Chapter 72: Only Sandaime-sama and Danzo-sama Can Lead Konoha to Glory
After the interrogation concluded, the four of them sat around the table to analyze the information they had just obtained.
"Kagami extracted all of this from her mind personally," Hiruzen began, his brow furrowed in thought. "Given his abilities, there's no way it could be false. That means everything she 'remembers' is true."
And that was precisely what made the situation so bizarre.
"All the characters and historical backgrounds match up," Danzo added, his voice a low rasp. "She can even clearly state the organizational structure and members of Root. We can find every one of those names within the village's records."
"She claims to have been raised in Root, with no knowledge of her parents," Hiruzen continued, rubbing his temples. "Oh, right—Kagami, do the Uchiha clan records have any information about a child like her?"
Kagami shook his head, his expression grim. "I only recently became the clan head. To consolidate my control, I went through every single Uchiha record just a few days ago. I even convened a clan-wide meeting. We have no child by that name, nor is she listed in the archives of lost Uchiha children. She is not one of ours... and yet, her resemblance to one of my cousins is uncanny."
An Uchiha child with a fully matured Sharingan appearing out of thin air. A mind filled with strange, verifiable memories. A state of near-total brainwashing. The pieces refused to fit.
"It's as if... as if she's from another dimension," Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, thinking aloud. "One with the same foundation as ours, but a different path. A world where different things happened."
The words almost made Stelle want to stand up and applaud. As expected of the future Third Hokage, he had immediately grasped the core of the issue she had so carefully constructed.
She seized the opportunity, slamming her hand on the table with feigned revelation. "There is indeed such a possibility!"
All eyes turned to her.
"The world is composed of countless spaces, and the events within each one can diverge due to certain alterations. It's possible she unintentionally traveled through time and space, arriving in our world from another dimension. That would explain her significant cognitive dissonance."
She proceeded to lay out a simplified theory of parallel dimensions, weaving a narrative that made the impossible sound plausible. With this new premise, the things that were previously beyond understanding suddenly clicked into place.
So, these were events from another world.
"Kagami, ask her again. What else happened after?" Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura spoke almost in unison, their eyes alight with a new kind of intensity. "Even if that world's progression is different, there might still be things we can learn from."
It wasn't surprising that they accepted the concept of parallel worlds so readily. The shinobi world was inherently fantastical, filled with miraculous jutsu and home to the three great Sage Regions, which existed almost entirely independent of the known nations. Senju Tobirama had even figured out the Impure World Reincarnation, a technique that could revive the dead. Compared to that, what was one girl from a parallel world? Even Minato Namikaze, on a future mission, would encounter his own son from a different timeline and accept it with relative calm.
The girl was right here, contained and under their watch. What trouble could a single Three-Tomoe Sharingan user truly cause? Such was the confidence of the powerful.
Uchiha Kagami once again began his inquiry, exploring the future events of that other world.
He learned that after Hiruzen Sarutobi took office, the First Great Ninja War dragged on for a long time, leaving all nations utterly exhausted. Eventually, a treaty was signed, ushering in a long period of truce and recovery. However, border skirmishes never truly ceased. And, of course, because that version of Konoha lacked a certain someone capable of taking on four opponents at once, the development of each nation had also diverged.
The questioning stopped there.
How much could a twelve-year-old Anbu, trained from birth to be little more than a killing tool, truly know about the grand sweep of history and politics?
The feeling was akin to getting a cheat sheet for a game, thinking you could breeze through it, only to discover the guide was for the exact same version you were already playing. It was so useless it was hard to describe.
Well, at least she had dropped two major bombshells before running out of information.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura felt a deep sense of being wronged.
"How should we handle her, then?" Kagami asked, breaking the silence.
Stelle tapped a finger on the table. "Tonight's events will be sealed as an S-rank top secret file for Konoha. For now, Kagami, you will keep her under surveillance. As for her long-term disposition... let me think on it."
Several high-ranking Konoha officials suffered from insomnia that night.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, for instance, tossed and turned for hours. In a parallel world, he was the Hokage. He had, after all, aspired to that very position since the day he first stepped into the Ninja Academy. The knowledge that his other self had achieved it while he had not left him with an immense sense of disparity.
The most unsettled, however, was Uchiha Kagami. In that other world, Lord Madara had actually defected from Konoha and eventually turned against Lord Hashirama. And that girl, Kou, hadn't even heard his name, which meant he had probably died. An early death, it seemed. The fate of his counterpart was a rather tragic one.
