I am the most popular character in Naruto!

Or perhaps, Sakumo Hatake himself didn't know what he really wanted.

Chiaki fell silent, then pursed her lips and said, "You're a ninja, Hatake Onmyo, not a philosopher."

"Just do what you want, isn't that enough?"

"What should I do if the world slanders me, deceives me, insults me, laughs at me, belittles me, despises me, hates me, and cheats me?"

"Just tolerate him, let him be, let him do as he pleases, avoid him, be patient with him, respect him, ignore him, and wait a few more years, then you'll see what happens to him."

"?"

The future presented Chiaki with a question mark, and Hatake Sakumo also raised his head, presenting Chiaki with a question mark as well.

"Cough cough..."

Qianqiu cleared his throat twice. "In short, I don't understand why you have any reason to be confused."

"The fact that you've gotten this far proves that you're on the right path."

Sakumo Hatake gave a bitter laugh and sighed softly, "How do you know that my path is the right one?"

"Then how do you know that your path is wrong?"

Chiaki placed one hand on the table and confronted Sakumo Hatake head-on.

"The ninja's code is to complete the mission and remain calm. I completely abandoned the ninja's code, which led to the mission's failure."

Sakumo Hatake said somberly, "Even the person I saved didn't understand what I did. He even committed suicide in front of me."

Are the principles that everyone in the world agrees on necessarily the correct principles?

Does a path no one has walked before necessarily mean failure?

Chiaki immediately launched into a tirade of motivational platitudes, forcefully pouring them into Hatake Sakumo's mouth: "If you constantly seek others' understanding, you'll live a very tiring life."

"You're not moving forward on your own; you're being dragged along by others."

"When you do something, as long as you have a clear conscience, nothing else matters!"

"Is Sakumo Hatake really just a man of this caliber?"

"Most people in the world live mediocre lives and accomplish nothing, but you are already one of the few people standing at the top of the world."

"If even you care about other people's opinions, and if your success is due to other people's understanding, then I think your success is quite a failure."

Sakumo Hatake kept his head down and didn't speak. Chiaki took a breath, picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and said, "There's nothing to fear. The only thing you need to worry about is that you're not worthy of your ambition and have failed the hardships you've endured."

"Think about how much hardship you've endured to stand in this position!"

Does what people who haven't experienced these things say really matter?

"Look at Tsunade and the other three legendary Sannin. I'm sure their future achievements will far surpass yours because they've never cared what others think or do; they've only focused on moving towards their own goals!"

"Alright, Qianqiu..."

Sakumo Hatake sullenly stopped Chiaki, "Stop talking."

Drinking too much chicken soup can also cause choking.

Sakumo Hatake wasn't unaware of what Chiaki was saying; it was just that his comrade's suicide had given him too much of a shock, causing a serious conflict between his beliefs and those of the ninja.

The guilt he felt tormented him. If he were still young, like Kakashi in the original story, even if he felt guilty, it wouldn't shake his path; at most, his strength would just stagnate.

Unfortunately, Sakumo Hatake is already a Kage-level expert, and this sense of guilt will always be in his heart, like a fishbone stuck in his throat, from which he cannot extricate himself.

There are only two ways to solve this problem.

Alternatively, the one who tied the knot must untie it; let the fishbone disappear on its own.

But the dead are gone, and that person cannot be resurrected before Sakumo Hatake. Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation is also incomplete, so there's no point in discussing this.

The second method was to have Sakumo Hatake forcibly use a steamed bun to push the fishbone down.

The only way is to make the guilt disappear with an even stronger belief.

"Alright, that's enough, I understand!"

Chiaki put down his teacup, feeling unsatisfied, and grabbed the teacup in front of Mirai, drinking it all in one gulp. He then turned and opened the door to the tea room.

"Hatake Onin, keep up!"

"I'll show you something!"

"?"

Sakumo Hatake watched with a bewildered expression as Chiaki rushed out of the tea room, grabbed Kakashi, and gave him a lecture. Kakashi, equally confused, followed after her to see what kind of trouble she was up to.

Future stood up, tears welling in her eyes; she hadn't even had a sip of that tea...

……

"where are you going?"

Sakumo Hatake followed Chiaki helplessly. Chiaki hopped along on her short legs, bouncing forward again and again, which was really heartbreaking to see.

She looked so tired from dancing...

"Just follow along."

Qianqiu said irritably, she was really worried sick about this guy.

