Rain dripped from Kakashi's silver hair, striking the muddy ground and splashing up tiny droplets. His whole body seemed to have been stripped of its bones, leaving only an empty shell sunken in the mire called "the past."
Naruto did not say another word.
Comfort was cheap, and sympathy was useless. To someone already soaked through with grief, any words seemed pale and powerless. What he needed was not consolation, but a reason strong enough to drag him out of that swamp—or rather, a target for revenge.
He turned, took a step, and walked into the increasingly heavy rain.
"Naruto..." Kakashi called out instinctively, his voice hoarse.
Naruto did not stop. He merely left behind a cold, emotionless sentence.
"Sensei, people should not die for nothing."
Naruto returned to his apartment, shut the door, and completely sealed off the damp, cold world outside.
The room was pitch-black. He did not turn on the lights, simply standing in the center of the darkness as water dripped from his soaked clothes and pooled on the floor.
He reviewed the situation.
Public opinion alone could never crush that old fox who had always operated in the shadows and underground. Danzo used public opinion to attack others, but he himself did not care about it in the slightest.
Danzo was a target that had to be cut down.
But that target was far more solid than it appeared. An old man who had controlled Root for so many years and developed a private armed force right under the Third Hokage's nose would never fall easily.
His right arm and right eye, wrapped in bandages year-round, were practically an open secret, yet no one knew the truth behind them. Such an unknown variable was the deadliest factor in any military operation.
Before he had