The Shackles of Talent

These thoughts troubled Minato and left him looking dejected. But in the Third's eyes, that dejection looked like dissatisfaction.

"Minato?" The Third's tone grew gentler.

Seeing the Third press him, Minato quickly replied, "I was held up by a shinobi. I couldn't get here any faster!"

Sarutobi was a little surprised by that answer.

"Someone who could keep pace with you? Has another talent like Shisui appeared among the Uchiha?"

Sarutobi didn't believe the Uchiha could produce another genius like Shisui. At least, not yet.

As for the future, Itachi might have that potential. Talent was something you were born with.

But Sarutobi had already planned for that. Itachi had been taught by Shisui from a young age and raised with Konoha's Will of Fire. No matter how powerful he became, he would never turn his blade against Konoha.

As for Uchiha Kei, who was always causing him trouble, he was just a good-for-nothing. Given his physical condition, he had little potential to grow stronger.

Sarutobi had more than once suspected that Uchiha Kei was merely a pawn pushed into the open by someone operating behind the scenes. He didn't know who was hiding back there, and that was why he kept tolerating Kei.

Until he learned just how powerful the person behind the scenes was, Sarutobi didn't want to fall out with them. He had even begun to consider using them.

After all, this branch of the Uchiha lived extravagantly and seemed to have a steady supply of resources. New people joined every month, and their population was considerable.

If he could get his hands on their resources, he wouldn't need to compromise with the Daimyo. And if he could use moral pressure to force them to fight and die on the front lines, whittling down their numbers, that would be even better.

The thought made Sarutobi feel quite pleased.

In Sarutobi's mind, Uchiha Kei was a piece of meat in his bowl. He just didn't know whether trying to eat it would break his teeth.

Still, Sarutobi had already prepared for the worst.

If things really came to that, he could always hand the Hokage seat over to the Uchiha. Once an Uchiha became Hokage, surely Kei would still contribute to Konoha.

Shisui would be the perfect candidate. The Uchiha wouldn't rebel against their own, would they?

As for Danzo's claim that an Uchiha Hokage would lead Konoha into the abyss, that was pure nonsense. Konoha belonged to the people of Konoha, not to the Hokage.

Only after becoming Hokage had Sarutobi understood how powerless the position could be. He was nothing like Danzo, who was obsessed with becoming Hokage and hungry for the power it represented.

Sarutobi knew where his authority came from: his own strength, his three disciples who had the power of a Kage, the loyalty of Might Duy, who could open the Eight Gates, the Sarutobi Clan's ability to field three thousand shinobi at a moment's notice, and the generations-long support of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans.

Danzo kept imagining that once he became Hokage, he could command everyone with a single word. That was a pipe dream.

Hopefully, being humiliated this time would help Danzo come to his senses.

Without strength to back it up, all power was a dream that vanished at the slightest breeze.

Thinking of all this, Sarutobi felt quite cheerful. I really am impressive.

To outsiders, his cheerful smile seemed to show how proud he was that Konoha had gained another powerful shinobi, even if that shinobi was an Uchiha.

Watching Sarutobi smile, Minato remarked, "The Third really is broad-minded!"

Unfortunately, Minato couldn't share in the Third's good mood. He couldn't bring himself to celebrate the Uchiha, who had slaughtered their comrades.

"Third, the person who stopped me wasn't especially fast, but he was experienced. He kept disrupting my movements at critical moments."

Minato wanted to explain everything clearly to the Third, especially how ruthless the man had been and what swordsmanship he'd used.

Those were all reasons Konoha couldn't accept someone like him.

More than gaining another powerful shinobi, Minato hoped Konoha's people would be the kind who cared about their comrades.

"At first, he kept me occupied with an undying technique. No matter how many Rasengan I used, I couldn't hurt him. For a while, I even wondered if I'd fallen under a genjutsu!"

Sarutobi was in such a good mood that he felt like saying a little more.

Since Minato wasn't satisfied with his explanation of the Flying Thunder God technique, he'd teach him about something else.

"Minato, you did fall under a genjutsu, but it wasn't aimed at you. It was cast on the user himself. It's called Izanagi."

This was only Sarutobi's guess, but one he thought was likely.

After the Uchiha civil war, this three-tomoe technique innate to the Uchiha had vanished from the Shinobi World. And since Izanami had been developed to counter Izanagi, it had disappeared too.

"Izanagi?" Minato asked curiously. He'd never heard the name before.

"That's right. It's the Uchiha Clan's ultimate ocular technique. The user records their own state with the Sharingan, then, for the duration of the technique, can physically restore themselves to that recorded state from any injury they suffer—even death!"

Sarutobi always made sure to strike a flawless pose when showing off his knowledge.

How could that be possible? Wouldn't that make someone invincible? Minato couldn't believe it.

The three-tomoe Sharingan was difficult to awaken, but it was also common enough. The Uchiha Clan could reach the strength of an elite jonin once they awakened it; they didn't have to be elite jonin first to awaken it.

That was the main reason the Uchiha Clan had become a powerful clan: they had more elite jonin than anyone else.

And as long as they had enough opportunities, even the most useless among them could become an elite jonin.

For other clans, a glance at a child's potential from birth was enough to tell how far they would grow and what their place in the clan would be.

Those without the potential to become elite jonin would never get the chance.

In the shinobi world, talent was brutally unfair. The Uchiha, who could break free of those shackles of talent, certainly had reason to be proud.

But that was exactly why people hated them.

The Uchiha were already monstrous enough. Add an unkillable technique to the mix, and it would be absurd that they hadn't conquered the Shinobi World.

Minato naturally didn't believe it.

But Sarutobi wasn't going to explain.

"Minato, anything is possible in the shinobi world!"

It was another empty, flavorless platitude.

Before Sarutobi could finish, a voice suddenly came from the hospital bed.

"Don't be so smug, Sarutobi. Uchiha Kei's subordinates aren't as simple as you think. Izanagi comes at a cost, and as Minato said, I didn't see that man pay one!"

When someone lacked credibility, they talked too much; when they lacked authority, they got angry too often; when they lacked understanding, they worried too much.

Danzo no longer trusted Sarutobi as blindly as before. Better to rely on himself than on others. In the end, I, Danzo, would have to get through this crisis on my own.

"Danzo, you're awake!"

Danzo's voice interrupted their conversation. He wanted to join in too.

"I was never unconscious!"

"Then why were you—" Sarutobi asked, confused.

"Hmph. I simply couldn't accept what was happening before my eyes. Sarutobi, Uchiha Kei must be eliminated!"

Danzo's tone was resolute.

Clearly, Danzo, who had been willing to sell Sarutobi out to Kei, would just as readily sell Uchiha Kei out too.