Sasuke's rapid growth in strength had been partly due to Hyuga Kagami's guidance, but the decisive factors had still been Sasuke's own potential and talent.
Had it been any other ordinary Uchiha, no matter how hard Hyuga Kagami tried, he likely would not have been able to achieve what Sasuke had now.
After confirming that the two people Orochimaru had just summoned were Konoha's First and Second Hokage, Sasuke recalled the Second Hokage's assessment of him and felt deeply unsettled.
He immediately asked in confusion, "Sensei, why did the Second Hokage say my chakra is evil? I could tell that he bore obvious hostility toward me, but I'd never even met him before!"
Hyuga Kagami pondered briefly before deciding to tell Sasuke the truth. "The Second Hokage's hostility toward you is connected to Madara Uchiha's departure back then."
He then briefly recounted how Madara Uchiha, due to ideological differences with the First Hokage, had betrayed both the village and his clan and left Konoha alone. Years later, he had controlled the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, then fought the First Hokage in a decisive battle at the Valley of the End.
When Hyuga Kagami described Madara Uchiha's strength, Sasuke exclaimed in shock, "What!? Madara Uchiha already had the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan back then, and he controlled the Nine-Tails too? Then... then wouldn't he have been invincible?"
Judging by his own standards, Sasuke felt that in an era with neither the God Organization nor Akatsuki, Madara Uchiha, who possessed both the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the Nine-Tails, should have been unmatched.
Hyuga Kagami said calmly, "Without the First Hokage, Madara Uchiha truly would have been invincible back then."
Sasuke was stunned. "The First Hokage was actually that powerful? He defeated Madara Uchiha, who had the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the Nine-Tails, all