It started with whispers—small, slippery things that wound their way through the Hidden Leaf like smoke curling under a closed door.
At first, Kazuki ignored them. The Uchiha compound had its own endless cycle of gossip, and he'd learned most of it was just bored shinobi filling the dead space between missions. But this rumor… this one didn't fade. It spread like ink in water—quiet at first, then staining everything.
Sakumo Hatake—the White Fang of Konoha—had abandoned a mission.
Not just any mission. A high-priority one. And he'd done it to save the lives of his comrades. The mission failed. The fallout for the village had been… costly.
By the Will of Fire's poster-boy standards, he should have been hailed a hero. After all, aren't shinobi taught that leaving your comrades behind is the mark of a coward—the one stain that never washes clean? Hiruzen loved to dress it up in his Will of Fire speeches, preaching about trust and teamwork like they were sacred. But here he was—mocked, vilified, and treated like a stain to be scrubbed out of Konoha's proud history.
Even the comrades whose lives he'd saved had turned on him.
Kazuki sat on the engawa, idly tossing a pebble and catching it without looking. "So much for ideals," he muttered under his breath. "Guess the Will of Fire comes with fine print: only valid when politically convenient."
If the rumors were true, this wasn't about one mission—it was about power.
He found Elder Setsuna in the research room, buried in scrolls like some ancient scroll-hoarding raccoon.
"Oi, old man," Kazuki greeted. "Quick question—why is top-secret mission intel being traded around the village like it's on clearance?"
Setsuna didn't look up. "Because, Kazuki, when a man stays in power too long—especially when age has dulled his blade—he grows possessive."
Kazuki leaned against the doorframe. "So… you're saying Hiruzen leaked this?"
"I'm saying," Setsuna said, finally rolling up a scroll with deliberate precision, "that the Hokage's allies know how to feed a fire when it serves them. Sakumo Hatake is in his prime. Hiruzen is not. There were already whispers about passing the hat to Hatake. This… scandal smothers them nicely."
Kazuki smirked. "So basically, old men get jealous when younger guys reach for their shiny hat."
"Not jealous—hostile. An old man in power values stability, and nothing threatens that more than someone younger, stronger, and with the people's favor."
Kazuki tilted his head. "And what about you, Elder Setsuna? You're old. Should I be plotting to overthrow you, too?"
Setsuna finally looked up, one brow arched. "Why don't you work harder so you actually can?"
"Oh, if I wanted power," Kazuki said dryly, "I'd just make the clan head step down."
That got a genuine chuckle out of the elder. "Ambitious. I like it. The Uchiha need more young people with teeth. Too many are content to be… tame."
Noted, Kazuki thought. The old man likes ambition—as long as it's aimed at someone else.
That afternoon, he left the compound to "check the rumors" in the village. Real reason? He wanted to see how the streets were reacting… and maybe get some dango.
The shop he chose was tucked off the main street, quiet enough for eavesdropping. He'd just bitten into his second skewer when something brushed against his senses.
…Zetsu.
Only, it wasn't quite right. The chakra was wrapped—muted—like it was hiding under another layer. Most wouldn't even notice. Kazuki's sensing was sharper.
He kept his gaze on his food, stretching his awareness. The source was a man in his forties—utterly forgettable. Too forgettable. Which made him suspicious.
White Zetsu's transformation ability. Figures.
A deeper sweep picked up two more with the same strange pattern.
Three? That's just fantastic.
He didn't look up, didn't change posture. Just chewed his dango and watched them through his senses. They wandered like drifters, no urgency, weaving between crowds.
Not here for me. Good.
But he tracked them until they faded out of range.
The next morning, Kazuki swept the Uchiha compound for Zetsu. Then again in the afternoon. And the next day. And the next.
Every alley. Every rooftop. Every suspicious shadow. He even double-checked people's chakra signatures.
Nothing.
By the third day, clan members were starting to give him that look—the one people give you when they're debating whether you've gone paranoid or just eccentric.
If they're here, they're looking for something… or someone. But why now? White Fang's scandal doesn't matter to them. Unless—
He stopped that train of thought before it ran off a cliff.
On the fourth morning, halfway through breakfast, a clan messenger appeared at his door.
"You heard?" the man asked.
Kazuki set his chopsticks down. "Heard what?"
"…Sakumo Hatake. He's dead."
Kazuki blinked. "Dead? How?"
"They say… suicide."
The porcelain bowl in front of him suddenly felt heavier.
So this is the Will of Fire when it turns on its own… Not an enemy's kunai. Not a battlefield. Just the slow, grinding crush of betrayal from the very people you bled for. Almost ironic—back in his last life, Kazuki had learned that same lesson, only without kunai or chakra. Different world, same human nature: loyalty was a currency, and once they decided you were no longer worth the price, they cashed you out without hesitation. He remembered the hollow days, the silent rooms, the constant barbs and taunts from the very people who should have been his shelter. If not for the second chance this life had given him, he might've ended the same way—erased, forgotten, dead inside long before the body followed.
He left his food untouched, walking into the cold air. The village still buzzed with gossip, but now it carried something heavier—guilt, maybe. Or the discomfort of knowing they'd helped push a hero to his death.
Later that day, walking past the training yard, Kazuki caught bits of conversation from a group of older orphans now interning at the Uchiha Police.
"—three guys near her place—""—Kushina flattened 'em—""—cells were empty by morning—"
Kazuki stopped. "You talking about Uzumaki Kushina?"
One nodded. "Yeah. She caught three suspicious guys hanging around her house, beat them down, brought them in herself. But next morning—gone. No signs of a break-in. Now the Hokage's pushing it like we're the ones who screwed up."
Kazuki's eyes narrowed. Zetsu.
White Zetsu could copy someone's chakra perfectly once transformed, making them almost impossible to sense unless you already knew what to look for. In disguise, even the Police could've been fooled.
Going directly after them was risky. Kushina—and the Nine-Tails—were powerful sensors. She wasn't a perfect jinchūriki, but she was close enough that hostile chakra might still ping her instincts. If she'd been perfect, she might've sensed Zetsu's disguised chakra the way Naruto had in the future.
So… they're sniffing around her now. Nine-Tails?