Chapter 433: The Troubles of Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sasuke
To Hotaru Hyuga's surprise, the surgery removed eleven Sharingan from Danzo, and the process was very smooth; Danzo did not resist.
However, the Mangekyo Sharingan belonging to Shisui, which Hotaru Hyuga imagined should be on Danzo, was not there.
Eleven Sharingan, all ordinary tomoe Sharingan.
This made all the elaborate setup Hotaru Hyuga had painstakingly arranged a waste of effort.
"Did he really not take Shisui's eye?" Looking at Danzo unconscious on the ground, Hotaru Hyuga frowned tightly, thinking deeply.
"If the thread of Shisui is broken, the only crimes left to accuse Danzo of in the Uchiha Massacre are insulting corpses and privately hoarding Sharingan..."
The Byakugan woman was somewhat distressed.
But she had no choice.
Cleaning up the loose ends of the mission, Hotaru Hyuga sighed silently and said to everyone: "That's it for today's mission. Thank you for your cooperation, everyone can go back now."
Saying that, she took out a scroll, preparing to seal the Sharingan into it.
"Wait a minute, Captain, I have a question!" Someone shouted loudly.
Hotaru Hyuga frowned slightly and looked intently. The person speaking was surprisingly Sasuke Uchiha.
It's actually him? Truly...
Unexpected, yet reasonable.
"That old immortal really hit the mark..." Hotaru Hyuga cursed secretly in her heart, but with a smile on her face, she said: "Is there something wrong, Sasuke?"
"Captain Hyuga," the black-haired boy stared at the eleven Sharingan near Hotaru Hyuga's hand with a pair of scarlet eyes, looking coldly, "Please return them to me... These are Uchiha's belongings."
Sasuke's tone was quite direct and stiff, carrying a strong hint that he would snatch them if not given.
"Sasuke Uchiha..." The smile on Hotaru Hyuga's face quickly vanished, and she looked at him expressionlessly, "The Sharingan in my hand are stolen goods to be handed over to Hokage-sama, not belonging to a certain clan in Konoha. Do you know what you are saying?"
"I said..." Sasuke's tone was cold, and the three tomoe in his eyes began to spin rapidly, "Give the Sharingan back to me!"
"Sasuke!"
Kakashi frowned deeply and wanted to hold Sasuke back, but was shaken off by the latter, who glared at him fiercely: "Please don't stop me, Kakashi!"
Kakashi once again exposed his incompetence as a teacher: only at this moment did Kakashi know how heavily Sasuke regarded his clan in his heart. Born into a small clan, with his father committing suicide when he was young—a very dishonorable death—Kakashi had never experienced what is called clan glory in his heart. Therefore, he in the original story never understood why Sasuke defected; so, at this moment, he also couldn't understand why Sasuke would suddenly stand up and directly conflict with Hotaru Hyuga for a few Sharingan.
Being publicly shaken off and scolded by his disciple, Kakashi felt... like he was slapped in the face by Sasuke.
Sadness. Anger. Then... helplessness.
"Stop it, Sasuke..." For the first time, Kakashi realized he was so powerless.
Hotaru Hyuga frowned tightly.
"I..."
Afterwards, some people gossiped that people from the Uchiha clan and the Hyuga clan fought in the hospital, and the matter was brought before Tsunade.
They described the scene vividly, as if they had really seen the conflict between Sasuke and Hotaru Hyuga at the scene; but if asked about some details, the inquirer could easily find clues of piecing together in the answers—the material mostly originated from the tit-for-tat dramas staged occasionally by Konoha's two major dojutsu clans in the past decades before the Uchiha were exterminated.
However, the truth was that Hotaru Hyuga took a step back—
She yielded the Sharingan to Sasuke.
Although the atmosphere became very stiff, it did not brew into a conflict.
In fact, since Hotaru Hyuga called Sasuke, she naturally was prepared for this scene and had long thought of a plan to deal with it.
Tsunade was noncommittal about this disposal plan.
Actually, she also had a bit of a headache.
