Chapter 132: She Was Never My Hokage-sama Anyway
Stelle considered the board. Black Zetsu already had his sights set on Kagami, drawn like a moth to the flame of the Mangekyo Sharingan. She had been keeping a tight leash on the situation, monitoring the shadows, but if that murky parasite decided to target Kagami out of sheer spite, things could get incredibly annoying.
I need to whip up some extra defensive arrays for him to lug around. Stelle had already dispatched an Anbu operative to procure a high-quality set of metal pauldrons and bracers. Now, sitting comfortably at her desk, she carefully carved complex Defensive Array Formations directly into the steel.
This way, if Black Zetsu tried to pull any sneaky maneuvers, the arrays would violently trigger before that living puddle of ink could even get within striking distance.
Mid-carve, a loud commotion erupted just beyond her heavy oak door. Voices clashed, rising in pitch and desperation. Stelle didn't even need to look up. She knew exactly who was making a scene: Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.
"Sakumo, go deal with that," Stelle muttered, not lifting her eyes from the bracer. "I really don't have the patience to see them right now. Let Hiruzen pacify his own little disciples. My right hand is still 'injured' from the assassination attempt, remember? I shouldn't have to handle this kind of administrative headache."
Sakumo Hatake materialized from the shadows, offered a crisp nod, and vanished from the office. A few moments later, the chaotic shouting in the hallway faded into a muffled grumble before disappearing entirely.
Peace, however, was fleeting. Tsunade returned shortly after. The young kunoichi held a unique status in the village as the granddaughter of the First Hokage. Out of sheer respect for her lineage, the Anbu guards outside hesitated to physically bar her path, eventually slipping into the room to awkwardly announce her presence.
Stelle sighed, setting down her carving tool. She couldn't keep dodging these kids forever without breaking character. She waved a hand, signaling the guards to let the girl in.
Tsunade practically kicked the door open, rushing into the office with wild eyes and a frantic posture. "Hokage-sama! Did Kou really try to assassinate you? What exactly is going on?!"
Stelle leaned back in her chair, her expression a mask of calm indifference. "Kagami was at the scene. He witnessed the entire process from start to finish. I know for a fact you've already interrogated him about it, so why are you barging in here to ask me?"
"So... it's really true?" Tsunade's voice cracked.
"It is true," Stelle replied flatly.
The last desperate trace of hope drained from Tsunade's face, leaving her looking utterly devastated.
"But why?" Tsunade gripped the edge of the desk, her knuckles turning white. "How could Kou do something like that? He isn't that kind of person! He would never..." She shook her head violently. She couldn't process it. The reality simply refused to align with the boy she knew.
"Hokage-sama, please. Just let us see Kou once. Please? Maybe if we talk to him, we can figure out what really happened!"
Stelle picked up her carving tool again, pausing the metal tip just above the bracer. "One visit. But you are not permitted to see him alone. An escort must accompany you."
Reaching into her drawer, Stelle pulled out a blank scroll. She quickly drafted a Visitation Permit, slammed the heavy Hokage's Great Seal onto the parchment, and tossed it across the desk.
Tsunade snatched the scroll as if it were a lifeline, bowing deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama! I swear, we won't do anything out of line!"
Bursting out of the Hokage Building, Tsunade's vision blurred with unshed tears. She sprinted toward her waiting teammates. "Jiraiya! Orochimaru! I got it! I got the permit! We can go see Kou right now!"
"Are you serious?!" Jiraiya gasped, his breathing turning ragged. He snatched the scroll from her hands, his entire body trembling as he stared at the red ink of the seal.
The past forty-eight hours had been a living nightmare. After the chaotic enemy invasion the other night, Jiraiya had gone looking for his friend the very next morning, only to be hit with a truth that shattered his reality.
When Hiruzen had grimly informed them that Kou was caught red-handed attempting to assassinate the Hokage, and was currently locked deep within the Interrogation Department, Jiraiya felt the ground drop out from beneath his feet. He refused to believe it. It had to be a mistake.
But his sensei had been unyielding. Kagami and an entire patrol team had witnessed the strike. Even the Hokage herself was still receiving medical treatment for the lethal poison coating Kou's blade.
Jiraiya desperately needed to see him. He had sworn, time and time again, that he would believe in Kou no matter what the world said. There had to be a hidden angle, a secret manipulation, something they were all missing. If they could just talk face-to-face, they could fix this.
He clung to that fierce optimism all the way down into the damp, oppressive depths of the prison. But when the heavy iron door finally swung open, the words died in Jiraiya's throat.
Kou was chained to a chair, his body a canvas of fresh, brutal wounds. His eyes were entirely vacant, staring blankly at the stone floor. Jiraiya's breath hitched, a violent jolt wracking his spine.
The Interrogation Department was never a place of mercy, but for a traitor who had publicly attempted to assassinate the Hokage—for the second time—it was a literal hell. Even someone as level-headed as Kagami had lost his tolerance, leaving the interrogators free to tear the boy apart without restraint.
"Kou..." Jiraiya stammered, his voice cracking as he forced the sounds past the lump in his throat. "I... it's me. It's Jiraiya."
The chained boy didn't even twitch. The relentless cycle of physical torture and mental invasion had left his spirit utterly fractured.
Tsunade bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, trying to hold back her tears. She had braced herself for the worst, but seeing her friend reduced to this hollow shell broke the dam. Sobbing quietly, she rushed forward, her hands glowing with the soft green light of Medical Ninjutsu.
