What Does It Mean to Have a Hand Full of Sharingan?

A hundred-year-old Hokage?

Never mind whether any ninja could live to that age—even if one really did, they would probably be too senile to think clearly. How could they still serve as Hokage?

Had everyone in Konoha died by then? Was there really no one left who could take over?

Hatake Kakashi thought it over carefully and felt like he understood what this 5.5th Hokage meant. Could it 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 a 5.5th Hokage.

But what could have happened to Konoha that they urgently needed a leader before they even had time to select the Sixth Hokage, forcing them to choose a 5.5th Hokage like him?

It was not impossible. But if that was the case, it meant Konoha had encountered some major disaster in the future, one so severe that even a proper Hokage selection ceremony could not be held.

Come to think of it, the position of Konoha's Hokage really seemed somewhat ill-fated. Starting with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, hardly any had inherited the position normally.

The First Hokage died not long after his battle with Uchiha Madara. The Second Hokage took office in a hurry, 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, yet he too died in battle not long afterward. Then the Third Hokage unexpectedly returned to office.

What about the future Fifth Hokage? Would they be chosen normally, or would they also take office in a crisis?

Was there anyone in Konoha now who could bear the burden of becoming the Fifth Hokage?

Not to mention, something must have happened to the Fifth Hokage for a 5.5th Hokage to exist. Would the Sixth Hokage then take office properly?

For a moment, countless pieces of information flashed through Hatake Kakashi's mind, and his mood visibly darkened.

Still, he could understand Kitahara Kaede's opinion of Shimura Danzō. That man truly was no good thing.

"Is that Dead Last really that important?"

Inside the Uchiha ancestral residence, Uchiha Sasuke could not help muttering to himself.

Through Kitahara Kaede's repeated revelations, he had truly realized that Uzumaki Naruto might be even more important than he had imagined.

From the attention of the village Higher-ups, to the Fourth Hokage's legacy that even his murderer of a brother had personally returned to seek, to now being hunted by the village Higher-ups merely for coming into contact with Uzumaki Naruto—he had realized that Uzumaki Naruto might be even more special than himself, 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 a great deal of information from this.

[No wonder everyone wants to take down Danzo. Even if you don't intend to take down Danzo, Danzo won't let you go!

He's Konoha's biggest cancer. Child trafficking, human experimentation, destroying people's will—what evil hasn't he committed?

The funniest part is that someone like him still thinks he's doing it for Konoha's sake, thinks he has inherited the Will of Fire, and even wants to become Hokage?

What an utterly ridiculous joke!

The Third Hokage had his dark side too, but he was never this deranged. The Will of Fire? Let's see whether the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, would recognize 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 overflowing with resentment, as though he wished he could kill Shimura Danzō himself.

Clearly, as an ordinary person, Kitahara Kaede could not remain calm in the face of catastrophe. Rationally, he could decide not to provoke Shimura Danzō, but in truth, his heart was still filled with fury.

It was simply that his strength was still far from sufficient to take revenge on Shimura Danzō, so he had swallowed this anger for now.

Compared to Hatake Kakashi, who had some understanding of Shimura Danzō, Uchiha Sasuke knew very little. So when he saw phrases like Konoha's biggest cancer, child trafficking, human experimentation, and destroying people's will, 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 his textbooks? Was his Will of Fire somehow different from theirs?

Although Uchiha Sasuke currently considered himself a cold, emotionless avenger, he still acknowledged the Will of Fire in his heart. Naturally, he despised such a person.

After all, there was nothing inherently wrong with the Will of Fire. Who could reject such a Will of Fire?

But it was hardly uncommon for good teachings to be twisted.

[What kind of bullshit 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 under the sun? Is that what the Second Hokage taught you?

No wonder you died a miserable death in the end. Trying to stab Susanoo with a kunai—you deserved it!]

The two of them had originally thought they would only see Kitahara Kaede continue his furious rant, but instead, an earth-shattering revelation emerged.

Hatake Kakashi's expression instantly turned grave. If this was true, then this was truly a huge matter.

A hand full of Sharingan?

What did that mean?

Had he transplanted Sharingan onto his arm?

And his whole hand was full of them?

Hatake Kakashi thought of Shimura Danzō's arm, which had always been wrapped in bandages over the years. He had never thought much of it before, but now that he considered it, could the bandages be concealing Sharingan?

If that were true, the matter would be serious.

Never mind why Sharingan, which were clearly eye organs, had been 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 had been said that Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered his entire clan to measure his own capacity. But looking at it now, could Root have been secretly involved as well?

Did Konoha's Higher-ups have anything to do with this?

Did the Third Hokage know about it?

But there was another possibility: Root might have removed the Sharingan afterward.

Yet regardless of which possibility 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 were usually those that had been passed down for many years. Even without Kekkei Genkai, they possessed their own secret techniques. If Sharingan could be removed in large numbers today, what about their secret techniques tomorrow?

To the major Ninja Clans, their Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques were the very foundation of their existence. Anyone who tried to touch that foundation would undoubtedly be crossing the bottom line of every Ninja Clan.

Once this news spread, the Ninja Clans throughout Konoha would likely erupt in revolt. No one could accept it.