章節 22: You Are My Hero

'Lightning Release: Lariat'

A clocked his body in lightning Chakra as he charged towards Sakumo. His speed was fast as he was almost about to slam in Sakumo. Sakumo infused chakra in his White Chakra Blade as it shined brighter,

'Kenjutsu Style: Reaper's Slash'

He swung the sword horizontally right in front of the A's neck. A dodged the attack as he ducked down, but he also lost the momentum of the attack. Sakumo immediately made some hand signs,

'Wind Release: Compression Bomb'

Sakumo launched compressed air from his mouth which hit A square in his chest and threw him back countering his lightning cloak and nullifying it. A was thrown back as he spun in the air, he immediately balanced his body as he stopped drifting.

"As expected from the Konoha's White Fang. You are really on a different level."

Blue B praised Sakumo, as he began to weave hand signs,

'Lightning Release: Violent Thunderclap'

Blue B released a bolt of lightning from both of his hands which traveled towards Sakumo. Sakumo made some hand signs as he infused Chakra,

'Wind Release: Violent Wind Breakthrough'

A gale of sharp wind collided with the lightning jutsu and both of them canceled each other out.

'Lightning Release: Double Lariat'

A and Killer B attacked with their tag team jutsu as both of them slammed in Sakumo, crushing him between their jutsu.

Poof

With a poof of white smoke, Sakumo disappeared from their attack.

'It turned out to be a Shadow clone.'

'Kenjutsu Style: Executioner's Slash'

A large blade made of white Chakra horizontally slashed towards A and Killer B. Both of them were hit by the attack, A blocked the attack for Killer B as shielding him with his body as most of the damage was soaked by his lightning cloak. A coughed out lots of blood as he fainted. A got wounded internally, Killer B carried him onto his shoulders.

Blue B got a serious expression as he said,

"I have no choice but to use it or we may die here today."

A dark red, nearly black layer of Chakra began to envelop Blue B. his muscle mass began to increase as two horns began to sprout from his head. The blue shape diamond could be seen around his eye as Chakra bones began to form on his left shoulder. He entered the Version 2 form of the Tailed beast mode as Eight tails appeared on his back.

'Lightning Release: Lariat'

Sakumo sensed the danger he was in as he quickly made some hand signs and slammed them on the ground.

'Summoning Jutsu'

A big, fat bulldog with a big bone in its mouth was summoned on the battlefield. The bulldog sensed the presence of charging Blue B as he spits his bone which plunged in the ground and expanded. Both of them took cover behind the bone as Blue B slammed in the bone.

Boom

Dust and debris rose as Blue B collided with the bone. Blue B was thrown back from the recoil as he felt dizzy and dropped on the ground. There was no damage on the bone, not even a dent.

"This is the thigh bone of Our Old sage Ancestor, who passed away recently. He left this bone as the parting gift to me. It can't be harmed by you Eight-tails."

The big bulldog taunted Blue B. Blue B opened his mouth wide as black and blue bubbles of Chakra were released from his body. The chakra bubbles began to coalesce together as they formed a highly volatile ball of compressed Chakra.

'Shit! This is bad. We need to get away as far as possible from this.' Both the bulldog and Sakumo thought the same thing.

Whoosh ….Swish…

The tailed beast bomb traveled at a very fast speed as it whizzed in the air and collided with the bone.

Boom

A very powerful explosion occurred as both Sakumo and his ninja dog were thrown away by the force of the impact. Sakumo fainted from the shockwave released by the explosion. The bone blocked the explosion without any dent on it. It shrank and returned to the bulldog who carried over an unconscious Sakumo in the direction of Konoha.

On the other side of the explosion, the version 2 chakra mode from Blue B began to fade as Blue B returned to his human form. The use of Tailed beast mode has exhausted and damaged his body, Blue B felt dizzy as his vision blurred. He staggered back and fell unconscious on the ground.

Shortly later, Killer B arrived on the scene and was surprised to see a big gully carved in the forest which at a point split into two separate narrower gorges. He walked towards the Blue B and checks his body. Ensuring the safety of Blue B, Killer B heaves a sigh of relief.

"Fool! Ya Fool! That explosion was very cool. Now I am stuck here with these two fools who lost their cool." He carried both A and Blue B in the direction of Kumogakure.

Their mission was almost complete as they were able to successfully mine lots of Chakra ore. Now their village can start on their secret Project: Chakra cannon.

