Even after Uchiha Chisen left with the Uchiha girl, Sarutobi Hiruzen still could not understand how he had insulted anyone.
He pinched out a little tobacco and packed it into his pipe, struck a match, and gently drew on the mouthpiece as he lit it.
"Whew..."
Thin smoke swallowed his aged face. Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured, "We can now be fairly certain that Chisen poses no threat to Konoha. Are you satisfied, Danzo?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an "Anbu guard" stepped out from a corner of the office.
But after only a few steps, his figure began to change.
He gradually became an old man wrapped in bandages, with only one eye exposed and a sinister, brooding air.
This was the man who controlled Konoha's Root!
The Shinobi World's master blame magnet!
-Shimura Danzō!
"When Uchiha Chisen entered the office, he glanced in my direction. He probably noticed me immediately." Danzo narrowed his lone eye and looked toward the door, making no attempt to hide the hostility and distance in his gaze.
Then he turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen and continued, "Hiruzen, you cannot guarantee that Uchiha Chisen didn't say those things deliberately because he noticed me. This is an Uchiha whose methods are so extreme that his evil is plain to see!"
"You heard what he said just now. Even if the Hokage stood in his way, he would dare raise his blade against the Hokage. An inherently evil Uchiha brat like that should not exist in Konoha."
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. "Danzo, I know what you're planning. You are not to touch Uchiha Chisen. Like Itachi, he is an Uchiha I hold in high regard."
"His extreme methods may be somewhat inappropriate, but he has indeed brought a fresh spirit of justice to the village, making certain people with ulterior motives rein themselves in considerably."
Sarutobi Hiruzen delivered his verdict. "Chisen's presence has both advantages and disadvantages for the village. At present, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."
"Hmph." Danzo gave a sinister snort. "What advantages outweigh the disadvantages? That is nothing but your indecision. You only say that because it was the Gekko Clan who died today."
"If the shinobi killed had belonged to the Sarutobi Clan, would you still be putting on this face, Hiruzen?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen replied calmly, "I consider only the public interest, not personal interests."
Danzo admitted to himself that Monkey's words had almost made him laugh.
"Allowing an Uchiha whose inherent evil knows no bounds to exercise his so-called [absolute justice] in Konoha is playing with fire! One day, you will regret this, Hiruzen!"
Danzo gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a long, hard look.
Sarutobi Hiruzen met his gaze and said gravely, "Danzo, you never seem to understand your place. In Konoha, I am the Hokage. You are merely Konoha's 'darkness.'"
"If I say Chisen is not to be touched, then he is not to be touched! Don't forget that Root continues to exist only with my tacit permission. One order from me, and Root will be disbanded completely!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Danzo, as Hokage, my authority is unlimited. You wouldn't want me to do that, would you?"
Danzo's eye widened. "Monkey, you..."
"Hmph!!!"
With nothing left to say to someone who refused to listen, Danzo left without another word, his head lowered and his aged face dark with barely concealed rage.
Bang-
The violently slammed door made it clear just how painfully he had been suppressing his anger.
"Chisen still hasn't returned?" Far away at the Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku was staring at four corpses, deeply troubled.
"No," answered a coroner from the Konoha Military Police Force.
Fugaku let out a heavy breath. "He has gone after another of Konoha's shinobi clans. At this rate, the conflict between the Uchiha and the village... has probably tipped a little further toward the point of no return."
This was what Fugaku feared most.
To be honest,
although Uchiha Chisen's actions were extreme, they were right-so right that even Fugaku often struggled to find fault with them.
But for the already precarious Uchiha Clan, each instance of that righteousness was another death sentence.
Ever since the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the Uchiha Clan had been under constant suspicion from the village.
Over the past few years, many shinobi clans that had once maintained passable relations with the Uchiha Clan had grown increasingly distant.
The Uchiha's reputation among some civilians had also grown steadily worse.
This external pressure indirectly intensified the pressure the clan's Uchiha Hawks put on him as clan head.
Today...
several more members of the Uchiha Clan had met with him privately and demanded that he devise a comprehensive Konoha Coup Plan.
"Ah..."
Fugaku sighed. Apart from his eldest son Itachi and the late Shisui, was there not a single member of the entire Uchiha Clan who could spare him some worry?
"U... U... Uchiha Chisen is here!!!"
Meanwhile,
a trembling cry laced with terror instantly shattered the peace of a street in Konoha.
A thief in the middle of stealthily picking a pocket froze, his face turning deathly pale with an expression of utter despair.
He hurriedly shoved the stolen wallet back where it belonged.
Without even daring to look for Uchiha Chisen, he immediately dropped to the ground in the most abject Dogenzā posture.
"I surrender! I want to turn myself in! I'll tell the Konoha Military Police Force every crime I've ever committed! Please don't kill me!" the thief cried desperately, drenched in sweat.
At the other end of the street, two Konoha villagers who had been arguing and hurling obscenities at each other instantly switched to warm, enthusiastic smiles.
With their arms around each other's shoulders and calling each other "good brother," they showed no sign of having been red-faced with anger moments before.
A villager who had casually littered hurriedly picked up his trash and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Th... this is ridiculous..." Izumi finally understood just how formidable Chisen's reputation in Konoha was.
She had spent all her time at the Ninja Academy with her head buried in her studies.
She really had never paid attention to anyone so famous outside the Ninja Academy.
Izumi felt that as long as Chisen regularly took a few walks around the village, Konoha's crime rate would drop by several percentage points!
"You little brat! Stop right there!!!"
But soon, an angry shout broke that eerie silence.
"Who would stop?! If you caught me, I'd be in big trouble!"
Another shout rang out.
The first voice belonged to an adult, and the second to a child.
Izumi turned to look in confusion.
She saw a blond-haired brat running wildly in a blind panic, with a man wielding a rolling pin chasing him.
Everywhere the pair went, chaos followed.
The blond brat kept picking up all sorts of things from the street and throwing them behind him to hinder his pursuer.
But this also threw the street into disarray, frightening many passing villagers into hastily getting out of the way.
Just as the blond brat ran past Izumi,
she saw Chisen suddenly reach out a hand beside her from the corner of her eye.
The blond brat, who had been running at full tilt, was hoisted into the air in an instant.
Caught!
Before you continue