I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

The ANBU member stepped forward and took the report, his fingers pausing for a moment before he finally couldn't help but speak, his tone tinged with confusion: "Third Hokage, is this matter... no longer under investigation?"

The third generation didn't look up, his gaze fixed on the family crest on the table, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable resolve: "No need."

"But what about the Shimura clan..."

I said, "No need."

The third generation's tone was slightly somber, carrying a hint of barely suppressed weariness. The ANBU immediately shut their lips, daring not to say another word, bowed, and slowly retreated, closing the door behind them.

The heavy wooden door closed, leaving only the third generation alone in the office, which was empty and lonely.

He leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and exhaled a long puff of smoke, his exhaustion evident in the swirling smoke.

Investigation?

How should we investigate?

It is true that Uchiha Sakugo used explosive tags to injure people, but the root cause was that Shimura Takuya used explosive tags on children of his own clan at the Ninja Academy, intending to commit murder.

If the matter is investigated thoroughly, both of them will be held accountable, and neither can escape responsibility.

If both are held accountable, it means that the Uchiha and Shimura clans will be completely drawn into this conflict, the contradictions will be fully escalated, and there will be no room for reconciliation.

As for Danzo, he had already personally visited him to apologize. Regardless of whether the apology was sincere or just for show, at least on the surface, the matter had been "turned over."

If Danzo were to reopen the investigation and hold those responsible accountable, he would only feel that Danzo was deliberately targeting the Shimura clan and using this opportunity to suppress him, and the conflict would only escalate.

On the other hand, people would think he was biased towards the Shimura clan, deliberately making things difficult for the Uchiha, and chilling the hearts of his clan members.

The entire Uchiha clan would be even more convinced that the Konoha leadership ultimately did not care about the lives of the Uchiha and would always harbor prejudice and fear towards them.

The third generation's lips curled into a bitter smile, full of helplessness.

He's pleasing neither side, and he's disliked by everyone.

This is the position of Hokage, seemingly high and mighty, but in reality, it is like walking on thin ice, with every step extremely difficult.

He slowly stood up and walked to the window again. The night was getting deeper and deeper. The dark sky covered the entire Konoha Village, and the village lights twinkled, stretching into the distance where no one could see the end.

But in the distant lands beyond the reach of the lights, on the borders of the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, war has already quietly broken out, and smoke fills the air.

Intelligence from the Anbu arrived on time every day. The Iwagakure ninjas were increasing their troop strength, the Kumogakure forces were being frequently mobilized, and the Sunagakure was also getting restless. Small-scale conflicts were occurring almost daily along the border, without ever stopping.

In every conflict, ninjas perished.

Genin, Chunin, Jonin, and even some unknown ninjas didn't even have time to leave their names behind. On the information scroll, all that was left was the phrase "no trace of their bodies".

All he could do was watch the casualty figures rise day after day, feeling utterly powerless.

The Third Shinobi World War.

He knew better than anyone that this all-out war was bound to break out sooner or later, perhaps next year, perhaps the year after, or even tomorrow.

He thought of the First Hokage, that tall and imposing figure. As long as he was alive, none of the five great nations dared to act rashly, not even daring to raise their voices in protest, because he alone was an invincible army. The mere sight of him was the undisputed rule of the ninja world.

He then thought of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who ruled with an iron fist, was swift and decisive, and had a strong and unyielding approach. Enemy ninjas dared not covet him in the slightest. Everyone understood the terrible price to pay for provoking Konoha.

But now?

The first generation is gone, and the second generation is gone too.

Konoha, once a formidable force in the ninja world, capable of suppressing all sides with its own power, has long lost its former glory.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, he lacked the formidable strength of the First Hokage who swept across the ninja world, and the decisive governing power of the Second Hokage. All he could do was to do his utmost to protect Konoha from the storm during this turbulent time.

The third generation gazed at the boundless night outside the window, their eyes clouded and weary, and sighed softly.

"These are turbulent times!"

The border situation is becoming increasingly tense, and a full-scale war is imminent. Within the village, the conflict between the Uchiha and Shimura has already turned bloody, and they are irreconcilable enemies.

Meanwhile, Danzo was always lurking in the shadows, eyeing the Hokage position and never giving up for a moment.

Being the Hokage must be incredibly tiring.

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, the smile vanishing in an instant, as if it had never existed.

He knew that this was not the time to complain about being tired and back down.

With war looming, the village's internal conflicts, the six-year-old child's ruthlessness, and Danzo's ambition and discontent all seem trivial in the face of a matter concerning the village's survival.

The real question is whether Konoha can survive the upcoming great war, and whether the young ninjas who are about to be sent to the battlefield can return safely.

