Itachi, Eye Awakening

After the three annoying old men left, the Third Hokage sat in his seat, staring at the portraits of the First Hokage and the Second Hokage on the wall.

When Minato heard the Third Hokage begin processing documents, he knocked and was let in.

"Oh, it's Minato!"

The Third Hokage smiled and took a puff of his pipe. Seeing Minato's sunny face, that vibrant vitality and flourishing state, the Third Hokage knew his persistence had meaning.

People age and die. If he and Danzo and the others never grew old or died, then young stalwarts like Minato would never get their chance to shine.

When you're old, you make room!

Minato didn't bring up Liao Wu's matter again. His teacher Jiraiya had already explained the details.

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Liao Wu had self-destructed into fragments, and his forbidden technique wouldn't leak in the slightest.

This time at the Hokage's Office, Minato wanted to request going to the front line. In the current Ninja World War, Leaf Village only had Mist Village as its last opponent.

Mist Village refused to fight a decisive battle with Leaf Village, constantly harassing the Land of Fire along the coastline. This had undoubtedly annoyed Leaf Village's higher-ups.

Minato's high mobility was the key force against Mist Village's harassment. Without Minato stationed at the front, Mist Village's momentum had resurrected in the past few days.

The Third Hokage tapped the table and nodded: "Alright, Minato, sorry for the trouble. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru—none of them are reliable. Leaf Village still needs a young man like you to carry the load."

Minato rubbed his head with an awkward smile.

The Third Hokage looked at Kakashi behind Minato—a listless expression, like a secluded person lost in their own world.

The Third Hokage comforted him: "Kakashi, your left eye carries Obito's bond. You can't stay forever lost in mourning for him."

"I understand, Hokage-sama!"

Kakashi nodded.

The Third Hokage saw Rin wanted to say something but held back due to her position, so he asked: "Rin, if you want to ask something, go ahead. I'll answer whatever I can."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Rin voiced the doubt in her heart: "Did Lord Liao Wu really kill fellow villagers to research forbidden techniques? Lord Liao Wu was such a good person. I used to see him feeding stray cats all the time."

The Third Hokage sighed. The official cause of Liao Wu's death was labeled as suicide at Shen Wubi Bridge, acknowledging his own grave sins.

This was to save face for Liao Wu and the Uchiha Clan.

The Third Hokage stood up, looking out the window toward the Uchiha Clan's direction, and said: "Rin, if you truly want to see a person clearly, using only your eyes isn't enough. People are three-dimensional, living beings. How can you claim to see someone clearly from just one angle, one side?"

"Perhaps Liao Wu was kind, but for the ambition in his heart, he could also become cruel."

The Third Hokage thought of Orochimaru, a shadow crossing his brow. After Tsunade and Jiraiya returned, they both suggested the Anbu investigate Orochimaru.

The Anbu's report mentioned that Orochimaru desperately wanted Liao Wu's forbidden technique.

These years, Orochimaru had been secretly researching something alone—human experiments and forbidden techniques. Orochimaru had probably done it too!

But without evidence, one couldn't make baseless accusations. At this critical juncture, with the war not yet over, Orochimaru had to be appeased, not pushed too far.

After Minato left with Kakashi and Rin, the Third Hokage called out to the Anbu in the Hokage Building:

"Lian Chuan, go find Jiraiya."

"Yes!"

When Jiraiya entered the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage said with some helplessness: "Jiraiya, next time don't transform into Liao Wu to flirt with little girls. You'll easily make the Anbu misunderstand."

Jiraiya reverted to his original form and laughed awkwardly: "Isn't that kid handsome? When he was little, he loved turning into me to sneak into the female bathhouse and steal girls' underwear."

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe, a slight tightness in his chest. Liao Wu's death might have hit Jiraiya the hardest.

They had been such close friends in school.

Jiraiya had even wanted to let Liao Wu sign Mount Myōboku's Summoning Scroll, but he had stopped it due to the political risks posed by the Uchiha.

"Jiraiya, Liao Wu is dead. You need to grow up a bit."

"Yeah, Liao Wu is dead."

