As soon as Danzo finished speaking, the Third Hokage looked at him, a trace of surprise in his eyes.
He had thought Danzo already knew what had happened in the Forest of Death.
But now it seemed Danzo had no idea. Everyone present appeared to be in the dark about it, except the Anbu representative and himself.
The Third Hokage thought it over and realized that everything now made sense.
He had just been wondering why, among those who had come with murderous intent, everyone except the Anbu representative seemed so dismissive.
"Oh? So, from what you're saying, if I were powerful, I'd pose a threat to Konoha—even destroy it?"
Ye Fan looked at Danzo with amusement and said,
"To be honest, I'm not particularly interested in destroying Konoha. And I'm not particularly interested in your so-called peace, either."
"I'm simply a little interested in you old geezers."
"I came here today to get some answers. If the truth is what I suspect, I won't mind killing a few more people."
"I, Ye Fan, am not bloodthirsty, but I'm certainly not someone who lets a grudge go unanswered!"
"Damn you! Do you think this is your own backyard? You dare talk so big? Aren't you afraid the wind will blow your tongue away?" Mitokado Homura shouted.
Danzo and Utatane Koharu glared at Ye Fan, both well aware of what he meant by "grudge."
His words only strengthened their resolve to kill him.
In their eyes, Ye Fan was already a cold corpse.
It was hard to say whether they were so intent on killing him for the sake of their so-called peace or simply to cover up something sordid.
Danzo and the other two had the same thought: even if they couldn't kill Ye Fan now, they would strike as soon as he was somewhere beyond the Third Hokage's protection.
Listening to Ye Fan, the Third Hokage realized what he was getting at. His expression grew heavy, his heart a tangle of emotions.
A long-buried memory surged into his mind like a tide.
The Third Hokage sighed, offered Ye Fan a chair, and said,
"Ye Fan, ask whatever you want. As long as it doesn't involve Konoha's highest-level secrets, I'll answer everything honestly."
The Third Hokage had made up his mind. It was indeed time to give Ye Fan an explanation.
Danzo and the others were horrified. They hurried to stop the Third Hokage.
They could more or less guess what Ye Fan would ask, and the truth behind those matters was the sort of thing that should stay buried—not be discussed openly!
"Hmm?" The Third Hokage shot the three of them a look, silencing them.
He knew how important these matters were, but he had carried the burden for so long that he was tired.
He couldn't shake the feeling that some secrets shouldn't stay hidden in darkness for an entire lifetime.
Ye Fan took the chair, set it where he could see everyone, then sat down casually with one leg crossed over the other.
Mitokado Homura and the others found his posture extremely irritating, but they could only endure it.
Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu exchanged glances, silently sharing their thoughts.
The Third Hokage was going to reveal some secrets. It was already settled and couldn't be changed.
All they could do was eliminate everyone who heard them. Some secrets weren't meant for just anyone to know.
Once you knew them, death was the only way out!
"Uchiha... Steel-Piercing Ye Fan, ask whatever you want to know."
The Third Hokage met Ye Fan's gaze. His voice was gentle, his manner kind, his expression benevolent.
Ye Fan paid no attention to any of it.
Whether the man was truly benevolent or only pretending was none of his concern.
He knew the Third Hokage wasn't a good person, either. Who knew how many unsavory deeds he had secretly ordered Danzo to carry out?
Sometimes, people like that were far more despicable than men like Danzo.
Some people stood in the glow of righteousness, making it hard to tell at a glance whether they were human or dogs.
What surprised Ye Fan today was the Third Hokage's candor.
From the Third Hokage's eyes, Ye Fan could tell he really did intend to tell him something.
He had expected to use force to get the answers he wanted, but things had turned out much easier than expected.
Sitting with one leg crossed, Ye Fan looked at the Third Hokage and slowly voiced some of the questions on his mind.
"You know who I am, right?"
"I do. You used to be Uchiha Ye Fan. Now you're Steel-Piercing Ye Fan."
Both men spoke calmly. The Hokage's Office had fallen utterly silent, with only their voices breaking the stillness.
Ye Fan continued, "What else?"
The Third Hokage considered this for a moment, then said, "When you were a child, the people in the village called you the Plague God.
"They said you were a worthless nobody with no Kekkei Genkai. That was especially common among the Uchiha Clan."
"How did my parents die?"
When he asked that, Danzo and the others visibly reacted.
Ye Fan noticed every bit of it.
"Suicide. More precisely, they died in your place," the Third Hokage answered.
"Why did they want to kill me back then?" Ye Fan asked.
"When you were born, you had no Uchiha blood in you. Then the Nine-Tails' Rampage struck Konoha.
"The Uchiha Clan was also assigned to live in the most remote part of the village, excluded from all its major and minor affairs.
"Most of the Uchiha blamed these things on you, the Plague God. They thought killing you would stop the situation from getting worse."
"That's why they tried to kill you. Your parents chose to take their own lives so you could remember to survive."
"After your parents died, the Uchiha Clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, protected you."
As he spoke, sorrow clouded the Third Hokage's face. It was unclear whether he pitied Ye Fan's past or was thinking of the Uchiha Clan, which had nearly been wiped out.
"Heh. Hiruzen Sarutobi, you seem to know these things very well."
Ye Fan didn't call him the Third Hokage. He addressed him by name.
"Where did this whole thing about me being the Plague God start? Did it begin within the Uchiha Clan, or did it start with you so-called Konoha leaders?"
"Was it really just a rumor, or was it a political tactic you used to sow discord within the Uchiha Clan?"
Ye Fan roared, sweeping his gaze across the room as murderous intent rolled off him.
At the root of it all, this was the main reason his parents had died.
If that rumor had never surfaced, his parents wouldn't have died.
Even when Uchiha Itachi began his massacre, Ye Fan could have kept his parents alive!
Ye Fan was a transmigrator, but he had come to this world because his parents had given him life.
To this day, he still remembered their smiles and their tenderness.
He had to avenge his parents' deaths—and make those responsible pay many times over!
At his question, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu went pale. They could no longer sit still.
Before you continue