The Traitor?

Swish, swish, swish.

In a forest just outside Konoha, four ninjas darted swiftly among the trees, heading toward the village gate. They had just completed a mission and were on their way back. This mission had gone smoothly, with no significant obstacles, so they were somewhat relaxed.

However, on their way back, they noticed another ninja returning to the village, but unlike them, he was alone. This was unusual, as ninjas typically work in teams for missions outside the village.

"It's him?" Nohara Rin, the only female on the team, seemed to recognize the lone ninja.

"You know him too, Rin?" Uchiha Obito, wearing windproof glasses, quickly looked at the figure in front of them with some wariness.

He also knew who the lone ninja was. Yami Asano had graduated in the same year as them, but his reputation in the village wasn't great. Though he lacked strength and ninjutsu talent, his good looks made him popular among female students.

"Yeah, he was famous in school because he repeated grades so many times." Normally, students graduate from the Ninja Academy at around ten years old, but Yami didn't graduate until he was thirteen.

Rin glanced at another companion beside her. Hatake Kakashi, with his silver-white hair and a mask he rarely took off, was also very famous. Unlike Yami, Kakashi had graduated at the age of five and became a Chunin at six. After this mission, he was likely to be promoted to Jonin. Rin's eyes filled with admiration as she looked at the genius of their generation.

"So that's how you know him, Rin? Haha, that repeater is the worst ninja in school history." Obito breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought Rin cared about Yami because of his looks, but it seemed he was overthinking it. What was he thinking? Rin wasn't that superficial!

"You, the last in our class, have no right to criticize others," Kakashi said, suddenly turning around. Rin, caught staring at his back, quickly lowered her head, blushing.

"Tsk, I represent the elite Uchiha clan." Obito missed Rin's reaction and quickly retorted.

"The elite who was still a Genin until yesterday?"

"You bastard, do you want to fight!?" Feeling insulted, Obito tried to grab Kakashi, but the latter dodged effortlessly.

"Alright, you two, why are you quarreling again after just returning to the village?" Minato Namikaze, their sensei, intervened, withdrawing his gaze from Yami, and thought, 'The young man just now seemed to be returning to the village alone again this time.'

——

"Yami, where are your companions?"

"They died."

"You bastard! Did you let your companions die again?"

"Don't talk like I killed them. I'm just a Genin. I survived because of luck. They lacked both strength and luck."

"Don't think you can get away with that!"

"…"Yami glanced indifferently at his accuser, then allowed the other ninja to grab his collar without offering any resistance. The ninja, a member of the Sarutobi clan, was stationed at the Hokage Building. It was unwise to make enemies with them.

Furthermore, this wasn't the first time Yami had been roughly questioned by other ninjas, who grabbed his collar in front of the Hokage Building.

Ever since he became a Genin and started taking missions outside the village, his companions would die on every mission.

But it was truly absurd. The deaths of his companions were unrelated to him. In fact, other civilian ninja teams suffered even greater losses.

Yet, it was only because he managed to survive each time that he garnered attention.

This led to malicious speculation, which gradually turned into a "politically correct" attitude.

Other ninjas in the village began to mock and insult him, gaining the respect of those who were unaware of the truth.

They claimed he must have killed his companions to remain alive on missions.

Such people as himself should be despised and insulted!

They try to insult him, claiming they are defending the heroes of the village.

Yet, the following day, they would conveniently forget and never speak of those civilian ninjas who died unless Yami returned alive from another mission.

They also completely forgot that just a few years ago, they destroyed one of Konoha's most powerful and promising ninjas using insults and ridicule.

What that ninja did was simply abandon the mission to protect his companions' lives.

How absurd.

"Release him, Maru; the Hokage-sama wants to see him."

"Understood!"

Sarutobi Maru released Yami's collar with visible anger, then reluctantly stepped aside.

The other ninjas in the Hokage Building stared at Yami's figure as he walked in, their expressions filled with similar anger.

"No real emotions, just an act; how boring."

Yami muttered to himself internally, then straightened his wrinkled collar and followed the ninja in front of him into the office where the Hokage was awaiting. 

***

"They mistook us for the real target and sent a jonin and three chunin after us." 

"So you're the only one who survived?"

The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, puffed on his pipe.

He didn't look surprised by Yami's report.

"Yes, I had no intention of fighting from the start, so I was able to escape smoothly."

"But even so, facing pursuit from a jonin and several chunin, how did you manage..."

The Hokage's secretary, standing nearby, couldn't help but interrupt.

After all, this young man miraculously survived every mission.

"Sasaki, you can leave now."

Before the secretary could finish speaking, Sarutobi waved his hand.

"Yes, sir." Seeing that the Hokage had spoken, the secretary dared not say anything more. He hurriedly walked out of the office and carefully closed the door.

"I'm sorry, Sasaki is new here, and it's not good for you to let too many people know that you mastered the secret technique of the Gekkō Clan," the Hokage said.

Sarutobi knew that the young man in front of him was able to survive every mission that was almost certain to end in death only by relying on his ability to use the transparent escape technique.

"It's okay," Yami replied curtly, handing over his mission scroll.

"No, it's not a pleasant thing to be misunderstood by your fellow villagers. Don't worry, one day I will let everyone know that you can escape because you are strong and work hard to survive every dangerous situation just to complete the mission," the amiable-looking Hokage smiled and comforted.

"Compared to those companions who sacrificed their lives, you who survived are the most important. You should not be blamed by anyone."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Yami lowered his head and expressed his gratitude. But his eyes suddenly glowed with a purple hue.

'Sincerity! That's a surprise.' Yami thought as he saw the colored aura surrounding Sarutobi. This was one of his two abilities that let him survive so far, which enabled him to read the others emotions and realize their intentions toward him.

Yami didn't care about other people's opinions since he didn't acknowledge any so-called companions anyway. However, the sincere emotions and words of the Hokage were still quite beautiful. He was almost 'moved' for a second.

"Then I will..." Yami didn't like the smell of tobacco in the room. The Hokage's office without open windows made him feel a little suffocated. And when he used his ability to feel emotions, he felt the emotions of another presence that was hiding in the room, spying on him, but he didn't point him out and acted like he knew nothing.

However, just as Yato was about to leave, there was a knock on the office door.

Knock knock.

"Come in," Sarutobi said, not allowing Yami to leave but instead inviting the person outside the door to enter.

"Hokage-sama," the one trying to come in, was a young ninja with blond hair and blue eyes.

'Isn't this the fastest man in the world, Minato Namikaze, known as the Yellow Flash?'

Because of the other party's great reputation, Yami couldn't help but stare at him for a while.

"Ah, it's that super repeater!"

"Shut up, Obito!"