There was a time when Hatake Sakumo would have gladly died for Konoha. He had dedicated his entire life to the village and the Will of Fire. But that man was gone, having already died once. Now, such ideals meant nothing to him. The only thing he believed in, the only authority he followed, was the word of Lord Yueyan.
To Sakumo and the other members of the Twelve Divine Moons, Yueyan was the only true hope for the shinobi world. They believed the current system, with its Five Great Nations and hidden villages constantly vying for power, was a temporary phase. Soon, all of it would fall under the rule of Lord Yueyan. Only then would the world finally enter the golden age it was meant for. Compared to that grand vision, everything else was meaningless.
"They're dead… all of them."
Kakashi stared at the carnage, his body frozen in shock. He couldn't connect the ruthless, decisive killer who stood before him with the broken father he remembered—the man who had given in to depression and taken his own life. He had suspected for a long time that there was more to his father's death, but the truth was far more horrifying than he could have imagined.
Years of indoctrination by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had shaped Kakashi's worldview. But his father's simple, cutting words had shattered that foundation: Your name is Hatake. Not Sarutobi. And not Konoha. A person must live for themself before they can live for others. If you can't even stand on your own, then nothing else matters. The tragedy of Kakashi's life may not have been directly caused by Hiruzen, but the Hokage's influence was undeniably tied to it. His father's lesson was clear: a shinobi needed to have his own thoughts, his own will. He needed to understand his own goals instead of blindly following the orders of others.
"Kakashi, my son… think about it carefully," Sakumo's voice echoed one last time.
A sudden, violent wind swept through the jungle, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and leaves that obscured everything from view. When it finally settled, Sakumo was gone. Kakashi was left standing alone in a field of dismembered corpses. The other ninja who had accompanied him were all dead, their bodies torn apart. The most gruesome sight was the headless remains of Sarutobi Shinnosuke and his wife.
Blood soaked the ground, the metallic smell thick in the air. Even for a seasoned shinobi like Kakashi, who was no stranger to the horrors of the battlefield, the scene was monstrous. He felt a cold dread creep up his spine. The control he held over his emotions finally snapped.
With a choked cry, Kakashi collapsed to his knees, his face twisted in agony. He thought he had become numb to sadness after losing his teammate Obito Uchiha and then Rin Nohara. He was wrong. The events of this day had struck him in a way he never thought possible, forcing him into a painful, instantaneous maturity. In that moment, surrounded by death, Kakashi Hatake stopped being a mere puppet of the Konoha Ninja Village. He finally began to think for himself.
An hour later, in the Hokage's office in Konoha, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was preparing to use his crystal ball to observe the village when he felt a sudden sense of unease. A moment later, several Anbu appeared, kneeling before his desk.
"Lord Hokage," one of them reported urgently, "we lost contact with Captain Shinnosuke and his team half an hour ago. At the same time, the Uchiha clan members who were on patrol have all returned to the village, but one person is missing: Itachi Uchiha."
Hiruzen's face, usually a mask of calm authority, instantly darkened. In his intricate plans for the village, Itachi was a critical piece. It was rare to find a weapon as perfect as him—a prodigy so thoroughly brainwashed that he genuinely believed he was upholding justice by betraying his own family. If the Will of Fire was truly so righteous, Hiruzen thought grimly, he would be the one cleaning toilets while an Uchiha became the next Hokage.
"If Itachi is missing, our plans for the Uchiha clan will have to be adjusted," Hiruzen muttered to himself, his mind racing. He was a master of internal politics. He and Danzo Shimura had orchestrated the near-complete dismantling of the once-mighty Senju clan under the guise of integrating them into the village. Tsunade had sensed something was wrong and fled Konoha years ago, but no one else had ever caught on.
"But the more pressing question is… what happened to Shinnosuke?" A cold, calculating look entered his eyes. "Could the Uchiha have attacked them?" He dismissed the thought almost immediately. The current Uchiha clan chief, Fugaku, lacked the courage for such a bold move.
"Wait… Shinnosuke took that Hatake boy with him this time. Kakashi," Hiruzen realized with a jolt. He knew that his son, Shinnosuke, had been involved in the plot that drove Sakumo to suicide. While Hiruzen hadn't personally ordered it, he had known about it. He had then taken Kakashi under his wing, carefully ensuring the boy never learned the truth. But with Shinnosuke now missing, Kakashi had become a dangerous loose end.
"This is bad… this is very bad…"
Just then, another ninja flickered into the room, his face pale with terror. "Lord Hokage! There's a problem with the village's protective barrier! A Divine Moon anomaly has appeared in the sky!"
He took a shaky breath, his voice barely a whisper. "We think… we think Lord Yueyan is about to appear."
The name hung in the air, and the office was plunged into a dead, terrifying silence.
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