Extreme Self-Centeredness

"Do it!"

At the command of that icy voice, countless masked shinobi stormed into the Uchiha Clan's district and raised their slaughtering blades against the Uchiha clansmen.

The former neighbors died one after another. It was a one-sided massacre. Before long, a group of people arrived at Kagami's door.

Kagami opened the door and was just about to go to school, but what greeted him was not the fresh air and sunlight of the past. Instead, a bloodied blade came slashing viciously toward his face! There was no way to dodge it. Was he going to die?!

"Ah!"

Kagami jolted upright in bed. He looked at his unharmed hands, touched his face, and spoke with lingering fear.

"So it was a dream."

Propping up one side of his face with his hand, Kagami looked gloomy. Although it had only been a dream, it had made him realize something.

"Is that event about to happen?"

On the new day, Kagami arrived at the Ninja Academy. The way everyone around him looked at him had clearly changed. A few days ago, there had been people who were indignant, people who admired him, and people who hated him. Today, however, most wore expressions of admiration and complexity.

It seemed those two Great Fireball Jutsu had been quite powerful. They had directly extinguished the dissatisfaction in some people's hearts and made them fully understand the gap in strength.

For the rest of the day, Iruka no longer arranged even a single fight for Kagami. Clearly, Iruka understood that with this bunch of brats, it was impossible for them to pose any threat to Kagami. The gap in strength was too great, and they lost too quickly to learn anything from him.

Kagami was happy to have nothing to do. He simply stood off to the side, bored and lost in thought. No one knew what was on his mind.

After school that afternoon, Kagami arrived at the training ground. When he saw Shisui, however, he did not attack this time. Instead, he walked straight up to Shisui and lightly bit his lip, as if steeling his resolve.

"Shisui-nii, I want to ask you something."

Shisui looked at Kagami strangely.

"You look so serious. Is something important? Go ahead and ask."

Kagami's gaze locked firmly onto Shisui's face.

"Shisui-nii, have you awakened the legendary Mangekyo?"

Shisui's pupils contracted. He stared at Kagami and growled.

"Who told you?!"

Shisui's reaction startled Kagami. He had not expected him to react so strongly.

"I-I guessed."

Shisui continued to stare at Kagami, then asked again for confirmation.

"Are you sure? Kagami, this is not the time to lie. I want you to tell me the truth."

Kagami shook his head frantically. Shisui seemed a little frightening now.

"Shisui-nii, no one really told me. I really did guess."

Shisui slowly closed his eyes, and the tension that had just gripped him vanished. When he opened them again, he spoke gently.

"Good. As long as no one told you. I thought Lord Danzo had—Forget it. Let's not talk about that. Kagami, I did awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. You're very clever—you've already figured it out. But although clever people are rare, they aren't nonexistent. Some people have guessed it too. I'm just afraid they'll use you to test me. They can come after me if they want, but no matter what, they must not involve you in this. Otherwise, they'll be forcing my hand!"

After just a few sentences, Kagami instantly understood why Shisui had been so furious. Someone on Danzo's side must have begun suspecting that Shisui possessed the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan. In Danzo's eyes, such legendary power was definitely an uncontrollable force. To Danzo, there were only two ways to deal with such power: destroy it or obtain it.

Shisui was afraid that Danzo's people might accidentally tell Kagami about his Mangekyō, then use Kagami to test him. If that happened, Kagami would inevitably be dragged into the matter. Once involved, he could be killed by Danzo at any time to silence him.

That was what Shisui feared, and what he could not tolerate. He could not tolerate those people dragging Kagami into this whirlpool, just as Itachi could not tolerate them dragging Sasuke into the extermination of the clan.

Kagami wanted to say something about it, but in the end, he held his tongue. People like Shisui and Itachi, who devoted themselves to easing relations between Konoha and the Uchiha, did not regard the Uchiha as comrades, nor did they regard the Konoha higher-ups as comrades. Both sides harbored ulterior motives. Their only comrades were each other.

In this crisis between the Uchiha and Konoha, who knew how many people were involved? Yet the number of people who genuinely wanted to resolve the crisis could be counted on two fingers: Itachi and Shisui.

After thinking it over, Kagami decided not to comment. That was the path they had chosen to walk, and outsiders had no right to interfere. Besides, Kagami had something more important to say today.

"Shisui-nii, do you believe me?"

Shisui paused, then smiled faintly and rubbed Kagami's head.

"Of course I believe you."

Kagami spoke with a determined look in his eyes.

"Then listen to me, Shisui-nii. Never tell Danzo about your Mangekyō ability!"

