This shadow-level expert, known as the "White Fang of Konoha," lowered his crossed arms, fixing his gaze on Roy. There was both complexity and regret in his eyes, with emotions swirling as if someone had upended a pot of mixed feelings. He sighed softly and said, "I know the higher-ups won't agree to make me your mentor, but I've always held a sliver of hope. Reality proves that I was overthinking it..."
The White Fang of Konoha could be Kakashi's father, an idol for the civilian ninjas, a strength surpassing the Sannin, or even a stalwart pillar of Konoha itself, but he could never... be the White Fang of the Uchiha, not even have the slightest connection with the Uchiha!
Roy despised scheming and dirty power struggles. But just like "light" and "shadow," "spear" and "shield," they are both opposing and unified, neither can exist without the other... The youth's dark hair swayed with the wind as he bowed to Sakumo Hatake, paying his respects: "In terms of 'swordsmanship,' White Fang uncle has already been my teacher in my heart."
Roy bowed deeply and then stood straight again, looking at him straightforwardly: "The teacher teaches me, and I learn from the teacher. It doesn't have to be in any particular form. What does White Fang uncle think?"
Sakumo Hatake was stunned and laughed... laughed happily.....
He shook his head in self-mockery and said, "I dare not accept your title of teacher, after all,"
The White Fang of Konoha looked deeply at Roy: "What you've given me is far more, far more, far more than what I've given you...."
The "Breath of Lightning" is both a "skill" and an "art" and even more a "path." Different people have different understandings of it. These understandings often present a world of differences due to "talent," "cognition," and "soul"... just like Kaigaku and Zenitsu Agatsuma, both apprenticed to Jigoro Kuwajima... In the understanding of "Thunder," even if the latter has only mastered the 'First Form,' it is not something Kaigaku - who indirectly 'killed his master' as a half-baked apprentice - can compare to....
And Sakumo Hatake was proficient in "Lightning Style," with an especially high talent for "swordsmanship." Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make the ninja world tremble in fear just with a short sword, and even... meet his end due to plot reasons, to make way for Kakashi, thus seeing how extraordinary he was!
"White Fang uncle, you're joking, it's just a bit of my shallow understanding...."
"Shallow?" Facing Roy's modesty, Sakumo Hatake looked at the youth with piercing eyes and nodded in agreement: "To you, it does indeed... it's merely your own...."
Otherwise, in Sakumo Hatake's view, this "Breath of Lightning" was entirely on par with Konoha's famous "Kekkei Genkai" clans, such as the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, and Inuzuka....
Sakumo Hatake pinched a fallen leaf, placed it in his palm, and a flash of lightning instantly turned it to ashes.
Suppressing the fluctuations in his emotions, he stepped aside to clear the shaded path leading to the training ground for Roy: "Go ahead, Minato and the others are waiting for you."
Roy looked up at the sun climbing high into the sky, and suddenly turned to glance in the direction of the Hokage building.....
Konoha, like a rice cooker flipped over in the center location of the Hokage building.....
On the third floor, Hokage's office,
An old man with a pipe in his mouth, his hands forming a figure-eight, continuously channeled chakra into a crystal ball in front of him. He took a puff of his pipe in silence and thought, "I will just watch... won't interfere...."
Roy's gaze turned cold, and he withdrew his sight. This time he no longer used "En" to shield Sarutobi Hiruzen's "Telescope Technique" to open up.....
The reason was none other than, because Roy knew, whatever he did in the training ground next, our beloved peeping Third Hokage would eventually find out. After all... his mentor Minato Namikaze was one of the Sannin, a disciple of Jiraiya, and a disciple's grand disciple of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen?
The youth was neither sad nor happy, his footsteps in motion, simply treating Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze as air, stepping over it... He brushed past Sakumo Hatake's shoulder, not rushing, progressing toward the depths of the southern forest,
"Roy,"
"Protect yourself."
At this moment, a gentle voice chased after the youth's back, reaching his ears.
