Outside the forest, Tenzen settled the battle with a single slash.
But it was a battle that had never been destined to end in death.
The Yellow Flash of Konoha had lost to Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha.
By defeating Minato, Tenzen had restored the White Fang’s reputation.
So the Yellow Flash wasn’t invincible after all.
Inside the forest, Danzō’s smug performance left Uchiha Kei with mixed emotions.
"To maintain a village, one uses shadows; to justify a throne, one uses history. Everything in Konoha requires a sacrifice."
Sure enough...
Konoha’s chaos could all be traced back to a disgraceful beginning.
Just as every dynasty began its decline with the first person who chose to ignore the rules.
Unfortunately, Danzō’s move had put Kei in an awkward position.
He had no desire to become the one who ripped open that festering wound.
At least...
Not yet.
Compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s prestige, Kei’s own reputation amounted to nothing.
Even if he exposed the truth now, it wouldn’t accomplish much.
He would gain nothing.
Instead, Hiruzen would simply brand him as someone challenging his superiors.
At this point in time, even if the truth about the Third Hokage came to light, all Hiruzen had to do was deny it.
People would doubt.
People would speculate.
But no one possessed the power to punish him.
Not when Hiruzen still commanded four Kage-level fighters.
Kei wasn’t foolish enough to think he could overthrow someone like that in the name of justice.
The only reason he could act so boldly now was because Hiruzen still considered eliminating him too costly.
Watching Danzō’s frenzied display, Kei decided it was time to put an end to it.
"Oh? Isn’t this Danzō-sama?"
"What brings you here today?"
Still waving his arms wildly, Danzō froze.
This brat...
Recovered from a revelation like that so quickly?
That secret had haunted Danzō for decades.
To keep it buried, he had personally arranged the death of his childhood companion, Uchiha Kagami.
Hiruzen had also used the same secret to force Akimichi Kyokufu into complete submission, bringing the Akimichi Clan firmly under his control.
Why did Danzō hate the Uchiha so much?
It wasn’t because they had ever truly wronged him.
Rather...
Once someone betrayed another person, guilt gradually transformed into hatred.
Hatred became an excuse to continue betraying them—and even their descendants.
This was the greatest secret shared by the six survivors.
The nightmare that had haunted them their entire lives.
Now it had been laid bare before a mere youth.
Yet after a brief moment of shock...
Kei didn’t press for details.
Instead, he put on the face of a shrewd businessman, as though he’d heard nothing at all.
It was as if time had rewound to before Danzō’s second bargaining chip.
The young truly surpass the old...
What else could Danzō do?
If Kei insisted on pretending ignorance...
Then he had clearly already decided how to handle the matter.
Danzō didn’t believe for a second that Kei failed to understand one simple truth:
Once too many people knew a secret...
It stopped being a secret.
Since Kei already understood that much...
Then preserving the secret was now Kei’s problem.
Not Danzō’s.
Danzō believed he had successfully demonstrated just how desperately he wished to live.
Kei had accepted that.
From this point onward, Danzō only needed to invent a convincing explanation for today’s encounter when facing Hiruzen.
Surely Hiruzen would never imagine that Danzō had publicly exposed such a secret.
Now...
All that remained was to stall.
The longer this dragged on...
The better it was for both of them.
"Oh, Kei."
"It’s our first meeting. Please take care of me."
Dragging his battered body along, Danzō played his part.
Kei immediately matched him.
"Danzō-sama, did you come because you heard we were moving?"
"You’re too kind."
"We’re only relocating from the Uchiha district back to Naka Shrine."
"It’s hardly a real housewarming."
"So please don’t trouble yourself preparing expensive gifts."
Still grinning, Kei continued speaking as though chatting with an old acquaintance.
He couldn’t stand watching other people act smug in front of him.
Danzō had shown off enough.
It was time to tell him the truth.
A truth that would hurt him even more.
The entire massacre...
Had begun because of a misunderstanding.
Exactly as Kei expected...
The words nearly made Danzō cough up blood.
"...So..."
"You were never planning to attack Root Headquarters?"
Kei casually waved a hand before his face as though brushing away a bad smell.
"Danzō-sama, don’t joke like that."
"We have no grudge against each other."
"Why would I attack you?"
"We were simply moving."
The moment those words fell...
Danzō’s vision went black.
He collapsed unconscious.
What a cruel twist of fate.
Danzō believed Kei.
That was precisely why he couldn’t accept it.
More than a hundred men had died.
He had surrendered everything Root possessed.
He had even revealed a secret capable of dragging his entire generation into ruin...
Just to save his own life.
And in the end...
It had all started because of a misunderstanding.
No one could have accepted such an outcome.
On the other side of the forest, after Kei and Danzō reached an understanding, Tenzen also withdrew.
Shinobi had their own methods of transmitting messages.
Now that Kei had ordered him to stop, there was no reason to continue fighting.
Originally, Kei’s plan had been simple.
Keep the Uchiha Genin and Chūnin as far away from Minato as possible.
Tenzen alone could delay him.
