"Me?"
"That's right, it's you. The point was never whether Shimura Arima would apologize to Mr. Sakumo, but that you, Kakashi, as Mr. Sakumo's only son, went to see Shimura Arima and demanded he apologize to Mr. Sakumo."
Mitsuki looked at Kakashi and said seriously.
His objective, from beginning to end, was to prevent White Fang's suicide; the villagers' public opinion or anything else was secondary.
When he heard the surname Shimura, he understood that getting Shimura Arima to apologize to give White Fang the motivation to live again was probably impossible.
Everyone who had watched Hokage knew who the most famous person with the surname Shimura was—undoubtedly, the 5.5th Hokage, Danzo Shimura. This wasn't Mitsuki's wild guess.
The original plot mentioned that White Fang's squad was on a highly classified mission deep in enemy territory. Such a mission, even if it failed, wouldn't be widely publicized in the Village.
Because for such classified missions, whether successful or failed, the information about the mission's outcome itself held certain value.
During wartime, every Village would inevitably have enemy spies mixed in. If the results of every classified mission were made public, then the Ninja Villages would have been in chaos long ago.
On the other hand, public opinion is, after all, just public opinion. A few spits from villagers might kill a samurai, but trying to kill a Ninja with it would be a joke.
So, the mastermind's objective in this matter was very clear: just make Konoha's White Fang depressed for a while, let him bear some infamy and stains, and that would be enough.
Considering Danzo's objective, he was likely worried that as White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, accumulated more and more military achievements on the battlefield, it would eventually affect Orochimaru's succession as Fourth Hokage.
A White Fang burdened with stains would naturally be unable to compete with the Third Hokage's Disciple, who had a strong background.
This matter naturally couldn't be hidden from the Third Hokage, but the Third Hokage at this time also favored his Disciple, Orochimaru, so he tacitly allowed Danzo's small actions.
There was one thing that neither the Third Hokage nor Danzo Shimura had considered: they had received Ninja education since childhood, and they were even taught by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
In their view, for a Ninja, such public pressure was truly insignificant, but the Hatake Family was different.
As is well known, the Hatake Family transitioned from a Samurai Family, so this kind of insult and cursing was extremely damaging to Sakumo Hatake.
Simply put, Sakumo Hatake's defenses were broken.
Therefore, Mitsuki's objective was also very simple: to give Sakumo Hatake a reason to live. As long as a person has an excuse, death is not a decision that can be made simply.
Moreover, in Mitsuki's opinion, Sakumo Hatake probably didn't have the ambition to become Hokage. He likely wanted to end the war more, and properly accompany Kakashi as he grew up.
"Kakashi, you are Mr. Sakumo's only relative. As long as Mr. Sakumo sees your actions and determination, then as long as his own mindset isn't affected, any external public opinion will eventually disappear with time."
"But so many people in the Village... I'm sorry, I'm not saying I don't believe you, Mitsuki." Although Kakashi believed Mitsuki's words, he couldn't help but worry.
"No 'buts,' trust my judgment." Mitsuki didn't mind Kakashi's words, because he understood the more one cares, the more careful one becomes. He had the same psychology when facing Kento... After reviewing the plan one more time, the four arrived at Konoha Hospital.
After asking the duty Ninja, they went to Shimura Arima's ward.
In front of the ward, Kakashi stepped up and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Excuse us."
Entering the ward, they saw a man half-reclining on the hospital bed. He had short black hair, was wrapped in many bandages, and looked gaunt.
Although it was wartime, Konoha Hospital, as the largest hospital in the Ninja World, did not have overcrowded beds. Shimura Arima's ward only housed him.
"You're Shimura Arima, do you know what you've done?" Obito saw the person he was cursing at and immediately started his tirade.
After all, he also knew that their objective wasn't to make Shimura Arima do anything.
In his opinion, it was enough to just come and scold this scumbag who betrayed his comrades.
"That hair... you're Kakashi, aren't you?" Shimura Arima ignored Obito and instead immediately called out Kakashi's name.
Obito, who was about to say something else, was pulled behind Kakashi by Mitsuki and Rin, one arm each.
"Alright, Obito, let Kakashi do his thing for now." Rin whispered to Obito.
"Hmph..." Although Obito was displeased, he quieted down.
"I want to know why you accused my father. Since Father was willing to abandon the mission to save you, then you two should have had a good relationship, right? Why did you say such things?!"
Kakashi's voice unconsciously grew louder towards the end.
Looking at Kakashi in front of him, even though he was wearing a mask and his expression couldn't be seen.
Shimura Arima didn't answer him. Instead, he grabbed the crutch by the bed and, with some effort, got out of bed from the direction of the door.
It was then that everyone realized that half of Shimura Arima's lower leg was gone.
Shimura Arima limped to Kakashi's front, softly said, "I'm sorry," and then actually knelt before Kakashi, performing a dogeza.
But before Kakashi could say anything, Shimura Arima immediately stood up again, supporting himself with his crutch. Kakashi tried to help him, but Shimura Arima waved him off.
After this, Shimura Arima lay back on the hospital bed, refusing any further communication.
After trying to communicate without success, the group exchanged glances and walked out of Konoha Hospital.
Kakashi had imagined a million scenarios for meeting Shimura Arima, but he had never anticipated this situation.
Although Mitsuki hadn't expected it either, he wasn't unable to understand. Mr. Sakumo wasn't a fool; on the contrary, he was very intelligent.
And a teammate he was willing to interrupt a mission to save would naturally not be some heinous villain.
Moreover, he had noticed that there was a bouquet of carnations by Shimura Arima's bed, and judging by the color of the flowers, they must have been freshly replaced that morning.
However, there was no need to delve into these clues. Regardless of the reason behind Shimura Arima's unusual behavior, it wouldn't affect Mitsuki and the others' subsequent actions.
"Kakashi, what do you think?" Mitsuki wanted to know Kakashi's current thoughts.
"I feel that Shimura Arima didn't seem to accuse my father out of his own will; there might be some reasons I don't know." Kakashi propped his chin with one hand, deep in thought.
"But he doesn't want to talk to us at all now," Obito interjected, grumbling.
"At least we know now that Shimura Arima feels guilty towards Uncle Sakumo. Uncle Sakumo should feel a little better after knowing that," Rin also joined the discussion.
Mitsuki, seeing Kakashi's expression from the side, mused that he needed to give Kakashi a strong dose of medicine.
Mitsuki grabbed Kakashi's shoulders, making him look directly into his eyes.
"Kakashi, there's only one thing you need to do next: you must act with the worst possible outcome in mind—that your father, Sakumo Hatake, might commit suicide due to public opinion—and go persuade your father!"
