Since Uchiha Shisui was no longer alive, the possibility of using Kotoamatsukami to peacefully stop the Uchiha coup no longer existed.
Once that was the case, preserving such a dangerous power had lost its meaning.
And when one further considered the risks posed by keeping those eyes—
Destroying them became the most correct choice.
That was how Hagoromo explained it to the Third Hokage.
To be honest, the explanation had some internal logic.
But no one truly believed it.
Still, Hagoromo insisted that this was the truth.
And what could the Hokage do?
Interrogate Hagoromo?
Order the Yamanaka clan to invade his mind?
Impossible.
In this incident, Hagoromo had seized the high ground of legitimacy.
Even if the Hokage suspected that Shisui's eyes were actually in Hagoromo's possession—even if he were certain of it—what then?
To reclaim them would require an outright rupture with Hagoromo.
That was an extremely dangerous thought.
So in reality, Hagoromo's explanation was less about truth or falsehood—
And more about declaring his stance.
Between Kotoamatsukami and the White Yaksha, the Hokage had to choose one.
Which held greater value?
The answer was obvious—even without thinking.
How could a pair of eyes outweigh a living person?
Thus, the Hokage accepted Hagoromo's explanation and tacitly approved his actions.
Objectively speaking, Hagoromo holding Kotoamatsukami was far more reassuring than Danzō holding it.
If he had it, then so be it.
At worst, it served as a deterrent.
Given Hagoromo's personality, he would never gouge out his own eyes to replace them, nor would he casually manipulate others through mental intrusion.
On that point, the Hokage trusted his judgment.
And he was right.
Hagoromo's reason for taking Kotoamatsukami was never to control others—
But to ensure that he himself would never be controlled.
For the Uchiha clan, it was strange that Shisui had not attended the clan meeting that night—but this alone was not alarming.
Such absences had happened before.
But when Shisui failed to appear the following day… and the next…
Suspicion grew rapidly.
Had something really happened to Shisui?
Then his farewell letter was discovered.
And when he still did not reappear—
Did Shisui, of all people, truly choose suicide?
No one believed it.
The Uchiha could not accept this.
Was "the strongest Uchiha" really someone so fragile that he would take his own life over such reasons?
Absolutely not.
Rather than believe the letter was genuine, it made far more sense to believe it was forged.
For the Uchiha, the priority became finding Shisui—
Even if only his body.
Yet the only person who knew the truth, Uchiha Itachi, chose to remain silent.
In the original course of events, Itachi concealed the location of Shisui's body to allow it to decay—thus burying the secret of the stolen eyes and preventing the clan from directing its suspicion toward Konoha.
At the same time, this also concealed the fact that he himself had met Shisui before his death.
In the end, Itachi was still suspected as the killer—
But the truth about Shisui's eyes remained hidden.
This time, his silence served much the same purpose.
The difference was that now, he was only the second most suspicious individual.
Because Konoha had a much more convenient scapegoat.
Kamishiro Hagoromo.
It was entirely plausible to believe that the White Yaksha had returned to Konoha with the primary goal of eliminating Shisui—
And now, Shisui was indeed dead.
After all, who else could assassinate Shisui without causing a massive disturbance?
The reasoning was twisted—but in the shinobi world, it was standard logic.
If someone has the power to kill, and someone is dead—
Then suspecting them is only natural.
Since Shisui's "disappearance," the Uchiha had continued searching.
As time passed with no results, his death became all but certain.
And yet—
As long as his body had not been found, they clung to hope.
Or perhaps they simply refused to let go.
In the end, this desperate hope was doomed to be fruitless.
Ironically, losing their "strongest" caused the Uchiha to temporarily restrain themselves—
While simultaneously hardening their resolve to rebel.
From their perspective, Konoha's elimination of Shisui proved that reconciliation was impossible.
Humans were like this:
When Shisui was alive—because of his closeness to Konoha's leadership and his opposition to rebellion—the clan had harbored doubts about him.
Yet once he was gone, he was remembered as the most loyal of Uchiha.
Their preparations did not stop.
They simply became more secretive.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage's troubles multiplied.
