Chapter 22: Loyalty That Isn't Absolute is Absolute Disloyalty
As the three figures broke the surface one after another, Hyūga Hizashi and Aburame Shibi, who were waiting as Jiraiya had arranged, immediately moved to attack Uchiha Mumei.
"Stop."
The drenched Jiraiya raised a hand, stopping Hizashi's and Shibi's actions. His gaze was fixed on the gasping Uchiha girl and Kakashi, who was behind her.
He was wrong. The true culprit of the Nine-Tails attack was not the person in front of him.
Even without Kakashi saying a word, Jiraiya knew her identity from the inextinguishable black flames that had filled the water.
The Uchiha Mumei from 500 years ago.
But this Uchiha girl had clearly just broken her seal. A single Amaterasu had left her in a state of visible chakra deficiency.
This was obviously a state of weakness caused by a long-term sealing, lacking sufficient chakra and food.
How could an Uchiha Mumei in this condition have forced his prized student to his death?
Therefore, the culprit of the Nine-Tails attack was someone else.
"You're... with them." Uchiha Mumei glanced sideways at the silent boy behind her.
"Yes. But please rest assured, we have no hostile intentions toward you."
Kakashi's words didn't make Mumei lower her guard. She scanned her surroundings. Her gaze paused on Hyūga Hizashi's eyes before moving to Jiraiya, who was clearly the leader.
"You are from the Uzumaki clan." Her tone was certain.
She had seen that Fūka Hōin—identical to the Uzumaki clan's—many times on the Uzumaki clan head who had sealed her.
"I am not from the Uzumaki clan. The Uzumaki clan was destroyed decades ago." Jiraiya stared at the girl, who was clearly forcing herself to stand.
"Decades ago... heh..." Uchiha Mumei stood up straight and gave a light laugh.
Whether the Uzumaki clan was destroyed or not meant nothing to her.
Besides, it was just this man's side of the story.
"It doesn't matter who you are, or what your goal is..."
Uchiha Mumei forced herself to stand tall, trying not to appear so weak.
But it was no use. After 500 years of being sealed, with no food, surviving only on the chakra from the seal, even a normal person could see she would fall over in a stiff breeze.
"Our mission was to investigate the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails' attack on the village."
"That's why we came here. But it seems our initial theory was wrong."
Kakashi, standing behind her, spoke calmly, trying to soothe the girl who had just broken free from her prison.
What village? What Nine-Tails? What culprit?
Uchiha Mumei knew nothing about any of this. But...
"I know... it has nothing to do with me. You... you should go..."
As the last word was forced from her teeth, Uchiha Mumei could no longer fight the weakness in her body. She stumbled and fell toward the water.
Kakashi, who was closest, lunged forward and caught the weak, powerless girl.
The scene fell silent. Jiraiya frowned, looking at the girl who had collapsed into Kakashi's arms, and was speechless.
"Kakashi, you..."
"Never mind. Just tell me what happened." Jiraiya sighed, looking at the calm Kakashi.
...
Night.
The campfire crackled as the flames licked the wood.
The four Konoha shinobi sat around the fire, discussing how to handle Uchiha Mumei.
Standard procedure for such a dangerous element was to kill her.
But Kakashi was firmly against it.
He had lost Kamui. In the original timeline, Kamui played a crucial role against Obito and his six Tailed Beasts, against Madara, and against Kaguya.
But all of that was now an unknown.
Even though Kakashi was trying to replace Kamui with the White Fang, and he could see his own path...
Who would complain about having too much strength on their side?
Especially since, in the current situation, the potential of his White Fang was still unclear.
Now that Uchiha Mumei was free, there was no going back.
Therefore, Kakashi wanted to try and win her strength over to his side.
"She tried to protect me earlier. If the plan is to kill her..."
"I can't do it. No matter what." The firelight flickered on his calm face as he spoke his mind.
"Kakashi, you must understand. She may be Uchiha, but she is likely the one who hates the Uchiha most."
"The Uchiha clan will not allow her to live." Hyūga Hizashi, who had read the reports on the 500-year-old secret before they left, spoke in a deep voice.
Kakashi looked up at Hizashi.
"The people who deserved to die 500 years ago are already dead."
"Besides..." A cold smile appeared on Kakashi's face.
He remembered. He remembered the looks on the faces of the Konoha Military Police when Obito revealed himself as "Madara" and claimed responsibility for the Nine-Tails.
It was... excitement. Joy.
Joy that their bloodline still had such a powerful member.
They felt no grief for the death of his sensei, Minato Namikaze.
The village was called a "village," but who really treated it as one?
Konoha was on a decline, but it was still the strongest military organization in the shinobi world.
What other shinobi village would dare challenge Konoha one-on-one?
The leader of such an organization sacrificed himself for the village, and yet, there were people who felt no sadness? People who felt joy when they learned the culprit was from their own bloodline?
What did it matter to him if they lived or died?
Don't talk about them being "part of Konoha." Only those who stood on his side counted as his own.
As Minato Namikaze's student, he had no choice in his loyalties. He could only gather as much strength as possible for his own side.
Your position determines your perspective.
This was Kakashi's stance.
The Uchiha clan had doves, like Fugaku.
But they also had plenty of hawks who didn't know their place.
Their loyalty to the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was not absolute. And loyalty that isn't absolute... is absolute disloyalty!
Especially for those who felt no sadness at his death.
Kakashi was the student of the Yondaime Hokage, the rising star, a future confidant of the Godaime, the future Rokudaime, and the teacher of the Nanadaime. Why should he, the most loyal member of the Hokage's faction, have to consider their feelings?