Hokage Tower.
Inside the Hokage Office.
The office was crowded with people, each with a grave expression.
The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, sat at the head position in the meeting room, her palms together supporting her chin, her brows tightly furrowed and her face looking unusually grim.
Even Nara Shikaku, standing at the Hokage Assistant's position, looked somewhat worried, without a hint of the joy that one might expect from his recent promotion.
After all…
The situation now is too severe!
Even during the Third Ninja World War, when Konoha was besieged by four Great Country Ninja Villages, as a strategist, Nara Shikaku was able to remain calm...
But now…
The enemy is just a group of renegade ninjas...
Nara Shikaku had to let his brain operate at high speed.
"Kakashi."
Tsunade looked at Kakashi Hatake, who came to report the intelligence, and began to speak softly, "Talk about the intel you brought back, regarding Akihara Kagura…"
"Alright."
Kakashi Hatake adjusted his mask slightly, concealing his eyes, "Akihara Kagura is a ninja from the Uchiha Clan…"
"Wait!"
Tsunade immediately interrupted Kakashi Hatake, questioning sharply, "That guy... isn't he from the Senju Clan?"
"Actually…"
"Akihara Kagura is indeed a ninja from the Uchiha Clan…"
"Because he can freely activate or deactivate the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, yet he's never exposed his Sharingan bloodline…"
Kakashi Hatake recalled the interactions between Uchiha Madara and Akihara Kagura and said in a deep voice, "Those eyes are the Uchiha Clan's top Kekkeigenkai, known as the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and have even evolved into the Rinnegan on Akihara Kagura's body…"
"Rinnegan!"
Tsunade's expression turned sharp suddenly; she remembered Akihara Kagura using Nagato's Rinnegan for a conspiracy layout but paid no heed to those Rinnegan eyes because Sasuke might obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan as his backup plan.
Yet the result…
Now Kakashi Hatake tells her that Akihara Kagura himself already possesses the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which has even evolved into the Rinnegan…
In other words…
That guy never actually cared about Sasuke's eyes!
"It all makes sense now…"
Nara Shikaku slowly nodded, understanding one thing, "Because Akihara Kagura himself had the Rinnegan bloodline all along, he never cared about the Rinnegan belonging to Nagato and Uchiha Madara, which is why he would use those Rinnegan eyes as a trap…"
"That's an eye passed down through generations in the Uchiha family…"
Kakashi Hatake nodded his head, revealing the true lineage of Akihara Kagura, "Kagura… Akihara Kagura has always been a ninja of the Uchiha Clan…"
Kakashi Hatake told Tsunade all about the Hyuga Clan's records and Akihara Kagura's self-statements, narrating how a meticulous observation by an old Hyuga man triggered this crisis.
A thousand years ago…
A mother-son dispute in the Six Paths Sage's family…
A brotherly feud between the Six Paths Sage's siblings…
The Six Paths Sage once destroyed the world to cover up history…
The Hyuga Clan are descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura, the Six Paths Sage's younger brother, who came from the Moon to the Ninja World, aiming to replace their ancestor in reclaiming control over the Ninja World…
An elder from the Hyuga Clan discovered the powerful secrets of the Senju and Uchiha Clans, but was utilized by an Uchiha, enabling that Uchiha to activate the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan…
That Uchiha passed down his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan generation after generation, even taking Hyuga Clan's records and stealing Senju Clan's relics, ultimately ending up in Akihara Kagura's hands…
Using this information, Akihara Kagura carried out his plan step by step, successfully transplanting Hashirama Cells to upgrade those Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to Rinnegan…
That guy further learned about the plan to revive the Ten-tails through Uchiha Madara and Nagato's schemes, kicking everyone out when the plan was about to succeed…
"Wait a second…"
Tsunade felt that the information Kakashi Hatake conveyed was a bit overwhelming.
For the first time, the Fifth Hokage felt her mind might not be sharp enough, so she could only interrupt Kakashi Hatake, picking up the tree bark left by Akihara Kagura and Uchiha Madara in Konoha and questioning, "This doesn't quite align with the Senju Clan's records; what's written here is that Otsutsuki Kaguya is the Six Paths Sage's youngest daughter…"
To ensure her words were true, Tsunade even let Yamato reactivate the bark using Wood Release Chakra to speak out some historical records inscribed on the bark.
Apparently.
The historical records of the two clans don't match.
"However…"
"Black Zetsu refuted the records on the tree bark…"
Nara Shikaku reminded the Hokage, hoping that this Fifth Hokage would not assume the Senju Clan's records were accurate, "Moreover, Black Zetsu could also modify the Uchiha Clan's stone tablets, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Six Paths Sage rewrote the Senju Clan's history…"
This leads into a vicious cycle.
Which historical record is actually correct?
The Senju Clan's records claim Black Zetsu had modified the Uchiha Clan's stone tablets, but combining with the Hyuga Clan's historical records, it shows that the Senju Clan's history might also have been altered...
Because the information about ancient history doesn't match…
Now Konoha wishes to discuss which clan's record holds the true history amidst the conflicts in the Hyuga Clan and the Senju Clan, while the Uchiha Clan's has been modified too…