The first day after the disaster.
Dawn had barely broken when ninja began resettlement and reconstruction work amid the village's ruins.
People preferred to call the sudden disaster of the previous night the Nine-Tails' Rampage. It had engulfed all of Konoha, but fortunately, casualties had been relatively light.
With the village leadership having arranged for ANBU to evacuate the population in advance, the greatest losses had instead been homes and property.
Walking down the street, Oto Uchiha felt the villagers' faintly scrutinizing gazes. Those looks were not directed at her personally, but at her identity as an Uchiha.
Fortunately, once they recognized Oto's face, the villagers reined in some of their hostility. They had not forgotten how she had rescued people. Other Uchiha had helped with the rescue too, but their attitudes had been entirely different.
Under their gazes, Oto sighed silently and looked at Zou Hyuga beside her.
"The misunderstanding over the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes won't be easy to clear up. Come to think of it, you once mentioned a situation like this."
"Did I?" Zou Hyuga spread his hands and smiled. "Maybe you're remembering it wrong."
"Still, the Sharingan really is hard to explain. But yesterday, I heard the Fourth Hokage mention that the enemy could also use Wood Release. If we're pointing fingers, the Senju Clan can't escape suspicion either."
"The Wood Release Kekkei Genkai? The same kind the First had..."
Oto Uchiha nodded, but the worry in her eyes did not disappear. Instead, the mention of the Fourth Hokage reminded her of Kushina.
After a moment's consideration, Zou Hyuga stopped and studied Oto's face for a long while before saying, "Oto, you've changed."
Oto's face flushed faintly. She took half a step back and bent her knees. "Changed how? I've always been like this...