Dawn.
A thin veil of mist drifted through the Uchiha district.
Uchiha Kagami walked slowly along the quiet streets, his steps unfocused, his eyes bloodshot. He had wandered through Konoha all night after leaving the Senju compound, only returning when the sky began to pale.
His mind was a tangled knot.
At first, he had been determined to hunt down the Uchiha who leaked the news of Lord Tobirama's death.
But once his emotions cooled, a bitter realization followed.
Even if he caught that person… so what?
Without the backing of the Uchiha clan, no single individual could possibly spread news across the entire village within the span of a single afternoon.
And what if the mastermind behind it all was Uchiha Futian, the clan head himself?
At present, the person with the greatest ability—and the strongest motive—to mobilize the clan so quickly was precisely Futian. There were only a handful of people in the entire Uchiha capable of pulling something like that off.
Was Kagami supposed to turn against the clan head for Sarutobi Hiruzen's sake?
Just the thought made his temples throb.
The mere fact that such a rebellious idea had crossed his mind frightened him.
Yet if he simply let it go…
He would carry this inexplicable black stain for the rest of his life. His anger had nowhere to go. And worse—how was he supposed to face Hiruzen again?
"Hey, Kagami. You're back."
A few passing Uchiha greeted him casually, but their gazes lingered in strange, probing ways.
They had all heard the rumors—that Kagami and the others had abandoned the Hokage and fled back to Konoha.
No one had expected the so-called Uchiha prodigy to do something like that.
"Captain Hokuto said you guys ditched the Hokage and ran back. Is that really true?"
"Yeah, you're supposed to be one of the Uchiha's geniuses. You wouldn't do something like that, right?"
"He also said Sarutobi Hiruzen is going to become the Third Hokage."
"That can't be real, can it?"
"…"
More and more Uchiha drifted over, drawn by curiosity, surrounding him as they fired off questions, eager to confirm whether Hokuto's information was true.
Kagami's expression stiffened.
"Who did you just say?"
"Hokuto…?"
Disbelief flooded his face.
The one who leaked Lord Tobirama's death…
Was Hokuto?
How could that be?
Among the clan, the person Kagami respected and resonated with the most had always been Uchiha Hokuto.
Hokuto was someone Tobirama himself had acknowledged—an Uchiha who had transcended petty clan arrogance, who genuinely carried the Will of Fire in his heart.
If even Hokuto would do something like this…
How was he any different from the clan's radical hawks?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Kagami felt dizzy.
Either exhaustion was making him hallucinate—
Or this was some kind of genjutsu aimed directly at him.
Release!
He formed the hand seals to dispel illusions.
Nothing changed.
The Uchiha around him were still chattering excitedly about Hokuto.
"Enough!"
Kagami suddenly raised his voice.
He didn't want to waste another second here.
He needed to find Hokuto himself and demand the truth.
There had to be some explanation.
It had to be the clan head forcing him.
Sixteen years.
Hokuto's spotless reputation in Konoha for sixteen years made this reality nearly impossible for Kagami to accept.
Could someone really pretend to be a good person for sixteen whole years? Even fooling Tobirama-sensei?
That thought alone sent a chill down his spine.
Kagami vanished in a blur, activating Body Flicker. Within minutes, he arrived outside Hokuto's residence.
"Hokuto, don't be afraid. Was it the clan head who forced you? Did he make you step forward and deliberately leak the news of Lord Tobirama's death?"
"…"
Inside the courtyard, Hokuto was going through his usual morning routine—an absurdly energetic exercise sequence he jokingly called The Call of the Times.
When he looked up, he saw Kagami standing there with bloodshot eyes and a slightly unhinged expression.
The words tumbling out of Kagami's mouth left him genuinely puzzled.
The clan head?
Uchiha Futian forcing him?
Did that old fossil even possess that kind of authority?
If only.
Back when Tobirama had still been alive, Hokuto had carefully maintained his façade, deliberately concealing his real ambitions.
Now that Tobirama was dead…
He was already planning how to squeeze Futian out and take the position of Uchiha clan head for himself.
The Third Hokage's seat—
Hokuto fully intended to claim it.
If Futian tried to stand in his way, Hokuto wouldn't mind removing him first.
So why keep pretending?
He had already pretended long enough while Tobirama was alive.
Hokuto's lips slowly curled into a crooked grin.
"Kagami, the news of Tobirama's death was spread across Konoha by my order."
"Futian doesn't know a damn thing. He doesn't even have that level of intelligence access."
"Kehehehehe…"
His laughter was sharp, raw, and unrestrained.
He no longer bothered with honorifics when referring to Tobirama or Futian. There was no need anymore. Sooner or later, every mask would be torn away.
First, become the Uchiha clan head.
Then, become Konoha's Hokage.
That was the road he intended to climb—step by step, straight to the summit.
"Hokuto… how did you become like this?"
Kagami's voice trembled.
The man before him felt utterly strangeness—like a stranger wearing a familiar face. That unrestrained laughter stabbed painfully into his ears.
Right now, Hokuto was no different from the clan's most extreme hawks.
Had everything in the past been an act?
Could someone really masquerade as a successor of the Will of Fire for sixteen straight years?
The thought chilled him to the marrow.
"Tobirama-sensei always had such high expectations of you. He truly believed you carried the Will of Fire. Was everything you showed us… all fake?"
"Fake?"
Hokuto let out a short, derisive laugh.
Fake?
What was there to fake?
He wasn't some ignorant brute. Basic decency—respecting elders, treating comrades well—those were things he'd learned naturally.
It was only because the Uchiha were so volatile, so arrogantly self-absorbed, that his perfectly ordinary behavior had made him look like some kind of anomaly.
Greeting villagers warmly. Helping an old woman cross the street. Saying "please" to shopkeepers.
Simple manners.
To Hokuto, that was nothing more than basic upbringing.
To the average Uchiha, it might as well have been heresy.
Later, he'd realized just how useful that image could be.
Those little essays about the Will of Fire he'd written in the academy had even convinced Tobirama that Hokuto was an Uchiha who genuinely embodied that ideology.
"If that's what you want to believe," Hokuto said lazily, "then sure. Believe it."
He had no interest in explaining himself to Kagami.
You're not worthy of the explanation.
"So? You ran over here this early in the morning just to say all this?"
A deep, creeping chill settled into Kagami's bones.
The Hokuto standing before him was far more terrifying than anything he had imagined.
He really had pretended to be a successor of the Will of Fire—
Right up until Tobirama died.
Only then did he finally reveal his true face.
And Kagami suddenly realized something far more frightening than betrayal itself.
If Hokuto had truly maintained this act for sixteen years without a single crack…
Then what else might this man already have prepared?
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