[Kakashi, who has neither a kekkei genkai(bloodline limit) nor any clan secret techniques, relies purely on talent to stand shoulder to shoulder with Minato Namikaze—on par with pure "cheat-level" talent.]
...
[Kushina Uzumaki: Honey! Are they complimenting you or insulting you?!]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: I don't really know what "cheat-level" means, but judging from how they were praising Kakashi's talent before, I think it's a compliment.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Sensei, that's going too far. I wouldn't dare compare myself to you. You're the Yellow Flash, the great hero of Konoha.]
[Minato Namikaze: Kakashi, have a little confidence. You're already on this ranking as the Sixth Hokage, aren't you? And you even led Naruto and the others to defeat the legendary mother of the Sage of Six Paths.]
[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki: And what exactly is that supposed to mean? Are you looking down on me?]
[Minato Namikaze: Not at all, not at all! We're saying you're incredibly strong!]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Kakashi-sensei, you're way too amazing! You're actually being compared to my dad!]
[Hashirama Senju: Kakashi, from what I've seen so far, you're not bad at all.]
Kakashi was deeply moved.
He never imagined he would receive recognition from the First Hokage himself.
But when he saw the familiar figures of Obito and Rin in the footage, his heart clenched with pain again.
How he wished he could go back to that time—
That must have been the happiest period of his life.
The footage continued.
[If things had kept developing along this path, given the evaluation of his father Sakumo Hatake—the White Fang of the Leaf, whose strength surpassed even the Sannin—there is no doubt that this "disciple surpassing the master" would have become a second Minato Namikaze.]
...
[Sakumo Hatake: Kakashi, I think you've already surpassed me. As you are now, you're more than outstanding. You're my pride.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Father… as I am now, I'm actually pretty useless.]
[Orochimaru @ Sakumo Hatake: You two can save the father-son reunion for later. What do they mean by saying your strength surpasses mine?]
[Jiraiya @ Sakumo Hatake: I admit you're an excellent shinobi, but stronger than me? I, the Gallant Jiraiya, don't accept that.]
[Tsunade @ Sakumo Hatake: I specialize in medical ninjutsu, but my taijutsu and combat power are absolutely not weak. Are you really stronger than me?]
[Sakumo Hatake: You three, don't get mad. That evaluation wasn't written by me.]
[Minato Namikaze: So he would have become a second me, huh? Hahaha! Looks like this ranking holds me in very high regard.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Of course it does. Look who you're married to.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Dad's the best!]
[Kushina Uzumaki @ Naruto Uzumaki: And what about Mom?]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Mom's the prettiest!]
The footage continued.
[The scene shifts—Kakashi has already lost his Sharingan.]
[However, after losing the Sharingan, Kakashi's strength not only failed to decrease, but instead skyrocketed far beyond what it was when he fought Obito and Madara.]
[Though he can no longer use Lightning Blade, he developed many new jutsu, and his chakra reserves are on a completely different level than before.]
[We then see Kakashi casually form an Earth-Style Wall large enough to protect the entire village, then alter its chakra nature into glass—only Lightning Release on Sasuke's level can break it.]
[Next, Kakashi uses only taijutsu to knock out fifty Jonin-level rogue ninja without taking a single scratch.]
[Without the Sharingan, Kakashi is truly a "chakra unlimited," ninjutsu-and-taijutsu-dual-specialist, hexagonal warrior.]
...
[Kakashi Hatake: Nani? I'm that strong? How come I didn't know?]
[Sakumo Hatake: Hahaha! That's my boy.]
[Minato Namikaze: At this level, calling you a second me is no exaggeration, right? @ Kushina Uzumaki]
[Kushina Uzumaki: He's still not as good as you, but that's already pretty impressive.]
[Hashirama Senju: With power like that, you finally catch my eye. Madara! Looks like your clan's Sharingan isn't all that. Kakashi got stronger after losing it.]
[Tobirama Senju: Big Brother's right. Without that evil clan's Sharingan, Kakashi not only got stronger—he got much, much stronger, okay?]
[Tobirama Senju @ Kakashi Hatake: Stop using that cursed clan's Sharingan. Dig it out and throw it away.]
