Aoba Raimei looked confident and completely at ease.
Hyuga Kagami: "..."
You've really committed to Kumogakure's tradition of kidnapping!
No matter when it is, you're always thinking about kidnapping a ninja. That's just ridiculous!
In the shadows.
Uchiha Itachi's face suddenly went deathly pale. His Sharingan fixed on Hizashi Hyuga's corpse, unable to believe what he was seeing!
"How could this happen? It's impossible!"
The Two-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spun wildly.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Lord Hokage would never do something like this. Every ninja and every villager in the village is family to one another, someone we must protect. Lord Hokage... how could he do something like this?"
"Lord Hokage... is the kindest person in the world!"
He dropped onto a tree branch, leaning against the trunk behind him.
"Could it be... that the peace I've always wanted to protect, the village I've always wanted to protect... were all lies?"
When the goal you've always regarded as an honor, and fought for, turns out to be nothing but a bubble and a falsehood,
your whole worldview can collapse!
You can become despondent!
You can doubt yourself, or even... take your own life!
Uchiha Itachi gazed up at the crescent moon. It was midsummer, yet he felt a bone-deep chill!
"Why did it have to turn out like this?"
He couldn't help looking at Hyuga Kagami, his eyes filled with despair and pain. "Kagami-kun also loves peace and wants to protect the village. When he learned about this... he must have been in so much pain, too, right?"
Uchiha Itachi couldn't help looking toward Hyuga Kagami.
Kagami-kun... what would he choose?
At the scene.
Aoba Raimei said with a cheerful grin, "Brother, I'll leave the corpse with you. I'll be on my way!"
As he spoke, he turned and led his teammate away, cold sweat breaking out all over him!
This guy was terrifying.
Just meeting his gaze made him feel an intimidating pressure.
Damn it!
Once I get back to Kumogakure, I'll report this to Lord Raikage and make sure you die without a place to be buried!
"Of course. I wish you a safe journey."
Hyuga Kagami spoke softly, the corners of his mouth lifting.
The next moment, with a puff of smoke, a Great Hammer appeared in his hand!
The hammer stood one and a half meters tall. Against his own height of one meter seventy-four, it made for a startling contrast!
"You bastard, you gave me your word! I already told you about the corpse and what happened!"
Aoba Raimei's expression changed. He finally understood: Hyuga Kagami had never intended to let them go!
Their fate had been sealed from the very beginning!
But why... had his opponent bothered talking to him at all?
He couldn't understand.
"Give you my word?"
Hyuga Kagami sneered, his smile brazen and defiant. "When has Kumogakure ever kept its word? When has it ever followed the rules?"
"Idiot!"
His gaze flicked casually toward a tree, where Uchiha Itachi sat slumped against the trunk, his face full of despair...
Uchiha Itachi's faith in protecting Konoha had crumbled in that moment!
That's more like it.
Otherwise, Uchiha Itachi, who wanted to protect Konoha, would have eventually become my enemy.
But now things were different. With Uchiha Itachi's faith shattered, I could become his new faith!
Whoosh!
The air split with a sharp sound!
Hyuga Kagami stamped down hard!
The earth and stones beneath his feet fractured. He shot forward like a human tyrannosaurus and sent Aoba Raimei flying with a single hammer blow!
"Pfft!"
Aoba Raimei spat blood and flew through the air, his life or death uncertain!
"I'll kill you!"
Another Kumogakure ninja glared at him, eyes bloodshot, and roared, "If you kill us, Konoha and Kumogakure will go to war. When that happens, your Konoha will—"
He roared, trying to throw Hyuga Kagami off balance.
But the next moment, all he faced was Hyuga Kagami's cold expression and the Great Hammer crashing down on him!
Boom!
Down from above!
His body was crushed into a pulp!
"Idiot. You talk too much."
Hyuga Kagami said calmly, "Haven't you heard that villains die because they talk too much?"
He didn't bother looking at the two of them again. He simply used the Sealing Scroll to store Hizashi Hyuga's corpse.
The corpse wasn't much use to him.
But at a crucial moment, it might prove decisive.
"Uchiha Itachi?!"
Suddenly, he whipped around as though he had only just noticed him.
Whoosh!
The air split with a sharp sound!
In an instant, he appeared on the tree branch, his expression cold as he looked at Uchiha Itachi. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, as though he'd been caught with a secret to hide.
"What are you doing here?"
"Did you see everything just now?"
Uchiha Itachi raised his head, despondent and despairing. "Kagami-kun... why would Lord Hokage do something like this? How did he become this way? Wasn't he Konoha's hero, the Shinobi Hero?"
In that moment, Uchiha Itachi had none of the brilliance of a genius.
None of his usual composure or intelligence.
In that moment, Uchiha Itachi looked like an abandoned child, helpless and alone.
" Sigh."
Hyuga Kagami sighed and sat down beside Uchiha Itachi, helpless. He tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle and gazed at the night sky, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. "I don't understand either."
"But I know this is wrong. Just as that Kumogakure ninja said, a Hokage is supposed to protect the other ninjas and the villagers. That's what a Hokage should do."
His voice paused, and he patted Uchiha Itachi on the shoulder.
"Maybe... the Hokage didn't change. Maybe this is who he always was. He just pretended to be kind and benevolent in front of us."
Uchiha Itachi's face grew even paler!
As white as paper!
His face was drained of all color.
"Why did it have to turn out like this? Why is Konoha like this? Father has always wanted to rebel, and Lord Hokage acts benevolent on the surface but is actually ruthless. In Konoha... is there anything at all we can trust?"
Uchiha Itachi gave a bitter laugh.
He was lost.
It felt as if there was no hope left in life.
"Uchiha Itachi!"
Hyuga Kagami gave a cold snort and stood up, his posture straight and unyielding, his face fierce and defiant!
"Is this all you're capable of?"
He shouted at him furiously.
He practically pointed at Uchiha Itachi's nose as he cursed him!
Uchiha Itachi's face was pale. "But what can we do?"
"Lord Hokage doesn't love Konoha the way he pretends to, the Uchiha Clan harbors treasonous intentions, and Konoha has the even more rotten Root... Konoha... has rotted to the core."
"All we can do... is rot along with Konoha."
His eyes were dim.
Like a dying man waiting for death.
Before you continue