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After a week, back in the village in the Hokage's office,

Hiruzen was skimming through the report of the mission as he looked at Sakumo Hatake. Sakumo I never expected you to fail the mission. The Land of fire suffered a huge loss as the value of that Chakra ore was very high and most importantly it fell in the hands of Kumogakure.

This will spell trouble for us as Kumo had been strengthening their military forces and that amount of Chakra ore can arm them from head to toe. The rest of his team members stood silently there without responding. All of them blamed the failure of the mission on Sakumo as they were ready to sacrifice their life but were ordered to retreat by their Team Leader Sakumo. Sakumo sighed as he gloomily left the Hokage office.

Various rumors began to spread in the Village further defaming his name. Sakumo stopped taking any missions for a while as he just lifelessly roamed around in the village. Kakashi was worried about his father but was helpless to do anything.

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One year passed in the blink of an eye.

Sakumo had stopped training and as a result, his skills began to decline. This morning, Sakumo came to the street market as thoughts of committing suicide haunted his mind. The murmuring of villagers echoed in his ears as he blamed himself for the failure of the mission. He failed the mission, he failed the village, he failed as a shinobi and also he failed as a father as he wasn't able to fulfill the expectation of Kakashi. He wasn't an Ideal father for his son as people start to call Kakashi the son of a failure.

His train of thoughts was interrupted when an Uchiha boy approached the bench. The boy had hot Takoyaki in his hands and was searching for a place to sit. I raised my head to look at the boy. The boy also looked at me and he looked surprised to see me.

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Izuna was startled when he saw Sakumo in front of him.

'Wait, Isn't he Sakumo Hatake, father of Kakashi. I don't get it, how he is still alive? Maybe it is the butterfly effect caused by my presence. But looking at him now, it looks like somethings still hadn't changed. Well, I was cooped up the entire time in Uchiha clan and wasn't aware of the news. He seems to be at his breaking point, I have to cheer him and stop him from committing suicide.'

"Hello, Uncle Sakumo!"

I politely bowed to him as I greeted him. Sakumo was perplexed to hear me greet him. In confusion, he asked,

"Do I know you boy?"

Izuna was expecting such a question as he replied,

"You may not know about me, but I know you very well. You are my hero Uncle Sakumo. You are my idol and when I grow up I want to be a great Ninja-like you."

"Eh!" Sakumo was surprised when the boy called him a hero and an Idol. He questioned the boy,

"I am a failure of the village. I failed the mission given to me by the village and the village suffered huge losses. How I am still your ideal?"

"No! I don't know about those matters. But for me, you are the hero who saved my parent's life five years ago. If it wasn't for your timely help, I would be an orphan now as I would've….I would've ….."

I began to sob as I feigned weeping. Sakumo immediately consoled the me,

"Don't worry boy, your parents are fine. They would feel worried if you cried…."

Sakumo stopped as it dawned on him,

'If I die wouldn't Kakashi will be like this boy. Wouldn't he worry about me? Wouldn't he also cry in sadness over the loss of his parents? No, I can't take this step. I have to stop for the sake of Kakashi.'

I saw the change is Sakumo's expression. His depressed expression was gone as he was recovering from his self-reproach. He just needs a final push. So, I spoke with the most sincere smile I can produce,

"I don't want you to stop Uncle Sakumo. I am sure you will save many kids from being an orphan. People may not understand your actions, but when they will return home and see their kids smiling at them they will realize it."

Sakumo was stunned when he heard such profound words from this kid.

'This kid is very intelligent and sharp. His knowledge and IQ far surpasses his age. I am sure he will become a great man in the future far surpassing the likes of me. I should train this boy.'

"What's your name boy?" Sakumo asked Izuna.

"My name is Izuna Uchiha."

Izuna sat on the bench as he began to munch on the Takoyaki. He offered them to Sakumo but Sakumo shook his head as he said,

"Eat and grow well kid. For now, I have somewhere to go, if you want to train and grow stronger like me, then meet me after a month."

I was surprised when I heard this. Being trained by a ninja far stronger than Sannins would shorten my training time as he will train me more efficiently."

"Uncle, why it is one month from now?"

Sakumo laughed as he replied,

"Because for the next month, I would have to train myself as I am feeling rusty."

Sakumo disappeared from Izuna's vision as he flickered away with a new spirit.

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A/N:- I could see most of the people hated such a side story. So, this will be the first and last side story of a character.