Sakumo Hatake leaned against a tree, watching the youth, and softly said: "I look forward to our next spar, so,"
"Please make sure to live well!"
Roy paused, a breeze swept through his heart, nudged gently, making him first think of Sakumo Hatake's fate... to abandon a mission to save a comrade, only to be scorned by the village, and more heartbreakingly... the comrade he saved stabbed him in the back for the sake of "political correctness," joining those villagers who scorned him, pointing fingers behind his back. Ultimately, leading to his suicide... it's truly lamentable....
Of course, perhaps there was also the factor of "being too capable overshadowing the master"... Konoha's higher-ups, for the sake of Hokage succession, deliberately turning a blind eye, even pushing from behind...
Roy took a deep breath and sneered: "It's truly filthy,"
Suddenly looking back, he gave a carefree smile to Sakumo Hatake: "So we're settled then, White Fang uncle."
"When I come back from the battlefield, if I don't see you, I won't spare Kakashi...."
Sakumo Hatake paused, lowered his eyebrows, and smiled warmly: "What's that got to do with Kakashi?"
Roy raised his head assertively and said: "A father's fault is passed to the son. If I can't find you, I'll have to settle the score with Kakashi, won't I?"
'Since when did the two of them get along so well?' Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared blankly at this scene—one with white hair, one with black hair, one is a Hatake, one is an Uchiha, one stands at the peak of his prime, with strength surpassing his three disciples, one with extraordinary talent, constantly making astonishing moves... These two should not have crossed paths at all, walking on parallel paths to different lives....
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, took another puff, smoke swirling as he covered the Hokage hat placed in the corner of the desk with a layer of dull "grey"....
The edge of the southern forest,
Sakumo Hatake was thrown off by the youth's quick and seemingly "flimsy reasoning," which, upon reflection, was actually quite logical....
Shaking his head with a silent laugh, he simply stopped responding, just solemnly nodded to the youth, saying: "Okay."
Then, his gaze following the youth's content departure, until he disappeared completely into the depths of the southern forest... He stood silently for a moment more, then his figure vanished into thin air.....
The gentle and serene southern forest....
From time to time, a few bird calls could faintly be heard.....
In the Hokage's office, surrounded by clouds of smoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was shrouded in mystery, hard to discern. The lens kept following Sakumo Hatake for a moment, the old man tapped his pipe down onto the desk, increasing the chakra input, and then——
The lens shifted back to Roy,
Watching as the youth, having bid farewell to Sakumo Hatake, moved leisurely through the woods and flowers, not so much reporting, but rather as if on an outing. It seemed as though... being late by a few minutes wouldn't matter anyway, better to keep going and ease into it, making one unsure whether to call him carefree or lazy, but in any case... he finally reached his destination.....
"You're late." In the southern forest, the training ground, stood three big and one small, on a piece of open ground, surrounded by a circle of human-shaped wooden stakes, four pairs of eyes glaring... curious, probing, complicated, or hidden with a smile watching....
Roy stopped, hands in pockets, looking at Minato Namikaze who stood out from the crowd. The man with his bright golden hair stood like a spiky hedgehog. In an instant, it overlapped with Naruto... so much like, aside from the nose, eyes, ears, mouth, and those fox whiskers on his cheeks, nothing else looked alike... Minato Namikaze indeed was a larger version of Uzumaki Naruto...
"It was White Fang uncle's fault,"
"If he hadn't delayed me, I should have been able to arrive on time," Roy shrugged.
Some white-haired man who had just left the southern forest stumbled, sneezed unexpectedly, along with... a twitch at the corner of some old man's mouth in the Hokage's office, shaking his head with a silent laugh....
"Slick," that's Sarutobi Hiruzen's evaluation of Roy,
And it's also Minato Namikaze's first impression of Roy,
This future Fourth Hokage smiled and said: "I won't ask for reasons, I only look at the results. Late... means punishment."