No More Pretending, I'll Come Clean

Morning

A thin mist hung over the Uchiha Compound. Kagami Uchiha walked slowly and aimlessly, his eyes bloodshot.

After leaving the Senju Clan Compound, he had wandered Konoha's streets until dawn before returning to the clan. His mind was in complete turmoil.

At first, he had desperately wanted to root out the person within the Uchiha who had leaked news of Lord Tobirama's death.

But after calming down, Kagami Uchiha realized that even if he caught that person, what then? Without the Uchiha clan's help, there was no way he alone could spread news of Lord Tobirama's death throughout Konoha in a single afternoon.

What if Uchiha Tomita was the mastermind behind spreading the news? He was the Uchiha Clan Head, and at present, he was the most suspicious. There were only a handful of people in the entire Uchiha capable of mobilizing the clan's resources so quickly.

Was he going to fall out with the Clan Head for Hiruzen Sarutobi's sake?

Kagami Uchiha felt lightheaded. How could such a rebellious thought even occur to him?

But if he simply let this pass, he would be saddled with blame for no reason. He had nowhere to vent his anger, and he had no way to face Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hey, Kagami, you're back."

Several passing Uchiha clansmen saw Kagami Uchiha return and greeted him from the side. Their gazes drifted over him, and every one of them wore an extremely strange expression.

They had heard that Kagami Uchiha and the others had abandoned the Hokage and fled back to Konoha. They had never expected Kagami Uchiha, the Uchiha genius, to do something like that.

"Captain Uchiha Nan said you abandoned the Hokage and fled straight back to Konoha. Is that true?"

"Yeah, you're an Uchiha genius. You wouldn't do something like that, would you?"

"Captain Nan also said Hiruzen Sarutobi was going to become Konoha's Third Hokage?"

"No way, right?"

"."

It was as if a crowd of Uchiha clansmen had suddenly appeared around Kagami Uchiha. They all began asking questions at once, wanting to confirm whether Uchiha Nan's information was true.

"Who did you say?"

"Uchiha Nan?"

Kagami Uchiha's face was filled with disbelief. The person who had leaked news of Lord Tobirama's death was Uchiha Nan?

How could that be possible?

The clansman he got along with best was Uchiha Nan. Uchiha Nan was an Uchiha acknowledged by Teacher Tobirama, an Uchiha who had risen above vulgar interests and inherited Konoha's Will of Fire in his heart.

If he could do such a thing, then how was he any different from the Uchiha Hawk Faction within the clan?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Kagami Uchiha felt that he was simply too tired and had started hearing things. Otherwise, this had to be a genjutsu—someone was trying to harm him!

Release!

I said, release!

Kagami Uchiha formed the hand seals specifically used to dispel genjutsu, only to find that they were utterly useless. The Uchiha clansmen around him were still incessantly talking about Uchiha Nan.

"Enough!!"

Kagami Uchiha shouted. He did not want to waste any more time here. He was going to find Uchiha Nan himself and demand an explanation for why he had done this.

Did he have some difficulty? The Clan Head must have forced him to do it!

For sixteen years, Uchiha Nan had maintained the image of a good man in Konoha. Kagami Uchiha simply could not accept this reality.

What kind of Uchiha could pretend to be a good person for sixteen years and even deceive Teacher Tobirama? That was simply too terrifying!

Kagami Uchiha was so anxious that he used the Body Flicker Technique. In just two or three minutes, he arrived at Uchiha Nan's home.

"Uchiha Nan, don't be afraid. Did the Clan Head force you to do this? Did he deliberately send you ahead to leak the news of Lord Tobirama's death in battle?"

"."

Uchiha Nan had been doing his usual set of "The Times Are Calling" exercises when he saw Kagami Uchiha standing there with bloodshot eyes and an almost crazed expression.

What Kagami Uchiha said left Uchiha Nan completely baffled.

What Clan Head?

Did Uchiha Tomita have what it took to force him?

Was there really such a good thing?!

While Tobirama Senju was still alive, he had needed to maintain his persona and conceal his goals. But now that Tobirama was dead, he was already considering how to push Uchiha Tomita aside and become the Uchiha Clan Head himself.

Uchiha Nan was determined to claim the position of Third Hokage. He only hoped Uchiha Tomita would not compete with him for it. Otherwise, he could only get rid of him first.

"Kagami Uchiha, I was the one who had the Security Force spread the news of Tobirama's death throughout Konoha. What the hell does Uchiha Tomita know? He never had that information."

"Hehehe!!!"

Uchiha Nan curled his lips into a smile. His words showed no regard for Tobirama or Uchiha Tomita, and he did not even bother using honorifics. He was going to come clean with Uchiha Tomita anyway—he was going to become Hokage.

There was no way Uchiha Tomita could still remain the Uchiha Clan Head after he became Hokage.

In the end, they were bound to tear off all pretense. Why keep acting? He had already grown tired of pretending while Tobirama Senju was alive.

Uchiha Nan would climb step by step to the very top, become the Uchiha Clan Head, and become Konoha's Hokage!!

"Uchiha Nan, how did you become like this? You weren't like this before!"

Kagami Uchiha's voice trembled. The Uchiha Nan before him was so unfamiliar, and the unrestrained laughter ringing in his ears was so piercing. Uchiha Nan was now exactly like the Hawk Faction within the clan.

Could Uchiha Nan's former self have all been an act? That was too terrifying. Could someone truly pretend to be an inheritor of the Will of Fire for sixteen whole years?

"Lord Tobirama always held great expectations for you. He believed you had inherited Konoha's Will of Fire. Was the person you used to be all an act?"

"An act?"

Uchiha Nan sneered. Did that even require an act?

He was not some illiterate fool. He had learned the most basic principles, like caring for companions and respecting the young and the old.

It was just that the Uchiha were too insane, each and every one of them brimming with arrogance. Things Uchiha Nan had once considered perfectly ordinary had already made him an anomaly among the Uchiha.

For example, warmly greeting Konoha's villagers, helping old ladies cross the street, and even saying "please" when speaking to vendors. Those were merely the basic manners of a college student.

Which proud Uchiha would ever do such things?

Later, however, Uchiha Nan discovered that this approach was indeed useful. The short essays he wrote at the Ninja Academy about the Will of Fire had even convinced Tobirama Senju that Uchiha Nan was an Uchiha who had inherited the Will of Fire.

"If that's what you think, then sure."

Uchiha Nan could not be bothered to explain so much to Kagami Uchiha. Why waste words on someone unworthy of hearing them?

"Why did you come running over so early in the morning? Just to tell me all this?"

Seeing Uchiha Nan so thoroughly tear away his disguise, Kagami Uchiha felt ice-cold from head to toe. The Uchiha Nan before him was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

Uchiha Nan had truly pretended to be an inheritor of the Will of Fire, keeping up the act until Teacher Tobirama died before revealing his true face!