You Can Try, Third

After Uchiha Chisen brought up the Fourth Hokage, who had sacrificed his life on Nine-Tails Night, Sarutobi Hiruzen was momentarily stunned.

He had never expected Uchiha Chisen to mention the Fourth in front of Naruto.

But when he noticed Naruto hanging his head, too afraid to speak, seemingly oblivious to the remark,

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

He lowered his voice slightly. "Chisen, I believe you understand perfectly well what makes this child special. Locking him in prison over a single prank will only distress him."

"So..."

Adopting a conciliatory tone, Sarutobi Hiruzen said earnestly, "Giving the village's young shoots a little room to grow now and then is also the finest expression of Konoha's Will of Fire."

But after all his painstaking persuasion, Sarutobi Hiruzen found that

there was not the slightest wavering in Uchiha Chisen's eyes.

Uchiha Chisen said expressionlessly, "Lord Hokage, you have already abused your authority for personal ends, acted against justice, and chosen to shield Shimura Danzō, who somehow possesses the power of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan."

"And now you intend to continue abusing your authority as Hokage to shield Uzumaki Naruto, a child who should have received proper guidance, but for some reason was left to run wild until his entire sense of right and wrong became warped."

"Such conduct, Lord Hokage, is no different from splashing filth all over the word [justice]."

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "!!!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt as though he had been insulted-and right to his face, at that.

However,

Uchiha Chisen's words contained far too much information, enough to make Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze turn grave.

"Chisen, what do you mean by Danzo's Sharingan?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately changed the subject and asked.

Uchiha Chisen had no reservations about exposing Danzo's secrets. He said coldly, "During his fight with me, he used the Sharingan's secret technique, 'Izanagi.'"

"Why would Shimura Danzō, who is not a member of the Uchiha Clan, possess the Uchiha's Sharingan? Why would he know how to use its forbidden secret technique? Lord Hokage, that is certainly 'hard' to guess!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression shifted slightly.

He knew that Danzo had secretly conducted numerous human experiments with Orochimaru, and he also knew that Danzo had researched the Wood Style Kekkei Genkai.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had never expected Danzo to be so obsessed with the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan as well.

Sarutobi Hiruzen recalled Uchiha Shisui, whom the village had declared "dead, cause of death unknown."

He had long suspected that Shisui's "unknown cause of death" was very likely connected to Danzo's Root.

After all, Shisui's exceptionally unique Sharingan...

Given Danzo's temperament, he would never have left them alone.

Sarutobi Hiruzen also remembered how, during the Third Shinobi World War, the Sharingan of some fallen Uchiha Clan ninja had mysteriously disappeared, supposedly gouged out by ninja from enemy villages.

Could Danzo have sent people to secretly gouge them out? The outrageous thought suddenly surfaced in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind.

He considered it extremely likely!

He knew Danzo far too well. Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that the odds of Danzo doing something like that were at least ninety-nine percent.

Besides, Chisen had never falsely accused anyone.

Although he disagreed with some of Chisen's methods and the [Absolute Justice] he believed in, always finding them too extreme,

that did not stop him from trusting the boy.

"Chisen, regarding Danzo... I will give you and the Uchiha Clan an explanation." Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone grew a little stiff, and he suddenly felt a trace of guilt over "shielding" Danzo.

But in the blink of an eye, that supposed guilt vanished.

He also dimly realized that, somehow, he seemed to have accepted Uchiha Chisen's accusation that he was "shielding" Danzo.

No!

As Hokage, I was merely trying to prevent the village's ninja from fighting among themselves. How could that possibly count as shielding anyone?

Sarutobi Hiruzen cleared his throat. "But this child, Naruto..."

"There is nothing to discuss." Before the eyes of all the Anbu ninja, Uchiha Chisen hoisted Naruto up again.

It caused a stir among the Anbu ninja.

But Uchiha Chisen paid them no mind. Looking straight at Sarutobi Hiruzen, he said, "I will not let Root off either, not when they obstruct the execution of justice. Within Konoha, either I go, or they do."

"I will find where 'Root' lurks in Konoha's depths, and I will completely eradicate that root steeped in darkness and sin. That is how I will uphold my belief in [Absolute Justice]."

"You can stop me once, twice... but can you keep stopping me forever?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."

He felt that his attempt at mediation had failed to resolve the conflict.

Instead, it had escalated the conflict between Chisen and Danzo until it encompassed all of Root.

Chisen would never make an idle threat.

Those words meant that he truly intended to destroy Root!

He really intended to hound Danzo without letting go!

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and glanced at Naruto, who had given up struggling and wore a pleading, miserable expression.

He frowned. "Chisen, your methods are too extreme. What if, in my capacity as Hokage, I ordered you to abandon your conflict with Root and put Naruto down?"

Uchiha Chisen said, "You can try, Third."

Click- Suddenly, an Anbu ninja eased his Ninja Sword an inch out of its sheath.

"Uchiha Chisen, you must not disobey Lord Hokage's orders." The Anbu ninja issued a warning. "And you should address him as Lord Hokage, not the Third."

Uchiha Chisen glanced at him.

[Sarutobi Jōnoo-during the Third Shinobi World War, he vented his anger on civilians to satisfy his own desire for revenge, killing large numbers of ordinary civilians in enemy towns and passing off innocent victims as enemy combatants to claim credit.]

A sudden chill gripped the heart of the Anbu ninja who had attempted to draw his sword.

For some reason, he felt that Uchiha Chisen was looking at him as though he were already dead.

Uchiha Chisen walked away nonchalantly, with Naruto dangling from his hand.

"Uchiha Chisen! You-"

"Wait." Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped the Anbu ninja from attacking. He stared at Uchiha Chisen's retreating figure, his expression shifting slightly, before finally saying in a low voice, "Let him go."

"Lord Hokage, that is Uzumaki Naruto..."

An Anbu ninja reminded him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen clasped his hands behind his back and said quietly, "In his eyes, I am already no different from Danzo. If we keep stopping him, the armed conflict will become one between Chisen and me. As he grows stronger, even I am finding it difficult to keep him in check."

The Anbu ninja found this incomprehensible.

Uchiha Chisen was already willing to fight Lord Hokage?

How did he dare?

What gave him the nerve?

At that moment, Kakashi, who had remained silent throughout, finally spoke. "Lord Hokage, you already have a plan regarding the Jinchuriki, don't you?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly. "Arresting Naruto falls within Chisen's duties as a member of the Konoha Military Police Force. It is also his right. And as Hokage, I have the authority to pardon Naruto."

"Kakashi, take an Anbu squad and stay behind to handle the aftermath. Everyone else, come with me to the Root Base!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"