"Dai-san was nothing more than a genin. Though it may sound disrespectful to say this, according to the rules, he had no right to leave Konoha on his own."
"Especially not during wartime."
Normally, shinobi carried out missions in teams. A chūnin would lead, with several genin under him — this was the basic shinobi squad.
Even if one's teammates were all killed, the survivor would be reassigned to another squad. A genin squad operating alone, in theory, should never exist.
Only a jōnin had the qualifications to form a one-man team.
"With so many coincidences stacked together, don't you find it strange?"
That Might Guy's genin squad happened to encounter the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist during a mission was already astronomically unlikely. Encountering all seven at once was even more absurd — it wasn't as if the Seven Swordsmen had nothing better to do than target a random genin squad.
And yet, Dai arrived on the battlefield at the most critical moment, almost as if he had known beforehand that Guy would run into them.
If there wasn't some trick or scheme behind this, Naruto wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death.
"I went through the records Danzō collected, and I found something… rather interesting."
Don't ask why — if it's in the records, Danzō had it. His archives were the most complete in the shinobi world.
"Do you know? The files of both Senior Dai and Senior White Fang…"
"…were all S-class confidential documents."
"As a jōnin yourself, surely you understand what that 'S-class' designation means."
"Tell me, Guy-san — you're aware that the Eight Inner Gates is a forbidden technique of Konoha, aren't you?"
The Eight Gates weren't invented by Dai. They existed far earlier, the author unknown. From Madara's reaction upon seeing Guy open the Eighth Gate, it was clear that Madara had once witnessed a complete Eight Gates user before.
"This forbidden jutsu isn't something even many jōnin can access, so how exactly did Senior Dai — a mere genin — obtain the method to train in it?"
"Guy-san, you're not stupid. You just don't want to think about it."
When he was a child, Guy couldn't be called brilliant, but he was precocious in his own way. Yet after Dai's death, he changed completely — filling his mouth with nothing but 'youth, youth,' simply copying his father's mannerisms. Likely it was guilt toward Dai that drove him.
He wasn't dull. He wasn't foolish. He just chose not to think.
Guy's squad just happened to encounter all Seven Swordsmen, Dai just happened to arrive at the perfect moment, and just happened to open the Eighth Gate and defeat them all.
This was less like coincidence, and more like someone had deliberately staged the entire scenario — all just to test the true power of the Eight Gates.
Naruto's words left Guy speechless.
Some things, once thought about calmly, were downright terrifying.
Taste it. Think on it carefully.
"Not just Senior Dai — it was the same with Senior White Fang." Naruto's gaze shifted to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, White Fang accomplished countless feats for Konoha, did he not? And yet… wasn't his death far too suspicious?"
Back then, White Fang had simply failed one mission. And for that, he was driven to death? The notion was absurd.
It was even more unbelievable than Sunagakure's conduct — selling out their own village hero, Pakura, to foreign enemies and taking payment for it. At least Pakura's case could be explained as political sacrifice by a jealous Kazekage.
But White Fang's suicide? Far too forced.
If Sunagakure could have political sacrifices, why couldn't Konoha?
They were both one of the Five Great Nations. Why the double standard?
Didn't Hyūga Hizashi die exactly that way?
If Hizashi could, why not White Fang?
White Fang and Pakura had one thing in common: both had been heroes of their villages. Both had made too many enemies among foreign shinobi.
Faced with Naruto dragging old wounds back into the light, Kakashi sank into deep memories. He had been very young then. He couldn't recall much detail. Only that his father returned from a mission looking despondent… and the next day, he had taken his own life.
Suspicious? Yes. Very much so.
It was abrupt. It was unnatural.
The villagers' condemnation was abrupt. His comrades' betrayal was abrupt. Even White Fang's suicide was abrupt.
"Do you know what mission White Fang was on at that time?" Naruto pressed further.
"Do you know which comrades blamed him after it failed?" he asked next.
The most laughable part was this: villagers kept insisting White Fang's failure caused 'great losses' for Konoha. But what losses? What exactly was the mission? Can anyone explain?
If they used the excuse that it was a 'classified mission' and outsiders couldn't know… then why did villagers know enough to condemn him?
And who, exactly, were the comrades White Fang had abandoned the mission to save?
It was as though a pot of filth had simply been dumped on his head.
If they said it was filth, then it was. Even if it wasn't.
"Rather than saying he killed himself because he couldn't withstand the pressure… it's more like he was ordered to die."
The most crucial detail was this: White Fang was not a humorless man. On the contrary, he liked to laugh. A man who could invent a prank like 'One Thousand Years of Death' — would he really crumble under the words of mere villagers?
His so-called 'suicide' was just a pretext.
When the lord commands the retainer to die, the retainer has no choice but to obey.
"And the only ones who could have given such an order…" Naruto trailed off deliberately.
Kakashi knew full well who Naruto was pointing to.
At that moment, the shinobi following "Mr. Hattori" also arrived at the ruins of Konoha.
Naruto nodded to Hattori, then moved to stand by his side.
Turning back to Guy, he said:
"Guy-san, look. Right now, public opinion stands with me. So tell me — does that make me justice?"
"If I am justice, then you should also stand on my side. If I am wrong, then it proves that the public opinion you spoke of can indeed be manipulated. And that, in turn, proves that everything I just said is true."
Guy had long since given up on thinking. Most of the time, he had played the fool for so long that he truly forgot how to reason things through.
Faced with Naruto's words, he could only remain silent.
Truthfully, when he first saw Konoha destroyed, all he thought about was revenge. But now… Naruto's words left him confused.
Was this kind of Konoha really worth avenging?
"I don't know when it began, but the village has already strayed far from the First Hokage's original intent in founding Konoha."
"The current Konoha is no longer what it once was. It has nearly become the private property of a few."
"What's needed now is necessary cleansing."
"Rather than exhausting ourselves in endless power struggles… why not use one decisive cure?"
Naruto spoke with righteous conviction. In that instant, Guy seemed to see a radiant light shining behind him.
"Let's just tear it down and rebuild it." Naruto declared with overwhelming force.
The new Konoha… might not even bear the same name.
This was Uzumaki Naruto. Guy and Kakashi both fell silent, their hearts already leaning toward his view.
The power of his "Other Heaven's Mouth" was truly terrifying.
"Guy, Kakashi… and Jiraiya!"
At that moment, two grating voices rang out. From the shadows emerged two decrepit figures, accompanied by a squad of Anbu.
"You still haven't joined forces to capture the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?!"
It was Konoha's two senior advisors, teammates of the Third Hokage, members of the Konoha Council of Elders — Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
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