Chapter 64
On this side, Kakashi handed Natsuki a scroll.
"This contains the sword techniques my father left behind. Study it on your own. I didn't learn it well when I was younger... compared to my father, I fall far short. I probably wouldn't be able to guide you properly. I once tried to master this sword style too, but I could never grasp its essence. So whether you learn it or not... is up to you."
Natsuki received the scroll quietly and stared at Kakashi for a long moment.
Kakashi was puzzled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Natsuki answered honestly, "I thought Kakashi-senpai had given up on Sakumo-senpai's sword style..."
"Heh, so that's what you thought."
Kakashi smiled. "You might be right. There was a time I resented my father for his suicide. I even abandoned his sword style. Later, I understood his will... but perhaps I no longer had the right to inherit his blade. Maybe... that's why I could never truly master it."
Natsuki shook his head. He didn't really understand.
Even after watching the anime, he still didn't fully understand Kakashi.
Those who have experienced too much often carry deep complexities—especially in a twisted world like this, where holding onto one's beliefs is already a precious thing. Maybe Kakashi did understand his father, maybe he didn't...
Perhaps only when he dies like in the original story and meets Sakumo again in the afterlife, having a heart-to-heart as father and son, could he truly understand.
But Natsuki wasn't going to worry about all that. He got what he came for.