Sending anyone else would only increase the casualties.
Against Minato...
One opponent or a hundred made little difference.
What Kei hadn’t expected...
Was that the longer Tenzen fought...
The stronger he became.
During his battle with Minato...
He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The fight had shifted from Minato overwhelming Tenzen...
To Tenzen overwhelming Minato.
Back when Kei had spent twenty-four ten consecutive summons to obtain twenty Purple-tier Summon s, a large part of the reason was because certain individuals consumed the equivalent of two Purple-tier Summon s by themselves.
Tenzen was one of them.
No matter how often Kei joked that Tenzen was merely a "fifty-fifty fighter"...
He had always valued Tenzen’s potential.
And now...
That investment had paid off.
Tenzen had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in battle.
Standing calmly with his sword lowered after knocking away Minato’s Forehead Protector, Tenzen spoke flatly.
"Minato Namikaze."
"Lord Kei wishes to see you."
Somewhat disheveled, Minato looked at him with conflicted eyes.
The once confident prodigy had begun doubting himself for the first time.
A young man who had always crushed every opponent before him had finally experienced what a truly difficult battle felt like.
Specialists naturally encountered opponents who specialized in countering them.
Minato had already struggled against Tenzen before.
Now that Tenzen possessed both the Mangekyō Sharingan and the White Fang’s swordsmanship...
Minato had even fewer options.
He had expected the battle to continue indefinitely.
Instead...
Just as it reached its climax...
Tenzen stopped.
Minato gladly accepted the opportunity.
"Uchiha..."
"What’s your name?"
He had become genuinely interested in this swordsman with extraordinary eyes.
Tenzen offered no reply.
His silence said everything.
You are not worthy of knowing my name.
Being so thoroughly disregarded, Minato silently made a decision.
It’s time to develop a truly destructive ninjutsu.
Without further hesitation, he headed toward the forest.
Upon arriving before Kei, Minato kept one eye on Tenzen behind him while raising his voice.
"Uchiha Kei!"
"I’ve come at Clan Head Fugaku’s request to bring you back to the village!"
Skillfully borrowing another person’s authority...
It was a talent shared by many Hokage.
Unfortunately...
Minato received no reply.
Instead...
Someone threw a body toward him.
It was the unconscious Danzō.
Minato quickly caught him.
Then he saw them.
The corpses scattered across the ground.
Root shinobi.
Though they wore masks.
Though they possessed no names.
Minato knew exactly who they were.
They were Konoha shinobi.
His comrades.
The horrifying sight filled him with anger.
How could anyone treat their own comrades so mercilessly?
Even during wars between bitter enemies, if one village possessed the strength to annihilate the other completely...
There was rarely any need for wholesale slaughter.
Capturing prisoners was enough.
If even enemies deserved that restraint...
Then how could fellow Konoha shinobi massacre one another without hesitation?
Minato could not accept it.
Whether the Uchiha deserved to be trusted...
Was a question he would have to discuss with Fugaku later.
"Uchiha Kei..."
"Did you do all this?"
For perhaps the first time in a long while, the usually cheerful Minato spoke with unmistakable severity.
His tone carried open condemnation.
Even while standing in danger himself...
He refused to remain silent in the face of injustice.
The strong drew their swords against those stronger than themselves.
Only the weak preyed upon those beneath them.
Some people pursued justice regardless of who stood before them.
Minato was one of those people.
Kei disliked Minato.
For no particular reason.
Ever since Minato had once overlooked him.
Ever since Minato effortlessly accomplished the things Kei himself could never bring himself to do.
Minato was like the child every parent praised.
The perfect example that only highlighted Kei’s own flaws.
Without the extraordinary followers supporting him...
If he had faced Minato alone...
Kei felt he would have been nothing more than a stray dog by the roadside.
Filthy.
Powerless.
"Weren’t you listening, Minato?"
"What exactly gives you the right to question me?"
The moment Kei spoke...
Tenzen and the others quietly drew their swords once more.
Despite having been suppressed throughout their battle, Minato showed no fear.
"As a shinobi of Konoha."
He answered without hesitation.
To him, that identity alone was enough.
Kei snorted.
"Oh, please."
"As if I’m not a Konoha shinobi too."
He had always despised lofty slogans and empty righteousness.
Minato looked equally dismissive.
"Then is this how a Konoha shinobi treats his own comrades?"
Kei let out a weary sigh.
Another lecture.
Another moral interrogation.
How tiresome.
He turned and walked away.
Without even looking back, he said,
"Shinobi of Konoha have slaughtered their own comrades often enough."
"One more or one less won’t make a difference."
"Get lost, Minato."
"Stop bothering me."
"This isn’t your concern."
No matter how casually Kei spoke...
He knew exactly why he was in such a foul mood.
He hadn’t provoked anyone today.
Yet Danzō had dragged him into a needless conflict.
Just when he’d finally managed to gain something from it, Danzō had turned the tables on him.
And now Minato had arrived to lecture him about morality.
Kei’s patience...
Had run out.
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