He traveled under the stars, pushed through the night, and never once slowed down.
By the time Uchiha Sogetsu reached Konoha's main gate, the sky was just beginning to pale.
A thin line of dawn cut through the clouds. The first rays of sunlight spilled across the road outside the village.
On duty at the gate, a member of the Konoha Military Police stretched, yawned, and shuffled out of the guard post, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was just rolling his shoulders when he froze.
His jaw dropped.
He stared straight ahead, eyes getting wider and wider as a familiar figure walked toward the gate.
When Sogetsu came close enough, he frowned slightly.
"What's with that face, Genta?" he asked. "I've only been gone a few days. Don't tell me you've already forgotten me."
"N–no, that's not it!"
Uchiha Genta's face flushed red to the ears. He sounded almost… emotional.
"I just didn't expect you'd still remember me, sir. Welcome back to the village, Lord Sogetsu!"
Lord.
One of Sogetsu's brows rose.
That kind of honorific, from someone in the Police, was… new.
His reputation among the Uchiha had never exactly been stellar. Behind his back he'd heard more than enough labels: "Hokage's lapdog," "Uchiha traitor," "disgrace of the clan."
On a normal day, the gate guards would've given him, at best, a stiff nod.
This level of enthusiasm was… unusual.
"Uh… about before…" Genta scratched his head, shame creeping into his expression. "I hope you won't hold it against us, sir. What you did in Kirigakure—we all know now. You… you're the true hope of the Uchiha."
By the time he finished, his eyes were blazing with open admiration.
His face said it all: fanatical worship, barely contained.
So that's how it is.
Sogetsu's eyes flickered.
Sarutobi's handiwork, most likely.
The Hokage must have been very busy while he was away.
But he couldn't deny it had helped.
With the Hokage quietly pushing from behind, he no longer needed to "build" his legend. It was already spreading.
Sogetsu smiled gently and patted Genta's shoulder.
"We're all family," he said mildly. "Why would I hold a grudge? And where I am now is thanks to the blood of the Uchiha flowing in me."
Genta practically shook with emotion.
What is "charisma"? This.
Strong enough to shake the world, yet not a hint of arrogance.
Polite. Gentle. Respectful to the weak. Broad-minded. Forgiving.
Where else were you going to find a man like this?
"Lord Sogetsu!"
Genta clenched his fists tightly, eyes shining.
"Thank you for forgiving what I said before. From today on, I'm your loyal follower! Only you can lead the Uchiha back to glory!"
His voice rang with conviction.
Ever since news of what Sogetsu had done in Kirigakure spread through the clan, their view of him had flipped almost overnight.
The slurs—"Hokage's dog," "traitor," "shame of the clan"—had been replaced with glowing titles:
"Calm and humble."
"Terrifyingly strong."
"The hope of the Uchiha."
Among the younger generation especially, a wave of pure fandom had erupted.
Uchiha Genta was one of the more… intense cases.
After all: sixteen years old, already a full jōnin, infiltrates Kirigakure alone, wipes out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and assassinates the Third Mizukage.
Even across decades of shinobi history, that kind of thing was almost unheard of.
And the scariest part?
He was only sixteen.
He hadn't even hit his real peak yet.
It wasn't hard to imagine that given another ten years, his strength could climb to a level that rivaled the fabled Uchiha Madara.
But compared to the "Shura of the Shinobi World," this gentle, approachable Lord Sogetsu was… far easier to love.
Faced with the fervor in Genta's eyes, Sogetsu actually felt a little awkward.
He coughed lightly and seized the first excuse he could find.
"I need to report my mission," he said. "We'll talk later."
If he stayed any longer, he had a feeling Genta really would throw a cloak over his shoulders and start cheering Long live the king.
—
On his way to the Hokage Tower, Sogetsu got a very direct taste of what "fame" meant.
The upside: nearly every shinobi he passed nodded to him, smiling respectfully. Their gazes were cautious, deferential—even a little awed.
In the span of a single mission, he'd gone from "that shady Uchiha kid" to "that Uchiha," capital letters implied.
The downside: some people were enthusiastic to the point of being annoying.
Case in point: Obito and Kakashi.
Those two were well on their way to founding a cult.
"Being watched this openly…" Sogetsu thought, eyes sweeping the street, "…isn't very 'Audience' of me."
He sighed inwardly.
He wasn't Adam, blessed by default with singularity. He wasn't a King of Angels.
If he wanted to drag the current of history off its tracks, he'd have to do it the hard way:
By stepping onto the stage himself.
What is an Audience?
An actor on the front of the stage, and a director behind the scenes.
Playing two roles at once—participating in the drama and watching it from above, nudging it along.
Lost in thought, he arrived at the Hokage Tower.
"Nice work, 'Crow.'"
Sarutobi's personal guard, Hōzuki Rinkaku, was already waiting outside. He slapped Sogetsu's shoulder with a grin.
"Though you went a little far," Rinkaku added. "The Hokage-sama's been half-dead with rage."
"Don't praise me too much," Sogetsu said with a bitter smile.
He slipped on his "traumatized survivor" face and let his shoulders slump.
"You don't know how dangerous it was. I nearly died in Kirigakure. As for the Mizukage… sigh. Killing him was purely… being forced into a corner."
The helplessness in his tone was just right—heavy, but not overplayed.
It worked.
Rinkaku's expression sobered almost instantly.
In his mind, scenes sketched themselves:
Sogetsu hunted through the mist, cornered again and again. Fighting with his back to the cliff, bleeding, bones broken, forced to unleash everything just to crawl away alive.
And the Third Mizukage?
Toying with him like a cat with a mouse.
"I'm sorry."
Rinkaku pulled him into a firm hug.
"It was careless of me to make light of it," he said quietly. "But don't worry. We won't let you suffer for nothing. This grudge… Konoha—and the Hokage-sama—will repay it."
"It's over now," Sogetsu said with a pained smile. "No need to dwell on it. Just a bit of wind and frost. I'm just glad I could come back alive and not betray Hokage-sama's trust."
"I understand. Believe me—I do."
Rinkaku's eyes softened.
He'd walked that road once himself.
"Come on. I'll take you to the Hokage."
He turned—and headed out of the tower.
"…Huh?"
Sogetsu blinked.
"Rinkaku-san, wait. Where are you going? Isn't the Hokage… inside the building?"
"Uh. Well. The thing is…"
Rinkaku's mouth twisted. He hesitated a few times before lowering his voice, looking as if he'd bitten into something sour.
"These last few days… things got a little complicated while you were gone. Danzo turned into a woman. And Hokage-sama has, ah… been spending a lot of time with her. Together."
Uchiha Sogetsu:
"???"
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