"It feels so different from when the Third Hokage was in charge."
"Why do I feel like they signed the agreement on their knees?"
"What are you saying? They were defeated, did you expect us to be the ones kneeling?"
"Then what happened back when Kumogakure came?"
"...It seems like we won back then too, didn't we?"
"Yeah..."
The villagers all recalled the battle after the Nine-Tails incident. Konoha had won, yet Kumogakure had arrived aggressively, and Iwagakure had refused to even talk. In the end, it was Konoha that compensated Kumogakure before the ceasefire agreement was successfully signed. This now struck the villagers as utterly absurd.
"Were we really that pathetic back then?"
"I feel like such a pushover now."
"Damn it!"
For a moment, the villagers began to reflect. They gathered together, attempting to reconstruct the situation from back then.
Ultimately, they figured it out: someone had directed their gaze toward the Uchiha clan, and then they had only thought about condemning the Uchiha...
"Wait, why didn't the Third Hokage stand up and speak for the Uchiha?"
"Yeah, there's no reason to let one's own people be attacked at a time like that."
"The focus should have been on Kumogakure."
"Could it be that the Third Hokage did it on purpose?"
"How could that be?"
In the hearts of the villagers, Hiruzen's glorious and towering image began to change.
The glory vanished, replaced by gloom.
The towering stature dissipated, revealing narrow-mindedness.
Everything seemed to change from this moment onward.
"If the Third Hokage intentionally targeted the Uchiha clan..."
When the villagers looked at it from this hypothetical angle, they found that everything became startlingly logical.
Whether it was the Nine-Tails incident, the death of the Kumogakure envoy leader, or Sunagakure's Konoha Crush Plan...
The only thing that felt wrong was that the kind and approachable Hiruzen in their memory had become sinister and cunning.
For a while, they found it hard to accept. But as the village got better and better, no matter how hard it was to accept, they had to.
Because this was the reality.
The children didn't know yet, still clamoring all day: "I want to be a man like the Third Hokage in the future!"
The people around them furrowed their brows.
Be a man like the Third Hokage?
Kid, is your dream to be a sinister and cunning person?
When their parents realized, they hurriedly covered the children's chattering mouths, smiled apologetically at the people looking over, and repeatedly apologized, "The child doesn't know any better."
—
Uchiha Clan Compound, Hiromi's home.
"The villagers' faith in Hiruzen has collapsed." Shisui said with some concern.
Despite the concern, there was a hint of vindictive joy in his expression.
"What? Not happy?" Hiromi asked.
"I'm afraid Orochimaru..."
"It's not like I did it." Hiromi said indifferently.
He had already stopped targeting Hiruzen, it was the villagers who had realized it themselves, so it was none of his business. If Orochimaru came looking for him or held a grudge because of this, then he wouldn't mind killing a snake.
"Alright."
Shisui looked at a brown-haired girl inside the house, his expression strange. "Is this for Kakashi?"
Hiromi shook his head with a smile. He stood up, his eyes manifesting the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, meeting the dull gaze of the girl.
Suddenly, his pupils dilated.
Transcription Seal: Genjutsu!
After it finished, Hiromi released his original control over the girl and the girl regained her senses.
Seeing the young boy in front of her, she said in a complaining tone, "You controlled me again."
Shisui frowned slightly, thinking to himself, 'She doesn't know anything?'
Hiromi ignored her, sat back down in front of Shisui, drank some tea, and said casually, "Send her to Yahiko's side."
Shisui agreed with a strange look, "Okay."
—
Two days later.
Western border of the Land of Fire.
"Phew..." Yahiko exhaled.
He had many scars on his body, some with flesh still turned out. Blood stained his clothes, which, combined with withered leaves, grass, dust, sweat, and blood, made him look like a refugee.
He had encountered many bandits and rogue ninjas along the way. Although he had two teammates, they were more like monitors than teammates. As long as his life wasn't in danger, they would only hide in the shadows and not intervene.
Thus, as a novice with Chunin-level strength, he had survived two life-and-death crises and finally saw the place he thought of day and night.
A fine curtain of rain fell from the sky. Even from a distance, he could feel the damp air blowing against his face.
Yahiko gazed at this scene, feeling the trepidation of returning home.
"Nagato, Konan..."
He didn't know why the Akatsuki had become like this. This was not the Akatsuki that had been created to bring peace to their country.
But since the Akatsuki started because of him, it should end because of him. He would persuade Nagato and Konan to disband the Akatsuki.
Pain cannot bring salvation to the world.
His expression became firm, and his eyes held the bravery of one prepared for death.
Just as he took a step forward, he noticed a person wearing an orange spiral mask appear on a thick tree branch in front of him.
The masked man dropped from the thick branch without a word and lunged toward him with murderous intent.
Yahiko's pupils shrank as he tried to resist, but he instantly froze in place, motionless. He was controlled by Genjutsu.
The Uchiha Root Members hidden in the shadows tensed up and rushed forward, but they had no experience fighting an enemy with a Mangekyo. In just a single encounter, they were caught in a Genjutsu. In the next second, their expressions were filled with struggle as they raised their short swords and moved them toward their own necks.
The masked man's expression returned to calm, and his pace slowed as he walked toward Yahiko, seemingly wanting to kill him personally.
At that moment, he frowned slightly, looked up, and peered into the forest ahead.
A member of Root had emerged, muscles tensed and murderous intent surging, carrying a brown-haired girl.
The moment the masked man saw her, his gaze fixed intensely on the girl, filled with shock.
At that moment, the girl had two purple markings on her face, and her brown eyes looked at him uneasily.
"Rin..." The masked man was stunned.
He didn't understand why she was here. In that brief moment of distraction, the arriving Uchiha Root Member helped release the two others from the Genjutsu.
"Don't look into his eyes!" The two Uchiha Root Members shouted.
Joining the newcomer, the three of them immediately lunged at the masked man with fierce intensity.
Although their mission didn't forbid retreat, neither Uchiha pride nor the fact that this masked man had once ambushed Hiromi allowed them to back down.
However, when the short swords struck the masked man, they passed right through him, as if he were a phantom.
The three Uchiha Root Members looked grave. Shuriken scattered around, including inside the untouchable body of the masked man. The moment the masked man solidified, his body would be filled with Shuriken.
As if panicked, the masked man retreated immediately, passing through the numerous Shuriken.
The three Uchiha Root Members tried to stop him, but they couldn't at all. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as he left, disappearing into the depths of the forest.
—
The masked man ran into a cave in the forest, clutching his head, his pupils shaking violently.
"Rin... how... how could Rin..."
His voice seemed stuck in his throat, with only a few syllables coming out with great difficulty.
At that moment, a black and white pitcher-plant-like figure emerged from the cave wall—Zetsu.
"Are you going to give up on world peace?" Black Zetsu's voice was somber yet calm.
That single sentence was enough to bring the panicked masked man back to his senses. He quickly regained his composure, and his body stopped trembling.
He walked out of the cave and looked at the drizzling rain in the Land of Rain, his expression cold.
"This world doesn't deserve Rin."