[Obito Uchiha: And you say this isn't targeting me? Are you looking down on my eye? It's clearly Kakashi who's too useless to use it properly. @ Kakashi Hatake, don't say anything—just dig it out and give it back.]
Obito was genuinely furious.
From the way the footage presented it—
His eye hadn't helped Kakashi at all; instead it was like a seal, suppressing Kakashi's true strength?
[Madara Uchiha: Ridiculous. Such a weak Kakashi could really trade blows with me?]
Madara was still brooding over the scenes showing his battle with Kakashi.
[Kakashi Hatake: Obito, if you want your eye back, I can return it to you anytime—but only if you come back to the Leaf and stop being our enemy.]
[Rin Nohara: Kakashi, don't! Are you really going to dig your own eye out?]
[Obito Uchiha: It was my eye to begin with.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Rin, Obito's right. The eye was originally his.]
Kakashi's heart ached.
The reason he'd inherited Obito's eye—
Was to carry Obito's will, to let him see the future together.
And now Obito had become like this…
Kakashi simply couldn't understand why Obito had changed so much.
The footage continued.
[The scene shifts again, back to Kakashi's youth.]
[In the battle at Kannabi Bridge, he received the Sharingan from Obito Uchiha.]
[Though the Sharingan is a first-class kekkei genkai, Kakashi did not become stronger simply by obtaining it.]
[Otherwise, the Uchiha would not be buried with their eyes still in their skulls.]
[Danzō relied on half a body of Hashirama's cells to implant Sharingan as disposable substitutes.]
[Even Orochimaru, who'll graft anything onto himself, didn't dare directly transplant them into his body—instead he took great pains to reincarnate into Sasuke's body.]
[Because a non-Uchiha can't fully exert the Sharingan's power, and it places an enormous burden on their chakra.]
[After all, they can't voluntarily shut the eye. Even covering it up still consumes chakra.]
...
Seeing this, everyone mentioned in the footage became very emotional.
And the group chat blew up.
[Madara Uchiha: That's absolutely correct. Just having a Sharingan doesn't make you strong—you still need your own power to develop it. There is no such thing as a trash Sharingan, only trash Uchiha.]
After hearing Madara's words—
Those Uchiha clansmen who had been about to argue with the line "otherwise the Uchiha wouldn't be buried with their eyes" all shut their mouths.
They had no way to refute Madara.
They were all Uchiha, yet Madara had pushed the Sharingan's power to its limits—while some of them hadn't even awakened a single tomoe.
With the same Sharingan, the problem clearly wasn't the eye—
It was them.
[Hashirama Senju @ Danzō: Half of my cells? You've got some nerve.]
[Tobirama Senju @ Danzō: You damn monkey, what is this? You actually dared to transplant my brother's cells?]
[Madara Uchiha @ Danzō: And where did you get so many of my clan's Sharingan? Is that why you schemed so hard to wipe out the Uchiha?]
[Fugaku Uchiha @ Danzō: You filthy old man. The evidence is ironclad now. How are you going to talk your way out of this? Still claiming the Uchiha massacre was "for the sake of the village"?]
[Mikoto Uchiha @ Madara Uchiha: Lord Madara, please stand up for the Uchiha clan!]
[Izuna Uchiha: Outrageous! If I could be revived, I'd tear you to pieces. @ Danzō]
Root Headquarters.
Danzō was shaking uncontrollably.
It was over.
Before this, if everything he'd done was truly for the village, he might still have been forgiven.
But now—
His transplantation of Hashirama's cells and the Sharingan had been exposed.
He had no way to explain it.
No matter what he said now, it was probably useless.
Neither Hashirama nor Tobirama—
Nor Madara—
Would ever forgive him.
So Danzō chose silence.
"It was this damn ranking that exposed me… Under all my arrangements and calculations…"
"In the original future, I should have become Hokage. My ranking should have been higher than Kakashi's."
"So I have to endure for now. Once I get my reward for appearing on the list, I'll be able to greatly increase my strength again."
"At that time, hmph…"
"Even those so-called Gods of Shinobi, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju—I might be able to stand against them."
"In the future… I should become Hokage!"
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