A gentle breeze drifted through the forest, as fleeting as a dream.
Danzō lowered his voice so much that it seemed the wind itself could carry his words away, leaving no trace behind.
Just a moment ago, Kei had been completely in control.
Now, he stood frozen in shock.
"The Hokage’s guards abandoned the Hokage... leading directly to the Second Hokage’s death."
What the hell was that?
That single sentence nearly drove Kei insane.
No...
It wasn’t Uchiha Kei who had gone mad.
It was Danzō.
Sure enough, bullying an honest-looking old man never ended well.
He never should have assumed Danzō was easy prey and pressed him so relentlessly.
Now karma had come back to bite him.
Damn it.
Is this really the kind of thing you’re supposed to say out loud?
For an instant, Kei almost ordered everyone present silenced forever.
Fortunately, he restrained himself.
He had underestimated Danzō.
Anyone capable of climbing to the top always had something extraordinary about them.
This time...
He had walked straight into Danzō’s trap.
Everything unfolding before him was Danzō’s carefully prepared game.
First, Danzō had deliberately acted weak, encouraging Kei to underestimate him.
Then he had offered up Root’s entire fortune, tempting Kei’s greed.
Finally...
He had revealed a world-shattering secret, dragging Kei into the mire with him.
Even the slaughter of his own subordinates had served a purpose.
It was a warning.
In the shinobi world, the dead did not necessarily keep secrets.
Simply killing witnesses wasn’t enough.
Because even if Kei killed Danzō now, unless he completely destroyed the body, the Hokage would inevitably recover it.
And once Hiruzen examined Danzō’s corpse...
He would immediately learn exactly what secret Danzō had revealed.
That was precisely what the Yamanaka Clan’s secret techniques were for.
And the Yamanaka had always been utterly loyal to Hiruzen.
Even destroying the corpse wouldn’t solve the problem.
If a man carrying such an explosive secret died...
And someone went to the trouble of erasing every trace of his body...
Wouldn’t that only make the truth even more suspicious?
Anyone with half a brain would start asking questions.
Hiruzen would never allow even the slightest possibility of that secret being exposed.
Even if there were only the faintest chance that the Uchiha Clan had learned the truth...
The seemingly gentle Third Hokage would stop at nothing to eliminate Kei.
Because this secret threatened the very legitimacy of his rule over Konoha.
There could be no compromise.
One side had to disappear.
And if Hiruzen truly became desperate...
Then the Hokage who had ruled Konoha for decades could mobilize a force Kei simply couldn’t contend with.
The only reason Kei had been able to act so boldly until now wasn’t because he could defeat Hiruzen.
It was because Hiruzen believed the cost of eliminating him exceeded the damage Kei currently posed.
That was why Kei could swagger about so fearlessly.
But if Hiruzen discovered Kei knew this secret...
Kei had no doubt whatsoever.
Hiruzen would pay any price to erase him.
This time...
He had truly been played by Danzō.
Now that this secret was between them, not only could Danzō not be killed...
Kei couldn’t even pressure him too aggressively anymore.
Only now did Kei truly understand what it meant for a cornered dog to jump over the wall.
Once you realized your opponent was just like you...
Someone willing to sacrifice everything to survive...
Then, judging by his own nature, Kei knew the smartest course was to stay as far away from that kind of scoundrel as possible.
Oddly enough...
Kei wasn’t even happy to have obtained what should have been the ultimate weapon against the Hokage.
Because, truthfully...
He had already suspected as much.
The entire incident surrounding the Second Hokage’s death had always felt suspicious.
As the leader of a hidden village, the Second Hokage’s visit to another village had been an official diplomatic mission.
It was only natural that Hiruzen and the others had accompanied him as his guards.
Yet somehow...
A friendly diplomatic visit suddenly turned into a coup.
The Second Hokage died.
His guards survived completely unharmed.
Then they returned to Konoha...
And one of them became the next Hokage.
No matter where you looked at it...
Something about that sequence of events was deeply strange.
The problem was that Kei lacked the critical information needed to understand what had really happened.
So Danzō’s revelation itself wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was something else.
