"Rasa's strength is undeniable. He's already the strongest in the ninja world."
"Back in the day Senju Hashirama was invincible—even someone as monstrously talented as Uchiha Madara couldn't beat him. That's why he earned the title God of Shinobi. Then there was Hanzō of the Salamander. A small-village guy who dominated an entire era and got called the Demigod of the Ninja World. Rasa might not be quite at Hashirama's level yet, but he's already surpassed Hanzō."
"Above the Demigod, beneath the God… the Kazekage of Sunagakure. How about we call him the God of the Golden Desert?"
Some people immediately started roasting the name.
"Desert God is fine, but why throw in the 'Golden' part?"
"Because before he became Kazekage, Rasa's main job in Sunagakure was literally mining gold with his kekkei genkai. He single-handedly eased the village's financial crisis. That's his origin story."
Half the crowd thought "Desert God" was enough. The other half insisted on "God of the Golden Desert." Rasa heard the nickname and couldn't help but complain, but there wasn't much he could do. The ninja world was huge and full of loudmouths. He couldn't seal every single one of their mouths. The more he hated it, the more the contrarians doubled down—because it was the only way they could "win" against him.
Konoha.
The entire Hyuga clan was drowning in grief. Everyone except Hyuga Neji.
Hyuga Sōchō had never found the courage to leave the village. In his eyes, if the Hyuga walked away now they'd just become prey for every other village. One pair of Byakugan? They'd probably lose the whole clan and end up as slaves somewhere else. The Byakugan was even more tempting than the Sharingan, and Hyuga fighters were weaker than Uchiha ones. "A man is innocent, but his treasure makes him guilty." Sōchō understood that perfectly.
The Hyuga had once had the Taketori clan as allies. Now even that was gone. So Sōchō chose surrender. Weakness. He bowed his head and gave Cloud a pair of Byakugan—by killing himself. The clan head position passed to Hyuga Hiashi.
Hiashi and his wife stood over Sōchō's peaceful body in the coffin, eyes gouged out, sobbing uncontrollably. Little Hinata didn't fully understand, but the heavy atmosphere made her wail too.
Only Neji kept his head down. No sadness in his eyes. Just pure resentment and rage.
"Why?"
"Why did Hiashi do the killing while my father had to die for him?"
"Sōchō was willing to sacrifice himself for Hiashi, but when it was my father's turn there wasn't even a second of hesitation?"
"We're both sons. Why is the difference this huge?"
"What the hell is the difference between main family and branch family?"
"Why were my father and I born into the branch family?"
"This isn't fair!"
Little Neji screamed inside his head. But nothing changed. Hizashi was dead. Sōchō was dead. Hiashi was now clan head. Neji was still just a lowly branch member.
Cloud left with the Byakugan, smug and satisfied.
"Thank you for your generous gift, Lord Hokage! Cloud Village is very pleased."
Hiruzen stared hard at the direction the Cloud messengers had gone.
"Cloud Village… I'll remember this."
He turned back to the fake Kakashi problem. There was only one real Kakashi, but he could create as many fakes as he needed. His plan was simple—use multiple impostors to counter the claims in the Ninja World Big Events Weekly.
Meanwhile, in Amegakure, the real Kakashi finally opened his eyes.
The surgery had finished days ago. He'd just been unconscious. The first thing he did was check his entire body. Once he confirmed nothing was missing, he let out a long breath of relief.
"Looks like Sasori of the Red Sand didn't hold a grudge over my father killing his parents after all. The surgery must have gone well."
Kakashi focused inward. The heavy burden the Sharingan had always put on him was gone. For the first time in years he felt genuinely light.
"Kakashi, you're awake?"
Konan walked in, grabbed a mirror from the side, and handed it to him.
"Thanks."
Kakashi took it and studied his reflection. The Sharingan had been replaced with a normal eye—slightly different color from his other one.
"Even the scar is gone?"
"Sasori's that good?"
Kakashi was genuinely surprised. There used to be a straight scar running right down over his eye. Now it had vanished completely.
"Konan-senpai, how many days was I out?"
"Three."
"What's the situation in Konoha? Can you tell me?"
Konan was quiet for a moment.
"Konoha is still refusing to admit you're the real Kakashi. They're claiming it's all Sand Village slander. They say the real Kakashi is still inside the village and the one who gave the interview is fake."
Kakashi: "..."
The joy from the successful surgery evaporated instantly.
"I already gave that interview to the Weekly and laid everything out clearly. They're still calling me fake? They're completely denying my existence now? If they're willing to pull this kind of bullshit, then my father's death was definitely murder too."
"Konoha!"
"Completely shameless!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
Kakashi took a deep breath and looked at Konan.
"Konan-senpai, is there any mission I can take? I want something to do. I want to contribute to the organization. I hope we can finish the plan as soon as possible."
Konan nodded. "We don't have much intel on Konoha yet. You should tell Zetsu everything you know. Also, if there's anyone you think we should try to recruit into Akatsuki, feel free to suggest them."
Kakashi thought for a second.
"Someone worth recruiting? Actually, yeah. I do have one person in mind."
"Who?"
"Uchiha Shisui."
Kakashi continued, "Shisui and I are the same. We both trusted the Leaf with everything we had. When it came down to choosing between the Uchiha clan and the village, we both picked the village. But the village kept disappointing him over and over. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't change how the Uchiha were treated. He asked Minato-sensei for help, but Minato died. Then he came to me for help, but the village had already thrown me away. Right now he's probably completely out of hope inside Konoha. So I think there's a real chance we could convince him to join us."