A masked Anbu guard standing in the corner crossed his arms. "The Department Head just subjected him to a high-level Interrogation Genjutsu. Healing his flesh won't wake him up. You need to shatter the illusion first."
"I will handle it," Orochimaru said, his voice unusually tight. He stepped past Jiraiya, forming a quick sequence of hand seals to disrupt the foreign chakra network binding Kou's mind.
Kou's dull eyes flickered. As the oppressive mental fog lifted and the warm, soothing chakra from Tsunade's hands knit his torn skin back together, he slowly straightened his posture. He looked at Tsunade, his lips parting as if to speak, before he firmly pressed them shut.
"Kou, please..." Tsunade pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What exactly happened out there? Just tell me, okay?"
Kou remained completely silent. His expression was a void, radiating a deep sense of exhaustion, as if he truly believed there were no words left in the world worth saying.
"What is going on with you?!" Tsunade threw her arms around his battered shoulders, hugging him tightly despite the blood soaking into her clothes. "You couldn't have possibly tried to kill Hokage-sama! It makes no sense!"
She buried her face in his neck. "Tell us who did this. No matter who manipulated you, no matter who threatened you, just say their name! If you just speak up, I swear I will find a way to save you! I am the princess of the Senju Clan, Kou! I have the power to fix this! Please... just say something."
But no matter how desperately she begged, the boy offered nothing but silence.
Jiraiya dropped to his knees beside the chair, desperately grabbing Kou's limp, bloodied hand. "Kou, look at me! I told you I absolutely believe in you. I still do! Just tell me the truth, alright? Let me help you!"
Something in Jiraiya's raw, unfiltered desperation finally pierced through the fog. Kou's vacant eyes shifted, locking onto the white-haired boy. He stared for a long, agonizing moment, his fractured mind churning. He genuinely couldn't process the 'why' behind his own actions. Why had he attacked the Hokage?
Was it truly out of resentment? Was it because she had failed to protect him when he needed it most? Or perhaps, buried deep within his shattered subconscious, he had simply never accepted her authority. Perhaps, to him, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only true Hokage.
Finally, his dry, cracked lips parted. His voice was a raspy, hollow whisper that echoed off the damp stone walls.
"There is nothing left to say. She was never my Hokage-sama anyway... she's yours."
All the color instantly drained from Jiraiya's face.
The words struck like a physical blow. As a friend, Kou was someone Jiraiya had sworn to protect with his life. But as a shinobi of Konoha, the Hokage was the ultimate symbol he was bound by duty to defend. Kou had drawn his blade against that symbol. The absolute finality of the situation crashed down on Jiraiya. He couldn't save him. Not from this.
Yet, a nagging voice screamed in the back of Jiraiya's mind. Why does everything feel so wrong? None of the pieces fit together. To the rest of the village, Uchiha Kou was a broken, cold-blooded killing machine. But Jiraiya knew the real boy beneath the trauma. Kou wasn't a mindless murderer. He simply wasn't capable of this kind of senseless treason.
What do I do? What the hell am I supposed to do?
Across the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples, a massive migraine throbbing behind his eyes. He was thoroughly, exhaustingly annoyed.
For the past forty-eight hours, his three disciples had relentlessly hounded his every waking moment. They begged for visitation rights, screamed themselves hoarse insisting that Kou would never assassinate the Hokage, and pleaded with him to use his influence for mercy.
Now that they had finally seen the boy in the dungeons, the loud clamoring had ceased. Instead, it was replaced by something far worse. The trio now followed him around like depressed ducklings, their heads hanging low, radiating an aura of absolute, soul-crushing misery.
Orochimaru was slightly more tolerable, maintaining his usual stoic expression, but even he kept dropping heavy hints that something was fundamentally wrong with the timeline of events, subtly pushing for a deeper investigation.
Investigate my ass! Hiruzen thought bitterly. Half the village had seen the assassination attempt with their own two eyes! Kagami had even personally scoured the boy's memories using his Dojutsu.
The Interrogation Department had subjected him to brutal Genjutsu torture, and the Yamanaka Clan had forcefully ripped through his mind using their secret techniques. Every method in Konoha's arsenal had been deployed. The conclusion was unanimous: there were no external abnormalities. No mind control. No genjutsu manipulation. Uchiha Kou had simply snapped after losing his Anbu status and lashed out in pure, unadulterated resentment.
To make matters infinitely worse, the aggressive mind-reading had exposed Kou's deepest secret. Now, two more highly influential figures—the Head of the Interrogation Department and the Leader of the Yamanaka Clan—knew about Uchiha Kou's true identity as an 'Otherworlder'. The secret was out, and there was no way to stuff that cat back into the bag.
Hiruzen was somewhat insulated from the fallout, but the bizarre, deeply judgmental looks those two clan heads were now giving Danzo were impossible to ignore. Whatever they had seen in Kou's memories regarding the Root commander had clearly disturbed them. Was it any wonder Danzo had completely stopped visiting the Interrogation Department after only two trips? The man was practically hiding.
"Kou's memories have been torn apart and analyzed countless times," Hiruzen finally snapped at his brooding students, unable to take the gloomy silence any longer. "Besides him acting on his own volition, what other logical reason could there possibly be? If you can find me a mastermind, bring them to my desk! If there actually was one, Kagami would have dragged them out of the shadows days ago!"
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