He had always dreamed of having the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The problem? He was an orphan. If only he had a sibling to sacrifice, what a shortcut to power that would've been! But life wasn't that generous.
It was truly a pity. Uchiha Kazuto was just an orphan, and that fact had become his greatest regret lately.
Moments like these made him realize just how valuable family truly was in this world.
…Meanwhile, Konoha; inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen was, as usual, using his crystal ball to "inspect" the women's bathhouse.
"Hokage-sama! Something terrible has happened!"
A sudden knock interrupted his leisure. Hiruzen calmly switched the scene on the crystal ball, pretending he had been doing something important all along.
"Come in," he said, keeping his tone even. "What's the matter?"
"Hokage-sama, it's terrible!" The Anbu knelt on one knee, speaking in a rush. "The Uchiha clan is approaching with Danzo-sama's body! They're saying Danzo-sama planned to join forces with Uchiha Fugaku to start a coup and assassinate you!"
"What?"
Hiruzen's calm expression shattered. He looked genuinely taken aback, even wondering if he'd misheard. Danzo and Fugaku… together? A coup? That made no sense.
Wait. Danzo, of all people, joining forces with the Uchiha? The man despised them! And hold on, what did they mean by Danzo's body?
Was Danzo… dead? When? How? And why was Hiruzen hearing about it only now?
Besides, wasn't it supposed to be the Uchiha planning a coup? Since when did the story flip like this?
Not long after, inside the Hokage's office:
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat with a pipe in hand, brows furrowed, staring at the lifeless body of Shimura Danzo on the floor.
His eyes shifted to the grotesque arm Uchiha Kazuto held, an arm like a tree trunk, studded with Sharingan.
And then, inevitably, his gaze met Kazuto's eyes; eyes blazing with the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Off to the side, Uchiha Fugaku knelt on the ground, restrained by two Uchiha ninjas.
The scene before Hiruzen was chaos in human form. Danzo and Fugaku working together?
The Uchiha clan not plotting rebellion? It was like the world had flipped upside down.
Everyone knew Danzo's hatred for the Uchiha was unmatched; so how could any of this be real?
"Uchiha Kazuto, right?" Hiruzen finally said, voice measured but sharp. "Are you telling me the truth?"
He studied the young man's face, noting the gleam of those scarlet eyes, eyes that carried the same terrible power as Uchiha Madara's.
Could this really be true? A conspiracy between Danzo and Fugaku?
After all, with such power, Kazuto could've easily led the Uchiha to rebellion himself. There was no need for him to fabricate lies.
"That's right, Hokage-sama," Kazuto said earnestly. "Our clan had no intention of launching any coup. Everything that happened was the result of a conspiracy between Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Fugaku. When I was very young, I lost my parents and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan from grief. Elder Setsuna discovered my power and hid me, hoping I'd become the clan's hidden ace when the time came to rebel."
"But, Hokage-sama, I've always admired your Will of Fire. I've believed since childhood that the Uchiha would never destroy the peace of this village. There must be some misunderstanding here!"
Kazuto's voice rang with conviction. Even he almost believed his own story now.
Yes, that was right, he had awakened his eyes through tragedy, carried the Will of Fire since boyhood, and had always revered the Hokage.
Perfectly reasonable!
Hiruzen gazed at him long and hard. He saw no deceit, no hesitation, only sincerity. The same kind of sincerity he'd seen in Might Guy, of all people.
This boy truly had the Will of Fire.
Yet as he looked down at Danzo's corpse, sadness and anger twisted inside him. Could it really be? Could Danzo and Fugaku have conspired behind his back?
Was all of this… part of Danzo's plan?
Kazuto continued, "After searching for answers, I finally found them. With these eyes, I saw Uchiha Fugaku and Shimura Danzo meeting in secret, plotting a coup. That was when I understood why tensions between the clan and the village had grown so severe. It was all Danzo Shimura's doing.
"He deliberately provoked conflict, using our clan's strength to create chaos. Once we launched a coup, it would weaken you, Hokage-sama and Danzo could replace you as Hokage. Fugaku, meanwhile, would gain total control over the Uchiha by purging the dissenters."
Kazuto's gaze briefly flicked to Fugaku before locking onto Hiruzen again. His crimson eyes gleamed, a silent reminder that the man before him wielded the same eyes once possessed by Uchiha Madara himself.
Hiruzen's frown deepened. As outrageous as it all sounded, if it involved Danzo… it wasn't entirely impossible. The man had tried to have him assassinated before, after all.
"Silence! How dare you slander Danzo like that!"
A sharp, aged voice snapped through the tension. One of the elder advisors stepped forward, eyes blazing.
"How can it be slander," Kazuto shot back, "when I saw it with my own eyes? Fugaku, tell them, am I lying?"
He turned toward Fugaku, fury simmering in his tone.
Fugaku lowered his head. "It's all true. I was blinded by ambition and made a grave mistake. If it weren't for Danzo Shimura, I would never have considered rebellion. Hokage-sama… clan leader… I deeply regret it now.
"If I had known Danzo was experimenting on my people, using our eyes, even the cells of the First Hokage, I'd never have cooperated with him!"
The words hung heavy in the air.
At that, Hiruzen's expression changed instantly. His fingers tightened around his pipe.
The room fell silent, and the truth or what everyone wanted to believe was truth, took root.
It really was all Danzo's fault.