Kaito's voice was light, almost playful.
"I just told you what I knew. Whether it's true or false is up to you all to decide."
Then, his smile faded.
"Oh, and Danzo—"
Danzo stiffened.
Kaito's next words cut like a blade.
"Everything you've done… all of it was sanctioned by Lord Third himself. The Uchiha's massacre? That traitor's slaughter of his own clan?* That was Hiruzen's order."
The air grew thick.
Hiruzen's face twitched.
Behind him, hundreds of eyes burned into his back.
Uchiha. Anbu. Konoha shinobi.
Not one of them spoke.
Not one of them looked away.
And Kaito?
Kaito wasn't finished.
Hatake Sakumo's Death—The Unforgivable Sin
Then, Kaito's gaze shifted.
He spotted him—the white-haired figure standing behind Hiruzen.
A slow, deliberate smirk spread across Kaito's lips.
"Oh? Since you remember even Lord Second, then surely you recall...Konoha's White Fang?"
Hiruzen's body went rigid.
Danzo flinched.
And Kakashi?
Kakashi's entire world stopped.
The name crashed into him like a tidal wave. His fingers twitched. His Sharingan spun wildly.
And Kaito knew.
He saw the reactions.
So he kept going.
"Back then, during Konoha's darkest time, White Fang single-handedly led the war against Sunagakure."
"He was a hero. A warrior like no other. His power was unmatched, his leadership flawless. Konoha owed him everything."
The courtyard was silent.
Even Hiruzen didn't dare interrupt.
Because they knew what was coming next.
"And then... rumors began."
"Rumors that he abandoned his mission to save his comrades."
Kakashi staggered.
The very breath left his lungs.
Kaito's voice sharpened. Every word twisted the knife deeper.
"But those were ANBU missions, weren't they?"
"And ANBU missions are only known to the Hokage."
His eyes burned into Hiruzen.
"So tell me, Lord Third... how did the whole village suddenly know?"
The Lies Start to Crack
Hiruzen opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
For a moment, he looked old.
Weak.
Like a man standing at the edge of a cliff, with nothing left to hold onto.
But he forced himself to recover.
"I admired Hatake Sakumo," Hiruzen finally said, voice filled with forced grief. "He was a noble man who cared for his comrades. Konoha is one big family, and he valued his fellow shinobi above all—"
Kaito clapped.
Slow.
Mocking.
"Beautiful words," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "Your eloquence truly reflects the strength of the Hokage's office."
Then, in the blink of an eye, his expression turned ice-cold.
"Then tell me, Hiruzen—what was White Fang's position?"
Hiruzen's pupils shrunk.
He tried to speak—
But Kaito cut him off.
"White Fang was Minister of ANBU."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
People started connecting the dots.
Kaito pressed forward.
"ANBU follows orders from only one person—the Hokage."
A chilling realization settled over the crowd.
"So tell me, Hiruzen," Kaito whispered, "how could an S-rank classified mission be leaked to civilians?"
Kakashi's breath caught.
His vision blurred.
A flood of memories—his father's corpse, the stench of blood, the whispering villagers, the shame, the guilt.
And now, standing before him—
The man who let it happen.
His hands trembled.
For the first time in years, Hatake Kakashi felt rage.
Hiruzen's Legacy Begins to Die
The audience was not stupid.
The moment lingered.
No one spoke.
Not a single shinobi stood in defense of the Hokage.
Even his Anbu shifted, glancing at each other, doubt creeping into their eyes.
Hiruzen's heart pounded.
"How does Kaito know all of this?!"
His fingers clenched. His legacy—his carefully constructed illusion—was unraveling.
Hiruzen needed to stop this.
But he couldn't.
Because anything he said now would sound like a lie.
And for the first time—his people doubted him.
The respect he had spent a lifetime building was crumbling.
And Kaito was watching it happen.
Savoring it.
Destroying him.
Danzo's Last Gambit
Danzo, still bleeding, took a single step forward.
"Kaito, I don't know how you discovered my secrets, but you won't use them to slander Hiruzen!"
His voice was strong, but his body was failing.
Still, he forced himself to stand tall.
"I, Danzo, take full responsibility for the actions of my subordinates!"
Hiruzen's head snapped toward him.
"Danzo...?"
Danzo didn't look at him.
He knew what had to be done.
Hiruzen was finished.
But Danzo wasn't.
"I have always refused to accept that the Second Hokage passed the title to Hiruzen."
His voice grew bitter, raw.
"In strength and prestige, I was his equal. But because I hesitated for a single second... I lost my chance to become Hokage."
The crowd listened in silence.
"And so I did what I had to do."
"I removed Hiruzen's rivals. I orchestrated their deaths. I eliminated those who stood in his way. I sent the Shimura clan to the front lines and sacrificed them for his sake!"
He finally turned to Hiruzen.
And Hiruzen realized.
Danzo wasn't protecting him.
He was burying him.
Danzo sneered. "You were weak, Hiruzen. Too soft. Too sentimental. You always needed me to do what you lacked the will for."
Then, he turned to Kaito.
"But don't think I did this for you."
His voice was sharp.
"You are just a child. And children do not change the world."
Danzo's final act was not to protect Hiruzen.
It was to drag him down with him.
And now—
The entire battlefield had turned against the Third Hokage.