A hundred-year-old Hokage?
Setting aside whether any ninja could even live to that age, even if one did, he would probably be too senile to think clearly. How could he still serve as Hokage?
Had everyone in Konoha died in battle by then? Could they not find anyone to fill the position?
Hatake Kakashi thought it over carefully and seemed to understand what the 5.5th Hokage meant. Could he have been a transitional Hokage, acting as Hokage before a new one had been chosen?
From that perspective, it did fit Kitahara Kaede's description of the 5.5th Hokage.
But what could have happened to Konoha that they had urgently needed a leader before they even had time to choose the Sixth Hokage, forcing them to pick someone like him as the 5.5th?
It was not impossible. But if that was the case, it meant Konoha had encountered a major crisis in the future, one so severe that they could not even hold a proper Hokage election.
Come to think of it, the position of Konoha's Hokage really did seem somewhat cursed. Starting with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, hardly any of them had inherited the position normally.
The First Hokage had died not long after his battle with Uchiha Madara. The Second had hurriedly taken office, only to die later while being pursued by Kumogakure's Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers. The Third Hokage had been hastily appointed on the battlefield.
Only the Fourth Hokage had become Hokage through the proper process, but he had died in battle not long afterward. Then the Third Hokage had unexpectedly returned to office.
What about the future Fifth Hokage? Would he be chosen normally, or would he once again take office in a time of crisis?
Was there anyone in Konoha now who could bear the burden of becoming the Fifth Hokage?
Not to mention that something must have happened to the Fifth Hokage for a 5.5th Hokage to exist. Would the Sixth Hokage take office through normal means?
For a moment, countless pieces of information flashed through Hatake Kakashi's mind, and his mood visibly worsened.
Still, he could understand Kitahara Kaede's opinion of Shimura Danzō. The man truly was no good.
"Was that Dead Last really so important?"
Inside the Uchiha ancestral residence, Second Pillar could not help muttering to himself.
Through Kitahara Kaede's repeated revelations, he had truly come to realize that Uzumaki Naruto might be far more important than he had imagined.
From the attention of the village leadership, to the Fourth Hokage's legacy that his murderous older brother had personally returned to seek, and now to being hunted by the village leadership merely because he had come into contact with Uzumaki Naruto, he realized that Uzumaki Naruto might be even more special than him, the last descendant of the Uchiha Clan.
He did not know what the Root Squad was, nor did he know who Shimura Danzō was, but he could still glean plenty of information from this.
No wonder everyone wanted to take down Danzo. Even if you didn't plan to take down Danzo, Danzo would never let you go!
He was Konoha's greatest cancer: trafficking children, conducting human experiments, crushing people's spirits—what evil had he not done?
The most ridiculous part was that someone like him actually believed he was doing it for Konoha, that he had inherited the Will of Fire, and even wanted to become Hokage?
What an utterly laughable joke!
The Third Hokage had a dark side too, but he was not this twisted. The Will of Fire? Let's see whether the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Second, Tobirama Senju, would acknowledge your Will of Fire. If they came back to life, the first thing they would do would be beat a monster like you to death.
Kitahara Kaede's diary was brimming with resentment, as though he wished he could kill Shimura Danzō.
Clearly, as an ordinary person, Kitahara Kaede could not remain unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him. Rationally, he knew he should avoid provoking Shimura Danzō, but in truth, his heart was still filled with fury.
It was only because his strength was still far from enough to take revenge on Shimura Danzō that he had swallowed his anger.
Compared to Hatake Kakashi, who knew a certain amount about Shimura Danzō, Second Pillar knew very little. So when he saw phrases like Konoha's greatest cancer, trafficking children, human experiments, and crushing people's spirits, any one of them was enough to show just how utterly evil Shimura Danzō was.
And someone like that wanted to become Hokage?
He claimed to possess the Will of Fire?
Why did that seem different from the Will of Fire he had learned about in school? His Will of Fire and mine seemed to be completely different, didn't they?
Although Second Pillar currently saw himself as a cold, emotionless avenger, he still acknowledged the Will of Fire in his heart. Naturally, he loathed someone like that.
After all, there was nothing wrong with the Will of Fire itself. Who could reject such a Will of Fire?
But it was hardly rare for good teachings to be twisted.
What kind of goddamn Will of Fire gave you a hand full of Sharingan? What kind of Will of Fire made you transplant Hashirama Cells? What kind of Will of Fire made you commit every evil and exhaust every wicked deed? Was that what the Second taught you?
No wonder you died such a miserable death in the end. You tried to stab Susanoo with a kunai—serves you right!
The two of them had originally thought they would see Kitahara Kaede continue his furious ranting, but instead, an earth-shattering revelation appeared.
Hatake Kakashi's expression instantly turned grave. If this was true, then the matter was truly enormous.
A hand full of Sharingan?
What did that mean?
Had he transplanted Sharingan into his arm?
And filled his whole hand with them?
Hatake Kakashi thought of the arm Shimura Danzō had kept wrapped in bandages all these years. He had never given it much thought before, but now, could it be that it was covered in Sharingan?
If that was true, then the matter was serious.
Setting aside why Sharingan, which were clearly eye organs, would be transplanted onto an arm, the question of where so many Sharingan had come from was already a major problem.
Obviously, where else could the Sharingan have come from?
They could only have been collected during the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
Back then, it was said that Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered his entire clan in order to test the limits of his own capacity. But now, it seemed that Root might have been involved as well.
Did Konoha's leadership have anything to do with this?
Did the Third Hokage know about it?
But there was another possibility: Root had removed the Sharingan afterward?
Yet no matter which it was, what Shimura Danzō had done had completely crossed the bottom line that every ninja clan could accept.
After all, clans called Ninja Clans usually had legacies spanning many years. Even without Kekkei Genkai, they each possessed their own secret techniques. If Sharingan could be harvested in bulk today, then what about their secret techniques?
To the major ninja clans, their Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques were the foundations upon which their families stood. Anyone who tried to touch them was undoubtedly crossing the bottom line of every ninja clan.
Once this information got out, the Ninja Clans throughout Konoha would likely riot. No one could accept it.
Before you continue