All the wild speculation that had once swept through the Uchiha Clan could finally be put to rest.
Kaede Kitahara's diary had now confirmed that Uchiha Obito had willingly entrusted his eye to Hatake Kakashi.
From the look of things, Obito's condition had already been hopeless. Half his body was trapped beneath a massive boulder, and his other Sharingan had most likely been destroyed as well.
Leaving his only remaining Sharingan to a close friend as a final keepsake wasn't something Uchiha Itachi found difficult to understand.
He had experienced the same thing when Uchiha Shisui entrusted his eye to him.
None of it mattered anymore, though.
There wasn't a single clansman left alive.
Itachi had personally sent them all down to join Obito.
Surely Obito could explain everything to them in the afterlife.
"Impossible. How could Kakashi awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Inside the old Uchiha residence, Uchiha Sasuke stared blankly at the video.
He couldn't bring himself to believe that Hatake Kakashi had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
It was absurd.
In his shock, he had even forgotten to call him Kakashi-sensei.
In truth, Uchiha Sasuke often switched between calling him Kakashi and Kakashi-sensei. Lately, he had almost always used Kakashi-sensei, but the sight before him had been so shocking that Kakashi slipped out before he could stop himself.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was a treasure that only a tiny handful of absolute geniuses had awakened throughout the Uchiha Clan's thousand-year history.
There had never been any record of an outsider awakening it.
Hatake Kakashi had now shattered that rule.
He had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan despite not being an Uchiha.
Sasuke's emotions twisted into a complicated knot. Part of him found it unbelievable, while another part simply couldn't accept it.
Kakashi was only an outsider.
Yet the video had made everything perfectly clear.
Uchiha Obito had entrusted his Sharingan to Kakashi before his death.
Hatake Kakashi had done nothing wrong.
He had also died protecting the village.
For once, Uchiha Sasuke didn't know what to say.
Among everyone watching, the only person who remained relatively calm was probably Seventh Hokage Naruto.
He knew exactly what would happen in the future.
He knew the people who had died would eventually be brought back to life.
In the video, Tsunade had now received news of Hatake Kakashi's death.
She had sent Katsuyu to save him as quickly as possible, but it was already too late.
Help had arrived too late.
Tsunade could no longer remain seated.
She rose to her feet and shattered the stone wall of the rooftop with a single punch.
A short while later, Akimichi Choji finally arrived and reported Deva Path Pain's abilities to her.
"The target is male, approximately twenty-five to thirty years old. He has six piercings across his nose and seven earrings. His ability allows him to use techniques resembling attractive and repulsive forces. He can pull targets toward himself and repel all Ninjutsu attacks. However, after using the technique, there is an interval of roughly five seconds before he can use it again."
Akimichi Choji delivered the report in full.
Aside from Seventh Hokage Naruto, everyone watching the diary silently memorized the information as well.
Pain was an enemy they might one day have to face.
Every detail mattered.
"You did well," Tsunade said. "This information will prevent many more casualties."
"Have Katsuyu relay it to everyone."
Tsunade also gave Akimichi Choji one more piece of news.
His father, Akimichi Choza, was still alive.
Hatake Kakashi, however, would never wake again.
The village had descended into complete chaos, as though it were trapped in the middle of a terrifying war.
Then a certain group appeared, and everyone watching immediately frowned.
It was Danzo, leading a squad of Root operatives.
The battle above had already become a bloodbath, with countless people dead or wounded.
Yet Danzo showed no intention of ordering Root to join the fight.
"At this rate, Tsunade's era will come to an end. But we cannot simply hand the Nine-Tails over to Akatsuki. That possibility has already been ruled out. Until the disturbance above has settled, we will remain hidden underground."
Danzo spoke without emotion.
He showed no concern whatsoever for the Konoha civilians being slaughtered above.
He constantly claimed to love Konoha, yet the deaths of ordinary people meant nothing to him.
"Shouldn't we go help them?"
One of the Root operatives spoke up.
"Even if Danzo-sama leads us, it would be meaningless if Konoha and its people ceased to exist."
"The princess is still a woman who managed to become Hokage. Since she has already used Katsuyu's technique, the village will not be completely wiped out. There may be casualties, but they are necessary sacrifices if I am to become Hokage."
Danzo's voice remained cold.
The moment everyone saw that, rage exploded through them.
"Unbelievable. Even now, you're still fighting for power? The village is being invaded, and all you can think about is becoming Hokage? Someone like you has no right to hold that title!"
Jiraiya slammed his palm down on the table.
The entire thing shattered beneath the blow.
Anger twisted his face, a rare sight for him.
What Danzo was doing was beyond despicable.
