The Third and Minato

Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital, Danzo lay in bed, wrapped up like a mummy, having lost an arm.

Compared to the pain of his physical injuries, the mental shock was far more cruel.

Throughout the procedure to drain his abscesses, the pain had never made the old man cry out once. But even after the treatment was over, the old geezer still stared blankly into space, occasionally muttering a few words.

"I was such a fool. I really was! I never should've gone there in the first place!"

Sarutobi, his longtime companion, had come to visit right away. Seeing his old friend in such a state, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow.

Although he and his friend Danzo had argued constantly over the years, seeing him reduced to this today still pained him.

"Minato, how is Danzo?"

Minato, who had found Danzo and brought him to the hospital, hadn't left. He knew the Hokage would come, and he had plenty to report.

What he'd seen in the woods had convinced Minato that the Uchiha couldn't be allowed to continue like this.

"Lord Third, he's just as you see. Lord Danzo seems to have suffered some kind of shock! I suspect the Uchiha tortured him."

Minato didn't know what had happened in the woods, but someone capable of slaughtering helpless people wouldn't think twice about abusing an old man.

If not for Obito, the Uchiha would already have fallen below zero in Minato's estimation. Now, he looked at them the way animal lovers looked at people who ate dog meat.

Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe, his expression cautious. Uchiha Kei had always been arrogant and overbearing, but he had good reason to be. He'd dared to do this to Danzo without fearing the consequences.

Until he understood exactly how things had come to this, Sarutobi thought it best to get a clearer picture.

"Minato, tell me in detail. What exactly happened between Danzo and the Uchiha?"

"Yes." Minato nodded and began to report everything he knew.

"Lord Third, I don't know the full details. Today, Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, visited my home. While he was there, he received word that Elder Uchiha Kei had clashed with Danzo outside the village. Worried for Uchiha Kei's safety, Fugaku asked me to bring him back."

"In other words, Fugaku thought that if Uchiha Kei clashed with Danzo, Uchiha Kei would be the one to suffer."

The Third exhaled a puff of smoke, interrupting Minato. "Was Fugaku's visit a spur-of-the-moment decision?"

Sarutobi understood that Minato's words didn't prove anything about Uchiha Kei's power.

Fugaku had never been right about anything. The one thing he'd managed to do was find a way to survive in the narrow space between opposing sides.

Fugaku's actions only showed that the Uchiha weren't ready to antagonize the Hokage.

But that said nothing about Uchiha Kei.

Every clan in the village understood that Uchiha Kei and Uchiha Fugaku were two different matters. Only Fugaku thought the Uchiha were all the same.

At the thought, the Third grew uneasy again. One Uchiha was already a headache; another would make it twice as bad.

Ah, how could he set off a civil war between them?

At the thought, the Third's already sparse hair seemed to thin even further.

Whenever the Third felt uneasy, he would exhale a long stream of smoke.

Those close to him knew about this little habit. They just didn't realize that he himself was aware of it.

Seeing the Third grow troubled again, Minato put aside his dislike and tried to keep his voice steady. He wanted to give the Third an objective account of what had happened today.

After all, he needed the Third's wisdom to figure out whether there was still a chance for the village and the Uchiha to move forward together. If there wasn't, the village needed to decide how to deal with them.

"Third, Fugaku's visit wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. His wife Mikoto and Kushina have been friends since childhood. Yesterday, when Fugaku and I ran into each other and discussed the situation at the front, we talked about this. We agreed then that he'd visit today."

As he spoke, Minato lifted his head and looked the Third in the eye. "Fugaku was worried about the worsening situation at the front and hoped he could help Konoha."

"Oh." The Third didn't seem surprised by Fugaku's actions. He didn't even seem interested in discussing him further.

He'd never thought much of Fugaku.

"Minato, with your abilities, you should've been able to resolve the problem between Danzo and Uchiha Kei quickly. So what happened that kept you there for so long?"

Seeing that the Third wasn't going to ask more about Fugaku, Minato felt a little bitter, but continued talking about Uchiha Kei.

"I did head to the scene right away. But just as I was closing in on Uchiha Kei, someone disrupted my Flying Thunder God Technique formula, preventing me from reaching the scene as quickly as I could."

Minato spoke gravely. As someone who relied primarily on Flying Thunder God, the existence of a ninja capable of countering it was a serious concern.

Since the First Hokage's death, a saying had spread throughout the Shinobi World: no ninja was invincible; all it took was enough intelligence to counter a particular ninja.

After that, every famous ninja started calling themselves the strongest. The title of strongest had become worthless.

"Hmm." Seeing how seriously Minato spoke, Sarutobi understood his concerns.

But Sarutobi already had an answer.

"Those Uchiha who came from outside the village crossed Konoha's barrier and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport into the Uchiha compound. They must have a ninja who understands the technique as well."

Sarutobi hoped that showing off his intelligence network would put Minato at ease.

"Minato, don't worry too much. Even though it's the same Flying Thunder God, your talent is different from everyone else's. You have the reaction speed to handle it. Even the Second Hokage, who developed the technique, didn't have your talent."

Sarutobi's smoking gradually grew more even as he spoke to Minato, like an old man telling a story.

"So for most people, that technique is just a way to travel. For you, it's a deadly weapon. Make good use of your talent. A counter is always relative."

"Yes, I understand, Lord Hokage." Minato hadn't gotten the answer he wanted. He wanted to know whether there was a way to counter Flying Thunder God, but Sarutobi had given him an answer that was neither here nor there.

But when your superior had given you an explanation, whether or not you accepted it, you couldn't keep pressing him.

Minato knew when to stop and fell silent.

Seeing Minato stop speaking, Sarutobi knew his answer hadn't satisfied him. But he had no other answer to give.

Between admitting that Flying Thunder God had no counter and making Minato suspect that it could be countered, the Third had made his choice.

Unfortunately, Sarutobi didn't even realize that when those in power began to feel they could no longer keep their subordinates in check, they naturally became uneasy and started doing vague things to seem profound.

So the Hokage instinctively chose not to tell Minato how complicated space-time ninjutsu was. It wasn't a field of study any ordinary person should pursue.

Sarutobi was old now, no longer as capable as he'd been in his youth.

Especially since he was a well-rounded ninja, skilled in all five nature transformations. But those conventional techniques weren't enough against a young, vigorous specialist like Minato.

So he could only make this rising star wary. A subordinate with reservations would continue to respect his superior.

These young people were getting harder and harder to deal with.

"Phew." Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and continued asking, "But with your abilities, even if you couldn't reach the scene right away, it shouldn't have taken you long. What happened?"

Sarutobi's question brought the memory back to Minato. He thought again of the nameless corpses scattered throughout the woods.

The normally sunny Minato felt sorrow at the sight. He loved Konoha, and that meant he loved everyone in it. But he couldn't accept what had happened today, and he didn't answer the Third right away.

His silence wasn't because he resented the Third. Whenever he thought of the comrades slaughtered by their own people, he was overwhelmed by helplessness.

And Uchiha Kei's words kept echoing in his mind.

"Konoha's ninja have slaughtered their comrades before!"

Was that true? Had things like this happened before, without him knowing?

If it was a lie, why would Uchiha Kei deceive him with something so easily exposed? If it was true, why had these things happened, and who had ordered them?

What would they do if something like this happened again? Would he have to suppress one group of killers by slaughtering another?

And then how would he be any different from those executioners?

Konoha shouldn't be like this. The Uchiha shouldn't be like this either. It was time for a change.

Ah! Why couldn't the rest of the Uchiha be as sunny and kind as Obito?