"You'll regret this, you monkey!"
"Call me Hokage."
Bang!
The Hokage Office.
Danzo Shimura shoved the door open and strode out, his footsteps heavy and sharp.
The cane in his hand felt… wrong.
Cumbersome.
Annoyingly cumbersome.
Inside the office, Koharu Utatane hesitated before speaking softly.
"Hiruzen… could this be a mistake? Perhaps Danzo truly didn't touch the Kumogakure envoy?"
Her voice was low.
So low that even she didn't sound convinced.
"Tap."
"Tap."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing, merely drawing on his pipe again and again.
If anger could take physical form, flames three meters high would already be roaring above his head.
Fury.
After filling the entire office with smoke, he finally rose and walked to the window by the door.
Below, Danzo's departing figure moved with practiced steadiness.
Hiruzen's expression darkened further.
In the end, he couldn't help himself.
"Danzo!"
Down below, Danzo stopped—but didn't turn around.
Hiruzen sighed, then leapt down from the window.
Tap.
He landed beside Danzo, speaking quietly.
"You know as well as I do…"
"This will provoke backlash by tomorrow at the latest."
"Kumogakure and Konoha are on the verge of signing a ceasefire. We can't afford internal incidents like this."
There was exhaustion in his voice.
A weariness that couldn't be hidden.
Danzo's heart stirred.
Thinking of his old friend's age, he sighed and finally dropped his stubbornness.
Turning back, he sneered.
"Incident? What incident?"
"They couldn't even find the body. If their envoy got lost, what does that have to do with Konoha?"
"A bunch of lightning-brained thugs—what right do they have to sit at the table with us?"
His expression was grim, almost iron-gray.
If not for his limited authority, he would've already pushed for war.
Kumogakure trying to take advantage of Konoha's weakness?
Did they really think Konoha was out of people?!
Unfortunately, his old friend Hiruzen loved peace far too much.
Looking at Hiruzen's aging back—wrinkles piling up on what had once been a smooth forehead—Danzo felt a complicated knot in his chest.
In just two years, those lines had multiplied enough to nearly obscure the man he once knew.
"…Sigh."
Was it pity? Or ambition?
Even Danzo wasn't sure.
He took two quick steps forward.
"Hiruzen, if you can't handle it anymore… then step down."
"You're too tired."
There it was.
So the wolf still hadn't given up.
The fleeting warmth in Hiruzen's heart vanished without a trace.
He flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly.
"So destroying the body was your doing, then?"
Danzo: "????"
"Otherwise, how would you know they couldn't find the body?" Hiruzen continued calmly.
"Only I knew that."
Hiruzen lifted his eyelids, his cloudy eyes fixing Danzo with rare scrutiny.
"You—!"
Two veins popped on Danzo's forehead.
He nearly pointed at Hiruzen and shouted, Are you an idiot?!
But—
He couldn't expose the fact that Root had been monitoring the Hokage.
If that ever came into the open, it would explode into an even bigger disaster.
In the end, he swallowed the insult.
Crushed it between his teeth.
Bang!
Turning around, Danzo stormed off, cane striking the ground.
If he stayed any longer, he feared he'd smash that cane straight into Hiruzen's skull.
Behind him, Hiruzen shook his head slowly.
At last, his gaze shifted toward the Hyūga clan compound.
A flicker of calculation passed through his eyes.
Danzo was still useful.
He couldn't be handed over—not yet.
Which meant…
The Hyūga would have to take the fall.
"I just hope Kumogakure doesn't push things too far."
Just like that—before Kumogakure confirmed the cause, before negotiations even began—
The blame had already been assigned.
Would this harm Konoha?
The incident happened after a visit to the Hyūga clan.
Their young lady had gone missing.
Naturally, the Hyūga would shoulder everything.
What did it have to do with the Third Hokage?
The Uchiha compound.
Uchiha Sasuke rubbed his sleepy eyes and pushed open his bedroom door.
Seeing a familiar figure standing outside, he instinctively ran over.
Stretching out his arms, he muttered drowsily,
"Brother… why are you still awake?"
He leaned in for a hug—
Then froze.
Something was off.
The height was wrong.
And the reaction, too.
Normally, Itachi would bend down and lift him up.
Sasuke blinked hard and looked again.
"Well, my foolish little otōto~"
The figure grinned and poked Sasuke's forehead, white teeth gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
"…Uchiha Kai?!"
"It's you?! Puh—puh—puh!"
Sasuke's mentality exploded.
He jumped back instantly, furiously wiping his arms and sleeves.
The disgust was absolute.
"You tricked me just to get a hug?!"
"Hmph! Uchiha Kai, you're the worst!"
Emotion boiling over, he suddenly threw a punch.
Bang!
It connected.
Sasuke's face lit up with triumph.
That earlier retreat?
Just a feint.
This punch was the real revenge.
Boom!
But before his smile could fully bloom—
It froze.
The Uchiha Kai in front of him—
Puff!
Exploded into smoke.
"E-exploded?!"
"I—I just punched my second brother to death?!"
Sasuke stood there, dumbfounded.
His pupils shook as if struck by an earthquake.
A faint crimson flickered within them—
H-he's… awakening?!
But just as it was about to happen—
The door to the next room flew open.
Whoosh.
Uchiha Itachi rushed out.
The moment he saw Sasuke's eyes, his body vanished.
When he reappeared, both hands were already on Sasuke's forehead.
"Sasuke, what happened?!"
Inside, confusion surged.
That was the sign of awakening…
Was it interrupted? Or was the emotional shock not deep enough?
But in the middle of the night—what could've stimulated Sasuke like that?
A nightmare?
…Since when could nightmares awaken the Sharingan?
If that were the case, Father would've become a nightmare master years ago.
Just as Itachi was puzzling over it, Sasuke snapped back to reality.
Like he'd found a savior, he burst into tears.
"Waaah… Onii-san! I—I accidentally punched Second Brother to death!"
"…You mean you punched Kai to death?"
Itachi paused.
Then—
He doubled over laughing.
"Sasuke, you really think too highly of yourself—ah, I mean, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
Kai's strength was unclear, but Sasuke "punching him to death" was pure fantasy.
At most, Kai would've solved it with a single slap.
Hearing this, Sasuke finally came back to his senses.
His flushed face turned even redder with embarrassment.
Seeing that, Itachi shook his head, smiling.
"That was a clone. He used it to fool Mom."
"A clone… the Clone Technique?!"
Sasuke's eyes widened even more.
"When did that guy learn it?!"
The realization only deepened his shock.
The Academy's Three Basic Techniques were notoriously tedious.
Especially for children.
Months of nonstop practice were usually required.
"But that guy's always either sunbathing or chatting with people!"
"When did he ever practice?"
"…Did he really just learn it instantly?"
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