At one corner of the training ground, Minato Namikaze called Kakashi aside with a serious expression, taking him away from Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"Kakashi..."
"There's something I have to tell you myself. Your father, Hatake Sakumo... died during a mission in the Hidden Rain Village."
"The Akatsuki... were far stronger than we expected. He didn't make it back."
Minato took a deep breath as he spoke.
"...Father."
The moment Kakashi heard those words, his whole body froze.
The pupil of his exposed left eye suddenly shrank. His face quickly turned pale, and he unconsciously took half a step back. The copy of Make-Out Paradise slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
"Father..."
Kakashi breathed unevenly. No one could take such a sudden blow easily.
His father was dead?
His father was dead...
Even though Kakashi was now nearly thirty years old and had gone through far more life and death than the young boy he once was, his ability to endure was much stronger than before. Even so, he felt as if a huge stone were blocking his chest, making it hard to breathe.
His eyes quickly grew hot. Tears gathered in them, but he held them back and refused to let them fall.
He bit his lower lip so hard that it nearly bled. His shoulders trembled slightly, yet he still tried his best to keep the calmness and strength expected of a ninja.
"Teacher Minato..."
Keeping his head lowered, Kakashi slowly stepped forward and rested his head against Minato's shoulder, showing a rare moment of weakness.
"Sigh..."
Seeing Kakashi like this, the guilt in Minato's heart surged up once again like a flood, almost drowning him.
He reached out and gently patted Kakashi's back, deep self-blame flashing through his eyes.
First Obito's death, then Rin's sacrifice, and now Sakumo...
This child had already carried far too much pain.
As his teacher, he had failed again and again to protect the people who mattered most to him.
Minato pressed his lips tightly together.
"Kakashi... my condolences. I know this is hard, but... you're not alone. We're all here for you."
From the other side of the training ground, Naruto and the other two sensed that something was wrong, but they did not go over. They simply waited quietly.
———
A few days later, on the top floor of the Hokage Building in Konoha, Minato Namikaze officially announced, as the Fourth Hokage, that the Chunin Exams would soon begin.
At the same time, Konoha sent invitations to many nearby small countries and small ninja villages, showing an open and confident attitude.
This Chunin Exam was being organized together with the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind. It was larger than ever before and clearly showed Konoha's intention to display its strength.
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind, inside the Kazekage's office...
Rasa, Elder Chiyo, and Ebizo sat around a low stone table. The atmosphere was especially heavy.
Rasa wore a gloomy expression, his brows tightly furrowed. His already stern face looked even darker.
"Konoha has completely recovered from the Third Great Ninja War... and it's only getting stronger. This Chunin Exam is probably Konoha's way of showing its strength to the entire ninja world."
With his hands folded on the table, Rasa spoke coldly.
"I really can't understand why a regime like Konoha has managed to survive for so long, and keeps getting stronger."
Three large-scale ninja wars had already broken out throughout history.
Almost every one of them had been closely connected to Konoha.
It could even be said that Konoha had started several of those wars.
Even so, Konoha not only avoided decline after each war, but quickly recovered and became even stronger and more influential, firmly holding its position as the number one ninja village.
This strange pattern of "growing stronger through war" gave Rasa a very bad feeling.
"Having a powerful and warlike neighbor is never a good thing."
Rasa muttered quietly, a cold light flashing through his eyes.
Chiyo spoke calmly, "Based on history, whenever Konoha becomes powerful, the next world war isn't far away."
Ebizo sat beside her with narrowed eyes.
"We have to stay on high alert."
"Minato Namikaze may look like a gentle person on the surface, but that's exactly why we should be even more careful."
"No one knows what he's really planning. Behind a gentle appearance often hides the most dangerous ambition."
"The elder is right."
Rasa nodded in agreement and let out a cold laugh.
"I don't just want to stay alert. I want to strike first! Instead of waiting for them to act, we should make the first move and disrupt Konoha's plans."
The moment those words came out, Chiyo and Ebizo were both shocked. Their expressions changed slightly.
"Rasa, the Hidden Sand can't take any more suffering!"
"Whether old people like us can even return to the battlefield is still unknown, and the younger generation in the village hasn't fully grown yet. If we act rashly now, we'll only drag the Hidden Sand into an even greater crisis."
Chiyo's tone was stern, carrying a clear warning.
"That's right."
Ebizo nodded in agreement, his eyes full of worry.
Rasa's brow twitched, and he quietly clenched his fist.
"If I don't strike first, Konoha will definitely come after us!"
"According to the latest intelligence, Hatake Sakumo is dead, so Konoha has lost one of its main forces. One of the Three Ninja, Orochimaru, has disappeared, and no one knows where he is."
"Tsunade, Jiraiya, Arisu, and the others are already old. I want to use this opportunity to wipe out Konoha's new generation..."
"If we don't act now, all we can do is wait to be swallowed up!"
After saying that, Rasa's eyes grew even darker.
Because of Arisu, Konoha's reputation in the ninja world had actually become much worse than before.
First, Madara Uchiha started the First Great Ninja War.
Although Konoha had not started the Second Great Ninja War, it was deeply involved in it. Especially in the later stages, Konoha was fighting several villages at the same time.
Then Danzo started the Third Great Ninja War to expand Konoha's influence.
All of these actions had left the other countries with a poor impression of Konoha, very different from the original story.
The office fell silent.
Only the sound of the wind and sand howling outside the window could be heard.
The three leaders of the Hidden Sand Village were all lost in their own thoughts.
Clear hesitation appeared on Chiyo's wrinkled old face.
The hand holding her cane trembled slightly, and a complicated look flashed through her cloudy eyes.
Starting the Fourth Great Ninja War...
That decision was simply too heavy.
She did not dare take responsibility for it.
The Hidden Sand Village had already suffered terrible losses in the first three wars, leaving it badly weakened.
If a mistake made by their generation caused the entire village to fall into endless disaster, then old people like them would become sinners for all time, forever nailed to the pillar of shame by future generations.