Inside the Uchiha clan grounds in the Hidden Leaf Village, a boy of five or six years old was sobbing in front of a corpse. Beside him, a man in his thirties wearing the Hokage's robe was quietly comforting the Uchiha youth.
This person was none other than the current Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen! Standing behind him were a group of prominent figures in Konoha: Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Akimichi Torifu, along with the Uchiha Clan Head and elders.
It was quite miraculous. For the high-ranking officials of Konoha to appear within the Uchiha clan and attend an Uchiha funeral was a very rare occurrence.
The reason was that the deceased was the Third Elder of the Uchiha clan, a disciple of the Second Hokage, and a fellow disciple of Sarutobi Hiruzen: Uchiha Kagami.
The boy crying incessantly beside Sarutobi Hiruzen was named Uchiha Kage, the son of Uchiha Kagami. He was also the father of the future double agent, Uchiha Shisui.
Of course, none of that was the most crucial point. The most crucial point was that, like many protagonists, he was a transmigrator!
Uchiha Kage didn't have much to object to regarding transmigrating as Uchiha Kagami's son. After all, the world of Naruto is a world that values bloodlines, and the Uchiha family possesses one of the most excellent bloodlines in this world.
As a disciple of Senju Tobirama and a comrade of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Kagami's strength was unquestionable. Before his death, he was even considered the strongest combat power of the Uchiha clan.
His future son, Uchiha Shisui, would be known as the strongest genjutsu ninja. Therefore, as his son (and Shisui's father), Uchiha Kage's talent was naturally unquestionable.
In the past year, Uchiha Kagami had begun basic training for him. The talent he displayed was absolutely number one among the Uchiha peers. Even the Clan Head's son, Uchiha Fugaku, who was two years older than him, was likely not as outstanding.
Three days ago, Uchiha Kagami received an order to execute a mission at the border of the Land of Fire. However, he never returned; it was a final farewell. There was definitely something wrong with this matter. Otherwise, how could Uchiha Kagami, a Kage-level expert, die so easily?
The most critical point was that when viewing the body, he clearly felt that his father's Sharingan was missing.
This made Uchiha Kage very concerned, but he dared not speak out.
He believed that whether it was the Hokage or the high-ranking members of the Uchiha clan, they had all noticed this detail. Yet, none of them mentioned it. Clearly, a tacit understanding had been reached.
Uchiha Kagami's death was connected to one of these parties, or perhaps even related to both.
Uchiha Kage placed his suspicion on Shimura Danzō. After all, this mission seemed to have been delegated to Uchiha Kagami by Danzō.
If this matter had nothing to do with that Scapegoat King, Uchiha Kage wouldn't believe it.
Similarly, the Uchiha clan, especially the Clan Head's side, was also a significant possibility.
Uchiha Kagami held a unique position within the Uchiha clan. He was a representative of the Dove faction, his heart leaning towards Konoha and the Hokage's lineage.
However, within the Uchiha clan, there were those who wanted to get rid of Sarutobi Hiruzen and have the Clan Head become the Hokage. To them, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't the biggest obstacle; Uchiha Kagami was!
If the clan wasn't even united internally, how could they compete for the position of Hokage?
Getting rid of Uchiha Kagami and leaving the Dove faction leaderless was their primary choice. Uchiha Kage often saw his father arguing with the Clan Head.
All these people were suspects, which left Uchiha Kage feeling very helpless. If he spoke out, there probably wouldn't be anyone willing to stand up for Uchiha Kagami, right?
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen was not entirely trustworthy.
At first, Uchiha Kage also considered Sarutobi Hiruzen to be the mastermind, a sinister old schemer.
After all, before he transmigrated, those conspiracy theories about Naruto were written to death. No matter how you looked at it, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed impossible to whitewash.
However, because Uchiha Kagami and Sarutobi Hiruzen were close friends and met frequently, Uchiha Kage discovered that this guy didn't seem truly black-hearted. He was good at compromising, perhaps a bit too soft, and valued relationships too much.
Over these years, Uchiha Kage had also witnessed many things.
Everyone said that the demise of the Senju clan was related to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In reality, the disappearance of the Senju clan really didn't have much to do with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After the Second Hokage took office, he integrated a large number of the new generation of the Senju clan into the civilian population of Konoha and arranged various intermarriages with major clans.
Tsunade's mother was the daughter of the Fire Daimyō. The wife of Mitokado Homura, who was criticized by countless people as useless, was also a member of the Senju clan.
During the First Great Ninja War, Senju Tobirama personally led the charge, taking the remaining Senju clansmen onto the battlefield. They suffered heavy casualties. It could be said that now, the Senju clan only had a few members of the older generation holding the fort, while the younger generation consisted only of Tsunade and Nawaki.
These two didn't even use their surname. Everyone knew that the Senju clan had become a thing of the past.
Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen had plenty of problems too. The current him could not suppress the major clans and could only distribute power. This led to the Hokage's status not being as supreme as it was in the novels, and he was even subject to many constraints.
Not only was he supervised by the Elder Council, but those major clans could also influence the Hokage's decisions. Konoha was not Sarutobi Hiruzen's one-man rule.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could not be called a bad person, but he couldn't be called a good person either.
Of course, this was only for now; time can change people.