My curious adventures with the Nine-Tailed Fox

Waiting in front of the Uchiha clan gates, Hiruzen was talking about his old friend Kagami in response to the questions Naruto asked, which were prompted by Altay's invisible guidance from within his seal space. The gate guard, Tetsuya, was also carefully listening to the story of this legendary and powerful figure of the clan.

"...And that was the last time I saw Kagami. His body vanished in that chaos and on that battlefield... I couldn't even bring him back to his homeland to bury him. If only... if only the outcome had been completely different..."

Hiruzen let out a sorrow-filled sigh. He had fought countless battles back-to-back with Kagami, and thanks to his speed and loyalty, he had returned from the brink of death many times. If he were to name a brother, he would have pointed to Danzo and Kagami—with whom he served on the same team back then—without a second thought; however, Kagami was even more trustworthy in that regard than Danzo. This melancholy caused Tetsuya to sigh inwardly as well. Frankly, there had always been great suspicions circulating within the clan regarding Kagami's mysterious death, but in the chaotic environment of the war, they had never found the opportunity to investigate it deeply. Because so many years had passed, all remaining traces had faded over time, leaving the clan helpless in the face of this unsolved loss. Naruto, listening to this tragic story with an expression mixed with excitement and sadness, sniffled lightly.

"Sniff! Grandpa... Grandpa Kagami sounds like he was a very good person... It's really sad that he died like that, Grandpa... Sniff!"

Hiruzen smiled affectionately and comforted Naruto, stroking his blond hair.

"Unfortunately, being a ninja is that kind of profession, Naruto. Sometimes, you have to make the heaviest sacrifices for your loved ones and the village."

Remembering his old friend on this occasion, Hiruzen turned his gaze to Tetsuya with curiosity about the last remaining bloodline of his descent.

"Tetsuya, how is Shisui? Is he resting? I had given him a strict suspension from missions for a few days because he was wearing himself out too much."

A helpless expression appeared on Tetsuya's face.

"Unfortunately, Hokage-sama. His daily routine proceeds as follows: eating, training, using the restroom, training again, and even more training. If some of the youths in the clan didn't step in and offer him a break, he would never intend to slack off... But even with them, after wasting at most two hours of his time, he immediately returns to the training grounds."

Hiruzen sighed with deep frustration at what he heard and rubbed his tired eyes with his fingers.

'That stubborn brat! I told him in no uncertain terms to rest!'

Meanwhile, Naruto stood frozen in sheer astonishment as he listened to the words Altay whispered in his mind. Wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, he asked inwardly.

'Big brother? Why do you suddenly want me to ask this?'

Altay chuckled softly within the mental seal space.

"Because if that one-eyed old dog was on the same mission as Kagami back then... there is a very high probability that he betrayed Kagami. Have you forgotten, Naruto? That bastard betrayed your own father as well."

Naruto's blue eyes widened, then his small shoulders began to tremble as he furrowed his brows in anger. Altay, looking to suppress this sudden outburst, interjected in a calm yet authoritative tone of command.

"Calm down, kid! We don't have any concrete proof yet. Just do as I say. If this move of ours succeeds, the one-eyed dog will start suffering the pain he deserves."

Naruto took a deep breath to calm down and nodded. This time, there was genuine, unfeigned curiosity and determination in his eyes.

"Grandpa!"

Hiruzen looked curiously at Naruto's small, thoughtful face that had suddenly turned serious.

"Yes?"

Naruto asked with great curiosity.

"Did Grandpa Kagami go on his last mission alone?"

Hiruzen smiled; his old heart was gladdened that a little boy was curious about the memory of his old friend.

"No, Naruto, he was accompanied by a special ninja squad made up of the village's elites, and a teammate the two of us shared. You see that old man named Danzo watching us from afar in the back, covered in bandages, with a crippled arm and walking with a cane? Well, that Danzo was there too."

Hiruzen pointed at Danzo in the distance with his hand. Danzo, due to the distance, couldn't quite understand why Hiruzen was pointing at him; however, the unease within him was steadily growing. He wanted to get away from the vicinity of the Uchihas and keep the Kyuubi separated from the clan as soon as possible. Naruto frowned deeply for a moment, looking at Danzo, and called out to Altay in his mind.

'Big brother!'

Altay completely halted his mental exercises and chuckled cunningly.

"Bingo! This is exactly the opportunity I was looking for! Naruto, listen to me carefully now!"

Altay quickly dictated what Naruto needed to say for the next step. Naruto listened to him with great attention and began to form sentences that, in fact, perfectly aligned with his own feelings.

"Grandpa, was that uncle named Danzo as strong as you and Grandpa Kagami?"

Hiruzen slowly nodded, stroking his white beard.

"Yes, he was at least as strong as Kagami and me. In fact, Danzo has been my eternal rival since my youth; back then, our strengths were incredibly close to each other."

After Naruto nodded nervously, he continued, giving his voice a cautious tone.

"Grandpa... I've never liked that ugly, one-eyed man named Danzo... How should I say it, he looks more like an evil uncle than a good person..."

Following a brief pause, he maintained his tense demeanor and went on.

"...Well, I heard the villagers talking among themselves. They said sometimes, ninjas can stab their own comrades in the back and kill them on missions... I wonder if something terrible like that could have happened to Grandpa Kagami too?"

Upon these words, both the guard Tetsuya and Hiruzen startled where they stood. Hiruzen's brows instantly furrowed, and narrowing his eyes, he asked.

"Where did you get that idea, Naruto?"

Following Altay's flawless guidance in his mind, Naruto continued speaking.

"Grandpa, you said it yourself... Grandpa Kagami was at least as strong as you, a Hokage. Moreover, he had a bunch of other ninjas and a strong friend like Danzo with him... But among all those people, not only did Grandpa Kagami die, but his body also completely disappeared..."

