Kakashi watched Shinya sit back down and continue slurping his noodles.
Looking at him now, there was no trace of the ruthless man who had just been standing outside.
A normal villager had said a few insulting things to the Uchiha Military Police, and Shinya had immediately had her dragged off to a detention cell.
Worse, after the charges he had piled onto her, a brutal interrogation was practically guaranteed.
Whether she would even walk out alive was another question entirely.
Truthfully, Kakashi had considered intervening.
But after remembering Shinya’s strength, he silently remained seated.
There were plenty of ways to save someone.
There was no need to openly clash with the Uchiha Military Police in the middle of the street.
“Why did you do that?”
Kakashi finally couldn’t hold back.
“You know that villager was innocent.”
Shinya looked at him as though the question itself were strange.
“I was demonstrating the correct way to deal with rumors and public slander.”
“Surely you haven’t forgotten how your father died?”
Kakashi’s fists clenched tightly.
The old wound in his heart had been touched once again.
For a moment, Kakashi even wondered whether everything outside had been deliberately arranged by Shinya.
Otherwise, how could the timing possibly be so convenient?
They had only just begun discussing Sakumo’s death when, outside the ramen shop, Konoha civilians suddenly started openly antagonizing the Uchiha.
It was almost as though the entire incident had been staged specifically for Kakashi.
After drawing a deep breath, he finally said,
“Just tell me what you want to say.”
This matter wasn’t part of his mission responsibilities anyway.
Whatever happened with the Military Police could be reported later and left for Lord Third and Minato-sensei to deal with.
As for the Chidori development scroll…
Kakashi trusted himself to determine whether Shinya was lying.
Shinya took a moment to organize his thoughts.
“If I remember correctly, the official explanation for Sakumo Hatake’s death was that he failed a mission and eventually committed suicide out of guilt.”
“Correct?”
“But have you ever considered that perhaps it wasn’t the mission failure itself that drove your father to death?”
“Perhaps it was the rumors and condemnation spreading throughout Konoha.”
Kakashi’s exposed right eye locked onto Shinya.
Shinya smiled.
“I remember that your career has been rather…
extensive.”
“You’ve worked in both Root and ANBU.”
“So you must have seen plenty of Konoha’s darker side.”
“Then let me ask you something.”
“In your opinion, what kind of person is Danzō Shimura?”
Before Kakashi could answer, Shinya chuckled.
“Never mind.
I’ll stop teasing you and give you the conclusion.”
“Danzō Shimura is the kind of man who would do absolutely anything to become Hokage.”
“And for that goal, he would use whatever methods were necessary to remove any obstacle standing in his way.”
“Your father possessed extraordinary military achievements.”
“He was even granted the Hokage’s half-sleeve by the daimyō.”
“You understand what that represented, don’t you?”
“If your father had remained alive, he would have been one of the strongest candidates for the position of Fourth Hokage.”
Shinya looked directly at him.
“Am I wrong?”
Kakashi’s thoughts were already in chaos.
If Shinya had told him some absurd story completely detached from reality, Kakashi would have laughed and walked away.
But lies themselves weren’t what truly hurt people.
The truth was the sharpest blade.
When it came to motive, Danzō Shimura had an extremely obvious one.
No—
at this point, Kakashi was already almost completely convinced that Danzō’s shadow had been behind the rumors that drove his father to suicide.
That was where Shinya’s method was so effective.
Everything he had just said concerned motive.
He hadn’t produced a single piece of evidence.
Yet Kakashi’s existing impression of Danzō had connected every piece for him.
The most convincing lie…
was one built entirely from truths.
“What are you trying to accomplish by telling me this?”
Kakashi stared at Shinya.
“Do you expect me to assassinate Danzō Shimura?”
His hands had clenched so tightly that even he hadn’t noticed.
Shinya responded with an enigmatic smile.
“Unfortunately, you won’t.”
“And even if you wanted to, you couldn’t.”
“Why?”
The instant his ability was questioned, Kakashi instinctively challenged him.
Shinya answered calmly.
“Because Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow Danzō to die.”
“Before you deny it, do you honestly believe Hiruzen has no idea about all the little things Danzō does behind his back?”
“Besides, whatever else you may think about Danzō’s character, he is competent.”
“You alone would never be able to storm Root headquarters and kill him.”
“And forget the past.”
“Even now that the Fourth Hokage has taken office, who actually controls Konoha’s authority?”
“You served in ANBU.”
“You should understand that better than I do.”
Kakashi fell silent.
“…”
A long time passed.
Then Kakashi formed several hand seals.
Poof!
A scroll appeared in his hand.
He placed it on the table and stood to leave.
But before walking away, Kakashi looked back at Shinya, who was still casually eating as though nothing important had happened.
Almost without realizing it, he asked,
“Why are you telling me any of this?”
Anyone with eyes could tell what Shinya was doing.
He was deliberately driving a wedge between Kakashi and Konoha’s leadership.
And yet Kakashi couldn’t find a single sentence Shinya had said that he could confidently dismiss as false.
Even so, he wanted to know Shinya’s real purpose.
Shinya smiled.
“Because you’re valuable enough to recruit.”
“And because we have a common enemy.”
…
Kakashi’s bowl of ramen remained completely untouched.
Shinya could only lament the wasted food.
He had actually been hoping to finally see what Kakashi looked like beneath that mask.
Without hesitation, he pulled Kakashi’s untouched bowl toward himself.
No point wasting perfectly good ramen.
Shinya never expected one conversation to make Kakashi immediately switch sides.
But as long as he planted a seed in Kakashi’s heart, that was enough.
It was only a move made in passing anyway.
And he had obtained the development scroll for an A-rank ninjutsu practically for free.
Why wouldn’t he take advantage of that?
After finishing both bowls, Shinya placed the money beneath them and left Ichiraku with Kakashi’s scroll.
He studied it while walking back toward the Uchiha district.
Chidori was actually an extremely suitable technique for the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha might be most famous for Fire Release, but there were still plenty of clan members born with Lightning Release affinity.
The technique had a very high training threshold.
But once successfully mastered, it could greatly improve both combat power and survival ability.
Used correctly, Chidori could even become a way to break through an encirclement in a desperate situation.
Its potential as a high-speed charge technique was enormous.
“I’ll need to find a way to buy the rights to this technique from Kakashi next time.”
He already possessed the technique itself.
But Kakashi still had future value.
Spreading Chidori throughout the Uchiha clan without his permission would be unnecessary.
While immersing himself in the A-rank technique, Shinya spared part of his attention for another matter.
“Given Root and ANBU’s efficiency…”
“What happened today has probably already reached Danzō Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi’s desks.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“When it comes to targeting the Uchiha…”
“Don’t disappoint me.”
The more pressure his enemies applied from outside—
the faster Shinya could bring the entire Uchiha clan under his influence.