Wary Ninja Villages

"Uchiha Kazuto... that man is truly terrifying!"

Orochimaru said, putting himself in Hiruzen Sarutobi's shoes. In the end, he realized that if it had been him, his fate would have been the same—framed, then sent to the guillotine by the crowd's acclaim, his head chopped clean off.

Truly, Uchiha Kazuto was too loyal. This kind of loyalty didn't even require investigation. Just ask anyone in Konoha at random—who didn't know that Uchiha Kazuto was utterly devoted to the village, the very embodiment of the Will of Fire?

Before the final veil was lifted, who could have seen that such a loyal man, one who seemed to sink deeper and deeper into his devotion, was actually harboring malicious intent?

"Heh, sensei, you died without injustice. Who could have imagined that the Uchiha Clan would produce someone like this?"

Orochimaru shook his head. He knew his teacher was finished in Konoha. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi came back to life and ran to the village to explain himself in front of everyone, no one would believe him anymore.

"This must be a long-planned conspiracy, and even..."

Orochimaru frowned, recalling the night of the Nine-Tails.

"Could that incident have been Uchiha Kazuto's doing? Just to kill Minato Namikaze? What a terrifying scheme!"

Orochimaru felt this guess had a very high chance of being true. After all, no one knew when Uchiha Kazuto had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. What if he had awakened it very early and had been plotting this coup for a long time?

It wasn't impossible!

If he had become Hokage back then, the one lying on the guillotine now would probably be him. Or even before reaching the guillotine, he might have been killed by Uchiha Kazuto, just like Minato Namikaze.

Afterward, Orochimaru decided to leave and head to Konoha to investigate, to see what kind of creature this Uchiha Kazuto really was. If Uchiha Kazuto's strength wasn't as formidable as he imagined, he wouldn't mind killing him.

Having someone like Uchiha Kazuto as Hokage gave him a vague sense of unease, as if as long as Uchiha Kazuto kept going, something terrible would happen.

At the same time, the other ninja villages in the Ninja World also learned that Hiruzen Sarutobi had been beheaded and Konoha had a new Hokage. These villages immediately stirred restlessly—now was the time of Konoha's turmoil.

They wanted to take a big bite out of Konoha and claim more mission shares.

However, when they learned that Konoha hadn't fallen into chaos at all—on the contrary, Hiruzen Sarutobi's death was exactly what the entire village had hoped for—well, it was strange. What had Hiruzen Sarutobi done to make all of Konoha unite and cut off his head?

Such a thing had never happened since the establishment of the village system—the people of a village joining forces to eliminate their own Kage.

"What do you mean, 'Hiruzen Sarutobi killed the Second Hokage'?"

In Kumogakure, the Raikage stared at the documents in his hand, utterly incredulous, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Then he looked at the Anbu before him with a strange expression.

"Are you sure this information is correct?"

"Absolutely certain, Raikage-sama. This information has become common knowledge in Konoha. Even a three-year-old knows that Hiruzen Sarutobi was a despicable usurper of the Hokage position!"

The Anbu nodded and explained.

"Heh... hahaha!!! Interesting, too interesting!!! Hahaha!!!"

The Raikage slapped his thigh and burst into laughter. This was the funniest joke he'd heard all year.

How did Tobirama Senju die? Kumogakure had the best claim to that answer—didn't they kill him?

What did it have to do with Hiruzen Sarutobi? Ridiculous. But for the people of Konoha, it actually made some twisted sense.

After all, only a few people escaped back then. Who really knew the truth of what happened?

Even if Kumogakure ran to Konoha and said they killed Tobirama Senju...

"You say it, so it must be true? Then I say I'm your father. I traveled through time, found your mother, and fathered you. Believe it?"

Some things can't be resolved with mere explanations.

After his laughter subsided, the Raikage calmed down and looked at the documents again.

Uchiha Kazuto, Konoha's greatest loyalist, the most trusted general under Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current Hokage who personally cut off Hiruzen Sarutobi's head.

"Uchiha Kazuto... this man... is too dark. Compared to him, Danzo is like an infant. I never thought the Uchiha Clan would actually produce a Hokage... the Sharingan..."

He shook his head and temporarily shelved any plans to cause trouble for Konoha. If the Uchiha had used a violent coup, he would have mobilized troops immediately and led the village's ninja to attack Konoha. After all, at that time, Konoha would have been in chaos, perfect for invasion.

But clearly, that wasn't the case. This was a peaceful coup. Konoha's main force of ninja hadn't suffered any losses—only Hiruzen Sarutobi and his cronies had died.

In essence, it was just a normal change of Hokage. In fact, because of Uchiha Kazuto, Konoha was now stronger than before.

Because of the Mangekyo Sharingan!

The same eyes as Uchiha Madara back then. Although they had never heard of Uchiha Kazuto's name before, just knowing he possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan was enough to put them on alert.

In truth, even if it weren't the Mangekyo Sharingan—if someone in Konoha had Wood Release and became Hokage—that alone would be enough to keep them cautious and maintain friendly relations for a long time.

The other villages felt the same way. Far from planning an invasion because of Konoha's coup, they became even more cautious.

"Uchiha Kazuto..."

In some dark corner of Konoha, Black Zetsu watched quietly.

"The Mangekyo Sharingan... pity, Uchiha Kazuto has no siblings..."

Black Zetsu shook his head, a little regretful. Although the plan was proceeding normally, he wouldn't have minded adding another layer of insurance. Unfortunately, Uchiha Kazuto had neither brothers nor sisters, wasn't anyone's reincarnation—just an ordinary, nameless Uchiha. Before awakening the Mangekyo, he was the kind of person you wouldn't notice even if you threw him into a crowd.

Soon after, Black Zetsu vanished. He didn't think Uchiha Kazuto would affect his plan.