Pain, Lament

At that tense moment, a small figure burst into everyone's view.

The tiny seven-year-old Sasuke Uchiha came running barefoot. Who knew what he had stepped on along the way? The soles of his feet were already a bloody mess, leaving tiny, childish bloodstained footprints across the road.

He paid no attention to his injuries. Only when he saw "Shisui Uchiha" with his own eyes did a smile finally bloom on his pale little face.

Finally, finally, he was no longer alone!

Thank goodness, thank goodness!

Sasuke was almost overcome with joy, and he really did cry. The tears he had held back since last night came pouring from his eyes all at once.

Tears and snot streamed down together. His little face, once so cute it was almost pretty, was instantly stained with tears and became nearly unbearable to look at.

"Brother Shisui, you're alive. Thank goodness!"

"Itachi has gone mad. He killed Father and Mother, and he killed so many clan members, but he didn't kill me. Why didn't he kill me? I really, really wanted to die with them!"

He had only managed to say two short sentences.

After enduring, in a single night, a horrific family tragedy that would have driven even an adult insane, the mental torment of the Mangekyo genjutsu Tsukuyomi, and painful nightmares for most of the night, seven-year-old Sasuke Uchiha—

simply fell asleep standing upright. Or rather, his body's instinct for self-preservation had made him pass out from shock.

With his heart finally finding something to cling to and his obsession temporarily laid down, he finally stopped tormenting his body. He was finally willing to let himself rest.

Before Sasuke's tiny body could fall, the Shadow Clone of "Shisui Uchiha" had already appeared beside him and reached out to catch him.

Daren Yi felt completely helpless. This pitiful little "animal" had not been part of his plan. Taking care of children was something he truly had no idea how to do!

He was only thirteen in this life. Technically, he was still a child himself!

Sasuke had only spoken two short sentences, but Kakashi, standing nearby, was deeply shaken.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you deserve to die!"

Itachi Uchiha had killed his own parents and clan members, yet spared his younger brother Sasuke Uchiha.

Obito Uchiha had killed his own teacher and teacher's wife, yet spared Kakashi, his fellow disciple.

The striking similarity between those two events severely rattled him. In his daze, it was as though he had returned to that night seven years ago—except this time, it seemed he had witnessed that tragedy with his own eyes.

To him, two events with such overwhelming similarities were nothing less than the perpetrators openly flaunting their twisted tastes!

Like a perverted serial murder case, serial killers usually had fixed patterns. The victims suffered similar fates, and the survivors were left in similar circumstances. The killer satisfied their warped, perverse mind through the extreme uniformity of form and content!

What a vile, twisted taste...

"Why? Why didn't you let Obito kill me too seven years ago? Why did you leave me alone in this world to suffer?"

Kakashi asked in despair, tears soaking his mask.

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth but said nothing. Would any explanation even matter now? Probably not.

Shadow Binding Technique!

The instant Kakashi fell into a daze, Shikaku Nara's Yin Release secret technique connected with his shadow.

All his movements were sealed, and he could not move in the slightest.

"Kakashi, this isn't the first time! You must be careful. In battle, you absolutely cannot dwell on painful memories from the past.

Getting distracted on the battlefield can cost you your life!"

Shikaku Nara sincerely warned him, his feelings complicated.

Unfortunate people often suffered even more misfortune because of the misfortunes of their past.

Just like the chain-reaction traffic accidents that occasionally happened in Konohagakure.

Though he had used that weakness to subdue Kakashi in an instant, he could not feel happy about it at all.

Kakashi said nothing. He merely wept silently, and not even the faintest trace of light could be found in his despairing eyes.

Save me. Who can help me? Is there anyone like that?

"Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall!"

Tenzo, who had stood there dumbfounded the entire time and had not reacted even when Kakashi held a blade to his throat, suddenly formed hand seals.

A row of wooden pillars rose from the ground and curved into an arched wall, enclosing and protecting both himself and Kakashi.

Everyone fell silent. Had this Wood Style ninja chosen his companion over the Third Hokage?

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi instead regained his calm. He pushed past the crowd, quietly raised his head, and stared at "Shisui Uchiha," who seemed to be watching a monkey show, merely observing their performance without interfering.

"Shisui, do you still believe in the Will of Fire?"

"I once did! But during the time I faked my death, I secretly investigated many things. I also traveled to many places and saw many, many things.

"I discovered that good people usually lived painful lives, while evil people often lived freely and happily. That is unfair."

"That is simply how the world is. It is the price one must pay for being a good person!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have fully recovered. The calm kindness he usually wore had actually returned to his face.

He even had the leisure to chat and share his thoughts with "Shisui Uchiha," his mortal enemy.

"No, that is wrong! Wrong things must be corrected.

"If the world has always been this way, then the world itself is wrong. What needs to be corrected is this world."

How could one describe "Shisui Uchiha's" expression at this moment?

Even justice was made to sound stubborn and arrogant to the point of near-extremist madness.

One could only say, that was very Uchiha!

"Let good deeds be rewarded and evil be repaid—this is my Nindō now!

"Third Hokage, this actually is not that difficult. We only need to transfer the suffering endured by good people onto evil people, isn't that right?"

"Shisui Uchiha" smiled as he stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his tone filled with malicious mockery as he emphasized,

"Good people should not suffer.

"You are a great villain, so you can suffer a tiny, tiny bit more in their place!"

"..."

That was far too much suffering. He could not bear it!

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile. "You hate me that much, so why not kill me?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, are you eagerly hoping that I will kill you now?"

"If my death can resolve the misunderstanding between you and Konohagakure, then I am willing to die!"

The look in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes as he watched Shisui Uchiha was extraordinarily complicated: hatred, anger, guilt, resentment, confusion... until finally, it became relief.

He wanted to quickly put an end to his life. He was tired—his heart was tired, truly tired. He had suddenly realized that he could no longer understand the world as it was now...

"Lord Hokage!"... The many ninja were horrified, and many had already prepared themselves for battle.

It was one thing for Hiruzen Sarutobi to be suspected and questioned. It was another entirely for him to be publicly killed as the Hokage.

That would mean that, whether everyone wanted it or not, battle and conflict would become difficult to avoid to some extent. At the very least, the Sarutobi Clan would never accept it.

"Is that so?

"However, I refuse!"

"Shisui Uchiha" crossed his hands in a gesture of refusal, coldly describing the "curse" he had laid upon him.

"Some people care far more about their reputation than their own lives. The fear brought by death is far less than the fear of losing their reputation!

"Right now, the Human World is Avici Hell for you. Every extra day you live will mean another day of pain and torment in hell.

"Every remark and doubt whispered behind your back by those who once respected and worshipped you will be a blade stabbing into your heart.

"So suffer, lament, and live on in this ugly state!

"Wait until the day when the person you once pushed into hell stands in the position of Hokage and publicly judges you, Rogue Ninja, before everyone in Konohagakure!

"And do not be too impatient. That day will arrive very soon!"