Damn it, she's just a master after all. Why should she worry so much about other men?

I haven't even properly taken care of my own little future yet...

Sakumo Hatake sighed, casually picked up a tengu mask and put it on. In his current state, it was really not appropriate for him to appear in front of the public.

However, almost no one could recognize him when he was wearing the tengu mask.

After all, Hatake Sakumo had concealed his chakra and aura at this moment, and he was not wearing his usual ninja combat uniform, but a simple coarse cloth kimono and a pair of loose wooden clogs.

Such attire is very common in Konoha, and is basically no different from that of ordinary civilians.

The only thing that seems strange is the tengu mask. However, there are quite a few people in Konoha who wear masks. After all, being a ninja is a job that requires secrecy. Over time, people have gotten used to seeing people wearing masks.

Chiaki led Mirai and Hatake Sakumo deeper into Konoha. Because of her short legs, it took her quite a while to bring the two of them to their destination.

"Here we are."

Looking at the place in front of her, she put her hands on her hips and nodded with great satisfaction.

"Isn't this... Training Ground Seven?"

Sakumo Hatake looked around, then looked at Chiaki with some confusion, not quite understanding what he was trying to do.

"Hehe, this is a classic, must-have item, and I think it's perfect for you to learn about."

Chiaki chuckled and looked at Hatake Sakumo meaningfully, "Or perhaps, it's precisely because you don't know about this project that you feel confused."

Chapter 210 Licking to the End

"Reserved items? What are those?"

Sakumo Hatake looked at Chiaki with incomprehension, and Mirai also looked at her with confusion. Chiaki waved her finger and clicked her tongue, saying, "So you feel that there is a conflict between the ideals and the rules."

"Actually, the conflict you're considering is nothing in Konoha. The Third Hokage had already thought about this from the very beginning."

"???"

"Has he considered it?"

Sakumo Hatake said in disbelief, "Then why did he..."

"For no other reason than that he hasn't found a suitable opportunity to change the rules of the ninjas."

Chiaki looked at Hatake Sakumo with pity, "If something really happens to you, then perhaps you are the opportunity this old man has been waiting for..."

"..."

Sakumo Hatake remained silent. Mirai tugged at Chiaki's hand and shook her head at her.

"Qianqiu, you've gone too far..."

"Don't worry, he wouldn't go so far as to die in front of us."

Chiaki spoke calmly, looking at Hatake Sakumo with a threatening gaze, "Besides, if you really die before me and break our agreement, then your son will also be dead, I'm telling you."

"I have countless ways to make your son die silently, remember them!"

Faced with Chiaki's threat, Sakumo Hatake could only sigh with a wry smile. He knew Chiaki very well; don't think she was just talking, she really was capable of doing it, completely unlike a ninja.

"If you can't complete the mission, fine; if you can't protect your comrades, fine; but if you can't even keep your promise, then you're truly a piece of trash, garbage, and worthless for the rest of your life!"

Chiaki glared at Hatake Sakumo, while Mirai helplessly rubbed her forehead; she was already beyond persuasion and had no other choice.

Swoosh

At this moment, a golden light flashed, and a man appeared in front of Qianqiu, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"Chiaki, why did you have Kakashi call me here?"

The golden light belonged to Minato Namikaze. He noticed Kakashi was looking for him, so he ran out from the shadows, only to hear Kakashi say that Chiaki was looking for him.

"Well, let's wait until Kakashi and the others arrive before we talk about it."

Chiaki said to Minato, "You are the main character in this incident."

"?"

Minato tilted his head in confusion, his gaze falling on the tengu mask on Sakumo Hatake's face, his expression strange.

"Lord White Fang, we meet again."

He bowed slightly to Hatake Sakumo, who waved his hand and said, "No need to be so respectful. Just treat me like an ordinary person."

"Indeed, he's just a spectator like me; you'll be in charge when the time comes."

Chiaki reached out and tied her short, flowing hair into pigtails, then winked playfully at Minato.

"Oh, right, and she'll be assisting you in the future. I'll give her specific instructions."

"There's nothing I can do. I don't have the power right now, so I can only rely on the future for help."

Although she had some doubts about the future, she nodded vigorously, "Yes, I will do my best to help in any way I can!"

She was very clear about her and Chiaki's ultimate goal: to save Hatake Sakumo, help him resolve his inner conflicts, and prevent him from committing suicide.