[Just shortly after the great destruction of Konoha, when the village was in ruins and struggling to rebuild, Jiraiya—one of the Three Legendary Sannin—came to Kakashi to recruit someone, just like Orochimaru did before.]
[Unlike the rogue ninja Orochimaru, Jiraiya was officially part of Konoha's system. So, when the elder and superior Jiraiya asked, Kakashi had no choice but to hand over the team's second strongest ninja, Uzumaki Naruto, to him.]
[Later on, two rogue ninjas belonging to the criminal organization "Akatsuki" appeared in Konoha, one of whom was Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi.]
"Is the future of Konoha really going to be this chaotic?"
Looking at Itachi Uchiha's face on the screen, the Fourth Hokage, Minato, painfully rubbed his forehead.
He already had a lot of unfinished matters to deal with, and now there was a rogue ninja like Itachi Uchiha.
What the hell is going on here?
Where is Uchiha Fugaku?
Where are the other Uchiha?
Are all the Uchiha dead? Their clan heir became a rogue ninja, and you just stand by silently?
If it weren't for his duty, Minato really wanted to say: "I'm tired, just destroy it all."
"Third Hokage, is this the Konoha you hoped for?"
Thinking of the terrible state of the future Konoha, Minato felt deeply frustrated.
He had only just become Hokage and had very little real power.
Even the Anbu, who should have been under the Hokage's direct command, had not been entrusted to him by the Third Hokage.
So he could only promote the current Chunin-level shinobi, Shiranui Genma, Raidō Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami, to act as his personal guard.
You could say among all the Hokage, his Hokage Guard was the most pathetic.
If the Third Hokage had managed Konoha well, Minato wouldn't have minded.
Anyway, the Third was old and would eventually hand over power to him.
But after he and Kushina died, when the Third didn't elect a Fifth Hokage and chose to resume his position, turning the village into chaos, Minato couldn't stand it.
"To protect Konoha, I need to find a chance to take back the power that should belong to me."
[With Uchiha Itachi was one of the former "Seven Ninja Swordsmen," Kisame Hoshigaki. Their purpose in coming to Konoha was to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki — the second tech ninja of the Technician Team, Uzumaki Naruto.]
[However, Itachi and Kisame encountered two Konoha Jonin on patrol, Sarutobi Asuma and Kurenai Yūhi.]
[Without a word, both sides prepared to fight. But Itachi and Kisame were so strong that Asuma couldn't beat Kisame, and Kurenai Yūhi couldn't defeat Itachi. Soon, both were defeated.]
[At the critical moment, Kakashi arrived just in time. He copied Kisame's Water Shark Bullet to block the attack that Asuma was supposed to take, and used a water clone to save Kurenai Yūhi. Suddenly, the situation changed to three against two.]
[This author doesn't mean to belittle Asuma and Kurenai Yūhi's strength, but compared to Kisame and Itachi, Asuma and Kurenai Yūhi are basically like college students against high school students—the gap in power is really that big.]
[Facing this disadvantage, Kakashi knew how powerful Itachi's Sharingan genjutsu was. So he advised Asuma and Kurenai Yūhi to close their eyes. Based on the saying, "Only magic can defeat magic," our Kakashi naturally believed that only Sharingan could fight Sharingan.]
"Looks like Kakashi's going to have a hard time."
As a close friend of Fugaku, the Fourth Hokage, Minato had a fairly deep understanding of the Sharingan.
He knew that besides the three tomoe, the Sharingan could evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Once evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan, it was no longer something a regular three-tomoe Sharingan could handle.
From the situation shown on the screen, Minato believed that Itachi must have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Otherwise, no matter how weak Konoha was, a mere three-tomoe Itachi together with a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist wouldn't be able to escape the village's siege.
Only the mysterious Mangekyō Sharingan could allow these two to ignore the numerous Konoha ninja and enter the village to capture his son.
"Perfect, maybe this battle will let me see the mysterious Mangekyō Sharingan."
[Only the Sharingan can fight the Sharingan — in theory, that's true, but no one knew that Itachi, while outwardly showing the three-tomoe Sharingan, had actually quietly evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Then, Itachi used one of his Mangekyō techniques, which was also a genjutsu: Tsukuyomi, trapping Kakashi's mind inside the world of Tsukuyomi.]
[Inside the Tsukuyomi world, Itachi stabbed Kakashi's body frantically with a blade.]
[When Kakashi came back to his senses, he was already physically exhausted and collapsed.]
[Meanwhile, Itachi acted decisively and ordered Kisame to take Kakashi away.]
[Fortunately, Kakashi's amazing buddy Might Guy arrived just in time, kicking Kisame away and successfully saving the three of them.]
[After the battle ended, Kakashi fell unconscious and was taken to the Konoha hospital for treatment.]
"The Mangekyō Sharingan is really that strong?"
Looking at Kakashi's miserable state on the screen, the Fourth Hokage Minato couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
He didn't know how strong Kakashi would become in the future.
But judging by Kakashi's strength now, future Kakashi definitely had the power of an elite Jonin.
Ninjas with this level of power were rare even in the current Konoha, and probably even fewer in the future.
And yet, this very Kakashi was instantly defeated by Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
It was clear how insanely the Mangekyō Sharingan boosted the Uchiha clan's power.
"No wonder the Third Hokage and their generation feared the Uchiha so much."
After witnessing the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Minato started to understand the Third Hokage's worries.
If the Uchiha had several Mangekyō Sharingan like that, the Third Hokage probably wouldn't even sleep peacefully, always afraid that one day Konoha's sky would change overnight.
Compared to the Third, Minato was different.
First, he wasn't greedy for power, otherwise he wouldn't have such a peaceful relationship with the Third Hokage who tightly held onto power.
Second, his personality made him trust his comrades.
In his eyes, as long as Konoha could become better, he didn't mind who became Hokage.
So, he hoped Uchiha would develop several more Mangekyō Sharingan.
That way, Konoha could keep its strength against other ninja villages and gain more benefits for the village.
[In the days that followed, Sasuke felt jealous of Naruto's abilities, and Kakashi, as their leader, was well aware of this.]
[Feeling dissatisfied, Sasuke challenged Naruto to a fight on the hospital rooftop. Just as both of them used their ultimate moves, Kakashi appeared in time to stop them and diffused the clash between their Rasengan and Chidori.]
[Afterwards, Sasuke started to feel that staying in Konoha was pointless, and following Kakashi, who had been hospitalized by Uchiha Itachi, seemed even more hopeless.]
[He recalled the olive branch Orochimaru had offered. After weighing the pros and cons, Sasuke decided to give up learning how to become a big internet celebrity with Kakashi. He was determined to side with the wealthy Orochimaru and learn how to be a competent member of society.]
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