Shihu's Dominance

"After he attacked Shisui and obtained Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, he repeatedly demanded that the Third Hokage hand the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki over to him for safekeeping."

"Because he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was already capable of controlling the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"Danzo ordered the extermination of our Uchiha Clan because only another Mangekyō Sharingan could undo the control placed on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki by the Sharingan."

After hearing this, Shikaku frowned in thought. These were all circumstantial pieces of evidence; there was no direct proof.

Although Senyo knew that Obito had caused the Nine-Tails' Rampage, since Danzo could pin the blame on the Uchiha—

The Uchiha could just as easily pin it back on him.

As the man who did the Third Hokage's dirty work, Danzo had more than enough filth on him. There was no washing it clean.

You could never go wrong tossing blame onto Danzo.

After all, Senyo's purpose was to muddy the waters and lay the groundwork for what came next.

After Itachi finished speaking, Senyo stepped forward.

"Recently, none of the Uchiha Clan members who left on missions have returned."

"If I hadn't made a breakthrough, I wouldn't have made it back either."

He directly opened a storage scroll and took out three corpses whose heads had been severed from their bodies.

"The Third Hokage recognizes how they're dressed, doesn't he?"

Senyo had already paraded around the ninja village carrying those heads in broad daylight.

Everyone knew exactly what was going on.

The Great Elder narrowed his eyes and glared viciously at the Third Hokage.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, was it you who gave the order for Danzo's men to ambush our Uchiha Clan?"

The Third Hokage's brow twitched. Though he had indeed instructed Danzo to do this sort of dirty work—

He naturally could not admit it at a time like this.

So he stated resolutely, "Nothing of the sort happened. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

Uchiha Shihu grinned.

"Then what is wrong with us taking back our own Sharingan? What is wrong with hunting down the Root members who invaded us!?"

"Sarutobi Hiruzen! Are you trying to shield Danzo!?"

The Third Hokage's brow throbbed wildly. The image he had carefully cultivated over the years had now become the very thing tying his hands.

"Uchiha Shihu, Danzo is, after all, the Hokage's Assistant. Even if there is a problem, you cannot take matters into your own hands."

"If there was a problem, you should have told me beforehand."

Uchiha Shihu gave the Third Hokage a disdainful look. "I don't believe you."

The Third Hokage was thoroughly choked up. The leaders of the Ninja Clans beside him all wore unreadable expressions, no one knowing what they were thinking.

Although the other Ninja Clans had always disliked Danzo, no one knew exactly what he had done.

The Uchiha might have been accusing Danzo, but everyone knew Danzo and the Third Hokage were practically inseparable.

In other words, the Uchiha were using Danzo as a proxy to curse out the Third Hokage.

And with three Mangekyō Sharingan on display, it was obvious that this marked the beginning of a forceful resistance.

Still not satisfied, the Great Elder continued to provoke them.

"You Konoha leaders are all useless trash. Other than squeezing us Ninja Clans dry, what else are you good for?"

"Whenever Root wants a genius from a clan, they simply take that clan's genius."

The faces of the Aburame Clan and Yamanaka Clan darkened.

"Kumogakure can casually send someone over to die, and not only does Konoha fail to protect its own villagers, it even demands that the head of a clan pay with his life."

Hiashi's expression also turned livid.

"If you set your eyes on our Kekkei Genkai, we have to offer it up with both hands, or else face clan extermination."

"All Ninja Clans should think carefully: is such a Konoha still worth following!"

The Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura all changed expression dramatically.

No wonder the Uchiha Clan had demanded that they gather the Ninja Clans. Their goal had been to drive a wedge between Konoha and the Ninja Clans.

"Enough! Uchiha Shihu!"

The Third Hokage snorted angrily. "I will investigate everything Danzo has done thoroughly, and I will give you a satisfactory explanation."

"But your people must also withdraw back into your clan grounds today."

Uchiha Shihu let out a deep laugh, his tone filled with mockery.

"I don't think you'll find anything."

"Anyway, once the investigation is done, Danzo will definitely be completely clean. There absolutely won't be any Sharingan on that arm of his."

"Or perhaps, in a few days, Danzo will die for one reason or another, and then you can claim there's no evidence because the dead can't testify, right?"

"I can even write the speech for you. You just need to read it aloud."

Uchiha Shihu once again put the Third Hokage on the spot. Not to mention that Danzo's life was not currently in danger.

Even if his life had been in danger, Konoha could not let Danzo die.

Uchiha Shihu changed the subject.

"However, for the sake of the other Ninja Clans, I'll give you time to investigate."

"During this time, Konoha had better not try any tricks on us!"

As he spoke, Shihu waved his hand. From the Uchiha crowd, Yusuke and the others brought three people into the center.

They were Kakashi, whose Sharingan had been gouged out, and two other Anbu.

"Our Uchiha Clan's young clan head, Sasuke, will not need Konoha's protection. You can go protect the heirs of the other Ninja Clans instead."

The other Ninja Clans all exchanged looks. Well, well—so Konoha had even been monitoring the sons of other clan heads.

Uchiha Shihu kicked Kakashi, who lay at his feet.

"We will reclaim every one of our Uchiha eyes!"

"We also know exactly how many Danzo stole."

"Our Uchiha Clan is ready at any time to receive the Sharingan in Danzo's possession."

"And we're ready to go to war with you at any time! Until the very last drop of blood is shed!"

Shihu slapped the long blade in his hand, his words utterly resolute!

The Third Hokage's expression was incomparably grim. With the Uchiha Clan pressing him this hard, he did not dare offer the slightest resistance.

He could only watch as Uchiha Shihu led Senyo and the others back into the Uchiha crowd.

Led by the Great Elder, all the clan members began to withdraw slowly.

Under these circumstances, the Anbu's manpower was limited. Even if Konoha and the Uchiha Clan came to blows, the other Ninja Clans would not help.

After suffering excessive losses, Konoha would have no way to resist an invasion by the other ninja villages.

Konoha simply could not afford the cost of clashing with the Uchiha Clan.

Many of the problems the Uchiha Clan had raised had existed in Konoha all along.

But through mutual compromise among all the Ninja Clans, they had endured them.

Now, the Uchiha Clan had ignited all of them at once.

But most crucially, the Uchiha had united as one and bared their sharpest fangs.

Three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan!

The Uchiha were also warning every Ninja Clan: if they wanted to be used as weapons, they had better consider whether they could bear the price.

And whether Konoha was worth risking their lives for.

After everyone from the Uchiha Clan had left, the Third Hokage waved his hand.

"You've all worked hard. I will begin investigating Danzo's matter. Everyone, disperse for now."

The various Ninja Clans wore different expressions. They offered a few perfunctory pleasantries, then went their separate ways.

The Anbu also dragged Kakashi and the other two back at this time.

After a brief examination, they reported to the Third Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, they were not seriously injured. Only Kakashi's Sharingan was removed."

The Third Hokage calmly waved his hand to indicate that he understood.

The Uchiha had somehow won Itachi back over to their side.

And they had also recovered Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.

The other Ninja Clans had effectively been threatened from every angle.

As one side waned and the other waxed, the Hokage's faction was now in a difficult position.

Besides summoning Jiraiya back, the Third Hokage was also considering whether to use his trump card.