Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage

"That is everything, Lord Hokage."

After Shisui finished recounting all the information Habara had told him, he silently stepped back to Habara's side and said nothing more.

Sarutobi Hiruzen truly felt a headache coming on. This matter had indeed turned out exactly as he had expected, and most crucially, Danzo had truly overplayed his hand this time.

Perhaps Danzo had acted with good intentions. After all, if an Uchiha approached the Nine-Tails, any one of them would be wary.

Everything that had happened eight years ago still seemed vivid in his mind. The Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes still appeared incomparably clear.

No one wanted the Uchiha Clan to have any further contact with the Nine-Tails. No one wanted another Nine-Tails Attack to occur within Konoha!

It was simply that they used different methods when dealing with such matters.

If it had been Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, they would have observed quietly, then found a way to let the village learn that the Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails.

That would effectively make people fear the Uchiha Clan more, loathe them more, and even become more suspicious of them!

But Danzo had not done that. The moment he saw this, he decided it was an opportunity—an opportunity highly likely to drive the Uchiha Clan to extremes. So he acted without hesitation.

Unfortunately, Danzo had failed, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen in a very passive position.

"It seems everyone underestimated Uchiha Habara, underestimated this genius who was once as famous as Shisui."

Sarutobi Hiruzen silently glanced at Habara, unable to help but sigh inwardly. He had never expected Habara to be this powerful.

He had actually dismembered more than a dozen Root shinobi. Those had all been Root's elite!

Originally, he had intended to use Shisui's relationship with Habara to see whether he could plant another line within the Uchiha Clan.

After all, Habara's past performance had been very good. But after Danzo's little move, he felt that was probably no longer possible.

"I understand."

Though Sarutobi Hiruzen was deeply displeased, he still assumed a stern expression. He looked at Habara and asked seriously.

"Is everything Shisui said true, Jonin Habara?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Since he had been addressed, Habara straightforwardly stepped forward. He nodded and said in a low voice.

"Everything Shisui said is true. Those people's corpses are right here. Lord Hokage may remove their masks and inspect whether they are Anbu, or..."

At this point, Habara suddenly showed a trace of anger. Naturally, it was only for Sarutobi Hiruzen to see.

"Or we can ask the seniors of the Yamanaka Clan to examine the memories in their heads.

Everyone is here now. That would prove what I said, and it would also let me know exactly which sewer rat was plotting against me."

After saying this, Habara was already laughing wildly inside. He was deliberately showing his hand just to disgust Danzo.

Sure enough, Danzo's expression changed slightly.

Even if these Root shinobi were dead, reducing the information in their brains, and even if Danzo had not given them much confidential information—

The fact that they were members of Root was itself the greatest secret!

If that were exposed in public, the trouble would be far from ordinary.

Hearing Habara's suggestion, Sarutobi Hiruzen's body stiffened slightly as well. But he was the Hokage, and he would never show any loss of composure at any time.

After pondering briefly, he knew what to do.

"An inspection is necessary. If what you say is true, then these people are likely not shinobi of the village.

For them to enter the village freely must involve many problems. This requires a serious and thorough investigation, not such childishness."

With a few simple words, Sarutobi Hiruzen defined the nature of the matter. His words were flawless: he first acknowledged Habara's claims, then rejected Habara's proposal.

But after saying that, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked sternly at Habara again, as though the shift between kindness and severity depended on a single thought.

"However, Habara, I recall that you became a jonin a year ago.

I understand that you are angry after encountering such a matter, but as a jonin, when you encounter enemies—especially enemies who have infiltrated the village—

you left not a single survivor. You killed them all and destroyed their corpses to this extent. Do you know how much trouble that has caused for our investigation into where these enemies came from?

The dead may provide us with intelligence, but they are far inferior to the living!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's words were forceful and resounding, but they left Habara somewhat dumbfounded.

Sometimes, Habara felt that he was already shameless enough. But compared to Sarutobi Hiruzen now, he realized he was still far too green.

Giving someone a date before immediately striking them with a stick was a common tactic.

But casually twisting black into white before turning around and striking Habara with that same stick—that was truly impressive.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's words also made the surrounding Leaf Ninja nod involuntarily. Indeed, they felt Habara had gone too far.

You might be an Uchiha genius, and you might be powerful enough, but wouldn't leaving one survivor have been far better than smashing the corpses into this state?

Habara could fully imagine that, thanks to Sarutobi Hiruzen's speech, the Uchiha Clan would probably gain another reputation for being "brutal."

"I am very sorry, Lord Hokage. I only recently learned swordsmanship, so my control is not very good. I have caused everyone trouble."

Faced with this situation, Habara could only honestly apologize. However, he remembered this debt.

Habara hoped that when he dealt with Danzo in the future, that old man would still use this same tone to brush him off.

"Since that is the case, everyone may disperse. The Anbu will take over the remaining matters."

How could Sarutobi Hiruzen fail to see that Habara's apology lacked any sincerity whatsoever? But he could not be bothered to dwell on it now.

His gaze rested on Danzo for a while, but in the end, he left without saying a word.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen departed, the other Leaf Ninja also left one after another.

Even Uchiha Fugaku turned and left after glancing at Habara and Shisui.

Only Habara, Shisui, and several Anbu personnel responsible for collecting the bodies remained.

Naturally, Habara saw no need to stay either. He had already achieved what he wanted, so he directly pulled Shisui toward the exit.

After this incident, neither Habara nor Shisui had any desire to train. Moreover, Shisui's heart was now filled with doubts.

Once they were far away, Shisui suddenly asked softly, "Were they Danzo's people?"

"Mm. Unless something unexpected happened, they were his people." Habara nodded. "But aside from you, no one knows that I am aware of his existence, so I can do whatever I want."

"So that's how it is. But they were still Konoha shinobi, after all." Shisui could not help but relax after hearing Habara's words, but he quickly shook his head.

"That's right, they were Konoha shinobi." Habara could only nod at Shisui's words, but then he suddenly asked, "Then have you considered what would have happened to the Uchiha Clan if they had succeeded?"

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