Deadlock

In the darkness.

Danzo waved, signaling the subordinate behind him to leave.

After several seconds of silence, Danzo began muttering to himself.

"His companions were killed, and he was the only one who survived? That experience is rather similar to Hatake Kakashi's. His heart must be shrouded in darkness right now. Back then, Kakashi nearly joined the Root because of this. Although I ultimately failed, perhaps I can succeed this time."

As he spoke, Danzo summoned a Root member and gave him an order.

"Go and approach Uchiha Kagato. Tell him that Root is willing to accept him. In Root, everyone wears masks, and no one knows anyone else, so he won't need to worry about suffering after his companions are killed."

"Yes."

The Root member nodded, then vanished without a trace.

Danzo thought it over again. His words had indeed been somewhat blunt, and this method of extending an invitation was rather crude. But in Danzo's eyes, Uchiha Kagato was merely an insignificant pawn. What mattered most now was the situation with the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Kagato. I originally wanted to deal with him earlier, but seeing Shisui's attitude, I held back. Now, though, this is a good opportunity. And then there's Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. Doesn't that fool Hiruzen ever consider the consequences of being controlled by this technique? Hmph. In the end, I still have to clean up the mess."

Shisui had agreed to Kagato's request, but he had not told Danzo about Kotoamatsukami. What Kagato did not know was that Shisui had first told the Third Hokage about it, after which Konoha's higher-ups learned of the matter through the Third Hokage.

Several days later.

At noon, an unexpected guest arrived at Kagato's room.

"Anbu?"

Kagato asked in surprise.

"Root."

The visitor's reply was terse.

"Root? What do you want?"

Kagato narrowed his eyes slightly. Had Danzo's claws finally reached him?

"Lord Danzo wishes to invite you to join Root. In Root, everyone wears masks, and no one knows anyone else, so you won't need to worry about suffering after your companions are killed."

Kagato's expression instantly darkened.

"What do you mean? Does Danzo think that Genji and Daisuke are responsible for my suffering?! You—get out of here! There's no way I'm joining Root."

Kagato had originally wanted to tell him to get lost, but after considering the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha, he held back. There was no need to add fuel to the fire. He needed time to grow stronger and escape the coming calamity.

The Root shinobi gave Kagato a deep look.

"You dare call Lord Danzo by his name? You've got some nerve. Hmph. Uchiha are Uchiha."

With that, he vanished.

Kagato stared at the place where the Root shinobi had disappeared and sighed softly. They were a group of people brainwashed by Danzo, carrying out actions that nearly destroyed Konoha while still believing themselves to be Konoha's greatest heroes.

Two weeks later, Kagato was discharged from the hospital.

Although Kagato was a Genin, thanks to Shisui's request to Konoha's higher-ups, he temporarily did not need to follow a supervising Jonin on missions.

Because of this incident, Kakashi had lost all his students. According to Shisui, Kakashi had apparently taken the initiative to request a return to Anbu from the Third Hokage, but the Third Hokage had refused. He continued to let Kakashi serve as a supervising Jonin, waiting for the next batch of students to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

Clearly, the Third Hokage did not believe this incident had been Kakashi's fault. In addition, because of Kakashi's relationship with the Uchiha, the Third Hokage did not want Kakashi to become too involved in the matter, which was why he refused to let Kakashi return to Anbu.

Kagato did not think much of it, but many people within the Uchiha Clan found it impossible to understand. That detestable Hatake Kakashi, as a supervising Jonin, had nearly gotten a genius of their Uchiha Clan killed, yet Konoha's higher-ups were still allowing him to continue serving as a supervising Jonin. Did they not care about the Uchiha's feelings?

Different positions naturally led to different perspectives.

In fact, if the Third Hokage had let Kakashi return to Anbu and participate in the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha, the Uchiha would probably have thought again: They're actually using someone the Uchiha hate to deal with the Uchiha. Have the village's higher-ups ever considered the Uchiha?

The seeds of hatred had already taken root. No matter what anyone did, it would be difficult to turn things around.

That night, Kagato walked along Konoha's streets. Looking at the bustling streets, he smiled faintly. Time was running out. Before he could no longer get away, Kagato wanted to make time to see this lively Konoha.

Perhaps I won't have the chance in the future.

"It's your fault!"

"It's not my fault. It was clearly yours."

"You bastard! You want to fight?"

"Come on, who's afraid of you?"

Two drunken men stumbled out of a tavern, arguing nonstop.

Clearly, the two of them were drunk and had begun causing trouble.

Ah, so this sort of thing happens in this world too?

Kagato stopped. The two troublemakers were directly in his path, so he could only pause and watch them quietly.

Watching two drunk men cause trouble actually made Kagato feel a little more relaxed. Yes, this was how ordinary people lived. This was the life he wanted. Get drunk, have a fight, argue over something trivial, and at worst, stop associating with each other afterward.

It wasn't like the conflict between someone called Konoha and someone called Uchiha. When those two sides quarreled, it was the kind where one side had to die.

"Hey! Stop!"

"Don't cause trouble!"

Two shinobi dressed in Konoha uniforms rushed over, each grabbing one of the men from behind and stopping the two drunks from making trouble.

This was the Konoha Military Police Force, composed of Uchiha and equivalent to the police in Konoha.

"Damn it, Uchiha, get lost!"

"What kind of Police Force are you? Go hide somewhere like you did during the Nine-Tails' Rampage!"

The two drunks spoke without restraint.

During the Nine-Tails' Rampage, because the Nine-Tails' eyes had appeared in the shape of the Sharingan, Danzo, who suspected the Uchiha, had asked the Third Hokage to order that the Uchiha were not allowed to participate.

Thus, the Uchiha had been unable to take part in that great disaster. It had been an unavoidable matter. The higher-ups had issued an order—what could they do? Openly disobey? That was impossible.

But in the eyes of the civilians, it was an entirely different matter. As far as they were concerned, these detestable Uchiha looked down on them every day and acted arrogantly, but when disaster struck, they hid away like cowards. How were they any different from bastards? They were a bunch of cowards! A bunch of hypocritical cowards!

Normally, everyone refrained from saying it openly because of the Uchiha's power and influence. But now that they were drunk, what reason did they have left? The words simply poured out.

"What did you say?!"

One Uchiha became furious and immediately slammed the drunk to the ground, binding him with brutal force.

The other Uchiha did the same.

Before long, the two drunks had been tied up.

"Take them away!"

The two Uchiha led the men away like prisoners.

The surrounding people watched everything unfold, speaking with some worry and disgust.

"There was no need to go that far. They were just two drunks having an argument."

"They could have just mediated."

Kagato watched everything from the side without saying a word, then silently walked away.

The villagers hated the Uchiha, while the Uchiha often enforced the law violently because of that hatred. The villagers then hated the Uchiha even more because of their violent law enforcement.

This was a deadlock—a deadlock that had begun taking shape during the Second Hokage's era. Today, it had finally become complete. Before long, in order to break this deadlock, both Konoha and the Uchiha would pay a devastating price.