Hatake Sakumo. Konoha's White Fang. A member of the Twelve Divine Moons. A servant of the god-like being, Yueyan. Each title was enough to shake the shinobi world to its core. The legend of the White Fang was great, but it was nothing compared to the power of Yueyan. Now, seeing Hatake Sakumo—a man who was supposed to be dead—return as one of Yueyan's elite followers changed everything.
"You... the Twelve Divine Moons..." Sarutobi Shinnosuke stammered, his mind reeling from the revelation. "Does this mean... the Uchiha clan went to see him? They went to Lord Yueyan!?"
The words hit him like a physical blow. Konoha was already on a knife's edge, with the powerful Uchiha clan threatening to rebel at any moment. The Third Hokage's faction had been working tirelessly to keep them in check, using spies and military pressure. Their greatest fear was that the Uchiha would find a powerful ally.
That was the very reason Shinnosuke and his Anbu unit were here—to monitor the Uchiha clan's every move. They had never imagined that the Uchiha wouldn't just have a trump card, but that their trump card would be Yueyan himself.
Yueyan was a name that inspired terror across the Five Great Nations. If the founders of Konoha, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, represented the pinnacle of shinobi power, then Yueyan was something else entirely—a being who stood above them all, invincible. He had vanished years ago, and the world had settled into a fragile peace. But hearing his name now, from the mouth of a dead man, sent a wave of pure dread through Shinnosuke.
"Go to hell!"
In a blur of motion, Shinnosuke's wife appeared behind Sakumo. She had seen him butcher her husband, and she didn't care about his past or his identity. He was the enemy, and the only thing to do with an enemy was to kill them. He had destroyed the man she loved, her future husband and Konoha's next potential Hokage. He had shattered all of her plans. For that, he had to die.
"Fire Style!" she yelled.
Shuriken infused with fire chakra flew through the air, aimed directly at Sakumo's back. "Die!" she screamed, unleashing a storm of explosive tags that rained down on his position.
BOOM!
A series of violent explosions rocked the clearing, sending waves of heat and force in every direction. But before the smoke could even clear, Shinnosuke cried out in warning. "Watch out!"
"Heh... A little late to react, don't you think?" Sakumo's voice was right beside her.
She barely had time to turn her head before he moved. Two simple, impossibly fast slashes of his blade flashed in the dim light. Her arm dissolved into a mist of blood before she even felt the pain. A moment later, a powerful kick slammed into her stomach, the force of it lifting her off her feet and sending her flying backward.
She hit the ground hard, blood pouring from her mouth. "No..." she gasped.
"No!" Shinnosuke wailed from where he lay on the ground, a bloody, limbless wreck. He knew his wife was pregnant. He should have told her to run, to get away. Now, it was too late.
A chilling silence once again descended on the battlefield. Not far away, Kakashi and the other Anbu were frozen in place, held captive by the immense pressure from the second black-robed figure. They could only watch in stunned horror.
He was too strong. It was a one-sided slaughter. Sakumo moved with an unnerving precision, as if he knew every move they would make before they made it. Every strike was like lightning, delivered with an almost casual grace. The elite Anbu of Konoha, some of the most skilled ninja in the village, were like helpless ants before him, easily crushed.
"Is this… is this really him?" Kakashi whispered, his mind struggling to accept what he was seeing. This cold, merciless killer couldn't be the same person as the father he remembered.
In the blink of an eye, Sakumo crossed the distance between them, appearing at Kakashi's side as silently as a ghost.
"Do you remember your surname?" Sakumo asked, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
The suffocating pressure intensified around Kakashi, forcing him to his knees. He struggled to breathe, to think. "I… Hatake…" he managed to force out.
"Good," Sakumo said, and the pressure eased slightly. "Remember that. Your name is Hatake. Not Sarutobi. And certainly not Konoha."
The words struck Kakashi harder than any physical blow, shattering the image of the father he thought he knew. The Konoha White Fang who had died in shame, broken by the village and its leaders, was gone. This man shared his name and face, but he was a complete stranger.
"You..." Kakashi started to say, his voice low and trembling.
Slice.
At that exact moment, the heads of Sarutobi Shinnosuke and his wife were severed from their bodies, flying through the air in a silent arc. Blood sprayed across the ground, and its thick, metallic scent filled the air. The terrifying aura in the clearing grew even colder, even heavier.
The Anbu were no strangers to death. They had all killed and seen their comrades die. But the scene before them—a former hero of their village executing his targets with such cold efficiency—felt like a nightmare. They felt as if they had been dragged into the depths of hell itself.
------------------------
For Advance chapters visit : patreon.com/Mythic_Muse