Chapter 73

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Chapter 73: The Cause of White Fang's Suicide, Kakashi's Mangekyō

Night had fallen when Kakashi returned to his home. He casually glanced at the doors and windows, and his pupils suddenly narrowed—a clear sign that someone had sneaked in. He immediately heightened his alertness and cautiously opened the door.

"I'm finally back. Sit down," a deep voice came from inside, which Kakashi found eerily familiar.

Upon entering, he saw a figure with waist-length hair, reminiscent of a hedgehog, flowing behind him. The figure wore a long robe and a tiger-striped mask—a mysterious person Kakashi had encountered before in the Land of Waves. This person had actually managed to sneak into Konoha.

"The opponent must be from Sunagakure... Could it be the Jōnin, the guide of a certain team in the Sand Shinobi for this Chūnin exam?" Kakashi pondered as he carefully observed the person opposite him.

Uchiha Madara's voice cut through the air, "Uchiha Sasuke is sick, right? Why are you always pretending to be me? Don't you ruin his reputation!"

Senju Hashirama added, "I must say, Madara, your image is really cool."

Orochimaru chimed in, "Sasuke wants to speak with Kakashi about the secrets of Konoha's high officials, so it makes sense for the group to use a fake identity for the disguise."

Hatake Kakashi thought to himself with a bit of embarrassment, "In another world, I completely believed in the Sand Shinobi ninja identity guided by Sasuke, and here I am still guessing in all seriousness..."

Sasuke said in his leisurely manner, "I see by your expression that you're eager to ask something. Have you discovered anything?"

Kakashi, looking somber, silently double-checked the doors and windows for eavesdroppers before responding. "I tried to enlist someone's help in finding the mission my father performed back then, but it was to no avail." This lack of information made Kakashi even more suspicious that there might have been a conspiracy surrounding his father's events.

"Don't worry. Let's discuss it in detail," Sasuke said as he poured a cup of tea for both himself and Kakashi, feeling they were on the verge of uncovering the truth behind the Uchiha genocide.

Kakashi sighed, the previous impatience fading from his demeanor. "I asked my juniors in Anbu to investigate the mission and to find out what it was that my father abandoned and how it damaged Konoha."

"As a result... not only did they discover nothing, but they also drew the attention of the Third Hokage!" Kakashi continued grimly. "The Third Hokage questioned him about his motives. He managed to give a cursory response, but it made further inquiry impossible."

Kakashi felt troubled at having brought Tianzang into this; after the Third Hokage warned him, it wasn't wise to involve him any further.

"What do you think?" asked Sasuke, prompting further examination from Kakashi.

"At the very least, it indicates the Third Hokage is hiding something about my father's incident," Kakashi speculated, though he still lacked conclusive evidence.

Sasuke nodded and encouraged, "Good. Did you manage to find anything else?"

Kakashi paused before continuing. "At first, my father abandoned the mission to save his teammates. When I looked into the person who went on that mission with my father, I found that he had died during the Third Shinobi World War."

"Such a death during wartime is not unusual," Sasuke noted, but Kakashi couldn't help but be suspicious.

Onoki interjected, "Who can confirm this death? I suspect only Sarutobi and a few others truly know how the teammate of Konoha's White Fang met his end."

"This seems like Danzo's handiwork," speculated Orochimaru. "After using individuals for their purposes, people like Danzo would eliminate them under the pretense that they knew too much."

Shimura Danzō retorted angrily, "Orochimaru, you traitor!"

As the events played out on a golden-framed screen, Sasuke inquired, "So, you have no remaining leads to follow for the investigation?"

After a moment of silence, Kakashi admitted, "Yes, that's the case."

He knew continuing the investigation would only draw more scrutiny from the Third Hokage—a risk far too dangerous if he was to uncover the truth without disappearing mysteriously.

"Can you provide any more information on your side?" Kakashi asked, turning his hopeful gaze to the masked man.

With a chuckle, Sasuke replied, "You're giving me too much credit. Even with your stature in Konoha, you've hit a wall in finding the truth. How could I possibly offer more clues?"

Kakashi remained silent. If he was to continue the investigation, he would have to consider other tactics—perhaps targeting members within Konoha...

Confronting either the Third Hokage or Shimura Danzō directly was not a viable option. Could he possibly strike against the two advisory elders? Handling these two might be within his capabilities.

Suddenly resolute, Kakashi considered an ambush on the elders, the Sharingan in his left eye activating automatically in anticipation.

Having previously obtained Uchiha blood, he now had the ability to close the Sharingan automatically and could use it for an extended time.

"What is the truth behind my father's incident?" he wondered.