Shisui frowned.

"You know that the Mangekyō possesses a special ability? How did you find that out?"

Knowing about the Mangekyō was not strange. After all, the Mangekyo was a legend within the Uchiha Clan, and many people knew of it. But knowing that the Mangekyō possessed a special ability was rather unusual.

Kagami shook his head.

"That isn't important. Shisui-nii, promise me first. Never tell Danzo about your Mangekyō ability."

Shisui pondered carefully for a moment, then smiled.

"All right, I can promise you. But can you tell me why?"

Kagami snorted coldly.

"Danzo is someone who hides in the shadows all day. If he learns that Shisui-nii possesses eyes like that, he'll definitely find a way to obtain them or destroy them! I'm afraid you'll fall into his trap."

Shisui disagreed somewhat.

"Although Lord Danzo's personality is indeed like that, this is the most critical moment for Konoha and the Uchiha. He should be able to set aside his prejudices and put the greater good first."

Kagami's eyes widened. He suddenly understood why Shisui and Itachi believed in Danzo and worked so hard to resolve the crisis between Konoha and the Uchiha.

It was not that they failed to see what kind of person Danzo was. They saw it clearly. But in their view, when Konoha's survival was at stake, Danzo would set aside his prejudices and put the greater good first.

"Impossible!!"

Kagami subconsciously growled.

Shisui still felt that Kagami was overthinking things, and he shook his head.

"Kagami, you're thinking too much. Lord Danzo isn't an irrational man. Before this crisis ends, he won't attack me. And afterward? Perhaps he will, but what does that matter? If my life can be exchanged for peace between Konoha and the Uchiha, then I'm willing."

Kagami's attitude was extremely firm.

"No, Shisui-nii. Danzo absolutely isn't someone who puts the greater good first. He's an extremely self-centered person. He only does what he believes is right and never considers anything else."

In the original story, Danzo defied the Hokage's orders and secretly did other things behind his back. How many times had he done that?

Put simply, Danzo truly was someone who wholeheartedly wanted to make Konoha stronger. He was decisive and ruthless in his actions, and he also trusted his own judgments deeply. In every respect, he resembled the Second Hokage, Tobirama.

The only difference was that Danzo did not possess Tobirama's strength, nor his courage, and even less so his vision. In every aspect, his abilities fell short of Tobirama's.

Why was Tobirama wary of the Uchiha? Because of Madara Uchiha, a figure without equal in the past or present. That was why Tobirama feared the Uchiha. Even so, he merely gave the Uchiha the Konoha Police Force and did nothing too excessive.

But why was Danzo wary of the Uchiha? There was no reason to be found. It seemed that seeing a few three-tomoe or two-tomoe eyes was enough to scare him senseless.

Holy crap, they're so strong. I have to isolate them. Such a powerful Kekkei Genkai is terrifying.

That was where his courage and strength fell short.

And what about his vision? When the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan fought to the death and eventually made peace, Tobirama might have been unhappy, but he still pinched his nose and accepted it. He put the greater good first and did not take the initiative to cause trouble.

But Danzo? Konoha's strength was already weak, yet he still orchestrated the relocation of the Uchiha, forcing them into rebellion. After that, Shisui clearly could have used Kotoamatsukami to resolve the crisis, but Danzo once again ignored Konoha's situation. He only saw what was right in front of him: that Mangekyō was too dangerous. And so, the chance to resolve the crisis was lost.

With Shisui's death, the Uchiha became completely irreconcilable with Konoha. A perfectly good hand had been played into this mess by Danzo, leaving behind nothing but a disaster. Could Danzo resolve it? No. He did not have the ability to clean up the mess he had created, so he could only dump it on Itachi and make Itachi kill his own family for Konoha's sake.

It was truly laughable. Itachi and Shisui risked their lives to resolve the conflict, while Danzo kept creating more conflict from behind the scenes. In the end, when something went wrong, he could not solve it himself and simply threw it to Itachi.

That whole series of actions not only cost Konoha the Uchiha, one of its great clans, but also cost it two unparalleled geniuses, Shisui and Itachi. Truly, it was a masterpiece.

Sometimes Kagami wondered: if Tobirama had passed the position of Hokage to Danzo back then, would the anime Naruto have never existed? Perhaps it would have become Water Shadow Ninja, Lightning Shadow Ninja, Earth Shadow Ninja, or Wind Shadow Ninja. At any rate, it definitely would not have been Naruto.

No matter how powerful Konoha was, it could not withstand Danzo messing things up like this.