He turned and walked back to his desk, slowly sat down, and opened another piece of border intelligence on the desk. It showed that the Iwagakure forces were once again making large-scale mobilizations on the border of the Land of Rain.

He gripped the pen tightly and began to slowly write his instructions, the pen tip gliding across the paper with a soft, rustling sound.

Outside the window, the bright moon gradually sank in the west, and the night grew darker.

The lone lamp on the top floor of the Hokage Building still shines, guarding the peace of the entire village in the boundless darkness, and also guarding a heavy burden and lonely courage that no one can understand.

……

……

……

The incident escalated much faster than expected.

Overnight, the entire ninja academy was abuzz with news of the live-fire exercise—a freshman named Wolf Slayer dared to bring explosive tags to school and detonate them in front of a crowd.

The rumors were deliberately distorted, and the cause became that Uchiha Sakugo was jealous of Shimura Takuya's achievements and intended to blow him up during the exercise. The version spread more and more fiercely, and every word was full of fear.

—This is undoubtedly a trick Danzo often used.

Strangely, there was no follow-up action taken at all throughout the entire incident.

There was no expulsion, no disciplinary action whatsoever, not even a single public criticism. It was as if nothing had happened on campus; the only trace of this incident was the quiet removal of the "practical training" course from the timetable.

Uchiha Sakugo, the person involved, continued to attend school as usual.

He enters the classroom on time every day and sits quietly by the window, either closing his eyes to rest or gazing out the window. Others can't tell whether he is listening to the lecture or daydreaming.

Occasionally, when called upon by the teacher, he would always answer the questions word for word. After sitting down, he would close his eyes again, exuding a calm and aloofness that was beyond his years, as if the rumors and gossip around him had nothing to do with him.

The instigator of this farce, Takuya Shimura, rested at home for a full two weeks before finally returning to school.

His right arm was fitted with a prosthesis, wrapped in thick bandages and hidden in his wide sleeve; it was impossible to tell anything was wrong unless you looked closely. But anyone with eyes could see that he had completely changed.

The once arrogant and sarcastic Takuya Shimura, who always stirred up trouble in the classroom, seemed to have had his spine completely removed, losing all his former arrogance. He spent his days huddled in the corner of the last row of the classroom, head down, silent and still as a lifeless stone, completely blending into the shadows of the classroom.

When classmates tried to talk to him, he would just shake his head in a panic and dare not look up at all. If someone accidentally touched his right arm, he would suddenly tremble, his face would turn ashen, and he would frantically pull his hand back, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

His gaze never dared to fall on Uchiha Sakugo again, and he didn't even dare to glance in the direction where Sakugo was.

"He's a complete madman... Don't go near him, stay away from him..."

Someone in the toilet stall heard Takuya Shimura muttering to himself, his head in his hands, his voice trembling uncontrollably, filled with extreme fear.

These words quickly spread throughout the entire first grade. From then on, within a five-meter radius of Uchiha Sakugo, a vacuum zone automatically formed where no one dared to step in. All the students avoided him like the plague, their eyes filled with fear.

Matt Kay is one of the few exceptions.

Every day during breaks, he would excitedly run to Shuoge's seat, and regardless of whether Shuoge paid attention to him, he would ramble on about how many laps he had run, how many push-ups he had done, and how many wooden stakes he had broken that day, his tone full of passion and determination.

Shuoge never responded, nor did he care. After finishing his rambling, he would grin, revealing a set of white teeth, and then turn around and run back to his seat, day after day, without interruption.

Nohara Rin would occasionally steal glances at Sakugo, her gaze carrying a complex mix of emotions and caution.

She was absent from the live-fire exercise that day due to illness. She only heard the deafening explosion in the teaching building. Later, she learned the whole story from her classmates. She remained silent for a long time, with no fear in her eyes, but rather a few indescribable emotions.

From then on, Shuoge's textbook would always "coincidentally" turn to the page the teacher was lecturing on, and occasionally an unopened box of military rations would appear on the corner of his desk, quietly and without anyone knowing who put it there. Shuoge never asked any questions and just left the things there.

Days passed uneventfully, spring turned to summer, and the seasons quietly changed.

The cicadas outside the window chirped louder day by day, the old fan in the classroom creaked and groaned, and chalk dust slowly drifted down in the sunlight streaming through the window. Everything on campus was calm and undisturbed, as if the storm caused by the detonation of the explosive tag had never happened.

But beneath this calm, everyone vaguely sensed that a suffocating atmosphere was quietly approaching, and a storm was brewing.

The number of ninjas in the village is decreasing, and the streets are less lively than before, and more deserted.

Occasionally, ninjas would return from missions, their faces invariably bearing a heavy weariness and silence, their bodies shrouded in smoke and dust, their eyes concealing an unyielding heaviness.

