Deadlock

In the darkness.

Danzō waved his hand, signaling the subordinates behind him to step back.

After a few seconds of silence, Danzō began to mutter to himself.

"A comrade was killed, and he survived alone. This experience is just like Hatake Kakashi's. His heart must be full of darkness now. Back then, Kakashi was almost pulled into Root by me because of this. Although it ultimately failed, what about this time? This time, it might succeed."

As he spoke, Danzō summoned a Root member and instructed him.

"Go and contact Uchiha Kagato. Tell him that Root intends to take him in. In Root, everyone wears masks and doesn't know each other, so you don't have to worry about the pain of a comrade being killed."

"Yes."

The Root member nodded and then disappeared.

Danzō thought for a moment. His words were indeed a bit too blunt, and this kind of invitation was rather crude. But in Danzō's opinion, Uchiha Kagato was just an insignificant minor character. The most important thing now was the matter with the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Kagato, I originally wanted to make a move on him before, but seeing Shisui's reaction, I held back. But now is a good opportunity. Also, Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, Hiruzen, are you not considering the consequences of us being controlled by this jutsu? Hmph. In the end, I'll be the one to clean up the mess."

Shisui had promised Kagato that he would not tell Danzō about Kotoamatsukami, but what Kagato didn't know was that Shisui had first told the Third Hokage about Kotoamatsukami, and then the Konoha higher-ups learned about it through the Third Hokage.

Several days later.

At noon, Kagato's room received an uninvited guest.

"Anbu?"

Kagato asked curiously.

"Root."

The visitor replied concisely.

"Root? What is it?"

Kagato narrowed his eyes slightly. Danzō's claws were starting to reach for him?

"Lord Danzō wishes to invite you to join Root. In Root, everyone wears masks and doesn't know each other, so you don't have to worry about the pain of a comrade being killed."

Kagato's expression immediately turned grim.

"What do you mean? Does Danzō think that the reason I'm in so much pain is because of Genji and Daisuke?! You can leave now. I will not join Root."

Kagato originally wanted to say "scram," but 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 become stronger and escape that calamity.

The Root ninja looked deeply at Kagato.

"To dare to call Lord Danzō by his name, you have quite the nerve. Hmph, an Uchiha is an Uchiha."

After speaking, he disappeared.

Kagato watched the spot where the Root ninja had disappeared and sighed slightly. A group of people brainwashed by Danzō, doing things that were close to destroying Konoha, yet they still believed they were Konoha's greatest contributors.

Two weeks later, Kagato was discharged from the hospital.

Although Kagato was now a genin, due to Shisui's request to the Konoha higher-ups, Kagato was temporarily exempt from missions with his Jonin instructor.

Kakashi had lost all his students due to this incident. According to Shisui, Kakashi had seemingly requested to return to Anbu from the Third Hokage, but the Third Hokage refused. He continued to let Kakashi serve as a Jonin instructor, waiting for the next batch of students to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

Clearly, the Third Hokage did not believe this incident was Kakashi's fault. Furthermore, due to Kakashi's relationship with the Uchiha, the Third Hokage did not want Kakashi to be too involved in this matter, hence his unwillingness to let Kakashi return to Anbu.

Kagato thought nothing of it, but many within the Uchiha clan found it incomprehensible. This detestable Hatake Kakashi, as a Jonin instructor, had nearly killed a genius of their Uchiha clan, yet the Konoha higher-ups still allowed him to continue as a Jonin instructor. Were they not considering the Uchiha's feelings?

Different standpoints naturally led to different views.

In fact, if the Third Hokage had allowed Kakashi to return to Anbu and participate in the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha, the Uchiha would likely have thought, "They are using someone the Uchiha detest to deal with the Uchiha. Are the village higher-ups truly considering the Uchiha?"

The seeds of hatred had taken root and sprouted. No matter what was done, it was difficult to salvage the situation.

At night, Kagato walked the streets of Konoha, looking at the bustling streets and smiling faintly. Time was running out. Kagato wanted to take some time to see this lively Konoha before he could no longer extricate himself.

Perhaps he would never have the chance again.

"It's your fault!"

"It's not my fault, it's clearly yours."

"Bastard, do you want to fight?"

"Bring it on, who's afraid of whom."

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

Clearly, these two were drunk and starting trouble.

Ah, this world has such things too?

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

This kind of drunken bickering between two people actually made Kagato feel a sense of relief. Yes, this was ordinary people. This was the life he hoped for. Getting drunk, having a fight, causing some conflict, and at worst, they would just stop associating with each other afterward.

Unlike the conflict between a person named "Konoha" and a person named "Uchiha." The conflicts between these two were life-and-death matters.

"Hey! Stop!"

"Don't cause trouble!"

Two ninjas in Konoha attire rushed over, each grabbing one of the drunkards from behind to stop them from causing trouble.

This was the Konoha Military Police Force, composed of Uchiha members, essentially Konoha's police.

"Damn it, get away, you Uchiha!"

"What police force? Just hide to the side like you did during the Nine-Tails' Rampage!"

The two drunkards spewed insults without restraint.

During the Nine-Tails' Rampage, because the Nine-Tails' eyes appeared to be Sharingan, Danzō, suspecting the Uchiha, ordered the Third Hokage to forbid the Uchiha from participating in the battle.

As a result, the Uchiha were unable to join the fight during that great catastrophe. It was an unavoidable situation; when the higher-ups gave an order, what could they do? Disobey openly? Impossible.

But in the eyes of the common people, it was different. They saw this group of detestable Uchiha, who looked down on them and acted arrogantly in normal times, as cowardly turtles hiding away in times of crisis. What was the difference between them and scoundrels? They were cowards! A bunch of hypocritical cowards!

Normally, due to the Uchiha's influence and power, people wouldn't dare to speak their minds. But now, drunk, they had lost all reason and spoke whatever came to their lips.

"What did you say?!"

One Uchiha member was furious and directly pinned the drunkard down, violently tying him up.

The other followed suit.

In a short while, both drunkards were bound.

"Take them away!"

The two Uchiha members, like escorts for criminals, led the two away.

The surrounding people watched all this, some worried, others speaking with disgust.

"There was no need for all this; it was just two drunkards arguing."

"A simple mediation would have sufficed."

Kagami, standing nearby, observed everything but said nothing, silently walking away.

The villagers detested the Uchiha, and the Uchiha, in turn, often enforced the law violently due to this hatred. Then, the villagers hated the Uchiha even more because of their violent enforcement.

This was a deadlock, a knot tied since the time of the Second Hokage. By today, it had finally tightened. Soon, to untangle this knot, both Konoha and the Uchiha would pay a heavy price.