How Could It Be That Child?

Namikaze Minato lightly ruffled his blond hair, his blue eyes full of confusion.

If war had broken out after his death, that would have been no surprise. The Fourth Hokage had died, and the Nine-Tails had devastated Konoha. Spies from other villages could have learned that much without even entering the village.

Even if the respected Third Hokage had stepped forward again, or one of the Sannin had returned to take over Minato's duties, avoiding war would not have been easy.

Greedy enemies were quick to strike when you were at your weakest.

But according to Yuuhi Kurenai, no war had broken out. Instead, the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, and his own child had been treated like a monster.

It was common for a Jinchuriki to be treated like a monster. Things were much the same in almost every ninja village. But the extermination of the Uchiha Clan demanded an explanation.

"Why was the Uchiha Clan wiped out?" he asked quietly, frowning.

He was dead, but he had been Hokage. He still cared about what happened in the village—far more than Naruto Uzumaki, at least.

"Because none of the Sannin returned to Konoha. The Third Hokage held tightly to power all those years."

"And he let Shimura Danzō suppress the Uchiha Clan. In the end, he struck a deal with Uchiha Itachi, Mikoto's son, who had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan: the lives of every member of the Uchiha Clan in exchange for Sasuke's life."

"You almost had me," the Fourth Hokage said, his voice unusually bright, as though he were recalling their battle.

"Are his actions still under his own control?" he asked.

"When Orochimaru transplanted those eyes into me, I'd already experienced what that felt like. Do you know how much even a three-tomoe Sharingan drains