Report

Inside the Hokage Office, Kakashi truthfully reported what he had seen in the Military Police Force. However, after giving it some thought, he still chose to conceal the part concerning the White Fang Incident.

After hearing Kakashi's report, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Yamato beside him and let out a long sigh.

"Child, what is your name?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.

Kinoe remained silent. Sarutobi Hiruzen did not take offense and walked over, personally undoing his restraints.

"No name? Then from now on, you shall be called Tenzō," Sarutobi Hiruzen said. "The past is in the past. Danzo is dead. From now on, live well as a Konoha shinobi."

Kinoe froze upon hearing that, looking at the target Shimura Danzō had ordered him to assassinate several years ago.

"Since you possess Lord First Hokage's Wood Style, inherit his will to protect the village as well."

Kinoe—or rather, Tenzō—trembled slightly. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent. After glancing at the Third, he turned to look at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, take good care of this child from now on," Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

"Understood." Kakashi nodded and led Tenzō out of the Hokage Office.

After Kakashi left, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to his seat and lit his pipe.

Uchiha Toko's unexpected decision to send back the Wood Style user left him unable to understand. This was Wood Style, after all. If the Uchiha Clan truly intended to rebel, how could they possibly hand over such power so willingly?

Could Uchiha Toko truly be an Uchiha whose heart lay with the village?

Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help asking himself.

That night, Sarutobi Hiruzen was destined to spend the hours in confusion.

The next morning, Uchiha Toko brought along Yamanaka Fu, who had already become an idiot, and headed for the Hokage Office.

When Uchiha Toko arrived, the Hokage Office was already filled with people. Aside from the Two Advisors, Nara Shikaku, who had officially been promoted to Hokage Assistant two days earlier because of Danzo's death, stood at Sarutobi Hiruzen's side.

Seeing this lineup, Uchiha Toko smiled faintly. Under the deterrence of Kotoamatsukami, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not dare meet him one-on-one. Still, such a grand gathering suited Uchiha Toko perfectly.

"Lord Hokage, Uchiha Toko, deputy captain of the Military Police Force, has come to report." Uchiha Toko bowed.

"Toko, you're here." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded with a kind smile.

"Uchiha Toko, under the pretext of investigating a case, you eliminated dissidents and falsely accused innocent villagers. How do you explain yourself?" Before Sarutobi Hiruzen could speak, Mitokado Homura impatiently launched his attack from the side.

Uchiha Toko cast him a disdainful glance. Those two old fossils in high positions had nothing but seniority to their names. Uchiha Toko had never taken them seriously.

"Does Lord Hokage think the same?" Uchiha Toko asked, looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Toko, the Uchiha Clan's methods have been somewhat excessive." Sarutobi Hiruzen did not openly admit it, but he still intended to offer Uchiha Toko a warning.

"Against a cancer within the village like Shimura Danzō and his gang, could gentle methods possibly work? A heavy fist is necessary!" Uchiha Toko said sharply. "The things we have uncovered in just the past few days are already horrifying!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Toko took out the record of Shimura Danzō's crimes that he had written overnight and placed it on Sarutobi Hiruzen's desk.

"For the sake of my clan's bloodline limit, Shimura Danzō deliberately caused the deaths of fourteen recorded Uchiha Clan members on the battlefields of the Third Shinobi World War! And that is nothing. After Lord Hokage expressly forbade human experimentation, Shimura Danzō colluded with the rogue shinobi Orochimaru, trafficking village orphans for experiments. The youngest child among them was only two years old!"

"Do the Two Advisors still intend to shield such an utterly inhuman demon and his accomplices?" Uchiha Toko looked toward Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. "Can you face the Will of Fire? Can you face Lord First Hokage's original intention in founding the village—to protect children from the ravages of war?"

"You..." Utatane Koharu was furious, but the accusation Uchiha Toko had placed on her was simply too enormous, so enormous that even she could not bear it.

"Toko, calm down. They did not know what Danzo had done." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and spoke up to excuse his two old friends. Then, he picked up Danzo's criminal record from the desk.

As he looked through the acts Danzo had committed, even Sarutobi Hiruzen, who knew some of the inside details, could not help staring in shock. Danzo's audacity had far exceeded his imagination.

"These criminal facts were personally confessed by Yamanaka Fu, a core member of Shimura Danzō's criminal organization." Uchiha Toko dragged out the vacant-eyed Yamanaka Fu beside him and threw him forward.

At the mention of that name, Nara Shikaku, who had remained silent until then, could not help narrowing his eyes as he looked at Uchiha Toko. Yet he met Uchiha Toko's gaze directly.

With a faint smile at the corner of his lips, Uchiha Toko looked at Nara Shikaku and said, "Although there was a slight mishap during the interrogation—this man attempted to use the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique to resist the Sharingan's Genjutsu interrogation, resulting in severe brain damage—before that, he confessed to everything he had done."

"Abba... abba abba!"

Nara Shikaku looked at the drooling Yamanaka Fu lying on the ground and let out a long sigh. With his intelligence, he naturally understood that this was the Uchiha Clan's retaliation and warning to the Three Clans. After sighing inwardly, he decisively lowered his head. He knew full well that this matter was no longer something he could involve himself in. In the contest between Konoha's upper ranks and the Uchiha Clan, a single misstep by the Ino-Shika-Cho could lead to utter ruin.

"Lord Hokage, to prevent such incidents from happening again, I ask that Lord Hokage assign several Anbu interrogators to assist us. After all, the Military Police Force truly lacks professional interrogation methods for dealing with shinobi," Uchiha Toko said.

After thinking for a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "I will send people to assist the Military Police Force."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Uchiha Toko's eyes flickered as he spoke.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had likely agreed to this request in order to send people to monitor the Uchiha Clan, but Uchiha Toko did not care. After all, whether they could remain there or not depended on Uchiha Toko's own methods.

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen also saw the final section of the criminal record, the part concerning the White Fang Incident.

"Toko, this..."