You've got to be kidding me.
Why is this coming down on me?
Uchiha Kagami could feel the sharp, piercing stares cutting into his back. The disappointment in the eyes of his former teammates was unmistakable. Just moments ago, the six of them had been huddled together, clinging to one another beneath the crushing pressure radiating from Uzumaki Mito.
Now, that fragile unity has shattered.
Shimura Danzō, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Akimichi Torifu all retreated from Kagami almost instinctively, as if bound by some silent agreement.
Only Sarutobi Hiruzen remained where he was, his gaze fixed on Kagami—complicated, conflicted, unreadable.
Mito's long hair began to stir faintly, lifting as if brushed by an unseen wind.
Those who knew her well understood exactly what that meant.
She was standing on the edge of fury.
The vast chakra within her surged outward. A visible aura gathered around her body. Fine cracks crept across the solid floor beneath her feet—one more pulse of power and it would shatter outright.
Say something.
You have to say something!
Kagami bore the pressure alone.
It felt as though he were a fragile skiff adrift on an endless ocean.
Above him, thunderclouds churned. Lightning tore through the sky. Towering waves dozens of meters high surged toward him, ready to swallow him whole.
Killing intent, mixed with chaotic, hostile chakra, smothered his entire body.
Yet he couldn't even summon the strength to move.
So weak.
Kagami had never felt his own weakness so keenly.
In his memories, the elderly woman before him had always been kind and gentle, a warm smile resting on her lips.
Even so, he had never underestimated her. Her identity was no secret within the Uchiha, and the clan elders often spoke of her strength with guarded respect.
"That old woman Mito isn't easy to deal with," one Warring States–era elder had once muttered. "Even I'd only be fifty-fifty against her."
Now Kagami understood.
Those old men had underestimated her.
He had imagined that even if he couldn't win, he could at least fight her evenly.
Reality crushed that illusion without mercy.
"I didn't do it," Kagami forced out. "I would never leak intelligence—much less swear recklessly in the name of the Uchiha."
He invoked his clan's honor.
He might fear death, but he would never curse his entire clan to annihilation just to save himself.
Even so, his defense sounded thin.
The logic was merciless.
All six of them had returned directly to the Senju compound to report. None had contacted anyone else. Once inside, none of them had left.
Yet within a single afternoon, the news of Tobirama's death had swept through Konoha.
And the source traced back to the Uchiha.
Counting Mito herself, only seven people even knew of Tobirama's death.
And Kagami—
Was Uchiha.
Did information really require face-to-face delivery?
The Uchiha possessed countless discreet methods of passing messages.
From Mito's perspective, Kagami's explanation solved nothing.
The fact remained: someone had to bear responsibility.
Whether Kagami truly did it no longer mattered.
If the information had flowed out through the Uchiha, then Kagami was already implicated.
That alone was enough.
Mito rose slowly to her feet.
Killing intent flooded the room like a rising tide.
This Uchiha brat couldn't be killed outright… but crippling him badly enough to keep him bedridden for half a year?
That was well within reach.
"Lady Mito!"
"I believe Uchiha Kagami!"
Hiruzen's voice cut cleanly through the suffocating pressure.
He stepped forward and placed himself squarely in front of Kagami, eyes locked on Mito.
Shock rippled through the room.
At a moment like this, Hiruzen still dared to step out—and to shield Kagami?
Mito's expression flickered with surprise, gone in an instant. She studied Hiruzen's resolute face for several heartbeats before speaking.
"Brat," she said coldly. "Do you understand what you're saying?"
"Trying to play the hero here? Putting on a show?"
"Those tricks won't move me."
The crushing pressure she had been directing at Kagami shifted—now bearing down on Hiruzen instead.
Kagami sucked in huge gulps of air as the drowning sensation vanished. Relief crashed through him so hard his legs nearly gave out. He looked at Hiruzen with naked gratitude.
Cold sweat soaked through his underclothes, fabric clinging unpleasantly to his skin—but Kagami barely noticed.
Right now, only one thing mattered.
He was still alive.
"Hiruzen, don't be reckless," Danzō snapped. "Uchiha Kagami is still an Uchiha, no matter what."
In Danzō's mind, the leak had almost certainly come from the Uchiha.
Tobirama had always been wary of them.
Kagami might have been Tobirama's disciple, but blood was blood. Passing information back to his clan was hardly unthinkable.
"Shut up."
"I didn't tell you to speak."
Mito's gaze slashed toward Danzō like a blade.
The killing pressure made Danzō instantly clamp his mouth shut, shrinking back like a startled quail.
"Lady Mito," Hiruzen said steadily, "I'm not trying to perform."
"I truly believe Kagami is not that kind of person."
"Then give me your reason," Mito demanded coolly.
"Kagami is different," Hiruzen replied. "He doesn't have the arrogance or domineering pride common among the Uchiha. He's gentle. Kind."
"He treats his comrades with sincerity. On the battlefield, he's someone you can trust your back to without hesitation."
Hiruzen spoke slowly and carefully, recounting everything he knew about Kagami—from small habits in daily life to the countless moments they had survived side by side in combat.
In Hiruzen's memory, most Uchiha were proud to the point of arrogance—especially those who had awakened the Sharingan.
Yet among his generation, two exceptions stood out.
One was the Kagami standing behind him now.
The other was Uchiha Hokuto.
Both were powerful, yet restrained. Ordinary shinobi could joke freely with them. Even when someone accidentally crossed a line, neither truly took offense. A laugh, a wave of the hand, and it passed.
Because of that, Tobirama had once attempted to take both Kagami and Hokuto as disciples.
Kagami had accepted.
Hokuto had declined.
Hiruzen spoke with quiet conviction, his sincerity impossible to mistake.
Even those present couldn't help but feel moved.
Even Danzō—who had been convinced Kagami was the culprit—felt uncertainty creep into his certainty.
And Kagami, standing behind Hiruzen, felt something warm spread through his chest.
Trust.
Unhesitating, unconditional trust.
In a room saturated with suspicion and killing intent—
That trust burned like a fragile flame.
And whether it would survive the coming storm…
No one yet knew.
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