Chapter 164: Kakashi Learns a Lesson

"Captain Habuse, has anyone ever told you that you're excellent at concealing your presence?"

Kakashi turned his head and found that Mu Yue had unknowingly sat down beside him and said.

"Concealing oneself is a basic skill for a ninja." Mu Yue replied with a smile.

"Captain Habuse, you know, right? The White Fang of Konoha didn't sacrifice himself—he committed suicide. He killed himself after being blamed by everyone for failing a mission." Kakashi asked.

When he asked this, Kakashi didn't look at Mu Yue but stared blankly at the river's surface.

"Why do you admire a failed ninja like the White Fang?" Kakashi turned his head and looked into Mu Yue's eyes as he asked.

"If you call the White Fang a failed ninja, I won't accept that." Mu Yue didn't answer the question but instead denied Kakashi's words.

"Why isn't he a failed ninja? As a ninja, if he could have completed the mission but failed due to personal reasons, isn't that still a failure? Are you saying you understand the White Fang better than I do?" Kakashi retorted.

How could Mu Yue, a person who had never spoken a word to his father, understand his father better than he did?

"That might not be true. My view is the opposite of yours. I think the White Fang was a ninja who truly followed his own ninja way." Mu Yue shook his head in reply.

"What did he follow? Isn't the rule for ninjas that the mission comes first?" Kakashi thought Mu Yue was just talking nonsense.

"Since we're talking about ninja rules, do you know the origin of ninjas?" Mu Yue asked with a smile.

Kakashi thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

"Then do you know about the Sage of Six Paths?" Mu Yue continued asking.

"The god who supposedly created the shinobi world in legends?" Kakashi knew a little about the Sage of Six Paths.

"The creator god is a legend, but the Sage of Six Paths was indeed a real person in history. To bring peace to the world, the Sage of Six Paths founded the Ninshu, hoping that everyone could understand each other through the connection of chakra. That's how ninja came to be."

"Back then, there were no so-called genin, chunin, or jonin, nor were there missions to kill or steal secrets. Everyone's common goal was world peace."

"If we're really talking about ninja rules, protecting peace is the true rule for ninjas. Looking at it that way, every ninja in the world today has violated the ninja rules." Mu Yue explained.

This wasn't just him making things up. The origin of ninja in Naruto was different from his original world; they truly were born for peace. From that perspective, it was understandable that the major villains in Naruto kept clamoring to create a peaceful world, after all, the origin of ninja was for peace.

"So ninja came about like that…" Kakashi looked at Mu Yue with some surprise.

"I like reading history books in my spare time, so I know a bit more." Mu Yue adjusted his glasses and smiled.

He didn't mention anything too secret. Although records of the Ninshu and such history were scarce, there were still some related documents.

"It might be too much to judge modern ninja by standards from over a thousand years ago, but I believe a ninja shouldn't just be a machine that completes missions. They should have their own thoughts.

The White Fang may have failed his mission, but he successfully saved his comrades. He followed the convictions in his heart. That's why I believe the White Fang of Konoha is not a failed ninja!" Mu Yue said seriously.

"Follow one's own convictions…" Kakashi felt a bit dazed.

A few years ago, he seemed to have said something similar about comrades being the most important.

"Gather at the training ground at one-thirty in the afternoon. If you speak ill of the White Fang again, I'm going to get angry." Mu Yue said in a joking tone.

"Instructor Habuse, don't you even know the name of the White Fang of Konoha?" Kakashi couldn't help asking.

As his own son, being told by an outsider not to badmouth his own father—that was just too strange.

"Sakumo Hatake, of course I know." Mu Yue replied.

"Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi Hatake… could it be…" Mu Yue put on a thoughtful expression.

"Actually, Kakashi, are you a relative of the White Fang?"

Kakashi: ...

For a moment, he really didn't know if Mu Yue was doing it on purpose or if he genuinely hadn't figured it out. If it was the former, then that was really twisted.

"Just kidding. I know you're the White Fang's child. Don't be late this afternoon." Mu Yue said with a smile.

Pretending not to know would be underestimating Kakashi's intelligence. A chunin hanging out with two trainees, both of whom were acquaintances—Kakashi could probably guess that the Third Hokage had arranged it deliberately.

Watching Mu Yue's retreating figure, Kakashi's eyes flickered.

"Admiring my father… Did the Third Hokage seek him out specifically?" Kakashi speculated in his mind.

Then Kakashi went to the library, headed straight for the history section, and flipped through many ancient texts. To his surprise, he actually found some history related to the Ninshu, though there wasn't much, and the information was very fragmented.

This dispelled some of Kakashi's doubts. At first, he had suspected Mu Yue made up the story to comfort him.

Kakashi arrived at Training Ground No. 22 on time at 1:30 PM.

"Kakashi, you're early. Want to have a handstand contest?" asked Might Guy, who had already arrived and was doing handstand training.

"Sorry, I'll pass." Having been reading books all noon, Kakashi didn't want to engage in a boring contest.

At 1:40 PM, Obito came running in a hurry, gasping for breath while explaining the reason for his tardiness.

Because of what he had seen in the morning, Kakashi didn't question Obito's words this time.

"We completed three missions this morning. How many do you think we can do this afternoon?" Muyue asked with a smile.

Although each mission only gave thirty points, even a mosquito leg is meat — we should earn as much as we can.

"Five!" Obito said boldly.

"Then let's set the target at five." Muyue made the final decision.

Next, to save time, Muyue directly accepted three missions at the start. Under normal circumstances, this would definitely not be allowed, but considering how efficient Muyue's team had been that morning, the registrar let them take them.

This time, Muyue had Obito and the others act together. With Obito's connections, Kakashi's mobility, and Might Guy's powerful physique, the three of them completed missions extremely quickly.

The three missions were completed in less than two hours under their cooperation.

By 6:00 PM, Squad Muyue had completed seven D-rank missions, exceeding their goal.

Obito and Might Guy were happy with the good reward they received, while Muyue was also in a good mood after gaining three hundred chakra.

The only one who wasn't particularly impressed was probably Kakashi; he planned to continue researching information after they disbanded.

"Everyone did very well today. Tomorrow morning, we'll skip missions and train at the training ground instead," Muyue said.

He wanted to try taking Kakashi as his disciple, so that in the future he would gain an extra share of mission rewards; otherwise, he always felt he was at a loss.