What Danzō had done could not simply be swept under the rug.
This time, he had crossed the line completely and shattered the existing strategy.
As a result, the Hokage placed Danzō under strict surveillance, determined not to let him act freely again.
Hagoromo was not spared either.
He was temporarily forbidden from contacting the Uchiha, and his movements were restricted.
However, his punishment was lighter than Danzō's.
At worst, Hagoromo had failed a mission due to uncontrollable circumstances.
Danzō, on the other hand, had engaged in deliberate sabotage.
In truth, both punishments were symbolic.
A harsh sentence for Hagoromo was unnecessary.
And as for Danzō—
Root was still a formidable force.
At this stage, the Hokage had no desire to provoke a direct confrontation.
The situation was already complex enough.
For him, the difficulty level had reached hell mode.
He had no intention of adding more modifiers.
Danzō was, of course, displeased by the restrictions.
Hagoromo, on the other hand, found them perfect.
He was quite happy being "put on the shelf."
It gave him time to take care of his kids.
"You want to join the taijutsu training and spar with them?"
After spending more time at Hagoromo's place, Naruto had finally stopped acting so cautiously and reverted to his natural self.
After all, Hagoromo wasn't scary.
Still, the request made Hagoromo sigh.
Nothing about Hagoromo's demeanor suggested that he had just navigated a political disaster involving the Uchiha.
Compared to this—
The Uchiha affair had always been a side quest to him.
As for Naruto's personality…
Well, he was certainly positive.
The question was whether he was ready to be brutally outclassed.
Among the four children, Mirai had been training the longest.
Though she was still far from fully mastering her abilities, the sheer number of techniques she had learned already placed her on a different level.
As for combat experience—
Kimimaru needed no introduction.
Despite his age, the number of people who had died by his hand might already exceed a full squad.
Haku, meanwhile, had only started training slightly earlier than Naruto—
But his comprehension, learning speed, and intuition were undeniably superior.
Naruto's straightforward nature might be called "great wisdom hidden in simplicity"—
But the word smart still felt wrong.
Naruto's intelligence was… unconventional.
Either he didn't get it at all—
Or once he did, things escalated catastrophically.
Minato and Kushina had both been quick learners.
Naruto clearly hadn't inherited that part.
"I think you should focus on standing steadily on water first," Hagoromo advised kindly.
Honestly, his teaching method was partly to blame.
He skipped steps.
For a child Naruto's age, tree-walking would have been enough—
Yet Hagoromo had tossed him straight into water-walking.
But from Hagoromo's perspective, this made sense.
He himself could do it immediately.
Mirai could do it immediately.
Kimimaru never needed to be taught.
Haku picked it up effortlessly.
So naturally—
He assumed Naruto could too.
No one had told him his sample size was flawed—and completely biased.
Fine chakra control was exactly what Naruto lacked.
This was something that needed patience.
"I think I've already got it!"
Naruto disagreed loudly.
Everyone else was sparring while he was stuck "playing in water."
Of course he felt indignant.
As for the purpose of water-walking—
He didn't really understand that either.
"Oh… alright then. Mirai, you spar with him," Hagoromo said helplessly.
If Naruto wanted stimulation, he'd get it.
"Understood, Hagoromo!"
Mirai's eyes sparkled.
Naruto had no time to regret his decision.
"This time is different from last time!" Naruto declared confidently.
"Less talking—start already!" Mirai urged impatiently.
Naruto rushed in at full speed, eager to settle their previous score.
He raised his fist—
And before he could even react, Mirai grabbed his collar.
Pivot.
Step.
Twist.
A burst of force—faint lightning crackling upward—
And then—
A perfect overhead throw.
One arrow pierces the clouds; ten thousand troops answer the call.
Naruto didn't even know what happened.
In the blink of an eye, he was thrown nearly twenty meters into the air.
Loss of balance.
Weightlessness.
And then—
A completely off-rhythm scream.
Mirai laughed until her eyes curved into crescents.
This kind of bullying could only be described as—
Awakening.
The awakening of the Red Hot-Blooded Uzumaki lineage.
Big sister lifts you high—
Are you happy or not?
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