At this moment, Kisame completely understood.
His mind wasn't as sharp as Itachi's, but anyone who had made a name for themselves in this era, aside from luck, certainly didn't have a poor mind.
Clearly, Kisame wasn't one of the lucky ones.
Itachi had already directly pointed out that the weapon of his Susano'o was unusual. Then, when he thought about the Uchiha clan's massacre, there was no doubt—whoever benefited the most was the one most likely behind it.
As for evidence, does that matter?
Normally, it's very important.
But in this era, it doesn't matter. For the "sages," evidence isn't important.
Because the sages have been hiding behind history for so long, yet they've always been influencing the world's history, even though they've never shown up in the official records.
And over the past thousand years, the sages have never appeared in official history. Only recently have they been forced to step out from behind the scenes.
So, for the sages, the so-called "evidence" doesn't matter. If there's no evidence, it means the sages have destroyed all traces of it.
Right now, the Third Hokage has chosen to commit suicide because of the sages.
The Uchiha clan was naturally born with power to counter the sages, which is why they were secretly wiped out.
The Uzumaki clan, like the Uchiha clan, is an ancient ninja clan. They were probably also wiped out by the sages for the same reason.
Once the chain of suspicion starts, the so-called evidence doesn't matter anymore.
When the sages appeared, they completely shattered certain rules of this world.
It's like the way people feel about Shanks. You might not trust others, but no matter what the situation, no matter what position you hold, you can always trust Shanks.
As for the sages?
To put it simply, these people have been hiding behind the scenes of history, and now that they've stepped out, they've become the biggest suspects.
You can trust anyone, but do you trust the sages?
This is the ninja world. These people are either ninjas, pirates, or ambitious individuals.
Do you really think these people are like college students who trust everyone?
So, it's no surprise that the sages, having become the biggest beneficiaries, also became the biggest suspects.
"The timing of the sages' appearance is just too coincidental.
For thousands of years, they've stayed hidden, but after the Uzumaki clan was destroyed, and the Uchiha clan was wiped out, they showed up."
"This means that for the sages, the greatest threat to the ninja world has been removed."
Kisame sneered.
"I understand what that guy Shanks wants now. If the Uzumaki clan was still around, Shanks might not have become the strongest in the ninja world.
That's why his actions confuse me. That guy is focused on cultivating powerful individuals."
"Even though he's the strongest in the ninja world, he doesn't have much ambition for himself. Instead, he's using his power to nurture the ambitions of others."
"He's making countless pirates aim for the Four Emperors' position, pushing them all toward the New World."
"If the Uzumaki clan hadn't been wiped out, it would probably look the same."
Kisame spoke up.
Now, it seemed like Shanks' actions had a good reason behind them.
But even though a reason could be found for what Shanks did, Kisame still admired his boldness.
That guy is the real revolutionary army.
"If we want to confirm the situation with the sages, we'll probably need some help from that person in Konohagakure.
But when it comes to the strength of the Uzumaki clan, we can always ask Nagato."
Itachi was calm. Many things still needed to be verified. Their suspicions didn't need proof, but the things they showed the world did.
As someone in the revolutionary army, Itachi understood this well.
If the sages are proven to be behind this, the World Government will suffer a severe blow. Such a blow from the system itself is more threatening than any direct attack.
If used well, it could even cause the World Government to collapse.
If the sages knew they were shouldering such a heavy burden, they wouldn't be able to argue their way out of it.
Some people die to take the blame, while others die to divide the blame.
When someone's behavior is so outrageous that it breaks away from reality, people always find a reasonable explanation for their absurd actions.
No one believes the Third Hokage was really that stupid. Well, maybe he was a bit foolish, but the truth is, now, all of his actions have been given an extremely reasonable explanation.
What's more important is that with the arrival of the new era and the appearance of the sages, the importance of the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans has increased.
The Third Hokage alone no longer has the qualification to take on such a huge burden.
This heavy burden can only be carried by the sages.
As for the Third Hokage? Well, it's really just a sigh. Some people live diligently, giving so much to the village, and yet they end up being better off dead than alive.
Right now, the Third Hokage's reputation with Orochimaru was climbing fast—from rock bottom up to barely acceptable.
And it was the same with Itachi.
Once the Sages took the blame, the Third could quietly step away from the mess.
Even if someone managed to bring the Third back with Edo Tensei one day and revealed the full truth, no matter what that truth was, the Sages would still be the ones getting blamed.
If the Third said it wasn't the Sages' fault, then he'd look like a coward who gave in to their pressure.