Then, he scratched his head nervously and added.

"I don't know, I just have this weird, bad feeling inside that I can't explain... I never liked the look of that ugly, one-eyed uncle named Danzo..."

Immersed in a momentary silence at the response he received, Hiruzen took a deep breath. He was just about to tell the boy that he was letting his imagination run wild and that things didn't work that way, but he suddenly paused, and his brows furrowed even deeper. Watching this change from the seal room in the mind, Altay grinned in delight.

"Perfect. The seed of doubt has firmly taken root in Hiruzen's mind! The seed is sown; Danzo is going to have quite a headache from now on."

In the other corner of the seal space, Kurama, whose eyes were bloodshot from studying and literally had smoke coming out of his head, wearily closed the massive encyclopedia of Uzumaki history in his hands and looked at Altay.

"Do you honestly think you can turn the Third Hokage against his friend of forty years, Danzo, with the words of a child this small? That old man is a blind fool who values his comrades to the bitter end."

Chuckling, Altay turned to Kurama and wagged his finger negatively as he spoke.

"You would be right if this were a few years ago, Kurama. But you are overlooking a very crucial detail."

Frowning, Kurama tilted his head to the side.

"What? My brain is already mush from reading all morning, just spit it out!"

Meeting the giant fox's anger regarding studying with understanding, Altay nodded.

"Timing, my friend, timing. Over the past three years, Danzo has pushed the boundaries so much; first, he tried to recruit Kakashi to his side, then he tried to assassinate him and take his Sharingan, and after that, he orchestrated a failed assassination attempt on Hiruzen himself."

Folding his arms across his chest, Altay contentedly focused on Naruto's perspective of the outside world.

"Yes, Hiruzen deeply values his loved ones. But if Danzo truly killed Kagami in secret, used his body for his experiments, and implanted his Sharingan into his own eye socket..." He smirked, stroking his chin. "Perhaps I won't even need to lift a finger to take Danzo down."

In the outside world, Hiruzen's gaze was growing colder with each passing second.

'What had Danzo written in the report when Kagami died? "He sacrificed himself to hold the enemy back so we could retreat." And who were the other ninjas accompanying them on that mission? Almost all of them were Danzo's most loyal confidants. And what a huge coincidence that everyone who returned alive is currently an active instructor within ROOT...'

Hiruzen angrily clenched the hand hidden behind his robes. His other hand holding his pipe tensed so violently that a faint cracking sound was heard from the wooden pipe's stem. Just as Altay had foreseen, Hiruzen's trust in Danzo was already hanging by a thread.

In the original timeline, this trust would only completely sever during the suspicious death of Shisui and the impending Uchiha massacre, and only then would Danzo and the ROOT organization be entirely restricted. Danzo, on the other hand, would silently wait in the shadows until Tsunade fell from power, continuing to inject Sharingans into himself...

However, the known future would no longer come to pass, because the butterfly effect created by Altay had long since broken its chains. Noticing this sudden shift in the old Hokage's aura, the guard Tetsuya standing beside them chuckled inwardly under his breath.

'Well done, kid. The Hokage has gotten seriously suspicious about this matter. I must report this to the Clan Leader and the military council at the first opportunity. You truly did a great favor for the Uchiha.'

In truth, Tetsuya also harbored the same suspicions regarding Kagami's death, but due to his position, he could never voice them aloud. The fact that this question came from a three-year-old, an innocent child reasoning with what he had heard from the villagers, had completely paralyzed Hiruzen's defense mechanisms. It was precisely this childish innocence that amplified the value of the question. Hiruzen slowly turned his head, and locked his piercing gaze directly onto Danzo in the distance.

Danzo startled at this sudden intent piercing his back. He couldn't figure out why Hiruzen was looking at him with such immense hatred, but that terrible unease within him multiplied. Hiruzen, meanwhile, was swearing inwardly.

'Danzo... I hope I am wrong. I hope you haven't done something so despicable and stained your hands with Kagami's blood.'

The old man's eyes sharpened like a hawk's.

'If the blood of our mutual friend is on your hands, I swear I will kill you with my own two hands!'

Despite standing far away, Danzo felt the intense anger radiating from Hiruzen and involuntarily took a step back. He couldn't comprehend why the old man had become so furious.

'Is he this enraged because of the lifestyle the Kyuubi brat is subjected to?'

Frowning, Danzo considered this to be the only logical reason that came to mind which could anger the Hokage to this extent.

'I thought we had settled this matter between us... What did that brat tell Hiruzen to make the old man's anger overflow like this? I wonder if he was roughed up in the market more than usual today?'

He continued to weigh the situation in his mind.

'It's best to stay out of Hiruzen's sight as much as possible after today. Our relationship has already soured immensely following recent events; I cannot sever the final tie between us just yet.'

His open right eye narrowed dangerously.

'I must not do so until the Uchiha clan is completely annihilated!'

Wanting to break this heavy tension rising on the outside, Naruto grabbed the edge of Hiruzen's robes with a frightened demeanor and tugged lightly.

"Grandpa... Are you okay?"

Snapped out of his dark thoughts by the boy's voice, Hiruzen immediately plastered his old, affectionate smile onto his face.

"Ah! I'm sorry, my boy, I got a little lost in the past. I am fine, I am fine."

He then turned his head toward the inner parts of the clan compound and spoke.

"Ah! You finally made it, Fugaku. My old bones were starting to ache from waiting at the gates."

With a rustle of wind, Fugaku, Mikoto, and Akira, who was accompanying them, instantly appeared right in front of Hiruzen. Speaking in his usual formal and flat tone of voice, Fugaku expressed his respect.

"I apologize for my delay, Hokage-sama. Welcome to the Uchiha clan."