On the other hand, Danzo Shimura slept the soundest he had in weeks.
'Root? A ninja of the shadows?' he thought with a sneer. As a Hokage Advisor, he held Konoha's economic lifeline in his hands. Even the Hokage needed his seal to spend a single ryo. With such a fine position, why would he ever choose to hide in the darkness like a rat?
Hmph. A mere parallel world was nothing to him.
The next day, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Kagami arrived at the Hokage Building with dark circles under their eyes. In stark contrast, Danzo Shimura was full of energy, swaggering into the office with a smug grin.
Seeing their haggard appearances, Danzo couldn't resist. He put his hands on his hips and burst into wild, unrestrained laughter. "A mere parallel world has affected you two this much? Your mental fortitude is truly poor."
Hiruzen looked ready to lunge across the desk and throttle him.
Stelle, who had just received a massive influx of emotional value, suppressed a smile. "Since she is a Konoha ninja from another dimension, she is a part of Konoha and should be protected. How about we create a file for her and let her start as a Genin? Who knows when she might suddenly leave."
"Wouldn't that be a waste?" Danzo immediately disagreed. "She's a Jonin with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. She should be assigned to Anbu to carry out S-rank missions, shouldn't she? She isn't one of our own ninja anyway, so sending her on dangerous missions is for the best. If she succeeds, great. If she fails and dies, no one will feel the loss."
It was already merciful of them not to simply lock her away in a cell for the rest of her life.
For once, Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself sharing Danzo's opinion. The idea of a parallel-world ninja was just their theory, completely unverified and fraught with uncertain factors. Keeping her under their direct supervision was the only logical course of action.
Uchiha Kagami glanced at Stelle, opening his mouth to speak before turning his head away, conflicted.
Stelle rolled her eyes at Hiruzen. "This poor child was brainwashed by the two of you into a tool for Konoha. I suspect that with a single word from either of you, she would immediately set off to assassinate the Tsuchikage. And you want to send her on S-rank missions?"
Hiruzen and Danzo had no choice but to take the blame. Their parallel selves were still them, and the accusation left them feeling as though they'd been forced to swallow a bitter gourd, unable to voice a single complaint.
"However," Stelle continued, "to be safe, let's have Anbu monitor her for a while. As for assigning her to a team... let's put her with Orochimaru's squad. Those three have recently started using Shadow Clones to skip class anyway. We might as well just graduate them."
Letting them continue to study in the academy would only numb the emotional value she could farm. It was better to send them out on missions.
"Let them figure out how to correct her way of thinking. I feel uncomfortable seeing her like this; how can my Konoha have such a ninja? Hiruzen, you arrange the specifics. I believe this is what Kagami wants to see as well, right?" Stelle looked toward the silent Uchiha Kagami.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" Kagami stood abruptly. He no longer addressed Stelle by her name, but by her title. He bowed deeply, his voice thick with gratitude. When his genjutsu was active, he could not only extract information but also fully empathize with the target's emotions. As the leader of the Uchiha, seeing a child of his clan whose spirit had been extinguished, forced to live as a mere tool, had wounded him deeply—even if she was just a child from a parallel world.
"Wait, why assign her to my team?" Hiruzen protested. "Shouldn't Kagami be responsible for her?" He was not keen on taking on this burden. A domesticated weapon interacting with his beloved disciples? What a joke. The thought of this girl constantly calling him 'Sandaime-sama' already gave him a headache.
Stelle gave him a withering look. "Kagami is the Uchiha Clan Head. Those closest to him are all Uchiha. A sudden outsider would attract far too much attention. Do you want the identity of 'Uchiha Kou' as a parallel-world ninja to be exposed?"
The matter was decided. Although Hiruzen and Danzo still had their reservations, they reluctantly agreed. They would simply wait and see; after all, Anbu would be monitoring her every move.
But soon, both of them would come to regret this decision.
Because when the girl was brought before them, her initial shell-shocked expression, which had faded slightly, returned with a vengeance the moment she laid eyes on them. Her world seemed to shatter all over again.
"Why is that woman the Hokage in this world?" she declared, her voice ringing with zealous conviction. "Only Sandaime-sama and Danzo-sama can lead Konoha to true glory!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
Danzo Shimura: "..."
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