And if he said the Sages really were behind it all, then case closed.
But more importantly, there was something even bigger in all this: Shanks and Uchiha Madara knew each other.
And they actually got along pretty well.
If Madara comes back and people in the ninja world see him working with Shanks, then it's obvious—the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans definitely had a connection.
And looking at those two clans—first the Uzumaki were wiped out, then the Uchiha too.
Trying to shake off the blame now? No way.
Two days later, Itachi and Kisame met with Nagato and Konan in the Land of Thunder.
Itachi and Nagato were working together now. They weren't exactly on the same side, but they trusted each other enough.
Itachi laid out everything he had found.
Even Konan, who usually didn't care about these kinds of things, could see there was a serious issue.
"Rikudou Sennin definitely had this kind of power.
Nowadays, all the ninja tools in the world have no clear history. But from what we do know, Rikudou Sennin had the skills to make them."
Just looking at the confirmed treasures linked to him shows that.
Orochimaru had been hunting them for a long time, and he had even found a few—but no one paid much attention to what he was after.
"Looks like Shanks probably knew about Orochimaru all along. Otherwise, he wouldn't have picked him."
"Orochimaru might've also realized something was off with Rikudou Sennin. The Ninja Sect and the Sages weren't on the same side."
Nagato handed Itachi the intel that Chiriku had sent.
Itachi already knew the Revolutionary Army had people planted inside Konoha. As for Itachi himself, his identity was pretty much an open secret now.
Both sides were openly placing their people.
So Nagato didn't hold anything against Itachi—in fact, he trusted him more than most.
"This is news from Konoha.
The Ninja Sect started during Rikudou Sennin's time. There were agreements between the Sages and Rikudou Sennin—that Sages wouldn't interfere in ninja world affairs.
Meanwhile, the Ninja Sect would take the Sages' place in protecting the World Nobles. In return, the Nobles would provide everything the Sect needed."
"That's been the rule in the ninja world for thousands of years—no one dares to break it."
Nagato explained. Chiriku's intel was really detailed, especially with someone like Nara Shikaku helping him out.
A lot of things weren't just Chiriku's thoughts—Shikaku was doing his share too.
In any case, Chiriku could just use all this intel freely.
As for Shikaku? The guy was only in his early forties and already had white hair coming in.
He didn't even realize he was basically doing two jobs at once.
Chiriku looked like he was just tagging along, but he was actually working. Still, to avoid drawing attention, he often hung around Konoha with Asuma, pretending to slack off.
So you really couldn't blame Chiriku—he was working two jobs at the same time.
As for the final intel, of course it was very accurate. Shikaku had already been suspicious of the World Nobles from the start, and now he was just filling in the blanks.
"That makes the reason for the Uchiha clan's existence even clearer."
After hearing Nagato speak, Itachi was sure.
"Every rule and system needs strength to keep it going.
Susano'o's weapon naturally counters the power of the sages. No doubt about it—only a sage would truly understand another sage. That means the Uchiha clan must have been left behind by the Sage of Six Paths as a kind of counterbalance to the system he created."
Nagato nodded at Itachi's words.
It really did seem to be the case now.
The Sage of Six Paths was the founder of all ninjutsu. His power was unquestionable. But aside from strength, other parts of his legacy don't appear much in official records.
Founders can't rely on power alone—they need a plan too.
And Itachi wasn't wrong. Even though things had gone in a roundabout way, the Uchiha clan's strange role did seem to trace back to the Sage of Six Paths.
As for the Uzumaki clan, it turns out the Sage had also given them special attention.
Right now, the truth about the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans hasn't come out yet. But once it does, someone's going to have to take the blame, like it or not.
Elsewhere, Ichidai Kiyomu returned to the Capital of Fire carrying a dead body.
The world government meeting there had turned into a gathering of sages. When they saw Ichidai Kiyomu come back with the body, a few of the old men frowned.
"Konohagakure has been making moves lately. We've already made our own plans—keep an eye on them.
This ninja still has value. Bring him back to life."
With that, he placed Danzo's body down.
Some things just have to be blamed on someone.
An old sage nearby picked up Danzo, noticing drops of water on the ground.
"Why is the body covered in sweat?"
"This guy had someone else's cells inside him. Weird stuff."
Ichidai Kiyomu muttered, then found a place to sit. Once he sat down, he realized he was sweating too.
He had a bad feeling—like someone was out to get him.
He stared at Danzo's corpse.
"Yeah, we really do need to be careful of Konohagakure."
---
You can read 50 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu