Meanwhile, in Konoha Hospital, Danzō lay on a hospital bed wrapped in bandages like a mummy , having lost one of his arms.
Compared to the pain of his physical injuries, however, the blow to his spirit was far more devastating.
Throughout the entire operation to clean and treat his wounds, the old man hadn’t uttered a single cry of pain.
Yet after the treatment was over, he remained staring blankly into space, occasionally muttering only a few words.
"I was such a fool... such a fool! I should never have gone there in the first place..."
As soon as he heard the news, Hiruzen Sarutobi came to visit his old friend.
Seeing Danzō reduced to such a state, even he couldn’t help sighing.
Although the two had spent years arguing and opposing one another...
Watching his longtime companion like this still pained him.
"Minato... how is Danzō?"
Minato, who had carried Danzō back and brought him to the hospital, hadn’t left.
He knew the Hokage would come.
There was much he needed to report.
What he had witnessed in the forest convinced him that the situation with the Uchiha could no longer be ignored.
"Lord Third," Minato replied solemnly, "he’s exactly as you see him."
"I believe Danzō-sama suffered some kind of severe psychological trauma."
"I suspect the Uchiha tortured him."
Minato didn’t know what had happened in the forest.
But anyone capable of massacring opponents who couldn’t even fight back...
Would hardly hesitate to torment an elderly man.
If not for Obito...
The Uchiha would already have earned a negative opinion in Minato’s heart.
At this moment, he looked upon them the way an animal lover might look at someone who butchered dogs.
Hiruzen took a long draw on his pipe, his expression unusually grave.
Uchiha Kei had always been arrogant...
But he had always possessed the confidence to back it up.
If he dared leave Danzō in such a condition, then he clearly wasn’t afraid of the Hokage’s investigation.
Until he understood exactly how things had escalated this far...
Hiruzen intended to gather every detail.
"Minato."
"Tell me everything."
"What exactly happened between Danzō and the Uchiha?"
"Yes, Lord Third."
Minato nodded and began recounting everything he knew.
"I don’t know the full story."
"Earlier today, Clan Head Fugaku came to visit my home."
"While we were talking, word arrived that Uchiha Kei had clashed with Danzō-sama outside the village."
"Fearing for Kei’s safety, Fugaku asked me to bring him back."
Hiruzen interrupted him after exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"So..."
"Fugaku believed Kei would be the one at a disadvantage if he fought Danzō."
After a brief pause, he asked another question.
"Was Fugaku’s visit arranged beforehand..."
"...or was it spontaneous?"
Hiruzen understood that Fugaku’s opinion meant very little when judging Kei.
In all these years...
Fugaku had rarely made the correct decision.
His greatest talent wasn’t leadership.
It was surviving in impossible situations.
His actions only proved one thing.
The Uchiha Clan had no intention of openly becoming enemies of the Hokage.
But that said nothing about Uchiha Kei.
By now, every major clan in Konoha understood that Uchiha Kei and Uchiha Fugaku were two entirely different people.
Only Fugaku himself still insisted that the Uchiha spoke with one voice.
That realization made Hiruzen’s headache worsen.
One troublesome Uchiha was already enough.
Now there were two.
How can I provoke conflict between them...
As the thought crossed his mind, the aging Hokage unconsciously sighed.
Every time Hiruzen became uneasy...
He smoked more.
Those close to him all knew the habit.
Only Hiruzen himself never seemed to notice.
Seeing the Third Hokage sink into thought again, Minato suppressed his own frustration and continued as calmly as possible.
He wanted to present today’s events objectively.
More than anything...
He needed Hiruzen’s wisdom.
He wanted to know whether Konoha and the Uchiha still had any future together.
And if they didn’t...
What should Konoha do?
"Lord Third, Fugaku’s visit wasn’t spontaneous."
"His wife, Mikoto, and Kushina have been close friends since childhood."
"When Fugaku and I discussed the war on the front lines yesterday, we arranged today’s visit."
Minato looked directly into Hiruzen’s eyes.
"Fugaku is worried about the current situation at the front."
"He genuinely hopes to contribute to Konoha."
"I see."
Hiruzen showed no surprise whatsoever.
Nor did he display the slightest interest in discussing Fugaku further.
Deep down...
He simply didn’t think much of him.
"Minato."
"With your abilities, resolving a conflict between Danzō and Kei shouldn’t have taken long."
"So..."
"What delayed you?"
Hearing Hiruzen dismiss the subject so easily, Minato felt somewhat disappointed.
Still, he continued.
"I rushed to the scene immediately."
"But just before reaching Kei..."
"Someone interfered with my Flying Thunder God Technique."
"I couldn’t enter the battlefield using it."
He spoke with unusual seriousness.
Since the Flying Thunder God Technique was his greatest strength...
Encountering someone capable of countering it was no small matter.
Ever since the First Hokage’s death, a saying had circulated throughout the shinobi world:
There is no invincible shinobi.
Only opponents who haven’t yet been understood.
Since then, nearly every famous shinobi had claimed to be "the strongest."
The title itself had gradually lost its meaning.
"Hm..."
Hiruzen understood Minato’s concern.
But he already had his own explanation.
"The outsiders brought into the Uchiha Clan all entered Konoha by bypassing the village barrier with the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"It isn’t surprising if one of them also understands how to counter it."
He deliberately emphasized his intelligence network, hoping to reassure Minato.
"Minato..."
"You don’t need to worry too much."
"Their Flying Thunder God Technique isn’t the same as yours."
"You possess reaction speed that even the Second Hokage never had."
The old man slowly exhaled another stream of smoke, speaking as though telling an old story.
"For others..."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is merely a means of travel."
"But for you..."
"It’s a weapon for killing."
"Trust your own talent."
"Countermeasures are always relative."
"I understand, Lord Hokage."
Minato nodded politely.
But it wasn’t the answer he wanted.
What he truly wished to know was whether there existed a reliable method of countering the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Instead...
Hiruzen had only given him a vague reassurance.
Once a superior had given an answer...
Whether satisfied or not...
A subordinate couldn’t keep pressing the issue.
Minato wisely fell silent.
Seeing that silence, Hiruzen knew perfectly well his explanation hadn’t convinced Minato.
Unfortunately...
He had no better answer to give.
Between admitting that the Flying Thunder God Technique had weaknesses...
And allowing Minato to suspect it did...
Hiruzen had made his choice.
Without realizing it, however...
The moment a leader began feeling incapable of completely controlling a subordinate...
Anxiety naturally followed.
And anxious leaders often resorted to ambiguous answers to preserve an air of authority.
So Hiruzen instinctively avoided explaining just how extraordinarily complex Space-Time Ninjutsu truly was.
It simply wasn’t a field ordinary shinobi could hope to master.
Hiruzen had grown old.
He was no longer the man he had once been.
As a well-rounded shinobi proficient in all five basic nature transformations, he had once stood at the pinnacle of versatility.
But versatility meant little before someone like Minato.
Minato was a specialist.
A prodigy.
Since Hiruzen could no longer suppress him through strength alone...
The next best thing was ensuring Minato remained cautious.
Subordinates who harbored doubts...
Continued respecting their superiors.
Young people these days...
Every one of them is harder to deal with than the last.
Hiruzen took another slow puff before asking,
"But even if your Flying Thunder God Technique was delayed..."
"Someone with your abilities shouldn’t have been held up for very long."
The question immediately brought the battlefield back to Minato’s mind.
The nameless corpses strewn across the forest floor.
The memory filled him with sorrow.
Minato loved Konoha.
Because he loved Konoha...
He cherished every person within it.
Everything he had witnessed today...
Was something he simply couldn’t accept.
For a long while...
He said nothing.
His silence wasn’t born from dissatisfaction with the Third Hokage.
It came from helplessness.
Every time he remembered those comrades slaughtered by their own allies...
His heart grew heavier.
And then...
Kei’s words echoed through his mind once more.
"Konoha shinobi slaughtering their own comrades isn’t anything new."
Was that true?
Had something like this happened before?
Had he simply never known?
If Kei had lied...
Why choose a lie that could be exposed so easily?
But if it was true...
Then why had it happened?
Who had ordered it?
And if something like this happened again...
What should he do?
Would he have to massacre another group of killers in order to stop them?
If he did...
How would he be any different from the executioners he despised?
Konoha shouldn’t be like this.
The Uchiha shouldn’t be like this either.
Something has to change.
Minato let out a quiet sigh.
If only every member of the Uchiha Clan could be as kind and optimistic as Obito...
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