The village news no longer mentioned the border situation, but when the adults talked in private, their expressions grew increasingly solemn, their brows constantly furrowed. Some people began to quietly hoard food and medicine, and the explosive tags and military ration coupons in the general store were quietly snapped up. A silent tension permeated the air.

The Third Hokage once made a public appearance and gave a speech, repeatedly using phrases like "The leaves of Konoha will live on forever" and "The Will of Fire will endure" in an attempt to appease the villagers.

The adults clapped and cheered, but when the applause ended, the worry on their faces did not dissipate at all; instead, it became even heavier, and their unease only increased.

Young children don't understand the worries of adults. All they know is that practical training has been completely canceled, school dismissal time has been brought forward again and again, and there are fewer and fewer senior students training on the playground. No one says where they went, but even children can vaguely sense the oppressive atmosphere.

Matt Kai continued to run around the track day after day, his clothes soaked with sweat, which was then dried by the scorching sun on the hot ground. He did the same every day without ever slacking off.

Once, after running, Kai passed by Shuoge and, unusually, stopped, halting his usual shouting. He asked in a low voice, "Hey, do you think... war is really coming?"

Shuo Ge's tone was flat and emotionless, uttering only two words: "Perhaps."

Only he himself knew that this was never a question, but an established fact.

The war had already quietly begun.

Kai paused for a moment, clenched his fist, and his eyes grew even more determined: "Then I have to work harder, I must become stronger!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and sprinted back onto the track, his pace faster and more determined than ever before, as if he wanted to leave all the unease and resentment in his heart behind.

Several months passed in the blink of an eye. The days were as calm as a stagnant pool, so still and oppressive, much like the last lingering cloud before a storm.

Everyone knows that this peace will be broken sooner or later, but no one knows exactly when.

……

This stagnant calm was finally shattered by an explosive piece of news.

"Kakashi Hatake applies for early graduation!"

The news was like a boulder thrown into still water, instantly creating a huge ripple effect and spreading rapidly throughout the entire ninja academy, causing an uproar in the classrooms.

"Really? He's only been enrolled for a short time!"

"I heard he's completely mastered all the school's courses, and the teachers have nothing left to teach him!"

"As expected of the Hatake family's genius, he truly lives up to his reputation!"

"That's the son of Konoha's White Fang; his talent is in his genes!"

Everyone is talking about the name Kakashi Hatake, the genius who came in second place in the entrance exam by just one point.

That one-point difference was said by outsiders to be deliberately withheld by the examiners, simply because no one believed that a six-year-old child could do it perfectly. But everyone knew in their hearts that that one point had nothing to do with ability. True ability can never be measured by test scores.

Kakashi's performance at school was overwhelmingly dominant, unmatched by anyone.

In combat classes, he could always defeat his opponent with a single move, decisively and cleanly; in ninjutsu classes, he could master the hand seals after seeing them only once, with perfect accuracy; in shuriken practice classes, hitting the target every time was the norm, and if he missed occasionally, it was only because the target had already been shot through by him, rendering the practice meaningless.

Uchiha Sakugo, who consistently ranked first in the entrance exam, was completely different from him.

He sits by the window all day with his eyes closed, never taking the initiative to talk to anyone. When called upon, he answers calmly and then falls silent again.

After the incident during the practical training exercise, no one dared to approach him. Everyone knew that he was incredibly strong—he scored full marks in the entrance exam, was proficient in Shadow Clone Jutsu, and controlled Wind Release. He could send Shimura Takuya flying with a single punch. However, no one had ever seen him when he was truly serious, and no one could fathom the limits of his strength. He was like a bottomless, cold pool, silent and mysterious.

In the eyes of their classmates, Kakashi and Sakugo are two completely different kinds of geniuses.

Kakashi was sharp as a knife, his brilliance dazzling and impossible to ignore; Sakumo was calm as an abyss, his depths unfathomable. The question of who was stronger remained unanswered, a source of regret for the entire school.

And this regret could never be made up for.

In that live-fire exercise, everyone was looking forward to a duel between the two geniuses, but Shimura Takuya inexplicably disrupted it. What followed was the explosion of the detonating tags and the arm-severing incident. In the end, the highly anticipated competition came to nothing.

"What a pity..."

"I wish Kakashi and Saku could have a fight, that would be amazing!"

"Kakashi is graduating early, and I'm afraid he'll never get to see this match again."

The classroom was filled with regretful whispers. Matt Kai sat in his seat, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Kakashi is graduating early. The opponent he vowed to surpass, who once overwhelmed him in a single move during a sparring session, is about to leave the school.

"I've never beaten him..." Kai gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, full of resentment.

His classmates glanced at him and remained silent. No one thought that Guy could beat Kakashi, and even Guy himself was uncertain.

"Kakashi..."