Kei refused to believe he was the only intelligent person in the world.
Surely others had noticed how absurd the situation was.
After all...
A bodyguard’s duty was to protect the person they escorted.
Failing that duty was negligence.
Yet instead of being punished...
Those who had failed returned home and were promoted.
It was ridiculous.
And yet...
That was exactly what had happened.
Which meant everyone involved had reached some sort of unspoken consensus.
That was the real key.
Until he understood what that consensus was...
Kei had never intended to make an issue of it.
But now...
One of the people directly involved had publicly confessed everything.
To save his own life—and ensure Kei could never completely control him again—Danzō had voluntarily exposed the secret himself.
At that point...
Kei could no longer pretend he didn’t know.
No...
More accurately...
He could no longer pretend that he did know.
Even if he’d long suspected the truth...
At this moment, Uchiha Kei had to look completely shocked.
I knew nothing.
This revelation is unbelievable.
Give me a moment to process it.
"Danzō-sama..."
"Do you even realize what you’re saying?"
Seeing Kei finally lose his composure, Danzō smiled with satisfaction.
"I’ve already said more than enough."
The confidence that had belonged to Kei only moments before now rested with the battered, bloodied Danzō.
Perhaps because he finally had the chance to vent all the fear and humiliation Kei had inflicted upon him...
Danzō’s voice became almost hysterical.
"Kei!"
"Now that you know this secret, you can no longer remain uninvolved!"
"You no longer have time to arrange my death."
"Go!"
"Prepare yourself!"
"Struggle!"
"Choose!"
"Will you silence everyone who knows the truth and become my accomplice..."
"...or plunge Konoha into all-out war?"
Danzō spread his arms wildly, almost laughing through his anguish.
"Kei, understand this."
"Right now, your only option is to cooperate with me."
"I’m the only one who can buy you time."
"And time is exactly what you need."
"You’ll even need my sealing techniques to ensure your subordinates can’t leak this secret."
"Do you understand what will happen if it gets out?"
Watching Danzō’s unhinged behavior, Kei sighed inwardly.
This old man hasn’t had it easy.
This secret has probably been driving him insane for years.
No wonder Hiruzen was obsessed with becoming the greatest Hokage.
No wonder Danzō insisted on becoming Konoha’s darkness.
Perhaps only by elevating Konoha to unprecedented heights could they convince themselves that the way they obtained power had been justified.
No wonder Hiruzen constantly preached the Will of Fire.
"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on. The fire’s light will continue to illuminate the village, and new leaves will sprout."
It sounded like he was teaching everyone else...
But perhaps he was really trying to reassure himself.
Only if everyone accepted that the Second Hokage’s death had allowed the Third Hokage to flourish could the stain on Hiruzen’s succession truly disappear.
Though I wonder...
After repeating that speech for so many years...
Did Hiruzen eventually convince himself?
Did he actually believe it?
Thinking further ahead, Kei couldn’t help recalling Orochimaru’s future Konoha Crush.
The more he thought about it...
The more it resembled a carefully staged play.
Before the battle even began, Orochimaru eliminated his own ally.
In the end, the Land of Wind suffered the greatest losses.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen’s sacrifice united Konoha once more.
Even Orochimaru eventually began resembling another "Darkness of Konoha."
The whole thing felt almost too convenient.
Perhaps...
Among the Hokage’s faction, murdering one’s own teacher is simply tradition.
The Third Hokage survived the Second.
Orochimaru killed the Third.
Sasuke killed Orochimaru.
Pain killed Jiraiya.
What a legacy.
But what could he do?
Even if he saw through everything...
He could only continue acting alongside the broken old man before him.
He silently watched Danzō revel in his apparent victory.
"Uchiha Kei..."
"For once..."
"Experience my pain."
Inside the forest...
Danzō’s unrestrained laughter pushed the already suffocating atmosphere to its limit.
Outside the forest...
Minato Namikaze was still busy exploiting the interaction between the Flying Thunder God Technique and Oboro’s anti-ninjutsu field—repeatedly blinking in, being forced out, and trying again, as though caught in an endless loop of dodging and reappearing.
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