After the crowd dispersed, Sakumo pulled Shiro Akira along as they walked back home, shaking his head helplessly. "You shouldn't have stepped forward like that. It'll make you a target for everyone and draw unwanted attention from certain people."
Shiro Akira, however, didn't care. "I'm your student. If even your student isn't willing to stand up, then who will?"
"Besides, that bastard really isn't human. If I didn't curse him out, I wouldn't feel at ease!"
"He was definitely acting under Danzo's orders. Teacher, you're just too kind."
Being a good person alone wasn't enough.
It only made people think you were easy to bully and manipulate.
"You child…"
Sakumo smiled as he patted Shiro Akira's head. The gloom in his heart had already faded considerably.
What replaced it was a sense of relief and warmth.
In the short half-day since returning from the failed mission, he had already experienced the coldness of people.
Kakashi, on the other hand, was still quiet and lacked decisiveness at times like this.
But Shiro Akira was different—clear-headed and willing to step forward.
Sakumo felt that taking Shiro Akira as a disciple had truly been worth it.
At critical moments, this child was like a ray of light, shining into the darkness in his heart and dispersing much of it.
"It's not that I don't understand these things. But that person was probably threatened by Danzo. This was originally a scheme aimed at me. He was just dragged into it—there's no need to target him specifically."
Sakumo shook his head again.
He wasn't foolish. With Shiro Akira's repeated hints over the past month, how could he not see through it?
But he had his own thoughts and concerns.
"Teacher, you're just too kind. You can't always think for others."
Shiro Akira sighed helplessly.
At that moment, they returned to the Hatake residence and stepped into the courtyard.
As soon as they entered, they saw Kakashi standing inside.
When Kakashi saw Shiro Akira, a faint smile appeared on his face as he said gratefully, "Thank you, Shiro Akira."
He had seen and heard everything earlier.
Shiro Akira's words had been spot-on.
And the beating—extremely satisfying.
Truth be told, Kakashi had also wanted to beat up that bastard Kimura himself.
"Don't say silly things. I'm Teacher's disciple."
Shiro Akira smiled and patted his shoulder.
Kakashi returned the smile.
He felt fortunate that their earlier sparring match had allowed his father to discover Shiro Akira's talent and take him in as a disciple.
At the same time, Kakashi realized that aside from being inferior in strength and talent, he was also far behind Shiro Akira in how he handled situations.
From now on, I need to learn from Shiro Akira in this aspect as well…
He never wanted to experience such helplessness again.
"Teacher, for the next six months, I'll be going to the ninja hospital every morning to learn medical ninjutsu from Sister Tsunade. I just wanted to let you know."
After sitting down in the living room, Shiro Akira spoke up.
It was only right to inform Sakumo about this.
If Sakumo hadn't been away this past week, he would have mentioned it earlier.
"Oh?"
Sakumo raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled. "That's a good thing. Your talent for chakra control is exceptional—you should be able to learn medical ninjutsu very well."
"And with Tsunade teaching you, I feel reassured."
"Coincidentally, I've been dealing with a lot of trouble recently. You should come here less often for now. I'm worried Danzo might target you."
From this alone, it was clear what kind of teacher he was.
However, Shiro Akira shook his head in refusal. "I can't agree to that. Since Danzo has already made his move, we can't just passively endure it. If we do, things will only escalate and spiral out of control."
"Danzo won't stop. If possible, he wouldn't mind forcing you to your death. Only then would you no longer stand in the way of his path to becoming Hokage."
"And that is something I absolutely won't allow. We need to take the initiative."
Public opinion was a terrifying thing.
Manipulated public opinion was even worse.
Hadn't there been countless examples of online mob attacks in his previous life?
Sakumo clearly hadn't realized how serious the situation was.
"How do we take the initiative?"
Sakumo looked at Shiro Akira patiently.
This child was mature in thought and highly opinionated—he wanted to hear what solution Shiro Akira had in mind.
He himself had no good ideas.
"It's simple. Two steps."
Shiro Akira raised two fingers. "First, you and I will create a large number of shadow clones and disguise them as ordinary villagers. We'll actively guide the direction of public opinion."
"Danzo is claiming that your mission failure caused massive losses to the village, right?"
"Then what exactly were those losses? Let him make it clear!"
"And are your past contributions not enough to offset this one failure?"
"We should also guide the discussion toward whether abandoning a mission to save comrades is right or wrong."
"We need to make it resonate with the ninja. I refuse to believe that anyone wouldn't want a comrade who would abandon a mission—even bear blame and punishment—to save them."
"I'm sure most rational ninja will stand on your side."
Shiro Akira went on to explain various methods and strategies for guiding public opinion.
Sakumo listened with amazement. "It's hard to believe you're only six years old. These ideas are far from ordinary."
At the same time, he began to understand just how terrifying public opinion could be once manipulated.
He also felt regret and fear over having previously allowed it to spread unchecked.
Fortunately, Shiro Akira had pointed it out—there was still time to turn things around.
"And the second step?"
Sakumo asked further.
Clearly, he had already agreed to the first step.
He wasn't someone who liked to passively endure attacks.
If there was a way to counter effectively, he was willing to try.
Shiro Akira looked at him seriously. "The second step depends on whether you're willing to give up your current position."
"I want you to voluntarily resign from your position as the head of the ANBU to the Third Hokage."
"Only then will you no longer be a threat to Danzo's ambition for the Hokage position—or to the Third Hokage himself."
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