"I feel like you're thinking of something very dangerous," someone commented.

Sasuke looked at Kakashi's uncertain expression and quickly interjected, "Mr. Kakashi, it seems the usual methods can't uncover the truth, so I plan to take a more extreme approach."

"I just want to know the truth now," Kakashi stated firmly.

He couldn't concern himself with other matters at the moment.

"Well, don't worry, let's talk slowly," Sasuke said, tapping his temple. "Where should we start? After the failure of Konoha's White Fang's mission, the news spread quickly within Konoha Village and throughout the world. Many people must have been discussing it, right?"

Kakashi frowned, contemplating what the other person had said. He was striving to retrieve the remaining memories in his mind.

Indeed! The initial surge of public opinion seemed unnaturally rapid.

Behind this, there must be someone orchestrating events.

"Let me suggest another perspective. If Konoha's White Fang really inflicted heavy losses on Konoha due to the failed mission, what would you do if you were a high-ranking Konoha official?" Sasuke asked thoughtfully.

"Generally, it would be concealed and not allowed to reach many people to avoid causing unrest," Kakashi replied, frowning deeply.

Exactly! How could such damaging news be allowed to spread freely within the village?

"The senior management of the village must be deliberately fanning the flames of public opinion! Perhaps the initial leak was even intentional by the senior management," Kakashi thought, his fist clenched in anger.

Those despicable!

They were the ones stirring up public opinion and driving his father to his death!

A surge of intense emotion caused a scarlet light to shine from the Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye.

"So, think about it further, why would the Konoha executives do this?" Sasuke continued, guiding Kakashi through the logic.

Kakashi looked down, lost in thought.

What did the village's higher-ups do? They used public opinion to attack his father...

However, this would not lead to a substantiate loss for Konoha's White Fang, who had made significant contributions during the Second Ninja World War.

Surely the village wouldn't execute him for this?

At most, his reputation would suffer.

Wait!

A loss of reputation...

"...the position of Hokage," Kakashi said through clenched teeth.

If his father's reputation were damaged, and he was questioned by the villagers and ninjas of Konoha, it would be difficult for his father to become the Hokage.

Crack!

Sasuke smiled, clapped his hands, and said, "Yes, you're quite sharp. Konoha's White Fang overshadowed the Sannin during the Second Ninja World War. Can you imagine that at that time, the most popular candidate for the next Hokage in Konoha Village should have been Konoha's White Fang."

"...and Konoha Sannin were disciples of the Third Hokage. But to them, my father was an outsider!"

Kakashi, driven by increasingly intense emotions, realized they wanted to prevent his father from becoming Hokage! Was it because they feared their own influence would wane if his father took power?

Jiraiya commented, "Was there a conspiracy behind Sakumo's incident by the elders?"

Tsunade exclaimed, "Hey! What a dirty political fight! Who wants to be a Hokage anyway?"

Orochimaru lamented, "It's a shame Sakumo took his own life over such a thing; his death was meaningless."

Ohnoki wondered, "Why did Konoha's White Fang end his life? Did he lose hope because he was questioned?"

Hatake Kakashi tried hard to remember. Before his father's suicide, had he said anything to him? The incident had occurred so long ago, and it had impacted him so profoundly when he was young, that he had almost forgotten everything...

"If this case closes here, with Konoha's White Fang losing any chance of becoming a Hokage candidate after his reputation has been tarnished, then it's just an ordinary political conspiracy," Sasuke mused.

"But Konoha's White Fang committed suicide. Tsk, tsk."

Sasuke shook his head.

"Did my father see through the conspiracy? Did he take his own life because he understood it?" Kakashi asked himself.

"Who can know such things unless you visit the pure land and ask Konoha's White Fang himself. But I can imagine how much pain he was in at that time," Sasuke said.

"Konoha was founded by the First Hokage to protect the villagers. Konoha's White Fang chose to protect his comrades during the mission, only to end up facing many accusations."

"He probably believed he was upholding the will of fire, but he faced criticism from the entire village."

"Especially since it's likely that high-level individuals in Konoha orchestrated the public outcry," Sasuke continued.

To Kakashi, these words struck like a thunderbolt.

Kakashi's emotions exploded!

Was this the state of mind my father endured?

The will of fire he cherished had been trampled upon by the village's top management, leading the public opinion.

In the end, his father must have killed himself in the anguish of this collapsed belief.

"Damn it..."

A deep hatred and anger consumed Kakashi, and a desire to tear everything apart swelled in his heart.

The three tomoe in Kakashi's left eye began to spin rapidly, and they connected to form a boomerang pattern.

Mangekyo Sharingan!