After leaving the underground tavern, the night wind in the post town was exceptionally cold.
Minato and Roy walked one after the other through the dark, damp alleyway.
Neither spoke.
The air was so quiet it was almost oppressive.
The information they had just obtained from the information broker Black Crow, weighed heavily on both their minds like a heavy stone.
Minato stopped walking.
He didn't turn around, simply looking at the sky at the end of the alley, dimly lit by lanterns.
"Roy."
He spoke.
"What do you think about this?"
It was a question. It was also a test.
Roy knew that his answer would determine how his teacher, Minato, would see him from now on.
He too looked at that dimly lit sky.
"Sensei."
"Don't you think that mission request was very strange?"
"It was meant to test the genin, yet it deliberately avoided the Uchiha clan."
Minato said nothing, signaling for him to continue.
"Generally speaking, a village's genin represent that village's future potential."
"For any enemy village wanting to obtain intelligence on Konoha and assess the quality of the next generation of ninja, that's a perfectly normal tactical move."
"But the Uchiha are different."
"The Sharingan is one of Konoha's most powerful bloodline limits and a core part of Konoha's military strength."
"Any enemy wanting to weaken Konoha should treat the Uchiha as a top priority for observation, even assassination targets."
"Avoiding them is illogical."
"This shows that in the eyes of the person who issued this mission, the Uchiha clan weren't a 'potential asset' needing assessment."
"Instead, they were treated as something else."
"A special 'variable'… completely excluded."
Roy's analysis was as calm as solving a math problem.
Minato's gaze grew increasingly sharp.
"Go on."
"Being able to issue a mission like this and obtain precise intelligence on Konoha's genin teams means this person holds a very high position within Konoha."
"They have both authority and their own intelligence channels."
"The traits Black Crow described—masked guards, a bandaged arm, and that cold, old chakra…"
"They all point to a place we usually rarely think about, yet truly exists."
"The village's… dark side."
Roy finished.
He hadn't directly said the name.
But he knew his teacher, Minato, must have understood.
Silence returned to the alley.
After a long while, Minato slowly exhaled.
That breath, in the cold air, turned into a puff of white mist.
"You're talking about Elder Shimura Danzo."
Minato's voice lacked its usual gentleness.
Only a cold calm remained. He turned and looked at Roy.
His expression was complex. There was surprise, approval, but more than anything, a deep concern.
This eleven-year-old student of his had demonstrated political acumen and analytical ability that far exceeded what could be explained by "genius."
He was like an old monster who had lived for decades.
Roy lowered his head, not meeting Minato's gaze.
He was thinking about something else.
His mind wasn't analyzing at all. It was recalling.
Shimura Danzo.
This name was anything but unfamiliar to him, Founder of the Root, Konoha's darkest power-seeker.
One of the masterminds behind the Uchiha clan massacre.
That scumbag who chose to stand by to seize the position of Hokage when Pain invaded Konoha.
He knew what kind of heinous things this guy would do in the future.
He even knew what disgusting thing was hidden beneath that bandaged arm.
The intelligence Black Crow provided was merely verifying a fact he already knew.
He looked at the Minato Namikaze before him.
This genius hailed as the Yellow Flash.
This future Fourth Hokage.
This man who, to protect the village, would seal away the Nine-Tails with his own life a few years later.
He also knew that his teacher Minato's death was tied to this guy, Danzo.
If Danzo hadn't interfered back then, the Uchiha clan might have prevented that tragedy.
Roy felt no anger.
Only a cold sense of powerlessness.
He knew all the tragedies that were destined to happen.
But right now, there was nothing he could do.
He was too weak.
In this world where catastrophic events were common, his current strength was barely enough to protect himself.
"This matter is beyond what we can handle."
Minato spoke, interrupting Roy's thoughts.
"We must return to the village immediately and personally hand over this intelligence to the Third Hokage."
"Without the Hokage's orders, everything we heard and saw tonight must be kept strictly to ourselves."
"That includes Tokuma and Yakumo; we can't tell them either."
"Understood?"
"I understand." Roy nodded.
"Let's go," Minato said. "To meet up with them."
The two returned to the agreed meeting point.
Tokuma and Yakumo were already waiting there.
"Sensei, Roy, you're back!"
"What happened? Did you find anything?"
Minato put back on his usual smile.
"Yeah, we cleared it up. Just a few insignificant rogue ninja groups causing trouble, nothing major."
He used a casual lie to cover up that earth-shattering secret.
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's leave the town tonight and head back to Konoha."
The group set off on their return journey.
Roy walked at the very back.
He looked at his teacher Minato's broad back.
Then he glanced at Tokuma and Yakumo, walking in the middle, chatting quietly.
He knew his path was different from theirs.
The world they saw was Konoha bathed in sunlight.
But he, because of those extra memories, had been standing in the shadows from the very beginning.
What he saw was the deeper, thicker darkness behind the sunlight.
Shimura Danzo.
The Uchiha massacre.
The Nine-Tails' attack.
Minato Namikaze's death.
These words, like cold, interlocking gears, slowly turned in his mind.
The gears had begun to turn.
And I am still too weak.