Kakashi's Bedside

"Do you know what becoming a disciple means?" Uchiha Jie asked softly after finishing bandaging Hinata's wounds.

He hadn't learned the Mystical Palm Technique. The Medical Ninjas from Konoha Hospital, upon hearing the Uchiha name, avoided him like the plague. They were direct disciples of Princess Tsunade, so it was almost impossible for him to learn from them.

Besides, Hinata's injuries weren't serious. Even without treatment, she would have quickly healed on her own.

"Father said so, and Sister Yue just told me too," Hinata nodded heavily.

The meaning of the word "master" was quite significant among ninjas. Almost every Jonin had served as a captain, and even on the battlefield, Chunin with combat experience could lead a small squad of Genin on missions.

Even if some people habitually called their captain "teacher," it wasn't a true master-disciple relationship. A captain might offer a bit of care during a mission, but they would never teach their ultimate techniques or secret skills.

However, a true master was different.

Hinata limped to the dining table and took out the tea leaves Uchiha Jie treasured from a drawer. Despite her young age, her tea-making skills were remarkably proficient, suggesting she had practiced beforehand.

Soon, she brought a cup of hot tea to Uchiha Jie.

"Are you sure about this?" Uchiha Jie didn't take the tea Hinata offered. He smiled faintly and asked softly.

"I'm a rogue ninja, an Uchiha, a wicked dragon who unfeelingly abducted you from Konohagakure. Your father must be thinking of taking a cleaver to me right now, chopping me into sixty-four pieces, and striking each piece sixty-four times until I'm reduced to paste."

However, at this moment, Hyuga Hiashi wasn't focused on his abducted eldest daughter. He was anxiously waiting for news outside the gates of Konoha Hospital.

Hatake Kakashi's fruitless return to Konoha startled a group of Jonin, and even the Hokage.

He was already among the strongest combatants in the village, second only to the Third Hokage.

Yet now, he lay on a hospital bed in Konoha Hospital. Beside him lay Second Pillar, and before them sat the Third Hokage, smoking his pipe, and the bandaged Shimura Danzō.

Everyone else, including the doctors and nurses, were sent back to their offices by Danzō after treating Kakashi. As for others who wanted to know the news, they couldn't even get past the hospital gates.

Including Hyuga Hiashi.

"You're saying he has two intact Three Tomoe Sharingan? And he abducted the Hyuga Clan's young lady. What exactly does he want?" Shimura Danzō sounded very agitated. The intelligence Kakashi provided had muddled his mind.

The Third Hokage turned his head, looking up and down at Danzō's bandaged arm and eyes. At this moment, he began to suspect him again.

Danzō also keenly noticed this.

"Hizuzen! You still suspect me?" he shouted angrily. "Every pair of Sharingan in Root was examined by you before being placed in the warehouse!"

"And now I suspect you even more!" His voice grew louder. He stepped forward, standing in front of Kakashi, and commanded, "Jonin Hatake, describe that Sharingan Genjutsu again! The one that pulled you into that blood-red space!"

Kakashi's current appearance was identical to Danzō's, even with more bandages wrapped around him. However, he was conscious and able to answer Danzō's questions.

He recounted the strange Sharingan Genjutsu he had experienced once more: the blood-red moon, the cross, and the crows. Danzō looked at the Third Hokage, his expression becoming intriguing.

"Hizuzen! How do you explain this?" he asked. "Don't think I don't know whose jutsu this is."

"After annihilating the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Itachi didn't leave Konoha immediately. Was it on your orders, or Hyuga Hiashi's, that he took Hyuga Hinata out of Konoha?" he asked in a low voice.

"But, that person said Teacher..." Kakashi began to explain when he heard Danzō's words.

How could that person be Uchiha Itachi? He was definitely older than Itachi, and he even mentioned the Nine-Tails' attack and the teacher's death. On that night, Uchiha Itachi was still a little kid.

But he was immediately silenced by Danzō.

"Do you know how your teacher died?" Danzō's single eye stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face hidden beneath his Kasa.

"Do you know? Although that sealing jutsu for the Nine-Tails originated from the Uzumaki Clan, it wasn't only the Fourth Hokage who knew how to use it."

He nodded in Hiruzen Sarutobi's direction, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Hizuzen also knows this ninjutsu, but the one who offered his life to the Shinigami was the younger, more promising, and more powerful Namikaze Minato."

A puff of smoke drifted out from under the Third Hokage's Kasa. He took a deep drag, his voice filled with self-reproach and helplessness.

"This is my fault, Kakashi," he said softly.

"Of course, it's your fault! Hizuzen! And you've made one mistake after another!" Shimura Danzō, relentless, continued, "This time you let Uchiha Itachi take Hyuga Hinata away, what do you intend to do?"

Despite his fierce words, Shimura Danzō knew in his heart that Hatake Kakashi was the Third Hokage's man. He was just anxious because things had gotten out of his control.

He had expected that with the Uchiha Clan annihilated and its members dead, he could quietly transplant Sharingan, increase his strength, and step by step seize the position of Hokage. He never imagined that after only a few days of peace, Hiruzen Sarutobi would throw him such a curveball.

"That person wasn't Uchiha Itachi," the Third Hokage said slowly.

"But that Genjutsu is unique to Uchiha Itachi!" Shimura Danzō's voice lowered. He spoke in a voice only he and the Third Hokage could hear, "Every Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular jutsu is different. Even other Mangekyo users cannot replicate that unique ocular jutsu of Uchiha Itachi."

"It's also possible that someone used a regular Sharingan's Genjutsu to perfectly replicate the same scene." The Third Hokage shook his head and looked at Kakashi, asking, "How long did you stay in that Genjutsu?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, I don't know the exact time," Kakashi replied.

He had endured immense pain, and it was too difficult to calculate how long he had been subjected to it.

"I was constantly trying to break free from the Genjutsu. Overall, more than a day should have passed within the Genjutsu," he recalled and answered briefly.

The Third Hokage and Danzō exchanged glances. They had clear intelligence: Uchiha Itachi's Tsukuyomi, when activated, lasted much longer than Kakashi described. Otherwise, how could he have still used ninjutsu after being subjected to Genjutsu?

Looking at Second Pillar lying nearby, they were certain they weren't harmed by the same technique.

But then, who could it be?