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In the darkness, Danzo waved a hand, signaling his subordinate to leave.
After a few seconds of silence, he muttered to himself, "His comrades were killed, yet he alone survived. Sounds familiar to Hatake Kakashi, doesn't it? His heart must be steeped in darkness now. Back then, I nearly pulled Kakashi into Root because of this. Though I failed, this time might be different."
With that, Danzo summoned a Root member and instructed, "Contact Uchiha Kagaya. Tell him Root wants him. In Root, we wear masks, unknown to each other—no need to feel pain when comrades die."
"Yes," the Root member nodded and vanished.
Danzo pondered. His words were blunt, the invitation rough, but to him, Uchiha Kagaya was a minor figure. The real priority was the situation with the Uchiha Clan. "Uchiha Kagaya… I considered dealing with him earlier, but Shisui's presence held me back. Now's a good opportunity. And Shisui's Kotoamatsukami… does Hiruzen not consider the consequences of us being controlled by that jutsu? Hmph. In the end, it's up to me to clean up."
Shisui had promised Kagaya not to reveal Kotoamatsukami to Danzo, but what Kagaya didn't know was that Shisui had already informed the Third Hokage, who then shared it with Konoha's leadership.
---
Days later, at noon, an uninvited guest entered Kagaya's room.
"Anbu?" Kagaya asked, puzzled.
"Root," the visitor replied tersely.
"Root? What do you want?" Kagaya's eyes narrowed. Danzo's claws were reaching for him now?
"Lord Danzo invites you to join Root. There, we wear masks, unknown to each other. You won't feel pain when comrades die."
Kagaya's face darkened. "What's that supposed to mean? Is Danzo saying my pain is because of Genji and Daisuke?! Get out. I'll never join Root."
He'd wanted to say "scram," but considering the tense Uchiha-Konoha relations, he held back to avoid adding fuel to the fire. He needed time to grow stronger, to escape the looming disaster.
The Root ninja gave Kagaya a deep look. "You dare speak Lord Danzo's name so casually? Bold. Typical Uchiha." With that, he vanished.
Kagaya sighed, staring at where the ninja had been. A bunch of brainwashed pawns doing Danzo's bidding, nearly destroying Konoha while believing themselves its greatest saviors.
---
Two weeks later, Kagaya was discharged.
Though a genin, thanks to Shisui's request to Konoha's leadership, Kagaya was temporarily exempt from missions under a jonin instructor.
Kakashi, having lost all his students, reportedly asked the Third Hokage to return to the Anbu, but the request was denied. The Third insisted Kakashi remain an instructor, awaiting the next batch of academy graduates.
The Third didn't blame Kakashi for the incident, and given Kakashi's strained ties with the Uchiha, he didn't want him involved in their affairs, so returning to the Anbu was off the table.
To Kagaya, this made sense, but many in the Uchiha Clan couldn't understand it. That detestable Hatake Kakashi, as an instructor, nearly got their clan's genius killed, yet the village let him stay on? Were they disregarding the Uchiha's feelings?
Different perspectives yielded different views.
In truth, if the Third had sent Kakashi back to the Anbu to deal with Uchiha matters, the clan would likely complain that the village was using their hated enemy against them, questioning if the leadership ever considered their feelings.
The seeds of hatred had taken root, and no action could easily undo them.
---
That night, Kagaya walked Konoha's bustling streets, a faint smile on his face. Time was running out. Before he became too entangled, he wanted to take a moment to see this lively Konoha.
'Maybe I won't get the chance again.'
"It's your fault!"
"No, it's yours!"
"Jerk, wanna fight?"
"Bring it on!"
Two drunks stumbled out of a tavern, arguing loudly.
Clearly intoxicated, they were causing a scene.
So this world has these kinds of things too, Kagaya thought, pausing to watch. The commotion was in his path, so he stopped, observing quietly.
Such drunken brawls brought him a strange sense of ease. This was what ordinary people did—get drunk, fight, bicker, and maybe cut ties later. Not like the conflict between someone named "Konoha" and someone named "Uchiha," where disputes were a matter of life and death.
"Hey! Stop it!"
"No troublemaking!"
Two ninjas in Konoha uniforms rushed over, each grabbing one drunk to break up the fight.
These were members of the Konoha Police Force, composed of Uchiha, essentially the village's police.
"Damn it, Uchiha, get lost!"
"What Police Force? Go hide like you did during the Nine-Tails attack!"
The drunks spewed reckless insults.
During the Nine-Tails attack, because the beast's eyes resembled a Sharingan, Danzo, suspecting Uchiha involvement, had the Third order them to stand down. The Uchiha couldn't participate—a helpless situation. What could they do, defy orders? Impossible.
But to civilians, it looked different. They saw the arrogant Uchiha, who usually looked down on them, cowering like turtles during a crisis. What was the difference between that and being cowards? Pretentious cowards, at that!
Normally, people didn't dare speak out, given the Uchiha's power. But drunk, inhibitions vanished, and words spilled freely.
"What did you say?!" an Uchiha ninja roared, slamming one drunk to the ground and roughly tying him up.
The other followed suit.
Soon, both drunks were bound.
"Take them away!" the Uchiha ninjas barked, escorting them like criminals.
Onlookers watched, some worried, others muttering in disgust. "Was that really necessary? They're just drunk and arguing."
"A little mediation would've been enough."
Kagaya observed silently, then walked away without a word.
The villagers despised the Uchiha. The Uchiha, stung by this disdain, often enforced the law harshly. The villagers, in turn, hated them more for it.
It was a dead knot, tied since the Second Hokage's era, now fully knotted. Soon, to untie it, both Konoha and the Uchiha would pay a heavy price.