is a tool-person anyway; have you ever seen a tool that can command other tools!"

"If everyone is a tool, then why fight a Ninja World War? Do tools also hold grudges against other tools?"

The theory of ninjas as tools was nothing more than brainwashing by the high-ranking officials of the Ninja Village against ordinary ninjas; the logical flaws in it were so numerous that Uchiha Feiyu didn't even care to point them out.

If ninjas were all tools, then what would the Hokage, Mizukage, and the like, who are selected from among the ninjas, be considered? High-level tools?

But even a high-level tool is still a tool; why would it be able to command other tools? Can your electric drill command a nail to hammer itself into the wall!

If they are all tools, then the Ninja World War is even more ridiculous; no one has ever seen a hammer and an axe in a toolbox randomly hammering each other!

This string of remarks left Kakashi feeling dizzy and confused; he opened his mouth with a bewildered look in his eyes:

"So... one should cherish their comrades more?"

"Didn't I just say? Compared to cherishing comrades, it is more important to cherish yourself!"

"I once heard a saying in some ancient texts: 'Respect my elders, and extend that to the elders of others; care for my young, and extend that to the young of others.' I think this saying is very reasonable; most people's interactions should follow this principle!"

"Respect my elders, and extend that to the elders of others; care for my young, and extend that to the young of others" comes from Mencius, meaning to respect the elders in my own family and extend that to respecting the elders in others' families; to care for the children in my own family and extend that to caring for the children in others' families.

In other words, it means first loving one's own family, and then extending that outward to have love for other strangers as well.

This is also the true mindset of a normal person; even for so-called Saints, they only love more broadly and deeply—the distinction between close and distant, internal and external, still exists.

As for "great love without boundaries," loving everyone broadly and equally—that kind of thing, the ancient Chinese called it "Heaven"!

If a person thinks they can love everyone broadly and equally like Heaven, it can basically be determined that they are mentally ill.

Hatake Sakumo's behavior was more or less tainted by such mental issues; it is estimated that he was brainwashed too much when he was young, and even after growing up, the root of the illness remained quite stubborn.

Of course, after dying once, this White Fang of the Leaf's condition improved greatly, and it was his son's turn to start having problems.

Fortunately, Kakashi's condition was still in its early stages; having received his father's Inheritance Scroll and being repeatedly fed "poisonous chicken soup" and real truths by Uchiha Feiyu, he now looked quite like someone who had lost his way and was returning to the right path.

"Respect my elders, and extend that to the elders of others; care for my young, and extend that to the young of others... I never thought you could say such reasonable things, but why did Father choose that path?"

Uchiha Feiyu curled his lips, very much wanting to say that it was because his father had hit a dead end, his mental illness had flared up, and he couldn't think straight for a moment.

However, considering that Hatake Sakumo's soul was right beside him and he had to give him some face, and that if he spoke too harshly he might get slashed by Kakashi, he held back the words he wanted to retort and instead spoke more gently:

"Senior Hatake Sakumo perhaps didn't understand this principle, which is why he cared so much about the idle gossip of others—look at me, the group of idiots at the Ninja Academy have been gossiping behind my back for three or four years, and don't I still not care?"

Kakashi, who had been thinking carefully, couldn't help but roll his eyes after hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words; this guy was truly shameless!

(But what he said was also right; if his father had been as shameless as him, he probably wouldn't have cared about the gossip outside at all!)

Seeing that Kakashi had finally recovered some vitality and no longer looked like the "I am a tool without emotions" from the original story, Uchiha Feiyu finally breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Kakashi as if he had thought of something:

"Do you want to go out and practice? You've been cooped up at home for a long time now; you haven't been training, have you?"

"I've learned quite a few things from Senior White Fang's scroll; how about it? Want to spar?"

The somewhat recovered Kakashi even regained a bit of his cold, arrogant attitude as the number one genius of Konoha, and he spoke indifferently:

"A spar is fine. Father's Sword Technique is not so easy to learn. If there is anything you don't understand, I can instruct you. At least in terms of basics, even Father admitted that I could graduate."

Kakashi's arrogance was soon shattered by Uchiha Feiyu's performance.

On the training ground, watching the electric light flashing on Uchiha Feiyu's body and his figure moving as fast as lightning, after just a few moves, this famous genius ninja of Konoha had his neck held by Uchiha Feiyu's short blade, leaving him with an expression that looked like he wanted to curse.

"How is this possible?!! How long have you had the scroll? In such a short time, you've actually mastered the White Fang Sword Technique!"

Except for the fact that Uchiha Feiyu's speed and attack range were reduced due to the lack of Wind nature chakra, in other aspects, the difference between Uchiha Feiyu and Hatake Sakumo was just that his chakra was not yet pure enough, his sword technique was not yet proficient enough, and his combat experience was still lacking, but the general sword technique had already been mastered.

"Haha, after all, I am an Uchiha, and recently my Sharingan has also upgraded; the ability of the Copy Wheel Eye is still very useful."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, staring at the Uchiha Feiyu in front of him without speaking. Although the Uchiha's Sharingan has the reputation of being a copy eye, in reality, it can only copy some ordinary elemental ninjutsu.

As for some ninjutsu that require extremely high chakra control and Nature Transformation to perform, the Sharingan simply cannot copy them.

As for more things like various Secret Techniques, ninjutsu related to Yin Release and Yang Release, Sealing Technique, Barrier Technique, Ninja Body Technique, and complex Bloodline Limits, the Sharingan is completely ineffective.

Hatake Sakumo's White Fang Sword Technique itself belongs to the category of Ninja Body Technique and also has extremely high requirements for chakra control and chakra nature changes; a normal Uchiha could stare until their eyes exploded and still wouldn't be able to learn a thing!

Could it be... that this guy is actually Father's disciple? It's just that it was never publicized?

(End of chapter)