The village above had become a battlefield, and Danzo was hiding underground with Root, waiting for an opportunity to seize power.
It was a complete dereliction of duty and an unforgivable waste of military strength.
Even setting Danzo himself aside, Root had originally been created as a training division of the Anbu.
Its operatives were elites among elites.
Had they joined the fighting, they could have changed the course of the battle.
"Danzo absolutely cannot be allowed to remain."
Jiraiya's voice turned cold.
He had already begun secretly gathering evidence against Danzo.
Once Orochimaru's future Konoha Crush Plan began and the Old Man stepped down, Jiraiya intended to make his move.
Having a man like Danzo buried in the heart of Konoha was far too dangerous.
"Good. Root can't be allowed to remain either."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
In the video, she was the Hokage and therefore the highest authority in all of Konoha.
In theory, Root was also under her command.
Yet it was obvious she had no control over them.
Root followed Danzo with fanatical loyalty. They were even willing to help him seize power and become Hokage.
"No. Some of them may still be worth saving."
Tsunade remembered that one of the Root operatives had suggested going above to help.
That meant not all of them had completely lost their conscience.
At least a few still possessed some humanity.
Even so, betraying Danzo would be nearly impossible for them.
Tsunade had heard about the special methods Root used.
Its operatives were taken away as children, trained, and indoctrinated until obedience became second nature.
More importantly, Danzo placed a Fuinjutsu called the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on them.
Anyone who attempted to reveal his secrets or betray him would die instantly.
Once Tsunade became Hokage, she could force Danzo to back down and make him remove those seals.
That would give those who secretly wanted freedom a chance to leave.
Anyone who remained afterward would be one of Danzo's true loyalists.
If they chose to serve Danzo instead of the Hokage, there would be no reason to keep them alive.
They would have to be eliminated completely.
Tsunade might have been a woman and a medical shinobi, but too many people seemed to have forgotten that she was also one of the Sannin.
Her reputation had been carved out on the battlefield.
She suffered from Hemophobia.
She wasn't incapable of understanding what had to be done.
What purpose did Root or the Anbu serve if they refused to obey the Hokage?
For the first time, Tsunade felt that she might actually be a better choice for Hokage than Jiraiya.
Jiraiya stood alone.
At most, he had a few former subordinates.
He lacked the political power a Hokage needed.
If he took the position, he would inevitably be restrained by the council of elders and perhaps even obstructed by the Old Man himself.
Tsunade was different.
She could summon the hidden influence of the Senju Clan.
With that support, she could seize real authority in a short time.
Then she could begin reforming Konoha.
"Old Man, you've grown too old. You're no longer capable of dealing with these things."
Tsunade's voice was ice-cold.
Namikaze Minato was equally furious.
He already knew that he would become the Fourth Hokage in the future.
The thought that such a powerful force could exist completely outside the Hokage's control, while secretly plotting against the Hokage, made his skin crawl.
Namikaze Minato had served in the Anbu before.
During that time, he had encountered Root operatives on a few occasions.
Even with limited contact, he had noticed the difference.
Anbu operatives were already cold and detached.
Root was something else entirely.
They didn't merely disregard the lives of others.
They also disregarded their own.
If given the order, they would die without hesitation.
There was no doubt that even after becoming Hokage, Minato would never gain control over Root.
Had Danzo remained obedient, Minato could have dealt with him gradually.
But it was now obvious that Danzo coveted the Hokage's seat.
In the original timeline, he had even succeeded.
Had he not left the village for unknown reasons and been killed by Sasuke on the road, he would have become the genuine Sixth Hokage, rather than the so-called Fifth-and-a-Half Hokage Kaede Kitahara mocked him as.
"Danzo cannot be allowed to remain."
Danzo's decision to preserve his own forces while allowing an outside enemy to weaken Konoha's Hokage had thoroughly enraged the usually warm and gentle Namikaze Minato.
At the same time, Uchiha Itachi was the most stunned of all.
He stared at the cold, calculating Danzo shown in the diary, unable to speak.
Itachi had always known that Danzo was selfish.
He had never considered him a good man.
But in Itachi's understanding, Danzo had at least acted for Konoha's sake.
He had believed Danzo merely stained his hands with darkness while protecting the village.
A necessary evil committed to preserve Konoha's prosperity.
That was the idea Shimura Danzo had drilled into him day after day.
Only now did Uchiha Itachi finally see the truth.
The Shimura Danzo he had imagined, a man driven by noble purpose with only a trace of selfishness, had never existed.
There was only Konoha's Pot Shadow, a man driven by overwhelming selfishness with a tiny fragment of righteousness buried beneath it.