Logically speaking, this incident belonged to Uchiha's severe contempt for the village's authority and needed to be dealt with seriously. If it were in the past, not only would the Sharingan have to be returned, but Sasuke would also receive a major demerit. But... now the entire Uchiha clan only had Sasuke left, and he was at the age of chunibyo. Being extreme, emotional, and disregarding consequences were characteristics of all boys in this age group after entering the rebellious phase, not just an Uchiha problem.
Although the Uchiha's chunibyo phase was a tad longer than average people.
If dealt with strictly according to procedure, the village's face would be saved, but Sasuke would be ruined, and Konoha would lose a future top-tier combat power... Besides, considering his relationship with Haruno Sakura and others, even just for Sakura's sake, Sasuke couldn't be dealt with so roughly.
So as an excellent Hokage, for the future of Konoha, the methods could be slightly flexible and not too rigid.
Since Hotaru Hyuga chose not to intensify the conflict, Tsunade had much more room to maneuver.
She called Kakashi over.
"Sasuke and I haven't spoken for two days..." As soon as he came in, Kakashi smiled bitterly and said, "It's probably useless for you to ask me about Sasuke."
"Who else would I ask if not you?" Tsunade reprimanded grumpily, "I haven't pursued your responsibility yet! As a master, you actually lack such understanding of Sasuke and didn't guide your disciple's growth well! Leading to such a mess."
Eh? Pulling Sasuke into this mission, you also nodded and agreed, right? Meaning, you also have a share in carrying this blame, right?
Kakashi roasted inwardly.
He hesitated: "I... that... sorry, Tsunade-sama, this is my dereliction of duty."
Tsunade looked at Kakashi taking the blame actively with relief and smiled: "Actually, the problem is not as serious as you think. Probing Sasuke's true thoughts this time was also one of the hidden intentions of the mission. Although the result isn't ideal, it's not the worst! The education of the Will of Fire has been somewhat effective."
"Go do some ideological work on Sasuke! He just can't think it through for a moment and is being awkward. It'll be fine once talked through. The key to the problem is not the Sharingan, you should understand. Whether there are those eleven Sharingan or not has little impact on the village; we only care about the person Sasuke Uchiha..."
Sasuke might not have realized that his identity was quite special.
Itachi Uchiha's younger brother, Haruno Sakura's companion, Naruto Uzumaki's companion, and... a genius boy with the potential to be a future "Kage" level.
Every layer of identity plated Sasuke with a layer of protective gold. Unless he committed an unforgivable crime, it was really hard for Tsunade to severely punish his willfulness. She could only put in more effort and work to help him think it through and admit his mistake himself.
"Alright... I'll do my best." Kakashi scratched his head and sighed, "However, once this kid's thoughts enter a dead end, he won't come out for a while."
Tsunade smiled and shook her finger.
"Hehe," she looked at Kakashi meaningfully and said, "You hold two trump cards that can absolutely change Sasuke's mind..."
Kakashi rubbed his chin and walked out of the Hokage's office thoughtfully.
"Hokage-sama's reminder is correct, but how to start? Trump cards can't be played as soon as I start..."
Walking out of the Hokage Building, Kakashi pondered this question while walking aimlessly and slowly on the streets of Konoha.
Then he found that he had subconsciously arrived at the training ground often used by Team 7.
Team Kakashi's first mission, snatching the bells, was carried out here.
All stories also started here.
And on the three classic wooden stakes by the field, unbeknownst to him when, a boy was sitting quietly, head lowered, frowning, as if thinking about something.
Seeing each other, both were stunned.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"...Sasuke!" Kakashi called out the boy's name with mixed feelings.
Sasuke Uchiha hesitated for a moment, jumped off the wooden stake, and walked slowly towards Kakashi.
The white-haired young man had a bit of a headache. What would Sasuke say coming over? He hadn't thought about how to communicate with Sasuke yet... What if Sasuke said some extreme words, what should be done?
If Sasuke...
Kakashi stared at Sasuke getting closer and closer, until he walked in front of him, and then—
Bowed straight at ninety degrees.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei! That day... I shouldn't have treated you with that attitude."
The black-haired boy said sincerely.
"Hn...?" Kakashi was stunned, then patted Sasuke's shoulder and laughed, "I accept your apology, Sasuke!"
Not as insensible as imagined.
Kakashi felt sweet inside.
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