Konoha: Tsunade, I am the Hokage

Chapter 32: Which is more important? I want them all!

"Kakashi, we finally found a less crowded hot spring, aren't you going to take a bath?"

Sunset Red Road.

Kakashi shook his head.

Taking a bath?

It will hinder your cultivation!

His mind was completely focused on making pills; he didn't think about anything else until he mastered the technique.

Although we can do it to a basic extent now, we are still a long way from mastering it.

We still need to work harder!

Kakashi tried to hold onto the dumpling, but he quickly lost his grip and the dumpling loosened.

I've learned it.

But I didn't learn it completely.

However, Kakashi has only been learning for a few days, which is already a very fast learning speed.

Jingyan watched from the outside.

Upon seeing this, he immediately walked in.

"Let's go together. The bathhouses are right next to each other, so we can help each other out if someone attacks."

Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Where are they?"

It was referring to those two Hidden Mist ninjas.

Jingyan said, "The teacher is watching, so don't worry. Come on, let's chat and relax; maybe that will make it easier to manage."

Without giving Kakashi a chance to choose, he went inside on his own.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment, but finally followed.

Grab your clothes and take off your mask.

The two soaked in the hot spring attached to the hotel, feeling all the fatigue of the day disappear.

but.

Kakashi glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but think of what had happened during the day.

As Jingyan and the others said, many tasks are not actually that important, and a temporary delay is not a problem, but if Jingyan is like his past self...

He can't do what Kyohiko did.

Which is right and wrong?

He had no answer in his heart and was very confused.

Leaning against the edge of a rock, Kakashi looked up at the starry sky and suddenly spoke.

"Kyohiko."

"Um?"

Kyohiko lay in the hot spring, his body quite relaxed, but his mind remained alert to the outside world. His chakra seeped out with the mist to prevent anyone from lying in ambush nearby.

Kakashi spoke, and he immediately snapped out of his reverie.

At this moment, Kakashi had sat up straight, and his face, now without his mask, was quite handsome, but filled with confusion.

"I don't know how to say it."

"Let's chat casually."

"If you had to choose between a mission and a partner, which would you choose?"

Kakashi appeared casual, but his upright posture and tense expression revealed that he was not as calm as he seemed.

This problem is a continuation of Sakumo Hatake's suicide.

Jingyan must take this seriously.

He thought about it for a long time.

He didn't entirely agree with Kakashi's later ways of thinking.

A "whoosh" sound came from next door.

Clearly, Kurenai was also curious about this and moved closer to listen in.

Jingyan said, "I think there is no standard answer to this question. In the words of the Second Hokage, there are many things in the world that do not have standard answers."

"How so?"

Kakashi was puzzled, and even more shocked.

Can this issue even involve the Second Hokage?

According to his past thinking, there was only one answer—

The mission is more important!

He has always done it this way.

but.

Recently, various events have given him new insights that have clashed sharply with his past understanding.

This is also the reason for his mental distress.

Kyohiko replied.

"As the Second Hokage said, things aren't simply black and white; different situations call for different choices. For example, in a mission like today's, should I abandon my teammates?"

"..."

Yes.

Kakashi thought to himself.

From his perspective, anyone who doesn't help the mission and instead hinders it is undoubtedly useless.

Even if this person is himself now, he should still be abandoned.

"Shouldn't we at least not waste resources protecting it?"

"Our team is capable of handling both without any problems, so why should we give up?"

"..."

Kakashi was stumped by the question.

He pondered, recalling some trivial conflicts that had occurred in the two years since graduation.

Yes.

Why?

He stumped himself right from the start.

Kakashi was speechless.

Kurenai Yuhi next door also has a strange way of thinking, just like Kakashi.

Because, in her eyes, Jingyan's choice was a very ordinary thing!

Shouldn't ninjas act like this?

Kakashi remained silent for a long time before asking, "Then when should the mission take precedence?"

"If we are on a mission to save more people, and we are all prepared to sacrifice ourselves before we set off, then in a desperate situation where we can only choose one, I will choose to carry out the mission first."

Jingyan leaned against the rock.

Tasks vary in importance.

While someone like White Tooth was certainly too impulsive, the subsequent shift in public opinion suggests there were some issues involved...

Jingyan also didn't believe it.

Kakashi's eyes dimmed.

"So, the mission should indeed be the priority?"

"???"

Jingyan tilted his head, looking confused.

So all my previous advice was for nothing?

He was silent.

Kakashi listened for a long time, but the last sentence was more effective.

Are you also Yuan Shao?

Impressed!

Unfortunately, Kyohiko couldn't comment on the "Sakuya suicide" incident.

Because the higher-ups claimed that White Fang died during a mission, not by suicide, the Jonin naturally had the ability to know the truth, but Kyohiko shouldn't have known.

He could only remain silent.

"Kakashi, you can't get stuck on this!"

A shout came from next door from Kurenai Yuhi.

Kakashi recovered, and after a moment of confusion, he remembered what Kyohiko had said earlier—

This is not absolute; we shouldn't go to extremes.

He remained silent for a long time before saying, "Would you like to hear a story?"

"certainly."

Jingyan sat up straighter.

Kakashi said, "Once upon a time, there was a samurai..."

He incorporated the story of Sakumo Hatake into the accounts of early samurai and recounted it.

Then, he cautiously asked, "Do you think the samurai did the right thing?"

"He may not be right, but there's something about this that I find very strange."

Jingyan's tone was serious.

Kakashi paused for a moment, then asked, "What is it?"

"If that samurai's companion was truly unafraid of death, why did he return to the village alive in the end? If he was truly ready to die, why didn't he commit suicide to make the samurai give up on saving him after learning that his companion had returned for him? Perhaps it wouldn't have been too late to go back?"

Jingyan asked in confusion.

Kakashi was completely dumbfounded.

This……

He didn't even consider it!

Kakashi sat there, completely bewildered. In the past, he had only considered whether his father was right or wrong, never taking into account the situation of the person he had saved.

Yup!

He was so righteous, why didn't he commit suicide back then and force his father to go back?

"In particular, that person should know very well what kind of person a samurai is, right? Otherwise, why would he become a partner?"

"..."

Kakashi blinked, speechless for a moment.

Then, Kyohiko got up and wiped himself off.

"I don't understand the deeper issues, but I think that samurai was remarkable."

Why?

"I've recently read some books, and I'd like to borrow some of their ideas to offer my understanding. The fundamental question he faced was: were samurai tools or human beings?"

Jingyan said, his tone filled with confusion, "I have no answer."

"Tool or person?"

Kakashi muttered to himself.

So that's where the problem lies!

He seemed to awaken from a dream, only to fall into a new state of confusion—

Which one is more important?

"Kyohiko, this is a very profound question. I didn't even think of that."

The sound of Kurenai Yuhi came from next door.

Jingyan shook his head.

"I also read a lot of books, and there are similar questions in them."

"So how did he do it?"

"Establishing ninja villages and ninja schools, stipulating that children can only participate in missions after graduating at the age of twelve, ensured both the efficiency of mission execution and the protection of children's lives."

Kyohiko replied.

Kakashi and Kurenai immediately understood—

He's the Second Hokage!

"Another one is that, in her early years, Lady Tsunade insisted on implementing the medical ninja system that accompanied the team, despite opposition, in order to reduce casualties."

"Medical ninja..."

Kakashi's vision gradually cleared.

Although Kyohiko didn't say it, he vaguely understood what the other person was thinking.

Both the mission and your companions are important!

Ninjas are not tools; their lives should also be valued.

After all, Kyohiko's parents also died in the war.

(End of this chapter)