Chapter 43

Chapter 43

"Ahem... Haneda, take good care of yourself. I'll visit you again in a few days."

The Third Hokage coughed a few times and spoke.

His original plan to negotiate with Haneda, to reach a satisfactory agreement at a minimal cost, had completely fallen apart. Now, he could only hope that the Uchiha clan leader wouldn't make unreasonable demands.

The Third Hokage could vaguely sense that Haneda was not very pleased with the result he'd been offered.

"Understood, Lord Hokage. Take care." Haneda smiled as he replied.

Once the Third Hokage left, the atmosphere in the room shifted immediately.

Obito began chattering non-stop in Haneda's ear.

"You jerk, Haneda! You left me behind again to go on a mission with that idiot Kakashi!!"

"And you got injured! With your small frame, how could you handle that?!"

Obito's voice carried a hint of resentment, making Haneda chuckle.

"Alright, alright. Everything's fine now, isn't it, Obito?"

"And besides, Kakashi's just fine too. He just needs to rest for a few days."

Haneda reassured him.

"Fine? I heard from Uncle Sakumo that Kakashi's back was blasted to pieces—if they hadn't treated him in time, he could have died!"

"Haneda, you idiot! Why would you take on such a dangerous mission with that fool Kakashi?!"

Hearing Obito's complaints, which were filled with genuine concern, Haneda kept comforting him.

"Alright, alright. I promise you, I won't take on missions like that again."

"You know me—I'm pretty cautious. If I don't think it's necessary, I won't jump into action easily."

"Of course, this time was just an accident. I had no idea things would turn out this way."

After calming Obito down, Haneda turned his gaze to Gai.

Tsunade had told him that last night, Uncle Dai had been promoted from a Genin to an elite Jōnin in one leap. Haneda was curious to see how Gai would react.

"Gai, I heard that the Hokage personally promoted Uncle Dai to elite Jōnin last night. Is that true?"

Gai's excitement surged as he replied:

"Haneda, it's all thanks to you!"

"If you hadn't helped my dad get that temporary position on the Hokage's guard team, he wouldn't have gotten this much recognition from the Hokage!"

"When I came to see you, I ran into those two Chūnin from the other day, and they immediately avoided me, haha!"

"No one calls my dad a 'forever Genin' anymore. Instead, they talk about him as a hero of Konoha!"

At the mention of the word "hero," Gai's excitement grew even more.

"They say things like, 'A golden dragon is not meant to stay in a pond; once the winds rise, it soars into the sky.'"

"It's a bit poetic, but that's the gist of it."

Haneda could feel Gai's happiness and gratitude in his voice and smile.

However, Haneda wasn't keen on taking all the credit.

In his opinion, for someone with true strength, receiving proper recognition was just a matter of when, not if.

It was just a question of wanting it or not.

Uncle Dai's case was unique—he had such self-discipline that he had been doing D-rank missions for decades without ever using the Eight Gates.

"Uncle Dai just needed the right stage. I simply pushed him onto it."

"The real performance is all thanks to Uncle Dai himself."

"He walked to the center of the stage on his own—it's like I just gave him a ticket."

Haneda downplayed his role, not wanting to claim all the credit for himself.

"Maybe you're right, but my dad and I are still really grateful to you."

Gai held Haneda's hand and, in a rare moment of seriousness, looked him straight in the eyes.

The intensity of the gaze startled Haneda.

Quickly averting his eyes, Haneda glanced at the affection system.

Throughout the night, the system had been ringing dozens of times!

Uncle Dai's affection had risen to 230—unbelievable!

Gai's affection had shot up even higher, reaching 280!!!

Even the Eight Gates, which Haneda had considered giving up on, came with this increase, unlocking his understanding of the fourth gate—Gate of Pain!

This meant Haneda could easily open the first four gates with just a bit of practice!

After all, even the primary Lotus technique, which only required three gates, would allow Haneda to dominate in the Chūnin rank!

But with the sudden surge in affection, Haneda couldn't help but recall the image of Uncle Dai and Gai embracing and crying together.

The thought of it made Haneda shake his head, trying to clear away the complex emotions.

"Alright, Gai, you're squeezing Haneda's hand too hard—it's turning red," Rin reminded him gently.

"Yeah, you stupid watermelon head! Get your dirty hands off Haneda!" Obito chimed in.

Hearing Rin's soft voice, Haneda looked over and gave her a grateful smile.

This unexpected gratitude left Rin feeling a little puzzled, but she chalked it up to helping Haneda get out of Gai's overly enthusiastic grip.

Noticing the tired look on Haneda's face, Rin gently tugged on Obito's hand and whispered:

"Obito, Haneda just woke up. Let's not disturb his rest any longer."

"We should go now. Gai, do you want to come with us to visit Kakashi?"

"I heard he's awake now."

Seeing Haneda's weary face, Gai nodded:

"Alright. Haneda, we'll go check on Kakashi now. You take it easy and rest up."

"By the way, make sure you recover well. Once I beat Kakashi, I'll come challenge you!"

"Sure, I'll be waiting."

Haneda agreed, though he doubted Gai could defeat Kakashi unless he opened the Eight Gates.

However, the mention of Kakashi made Haneda fall silent for a moment.

As time passed, he heard the sound of footsteps gradually fading away, followed by the door closing.

Unable to hold back any longer, Haneda called out to them:

"Could you do me a favor? Just tell Kakashi... tell him, thank you."

...

Once they were gone, the hospital room became quiet again.

Though Haneda had grown accustomed to solitude, the silence now felt strange.

In truth, he liked having friends and people who cared about him, even though he had approached these relationships with clear intentions.

Haneda recalled a saying he once read online:

"Don't listen to what the Uchiha say, watch their eyes. Their eyes will speak for them."

When faced with it himself, Haneda, though stubborn, had to admit that he liked having these friends and close companions.

After resting for a while, the expected visitors arrived—Fugaku and the clan leader.

Fugaku entered carrying his eldest son's favorite treat, three-color dango, intending to place it on the bedside table.

The table was already filled with various gifts—apples, bananas, oranges, even carnations and lilies.

Fugaku had to rearrange the table a bit before placing the dango down.

Just as he was about to hand one to Haneda, the clan leader suddenly coughed and said:

"Haneda, what exactly happened last night? Were you ambushed?"

"All information about the incident has been completely sealed by the Hokage. I've asked around, but no one is talking."

***

To read an advance 65+ chapters

Support me at p@treon.com/NahinS77

Change @ to a

Or go to that website and search NahinS77

Thanks for reading. Stay safe.