"Take him!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen had barely regained his composure when the scene unfolded before him. His eyes widened in shock—another Cloud ninja lay dead.
The hope for peace grew even slimmer.
Hiruzen's voice thundered as he formed hand seals, ready to act himself.
But a cold voice rang out above him.
"Another Cloud shinobi falls… is it really so hard for you to accept?"
Naruto appeared in a flash, standing atop the reception hall. His gaze fell on the Third Hokage, disappointment burning in his eyes.
"Who are you?" Hiruzen's body trembled, his hands faltering mid-seal as he shouted upward.
"Me?" Naruto ignored the shinobi surrounding him, his eyes drifting toward the sinking sun in the distance.
The golden light spilled across the sky, warm and blinding, like a dawn rising after darkness.
A phrase rose in his chest: The red sun rises, and its path is bright.
"I am Kira… of the Red Sun Society!"
His voice curled through the air—then his figure vanished, strange and untouchable.
"Red Sun Society? Kira?" Hiruzen muttered the name, a weary sigh escaping him.
"Lord Hiruzen," one Cloud ninja snarled, "look at the mess Konoha has caused. Not only was Lord Leizu killed, but failed to give the head of Clan head of Hyuga. If your village refuses to compensate, then you'll have only war to look forward to!"
Naruto gone, the surviving Cloud shinobi straightened, their arrogance quickly returning now that the pressure had lifted.
But as Hiruzen prepared to smooth things over, his words died in his throat.
From all sides, countless eyes bore into him.
Expectation. Doubt. Confusion. Cold indifference.
He knew—if he showed even a hint of weakness now, the label of "soft persimmon" would stick to him for life.
So he hardened his expression and raised his voice:
"Konoha has already uncovered the truth. Your shinobi entered our village with foul intentions, attempting to kidnap one of our children. Death is too light a punishment for such crimes."
"As for your fallen genin—the one who killed him was Kira of the Red Sun Society. It has nothing to do with Konoha. If the Cloud wishes to pin this on us and start a war, then so be it. We will meet you head-on."
The Third Hokage's stern face radiated authority, his voice cutting with lethal force.
Even the Cloud shinobi froze.
This was the Hokage of Konoha—an air of majesty that ordinary shinobi could never match.
"…We'll report this truth to Lord Raikage."
Bitter and humiliated, the Cloud ninja retrieved their comrade's corpse and left Konoha in disgrace.
The so-called peace talks and alliance? Erased as if they had never existed.
"Good work, Lord Hokage! That's exactly how these Cloud brutes deserve to be treated!"
"Yes, yes—what came before was just illusion, nothing but tricks meant to confuse us. We won't take it seriously."
"That thief Kira only slandered Hokage. None of it was real!"
Hiruzen's firm stand had regained him support. Yet behind the cheers, many shinobi remained silent, their faces thoughtful.
The source of Konoha's decline…
A boy in a Uchiha cloak muttered to himself, eyes shadowed with depth.
"Itachi, don't dwell on it," Shisui said, laying a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Come home with me."
"Brother Shisui…" Itachi's voice was low, conflicted. "Do you really think everything that man Kira showed us was just illusion?"
"Lord Hokage says it's all for the village's peace… but is it truly right?"
He paused, his young eyes burning with questions.
"Because of an enemy's threat, Lord Hokage was ready to sacrifice one of our own. Is that justice? Is that leadership? Elder Danzo knew the Hyuga were victims, yet stayed silent—because weakening them served his agenda. Can such actions really be called 'for Konoha's good'?"
"Brother Shisui… what is right? What is wrong?"
The eight-year-old's questions left twelve-year-old Shisui speechless. He couldn't form an answer.
Naruto's words still echoed in his heart—sharp, unforgiving.
Shisui had always believed that following orders meant doing what was right. That the elders acted for the village's benefit. That obedience was loyalty.
But now… doubt had taken root.
And not just in him.
Though many shinobi pretended to be unaffected, deep inside, the same question gnawed at them all.
Konoha had won the Third Ninja War in name, but what followed? The Nine-Tails' attack. Orochimaru's betrayal. The departure of the Sannin. Each blow had weakened the once-invincible village.
Konoha was no longer the unrivaled leader of the ninja world.
Why?
Why had it fallen so far?
Itachi thought about it. Shisui thought about it. Countless others thought about it.
And far away, Naruto smirked to himself.
The fire has been lit.
"All I need now is to train, grow stronger. When the time comes, when I'm old enough… the Hokage's seat will be mine."
He slipped back into his home, changed his disguise, and practiced the Transformation Jutsu as if nothing had happened.
His heart was light, his mood refreshed.
It was the first time in his life he'd shouted down a Hokage.
And it felt damn good.
After all this, if Hiruzen still thought he could force the Hyuga clan to bow, he was dreaming.
Hinata's uncle—Hyuga Hizashi—would no longer have to meet his end.
And that thought filled Naruto with joy.
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