Bang!
Danzo Shimura was furious.
His cane slammed heavily into the floor, the sound echoing through the office.
His face was dark—terrifyingly so.
He turned to glare at his old friend, the Third Hokage.
Suppressing his anger, he demanded, "Hiruzen, Konoha needs a new direction. You—"
"Why did you frame an Uchiha child during this disaster?"
Before Danzo could finish, Hiruzen cut him off, pointing straight at his face.
"Frame the Uchiha…"
At those words, Danzo's breathing stalled for a moment.
He instinctively ignored the word child, his attention locking onto Uchiha and framing.
Framing the Uchiha?
That was practically his daily routine.
Otherwise, how could the reputation of one of Konoha's great clans have rotted so quickly?
But… which incident was Hiruzen referring to?
It didn't matter.
Either way, he'd done it.
Prejudice in the human heart was like a mountain.
But what if that mountain was built deliberately by people themselves?
"Hiruzen… why bring this up now?" Danzo said, his voice lower, though he still argued stubbornly.
"Those inherently evil Uchiha brats—are you saying we should just let them destroy the village?"
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Seeing that his old friend's stance hadn't changed at all, Hiruzen felt tired.
He knocked his pipe against the desk to silence him.
"Enough! What the village needs right now is harmony—not internal strife!"
"But don't forget—today, the Nine-Tails' eyes were clearly—"
Danzo retorted unhappily.
"Enough!"
Hiruzen suddenly stood up, staring directly at Danzo.
"You need to remember—I am the Hokage."
The authority he had accumulated over decades as Hokage crashed down in full force.
That final sentence was the straw that broke the camel's back.
It completely ignited the resentment boiling in Danzo's heart.
He flung his cane aside coldly and snapped, "You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
Bang!
With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Only three people remained in the room.
After a moment of silence, Koharu Utatane hesitated before speaking.
"Hiruzen… could there be a problem with accusing the Uchiha?"
"Danzo may act in the shadows, but he does still act for the sake of the village."
"And besides Danzo… who else harbors that much hostility toward the Uchiha?"
Hiruzen slammed his palm on the desk and barked back,
"Are you telling me a two-year-old child ran into the barrier by himself?!"
Thump.
That single sentence silenced them completely.
...
At the entrance to the Uchiha district.
Uchiha Kai's short legs were moving at full speed.
With the Light as a Swallow trait boosting him, his coordination had reached a whole new level.
He'd even broken free from the standard ninja running posture—arms pinned straight back, legs churning in short steps.
Instead—
He was swinging both arms and legs powerfully.
Crossing motions.
Perfect form. Agile strides.
His speed was nearly on par with a grown man.
If you ignored his height, that was.
Step.
The moment he saw the iconic Uchiha fan crest, Kai stopped abruptly.
His entire demeanor shifted back.
Silent.
Unassuming.
He slipped quietly into the clan grounds.
After the Nine-Tails incident ended, the ANBU guarding the area had already withdrawn.
The troublemaking clan members were gone as well.
Some were drinking. Some were sleeping.
Faint, face-reddening sounds drifted through the night air.
Only one man stood at the gate.
Uchiha Fugaku.
The clan head's gaze was deep and heavy as he stared outward.
His eyes gradually turned crimson, three tomoe slowly spinning.
The thick scent of gunpowder and war lingered in his breath.
"So it's come to this…"
"Even now, the village still has spare manpower to keep the Uchiha under watch."
He sighed and turned to leave.
But just as he did, something flickered within his Sharingan—
A tiny figure, tiptoeing and sneaking inside.
"Kai? Why did this child slip out?"
Fugaku froze.
This son of his—his second son—was usually silent and withdrawn.
If he wasn't required to do something, he preferred to be alone.
Because of that, many in the clan considered him antisocial.
Yet tonight… he had snuck out?
Curious, Fugaku followed.
In the shadows of a corner, Kai's eyes flickered.
As expected… he followed.
He stood quietly against the wall, waiting for his father to approach.
This man.
A mysterious Mangekyō Sharingan wielder.
A clan head who possessed the Mangekyō—yet allowed his own son to slaughter the clan.
Was it right or wrong?
Kai couldn't judge.
Only those who had become fathers themselves could understand that weight—and those impossible choices.
As Fugaku drew closer, Kai felt a palpable pressure wash over him.
"Kai," Fugaku asked, his tone still stern from years as clan head, lacking a father's softness,
"why did you come out? Can't sleep?"
"No wonder your two sons turned out more rebellious than the last," Kai muttered inwardly.
Out loud, he shook his head and answered simply,
"My room collapsed."
"…What?!"
Fugaku's eyes widened. He immediately turned toward the clan interior.
Only then did he notice—at some point, the main beam of Kai's room had fallen.
And he, the clan head and father, hadn't noticed at all.
Neither had the rest of the clan.
Guilt flashed across his face.
"I'm sorry, Kai," he said quietly. "Tomorrow, Father will have it repaired, alright?"
"For now, you'll sleep in my room."
As he spoke, he bent down to pick Kai up.
But could Kai allow that?
Ten minutes of conversation hadn't passed yet!
He struggled instinctively, trying to break free.
But without chakra, his tiny body was powerless.
He could only watch himself being carried into the room, set down, and left behind.
Watching Fugaku's retreating back, Kai was forced to deploy his ultimate move.
He shouted, "Under the shrine table—third leg from the left!"
Fugaku's hand froze on the door.
"And inside Mother's window flowerbed."
Step.
Fugaku turned around slowly, his gaze dark.
"And the bottom-right corner of the cabinet in this room—"
"Stop!" Fugaku rushed back instantly, glancing nervously toward the adjacent bedroom.
"How do you know all that?!"
His voice was low, rapid—and furious.
The stern clan head act had vanished completely.
See?
That kept him talking, didn't it?
Kai grinned slyly, patted the bed beside him, and said in a childish voice,
"Come. Sit."
"You brat, you'd better explain—"
Kai waved his hand, cutting him off.
"Father… you don't want Mother to find out about your secret stash, do you?"
He patted the bed again.
The meaning was obvious.
"You little—!"
Uchiha Fugaku's three-tomoe Sharingan spun slowly.
Grinding his teeth, he finally sat down.
At this moment, before Uchiha Kai—
The clan head looked almost like a child himself.
And it was at this moment—
That Kai finally saw the traits hovering over his father.