Konoha — in the aftermath of the Nine-Tails' Attack — had suffered unprecedented devastation.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, sacrificed their lives to protect the peace of the village and the future of their child, Naruto Uzumaki.
This calamity not only claimed two of Konoha's strongest shinobi, but also cost the lives of many elite ninja, leaving the village gravely weakened—its strength reduced to the lowest point it had seen in decades.
The entire village was shrouded in grief and sorrow. Countless people had lost family and friends.
With the Fourth Hokage's death, Konoha was left without a leader.
Beneath the surface, both Konoha and the other hidden villages stirred with undercurrents of tension.
Shimura Danzō saw this as a golden opportunity. He intended to ascend to the position of Fifth Hokage and seize control of the village.
However, the Third Hokage chose to reassume leadership and continue guiding Konoha. This decision deeply displeased Danzō.
Even so, he was powerless to oppose it. The other two elders supported Hiruzen Sarutobi—not him.
Afterward, Danzō attempted to secretly influence Kakashi Hatake, but failed.
He even orchestrated an assassination attempt on the Third Hokage, which also ended in failure.
Worse still, the assassin—Tenzo—did not die. Instead, he was subdued by the Third Hokage and later inducted into the Anbu.
Danzō received a stern warning from Hiruzen: he was not to engage in any further actions that would endanger the village.
Though he outwardly agreed, he never abandoned his ambition. Becoming Hokage had always been his ultimate goal.
At that moment, he thought of the child he had been secretly raising—Kagura.
However, Kagura had yet to awaken the power of his bloodline and was still relatively weak. Moreover, Danzō had once promised the boy's father that the child would be allowed to live as an ordinary person. For that reason, he had never revealed the boy's true surname.
But now, the time had come.
Danzō intended to bring the child into Root and personally cultivate him, to see whether he could awaken the power of his lineage.
Kagura was ten years old.
He did not know why or how he had come into this world.
Since childhood, he had been secretly raised under arrangements made by Danzō, unaware of his own origins.
Perhaps because he was still young—or perhaps because they did not want others discovering his identity—though he lived in Konoha, his residence was far from the village center.
At first, Kagura harbored naïve fantasies. He hoped to make use of his knowledge of future events to prepare in advance, or to befriend people who might help him one day.
But when he accidentally learned at the age of three that the old man who visited him from time to time was named Danzō, all of his fantasies shattered.
Even though Kagura did not know why Danzō came to see him, as someone familiar with Naruto, he understood exactly what kind of person Shimura Danzō was.
The so-called "Half-Hokage" of Konoha.
Danzō was a man who always lurked in the village's darkest corners.
At one point, Kagura had speculated about his own identity. Could he belong to the Shimura clan? Was he Shimura Kagura—Danzō's grandson?
If that were the case, perhaps things would not be so bad. No matter how ruthless Danzō's methods were, surely he would not harm his own grandson.
But that was not guaranteed. If Kagura could help him achieve the position of Hokage, Danzō might not hesitate to exploit his value.
And if he were not his grandson, then his situation would be even more precarious.
Danzō would never raise him without reason. Kagura must possess some kind of value that made him worth the effort.
He knew nothing about his parents. Yet he had caretakers, sufficient food and clothing, and guards assigned to him.
Those guards protected him—but they also restricted his movements.
Whenever he tried to approach the village center, he would be stopped. After several attempts, he no longer dared to push his luck.
Since they showed no immediate hostility toward him, Kagura refrained from causing trouble and lived quietly.
When he reached the appropriate age, someone began teaching him chakra control and training. He was excited—but dared not show it.
He constantly reminded himself: he must not perform too well, but he must not perform too poorly either.
If he stood out too much, he would attract attention.
If he performed too poorly, he might lose his value.
Until he understood his true situation, he dared not reveal how mature he truly was.
In this world, precocious talent might draw admiration—but it could just as easily invite disaster, even death.
"The tallest tree catches the strongest wind."
He could not shine too brightly, but neither could he appear utterly mediocre.
Otherwise, he might become nothing more than cannon fodder, disappearing without a trace.
On this day, Kagura trained as usual.
Taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu—each required diligent practice.
For reasons unknown, Danzō had never enrolled him in the Ninja Academy. But that had one advantage: Kagura was not officially registered as a shinobi, meaning he would not be sent to fight in a ninja war.
Standing before a target, Kagura gripped several shuriken. After taking careful aim, he threw them with force.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Every shuriken struck true.
Next came the kunai. Kagura leapt into the air and hurled them with both hands. Once again, they hit their marks with precision.
Though he had never attended the Academy, he received private instruction in all fundamental shinobi skills—and he trained with exceptional diligence.
At that moment, a man dressed in black shinobi attire appeared silently behind him.
"Kagura. Come with me," the man said.
Kagura followed him away from the training grounds.
Konoha was vast. For someone like Danzō, establishing a private underground base was effortless—especially since he already possessed such authority.
"Uncle, what's going on?" Kagura asked softly from behind.
"Lord Danzō has summoned you."
"Oh."
Kagura was puzzled.
In recent years, he had rarely seen Danzō. The man must have been extremely busy. So why summon him now?
After the Nine-Tails' Attack, shouldn't Danzō have been focused on competing for the position of Fifth Hokage?
Though Kagura knew he would never succeed.
Had the candidate already been decided? Had the Third Hokage resumed office, and Danzō failed once again?
At that thought, Kagura resolved to tread carefully. He could not afford to say the wrong thing while Danzō was in a foul mood.
Inside a dimly lit room, the man who had escorted him announced:
"Lord Danzō, Kagura has arrived."
Kagura stepped inside. The lighting was so faint that he could barely make out the figure within.
But he was accustomed to this.
It was Danzō's style. Root operated in the darkness beneath the surface, hidden from the light.
Kagura stood quietly to the side, lowering his head as he waited for Danzō to speak.
"Hmm…"
After a long pause, the figure in the shadows finally spoke.
"Kagura. You are ten years old now, correct?"
"Y-Yes, Lord Danzō. I… I just turned ten this year," Kagura replied cautiously.
"Though you have never entered the Ninja Academy, your strength is no weaker than those who have already graduated."
"That is thanks to the uncles who taught me… and of course, thanks to Lord Danzō's cultivation," Kagura answered gratefully.
"Do you know why I never arranged for you to attend the Academy with other children your age?"
"I do not know. But I am sure Lord Danzō has his reasons."
"Hm. Good."
Danzō seemed satisfied with the answer.
"Kagura… do you know your origins?"
"My origins?"
That, Kagura truly did not know.
"You are a descendant of the Senju clan. The blood of the Senju flows within you."
A violent storm surged in Kagura's heart.
I… am a member of the Senju clan?
I am—
Senju Kagura.