Nara Hiroshi's brows are knitted tightly.
His mind spun furiously, his face turning pale.
Yes.
He was afraid.
And that was only natural. In his understanding, Uchiha Kai already counted among the strongest in the entire shinobi world.
Yet even Kai himself was this cautious, this unwilling to speak plainly… That in itself proved how terrifying the truth must be.
So now, Hiroshi was truly anxious.
Damn it!
There was such an overwhelming enemy out there—and he didn't even know who that enemy was.
That kind of fear was crushing.
Because of it, he even forgot the original reason he had come. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than for Uchiha Kai to give him more information.
His thought was simple.
Even if he had to die, he at least wanted to "die understanding."
On the other hand, Kai was completely speechless.
Good grief!
He hadn't even said anything concrete, just dropped a vague hint—and this Nara Hiroshi had already spun it into such wild conclusions?
Thinking this, Kai almost wanted to slap himself.
Damn it.
The brains of the Nara clan really turned too quickly.
Give them a single crumb of ambiguity and they'd imagine a whole banquet.
He rolled his eyes and couldn't even be bothered to explain further.
If he said another sentence or two, who knew what ridiculous deductions Hiroshi would conjure?
With a complicated expression, Kai finally sighed helplessly.
"Hiroshi-kun, enough.
You aren't even qualified to know the little I've told you—I've only said this much for your sake.
The more you know, the more dangerous it is for you.
Just like the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques—
Even in death, memories can be pulled from the mind.
Some secrets simply cannot be kept, no matter your will.
So do you understand?
Sometimes ignorance is safe. The more you know, the sooner you'll die.
Trust me—I won't harm you. Just follow my words exactly.
You're too weak.
Don't chase after things beyond you."
Yes. Kai could swear every word he just spoke was the truth.
This wasn't a comic book world—this was reality.
In the manga, contradictions in the setting were ignored; the lens always followed the protagonist. But reality was far messier.
Even though Kai knew the rough timeline, he never dared act arrogant. His time in Konoha had already proven how different things were.
The noble image of Konoha in the story? He had seen none of it.
Hiruzen and the other high-ups, the great clans, even the civilians—each was full of schemes and self-interest.
If mere Konoha was this dirty, how much more so the titans that appeared later in the story?
And history—was that even trustworthy?
Did Hagoromo and Hamura really fight just over ideals?
Did they seal Kaguya only for "peace"?
Ha. He didn't believe it for a second.
He'd studied enough to know history was written by the victors.
And Hagoromo and Hamura? They were Ōtsutsuki. From the moment they were born, they were nothing like ordinary humans.
To them, humans were ants.
Would humans care about the thoughts of ants?
Would gods care about the thoughts of humans?
Just as ninja disregarded civilians, clans disregarded lesser ninja, and village leaders disregarded everyone else—
So too would gods disregard all of mankind.
That was why, even though Kai knew those ancient monsters existed, he never dared probe them. His only thought was to shrink his presence as much as possible.
At the very least—not to face them until he truly had the power.
If even the Yamanaka clan could pluck secrets from the dead, could those old monsters not do far more?
Especially Hagoromo, sitting in the Pure Land—
What exactly was happening there?
All those dead shinobi souls—what was he doing with them?
Too many questions he dared not think on.
He, a mere Mangekyō wielder, was less than an ant before them.
And if he didn't dare pry into such things—
How could Nara Hiroshi hope to?
Better to stay ignorant.
Better to live simply, without burdens.
He truly was warning Hiroshi for his own good.
Nara Hiroshi: "..."
He fell silent.
He could feel Kai's sincerity—Kai truly meant to protect him.
But—
The smarter the man, the harder it was to let go.
The smarter the man, the more he wanted to grasp the truth.
So unfortunately, despite everything Kai had said, Hiroshi still couldn't hold back.
"Kai-kun, I understand.
I know you mean well, so I won't ask for details.
But—could you give me just one example? To show me how strong the other side truly is?"
Kai's mouth twitched.
He really wanted to slap Hiroshi to death. Hadn't he just explained everything clearly? Why couldn't this guy take a hint?!
But fine.
This was his ally. And Hiroshi was undeniably clever.
Revealing a single analogy shouldn't hurt.
After a long silence, Kai finally spoke slowly:
"If Sarutobi Hiruzen is considered the strongest Hokage…
Then Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara would only be on the level of an ordinary Jounin.
Very ordinary Jounin. Cannon fodder tier in Konoha."
"As for me—I'd barely count as an elite chunin, perhaps.
Maybe.
And those beings? There aren't just one or two.
There are many.
Konoha is… unique.
I can say with certainty—they're all watching this place.
That is why I don't want to stir too much trouble.
At least, not until I am truly strong enough.
I have no wish to face them prematurely."
Kai's expression was grave.
He had revealed as little as he could, only giving Hiroshi a metaphor.
But with Hiroshi's intelligence, he would be able to infer far more.
And indeed—
The moment he heard Kai's words, Nara Hiroshi was utterly dumbstruck.
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