Senya saw that Kakashi was on the verge of being consumed by rage and hatred. He knew his goal was nearly within reach.
Now it was time to reveal the truth, step by step.
"After the Second Shinobi World War, the name 'White Fang of the Leaf' resounded throughout the Ninja World. The name 'Sannin' did, too."
"But the title 'Sannin' was bestowed by Hanzo. Your father, Hatake Sakumo, was different. He carved out the title 'White Fang of the Leaf' himself, one slash at a time, on the battlefield."
"So when the war ended, he received the Hokage Haori as a matter of course. His status was second only to that of the Third at the time, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Kakashi furrowed his brow, drawn into thought by Senya's words. If that was the case, who could have wanted to target his father?
Seeing that Kakashi had calmed down a little, Senya continued. A person's thoughts when they were enraged were often overturned once they calmed down, because they knew their thinking had been extreme. But when they arrived at an answer through calm reflection, they would believe it without question.
So Senya had to make Kakashi think through the question and accept the answer. Only then could he truly bring Kakashi over to his side. He had done the same when speaking with Hyuga Hiashi earlier.
Hiashi, however, had already decided to turn against the village leadership, saving Senya a lot of steps.
"Then who was trying to drive my father to his death? Could it have been Lord Hokage?"
Kakashi was afraid of the answer he had reached. He couldn't believe that the kindly old man who always carried a pipe could be the mastermind behind his father's suicide.
Seeing that Kakashi had voiced his suspicion, Senya continued.
"It wasn't the Third. Hiruzen Sarutobi was still in his prime at the time and had no desire to give up the Hokage's seat, but he hadn't intended to drive your father to his death."
"Had no desire to give up the Hokage's seat?"
Kakashi repeated the words, pondering them. Could the "Hokage Haori" his father had received back then have had another meaning? Had it been meant to keep his father from becoming Hokage?
Leaning against the wall, Senya gave him a firm answer.
"That's right. Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't even fifty then. For a top-tier ninja, although his body was beginning to decline, his combat experience was growing richer by the day, and he was still at the peak of his strength."
"The Third didn't want to step down, but what could he do when faced with the 'White Fang of the Leaf,' who was not yet thirty but had already become famous throughout the Ninja World? After all the losses and casualties Konoha had suffered in the war, could he really hold on to his seat as Hokage?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's image in Kakashi's heart continued to crumble. The image of the kind, gentle man who had shown so much concern for Kinoe was falling apart.
Kakashi's clenched fists began to tremble, but the truth Senya was telling did not stop.
"In the years after the Second Shinobi World War, the name 'White Fang of the Leaf' grew louder and louder. At last, his achievements became so great that they overshadowed his superiors. The Third panicked."
"Then Danzo came up with a plan: to engineer a failure for the 'White Fang of the Leaf,' who had never failed before, shatter the myth of your father's '100 percent mission completion rate,' and damage his reputation."
"Since you experienced what happened yourself, I'm sure you know the rest better than I do."
Kakashi, who had been kneeling on the ground, rose to his feet, trembling. His eyes, brimming with fury, remained fixed on the floor.
"Yes, I know. But if all they wanted was to bring my father down, then Hiruzen Sarutobi had already gotten what he wanted. Why did my father still kill himself?"
Senya leaned against the wall and gave a soft laugh.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi got what he wanted, but Danzo didn't. Ever since Hiruzen Sarutobi became Hokage, Danzo had been yearning for the position himself. He even tried to assassinate Hiruzen in secret."
"You probably know about that, too. It happened after your teacher, the Fourth Hokage Minato, died, when Hiruzen returned to the position."
Kakashi nodded. At the time, he had been in Anbu, so he knew about the incident. Hiruzen had ordered everyone to keep quiet, though, so he didn't know how Senya had found out.
"So do you understand who the culprit was now?"
Senya posed his final question.
Kakashi raised his head and met Senya's gaze.
"It was Danzo, wasn't it? But why would he kill my father just because he wanted to become Hokage? Why?"
By now, Kakashi knew the whole story. He had pieced everything together and worked out the answer for himself. But why had Danzo wanted to become Hokage badly enough to get his father killed? He wanted to get to the bottom of it today and hear the truth.
Senya had expected Kakashi to ask that. Everything was unfolding just as he wanted, guided by his words.
"Because Danzo and Hiruzen could both afford to wait back then. If Danzo could arrange for Hatake Sakumo to die, then when the Third stepped down, Danzo would be next in line."
"But what Danzo didn't expect was that after the Third Shinobi World War ended, Hiruzen stepped down, yet the Hokage's seat went to your teacher, Minato Namikaze."
"That's why Danzo's Root didn't appear on the battlefield the day of the Nine-Tails Incident. Do you understand now? Danzo used every means at his disposal to drive your father to suicide, stood by and let your teacher Minato die, and only chose to assassinate Hiruzen once he had grown old and frail and couldn't afford to wait any longer."
"Every bit of it was for the sake of claiming that seat called 'Hokage.'"
Kakashi's mental defenses shattered. Lightning Release mastery copied. Mangekyo ocular power: 10%.
The system's voice rang in Senya's mind. He was delighted. He hadn't expected that breaking Kakashi's defenses would not only increase his ocular power, but also grant him mastery of Lightning Release Ninjutsu. No wonder he was known as "Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja."
Kakashi yanked off his Forehead Protector and hurled it to the ground with all his strength.
"So this is the so-called 'Will of Fire'? Father! Minato-sensei! They died for something this ridiculous! What have I been doing all these years? I've been carrying out missions for my own enemy!"
Kakashi's left Mangekyo was now fully exposed to Senya, though Kakashi himself had no idea.
Seeing Kakashi in such a broken state, Senya knew that the troublesome task of helping him recover lay ahead. He would have to rebuild Kakashi's shattered resolve and give him a new path as a ninja.
"Kakashi, Danzo's plot was one reason your father killed himself. There was another."
Kakashi froze and asked without thinking, "What reason?"
Senya stepped in front of Kakashi, helped him to his feet, and patted the dust off his clothes.
"First, there was his loyalty to the way of the samurai. Your father was the last samurai of Konoha, and also the strongest of those who had gone from being samurai to becoming ninja. Though his identity had changed, your father's loyalty remained with 'Konoha,' not with the 'Hokage.'"
"But I believe the main reason was you."
When Kakashi heard Senya's final words, he stumbled back several steps, as if his soul had left his body. He kept murmuring, "For me?"
Senya confirmed it once more.
"That's right. If Hatake Sakumo had remained alive, you would have lived in his shadow, constantly shunned and even cursed by the villagers. So he chose to use his 'death' to quell the resentment of the people of the Konoha he loved, so they wouldn't take it out on you."
Before you continue