Am I the Criminal?

"Arrest Uchiha Kagato? No! Arrest Uchiha Kagato's entire family."

Danzo objected with a dark expression.

"Since Uchiha Kagato attacked the Anbu, he is suspected of rebellion. His entire family must be arrested to prevent the worst possible outcome."

The Third Hokage refused firmly.

"No! I believe arresting Uchiha Kagato's family would be the worst possible outcome. It would only provoke the Uchiha Clan's dissatisfaction."

Danzo snorted coldly.

"The Uchiha Clan is an evil clan. Their dissatisfaction has long been obvious, so what harm would adding a little more do? The most important thing now is to prevent Uchiha Kagato's family from rebelling."

"Precisely because their dissatisfaction is already obvious, we can't add to it. Besides, Kagami was the one who attacked the Anbu. It has nothing to do with his family."

"Nothing to do with them? Hiruzen, you're confused! How could a child's actions have nothing to do with his parents? Perhaps it was his parents who incited him to attack the Anbu. I believe Uchiha Kagato's entire family needs to be arrested!"

"No! In any case, I will never arrest Kagami's parents."

"Hmph. Then I'll arrest his parents in the name of the Anbu."

"Danzo! You—"

"Hiruzen! There are some things you can't do, so let me do them for you. Don't worry. If your side determines that Uchiha Kagato is innocent, my side will release his parents as well."

The conversation ended in this manner.

At noon.

Several Jonin surrounded Kagato's training ground.

"Uchiha Kagato, by order of the Third Hokage, you are under arrest."

Kagato stared at the Jonin in disbelief. Although he had expected last night's killing of the Anbu members not to end so easily, he had never imagined that the Third Hokage would issue an arrest warrant for him on the very next day.

When had the Third Hokage joined forces with Danzo?

Kagato asked calmly,

"May I ask the reason?"

The Jonin spoke expressionlessly.

"You took the initiative to kill Anbu members and are suspected of rebellion."

Kagato froze.

"Took the initiative to kill them? Rebellion? Heh..."

At that moment, Kagato's heart went cold. It seemed that Danzo had turned around and reported him, and the problem was that the Third Hokage appeared to have believed him.

Kagato had lost faith in Konoha more times than he could remember, but this time was especially serious.

Being falsely accused felt terrible—especially when the accusation was treated as fact.

"I understand. I'll go with you."

Kagato did not resist. He obediently went with them. Several Jonin possessed strength that the current Kagato absolutely could not contend with.

At the same time, Kagato's house was surrounded by Anbu members, who barged inside without the slightest courtesy.

Several female members roughly grabbed Yuko Uchiha and dragged her away without saying a word.

As for the Konoha Military Police Force, Danzo personally went there. After exchanging a few cold words with Fugaku, a group of Anbu members took Uchiha Takashi away.

Thus, Kagato's entire family was arrested. The incident caused an uproar among the Uchiha, and fury erupted instantly. They had charged into the Uchiha compound to arrest Uchiha clansmen, and the village had not even bothered to say a word to the Uchiha. Was that acceptable?

Besides, arrests were supposed to be handled by the Konoha Military Police Force. Why had the Anbu been sent to do it? Did this show any respect for the Uchiha?

Fugaku personally sought out the Third Hokage to plead for Kagato's family, but the Third Hokage rejected him, claiming that once the truth came to light, he would certainly release Kagato's family.

Of course, Kagato knew nothing about any of this.

After the Jonin took him away, they blindfolded him with a strip of black cloth. It seemed they did not want him to remember the route and escape, or perhaps they were wary of his Sharingan.

His wrists were also locked in shackles engraved with a sealing technique. This made it impossible for Kagato to form Hand Seals or use any ninjutsu. Moreover, the sealing technique suppressed his Chakra. As long as the shackles remained on him, Kagato could forget about using Chakra ever again.

Before long, Kagato was brought to a dimly lit room. Even then, the black cloth covering his eyes was not removed. It seemed they were still worried about his Sharingan.

After the Jonin roughly shoved him into the room, Kagato, unable to see anything, groped around until he found somewhere to sit, then lowered himself into it carefully.

A former genius had become a prisoner simply because of a few words from Danzo. One had to admit, it was rather amusing.

Every day that followed, Kagato could see nothing at all, and no one spoke to him. He was given food only once a day, leaving him constantly weak and listless, unable to make any attempt to escape.

His hands remained locked in shackles, and he had to expend tremendous effort just to finish each meal.

Third Hokage... am I a criminal?

Kagato said nothing. He merely asked himself that question silently.

Wasn't the way he was being guarded now almost exactly the same as how a heinous criminal would be treated?

Why was the Third Hokage doing this? He shouldn't have done this. Could it be that he didn't understand the truth of Kagato's situation?

Hmm. Kagato suddenly thought of someone. Perhaps the Third Hokage understood the truth, but he was too cautious. Maybe he believed that letting Kagato suffer a little would be beneficial—that way, Danzo's side would feel reassured and would not move against Kagato.

Heh.

The way Kagato was being treated was quite similar to the way Naruto had been treated. Both were done to protect the target, even if it meant making the target suffer terribly, thereby reassuring others and preventing them from acting against the target.

Kagato did not want to say anything about it. Day after day, he merely lingered on the brink of death. He saw no one, and no one spoke to him. With only one meal a day, every one of these conditions was forcing Kagato to remain on the edge of death.

Hokage's Office.

Shisui knelt on one knee before the Third Hokage and pleaded,

"Lord Hokage, I can vouch for Kagato. The Anbu members attacked Kagato first. He did not take the initiative to kill them."

The Third Hokage's brow furrowed slightly, and his face was filled with distress.

"Shisui, I know that too. But you didn't witness it personally. Right now, there are only witnesses who saw Kagato attack the two Anbu members. There's no evidence proving that the Anbu attacked Kagato first."

Shisui spoke anxiously.

"But Lord Danzo, I swear in the name of Body Flicker Shisui that Kagato is absolutely innocent."

The Third Hokage shook his head.

"That can't be considered evidence. You may leave for now, Shisui."

Shisui stared blankly at the Third Hokage. He pleaded repeatedly, but in the end, the Third Hokage still refused to release Kagato.

Shisui withdrew with disappointment written all over his face.

Not long afterward, the door to the Hokage's Office opened again. It was Itachi, dressed in Anbu attire, who entered.

The Third Hokage looked at Itachi with a headache.

"Itachi, I know what you're going to say, but I truly can't do that."

Itachi knelt on one knee and spoke with a firm gaze.

"Lord Third Hokage, Kagato is innocent. I am certain of that."