The dead of night.
Leaf had long since fallen asleep.
Only the Hokage's Office still glimmered with light.
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
"Monkey, why did you set me up?!"
Ever since he had been brought back, Danzo's anger had been impossible to suppress.
He looked like a lioness who couldn't believe the male lion had betrayed her.
From the moment they left until now, he had been thinking about it the whole way.
At that, the Third Hokage tapped his pipe and said with displeasure:
"Since we got back, you've asked me that forty-three times!"
"Have you ever stopped to think about why I and the Anbu showed up there?!"
"And another thing—Monkey, Monkey, Monkey! You should know that I'm the Hokage!"
At the end of his tirade, Sarutobi Hiruzen rose to his feet.
He stared straight at Danzo across from him.
Though age had made him a little shorter, his presence was all the more imposing!
The sight made Danzo's expression briefly turn dazed.
The force with which they had faced each other moments ago instantly ebbed away.
Before his eyes, he seemed to see the figure from back then—the one who had shaken the Shinobi World and been hailed as the strongest shinobi!
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!
It was that version of the man that had made Danzo love and hate him.
In the end, he had been left with no choice but to take root underground, bury himself beneath the trees, and serve the Hokage faithfully.
But now...
For a moment, Danzo felt an urge to let it all go.
He even wanted to resign and retire to the countryside!
Seeing that his friend seemed too shocked to speak, the fire in his eyes fading, the Third Hokage paused, then changed tack:
"Danzo, after all the great battles we've fought over the years, my body is already battered beyond repair."
"But the next person to lead the village must be able to contribute even more to it."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
He picked up the Hokage's Cloak beside him and patted Danzo on the shoulder.
Then he walked to the window and murmured, "The Uchiha situation needs to be dealt with, but now isn't the time."
"Besides, Leaf needs more than just me, its Hokage in the open. It also needs a Nameless Shadow to protect it from the darkness."
Pat.
That pat left Danzo completely dumbfounded.
Especially the words "Nameless Shadow"—they practically had him grinning from ear to ear.
His gaze was fixed on the Hokage's Cloak before him.
A jumble of thoughts rose in his mind.
So Hiruzen meant that I haven't contributed enough to the village yet?
So even if I became Hokage, the people wouldn't accept me?
Right!
It must be!
So as long as I keep contributing to the village, maybe!!!
At that thought, the little desire he'd just developed to retire vanished at once.
He was like a cockroach pumped full of adrenaline.
He spun around to face Hiruzen, his voice rising as he declared, "I understand!"
With that, he took the Hokage's Cloak and turned to leave.
Every step was heavy, yet resolute.
By the window, Hiruzen silently watched the sky outside and waited.
Just as the moon was about to set, a long-haired Uchiha youth slowly knocked on the Hokage's door.
"Itachi, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
"Do you know? Your younger brother plucked out Shisui's eye with his own hands today..."
"Too bad. Danzo actually didn't try anything against the Third Hokage and just went straight back?"
"Is this really the same Root leader who dared to attack the Hokage?"
"Old man's lost his ambition."
At the same time, in front of the cliff.
Uchiha Jin had returned and was now leaning against a tree, bored.
The scene from earlier played through his mind.
Danzo had been furious at first, but when he saw Sarutobi Hiruzen, he still hadn't dared to make a move.
He had only obediently complained.
That had sent Jin's enjoyment of the show plummeting.
"But at least I waited this long and got to see something."
He murmured and turned to look at the moon.
More precisely, at the masked figure beneath its light.
"You knew I would come?"
Kakashi put away the treasured item in his hand and slowly walked over, looking thoughtful as he said,
"I'm getting more and more curious about you."
Kakashi was an unquestionable supporter of the Hokage.
There was no doubt about that.
But as for Kakashi himself, he preferred not to get involved whenever he could.
Even when he saw something, he often turned a blind eye.
He just wanted to mind his own business and live quietly.
But...
This young boy from the Uchiha Clan made him uneasy.
There was something about him that Kakashi couldn't quite understand or put into words.
It was as if no secret could stay hidden before those small eyes.
After hesitating for a moment, Kakashi asked:
"You seemed to know all along that Danzo would attack Shisui?"
Otherwise, he couldn't understand why Jin had come rushing to the cliff at full speed in an instant.
"Know?" Jin shrugged, as if it didn't matter. "You should know Danzo's character better than I do, right?"
The key to clearing suspicion wasn't to prove yourself innocent. It was to throw the question back at the other person.
Clearly, Kakashi didn't know that.
After hearing Jin's answer, he began to think it over in earnest.
"Back then, even with this eye of mine, if the Third Hokage hadn't stepped in, I'm afraid..."
In the end, he nodded with difficulty and reached a conclusion.
"I don't want to admit it, but if Danzo found out about Shisui's eye ability, he might really have had designs on it."
Greedy, sinister, and covetous of the Uchiha's eyes.
That was Danzo.
See? That's the advantage of letting someone convince themselves.
Jin smiled, then abruptly changed the subject. "So, Kakashi, do you want the village and the Uchiha Clan to fight until one side destroys the other?"
"Do you want the flourishing village the Fourth Hokage hoped for to be reduced to ruins?"
"Do you want Obito's clansmen to die one by one?"
Crack.
Kakashi stepped on the branch in front of him without thinking.
The crisp sound rang in his ears like a giant hammer.
Blow after blow pounded at him until his head throbbed.
Only after a long while did he touch his left eye beneath his mask and murmur:
"If Teacher Minato were still here, he wouldn't stand by helplessly like the Third Hokage, would he?"
"Teacher Minato would definitely... have gone to speak with them sincerely."
"Would Obito... hate me even more?"
"I failed to protect Rin, and I failed to protect his family..."
Thought after thought surfaced in his mind.
And, without him noticing, a seed took root.
Anger toward Danzo.
And resentment toward the Hokage for standing by and doing nothing.
He rubbed the left eye beneath his eyepatch. It seemed to be growing hot.
And... it hurt.
"Obito, are you feeling pain for your clansmen?"
"Don't worry. I'll protect your clansmen!"
At that moment, Kakashi seemed to grow taller.
Across from him,
"Protect them?"
Jin looked at Kakashi and couldn't help rolling his eyes.
"The second time Obito officially appeared, the Uchiha Clan was wiped out..."
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