Jiraiya was a little startled, a little dazed, then slowly turned serious: "Old man, what did you call me for?"

"The front line only has Mist Village making noise. Cloud Village, Stone Village, and Sand Village clearly don't want to fight anymore. Whether I go or not doesn't matter?"

The Third Hokage tapped the table with his pipe and said: "I didn't call you here to send you to the front. I want you to secretly investigate Orochimaru."

"..."

Jiraiya was startled, his expression rarely turning grave: "You noticed something off about Orochimaru too?"

The Third Hokage nodded: "After Orochimaru returned, I ordered him to rest at home. Instead, he injured the Anbu members and disappeared somewhere."

"We can't go hard on Orochimaru at this critical time. It's up to you, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya nodded: "Alright, I'll investigate Orochimaru. But teacher, if Orochimaru really develops a forbidden technique like Liao Wu's, will you deal with him the same way you dealt with Liao Wu?"

"..."

The Third Hokage was at a loss for words, suddenly realizing he wasn't so impartial.

His own disciple was still different from an Uchiha.

Jiraiya didn't keep pressing the Third Hokage and asked instead, "Where's Tsunade? Where did she run off to?"

The Third Hokage followed Jiraiya's lead to change the subject: "Tsunade? She came to yell at this Old Man the day before yesterday, probably off gambling big somewhere now."

"You three—not a single one of you has any decency. If a guy like you could actually put my mind at ease, I'd really be no match for the Second Hokage!"

Leaf Village Izakaya.

Kushina, accompanied by Mikoto and Itachi, found Tsunade, who was dead drunk.

Shizune stayed by Tsunade's side as her personal attendant.

Because Tsunade and Dan never fell in love, Tsunade had no reason to adopt Shizune; Shizune was bought by the Senju Clan to serve as Tsunade's personal maid.

Shizune politely bowed to Kushina and Mikoto: "Lady Kushina, Lady Mikoto."

Kushina ruffled Shizune's little head: "Shizune, we're here to see Lord Tsunade."

Shizune looked at Tsunade slumped over the table and said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Lord Tsunade is—"

The three of them watched Tsunade in this state and didn't know what to say.

As it turned out, Tsunade wasn't drunk at all. She sat up, glanced at Kushina and the others, and focused especially on Mikoto and Itachi.

Mikoto's eyes were a little red, as if she had been crying, while young Itachi remained calm—his composure as a shinobi was far superior to that of Jonin Kushina and Mikoto.

This made Tsunade take a second look at Itachi.

Mikoto spoke: "Lord Tsunade..."

Tsunade waved her hand to cut Mikoto off: "I know what you want to ask. Follow me out!"

On the commercial street of the Leaf Village, Tsunade walked as she told Mikoto the details of Liao Wu's death.

She held nothing back, not caring that Kushina and Mikoto were best friends.

Kushina felt awkward hearing this. Liao Wu's matter was classified, and Minato hadn't told her either.

Her own man had killed her best friend's older brother—this... could they still get along after this?

Kushina secretly glanced at Mikoto. Mikoto lowered her head, and when she raised it again, her Blood Red Three Tomoe seemed ready to devour hearts.

Kushina was Startled.

"Mikoto—"

Mikoto quickly deactivated her Sharingan and apologized to Kushina: "I'm sorry, Kushina, I just... I just..."

Mikoto couldn't quite find the words. She seemed to want to vent the Sadness in her bones, and the power in her eyes was barely containable.

Love gives the Uchiha power, but it also takes away their loved ones.

Itachi grabbed Mikoto's hand and said firmly, "Mother, Jonin Minato did nothing wrong!"

"Itachi—"

Mikoto stared in shock at the One Tomoe Sharingan in Itachi's pupils.

Opening his eyes at such a young age—such talent was the Uchiha Pride, but also a kind of original sin!

Mikoto turned and looked at Tsunade with some wariness.

Tsunade crossed her arms and let out a Cold Laugh: "No need to be on guard against me. I've seen every kind of genius there is."

Tsunade stared at Itachi and said, "Kid, tell me—why did Jonin Minato do nothing wrong? He killed your Relative."