Danzo Won't Take the Blame

"Heh, Third, it seems you've made up your mind."

A hoarse, wicked laugh echoed through the dark forest. At that moment, Orochimaru, severely injured in the waist, looked at the four of them, his body gradually turning into dust.

Mud Clone!

When?! The four were shocked. They had to admit that Orochimaru's skill in Ninjutsu was so great that he probably used the smoke to create a Mud Clone the moment he was seriously injured by the Explosive Tags.

"How could this be! How could it have turned out like this!" At this moment, Uchiha Shisui stared in disbelief at Orochimaru, who was fleeing heavily injured. In his mind, the village's hero had escaped in such a sorry state. This moment completely overturned his understanding of the world.

The Third Hokage and Orochimaru have become enemies! And he even wants to kill Lord Orochimaru!

Shisui's mind was filled with these images, while Kakashi stared at them in shock, his face ashen, just like White Fang! Was this referring to his father?!

Might Guy, an ordinary ninja, witnessed all of this firsthand. Although he didn't know the specific reasons, he also knew some information because of Kakashi, and he was equally shocked.

Swoosh~

One by one, figures from the Anbu) flashed in, and crisp footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel. The Third Hokage, clad in armor, slowly emerged from the darkness.

"The Anbu are pursuing Orochimaru!"

The Third Hokage's hoarse voice echoed through the dark forest, shocking everyone. Even the newly arrived Anbu looked on in disbelief, considering Orochimaru was a hero of Konoha, second only to the Hokage.

Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, the Third Hokage roared, "Issue my Hokage order! The Anbu to pursue Orochimaru!"

No! I don't believe it!

Uchiha Shisui stared at all in shock, filled with disbelief. However, seeing the enraged Hokage, the Anbu could only instinctively obey orders.

Uchiha Yoru's expression changed drastically at that moment, while the Third Hokage, clearly in a foul mood, glanced coldly at the four of them and shouted, "I hereby order the Anbu to pursue Sannin, one of the Orochimaru!"

Whoosh!

The Third Hokage and the Anbu members vanished, but at that moment Uchiha Yoru's expression changed drastically, turning deathly pale. "No! There's still a chance!"

At this moment, Uchiha Yoru seemed to have grasped at his last straw. He turned to Shisui, Might Guy, and Kakashi, and roared, "Quick! You three go to the Prison! Protect those children! At the same time, order all members of the Seventh Division of the Konoha Military Police Force to drop everything and assemble at the Prison!"

"As long as these children are safe, there's still a chance! In my capacity as the Seventh Division Captain, I order: all members of the Seventh Division must hold the Prison at all costs! These children absolutely cannot be allowed to get hurt!"

The three of them snapped out of their daze at that moment. Kakashi, being the quickest to react, hurriedly told the others, "Quick! Guy, go to the Seventh Division and relay the order: everyone abandon your current missions and assemble at the Prison!"

At that moment, Uchiha Shisui seemed to grasp at a last straw. In his panic, he seemed to have no sense of direction and nodded frantically upon hearing Kakashi's words, saying, "Yes, yes, hurry, let's go protect the children in the Prison. This is our last chance."

At this moment, the darkness of Konoha had filled him with utter despair. If even the village hero Orochimaru could treat them this way, what about those children? If the news leaked out, someone would probably take action against them too.

The cry of an eagle suddenly echoed over Konoha. At that moment, the ninjas in the village, whether at home, in the Training Ground, or preparing to go on a mission, suddenly looked up and saw the black eagle circling overhead. Their faces changed drastically with fear.

Something terrible has happened!

Such a grand spectacle reminded them that the last time was the night of the Nine-Tails, when countless people were filled with terror as if they were reliving that night, after all, it hadn't been that long ago.

Under the bright sunlight, the houses in Konoha Village were covered with shimmering black dots, all of which were ninjas running at high speed.

At the same time, the signal issued by the village caused all the Konoha Ninjas to quickly enter a state of high alert, and all the ninjas swiftly went to their respective posts.

"Pursue Sannin, one of the Orochimaru!"

This was an order directly issued by the Anbu. At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was just about to Hiruzen Sarutobi back, saw this and his eyes widened in fury as he roared, "Who gave this lowly servant the audacity!"

If the order he just gave was for the Anbu to hunt down Orochimaru, it was all done in secret, at least not known to the public, which meant there was still a chance for Orochimaru's situation to turn around.

But now! The news has been spread throughout the entire village. At this moment, the Third is furious. Someone is trying to drive Orochimaru to the brink of destruction.

The Sarutobi Clan.

"Sarutobi Hizuki, your forces are deeply entangled with Orochimaru's. You should know your place."

Back in her clan, the Third Hokage's Daughter-in-law did not calm down at all; instead, she coldly stared at the Jōnin within her clan.

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Hizuki gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Yes! I know what to do!"

Meanwhile, many of the older generation of the Sarutobi Clan were sitting in the room, each of them revealing ambitious eyes.

"Go ahead and do it with confidence."

"Now that we've already made our move, we can't hold back. If Orochimaru isn't completely defeated and instead takes that position, you should know that the Sarutobi Clan will be targeting the future Hokage with all their might."

"That's right! The Sarutobi Clan has completely offended Orochimaru. To put it bluntly, even if someone else were to become Hokage, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to take the position."

"I have already spread the word that Orochimaru is using ninjas from his own village for human experiments. This time, Orochimaru will be severely injured, if not killed."

One by one, the leaders and elders of the Sarutobi Clan spoke of the current situation. They had no choice; when their ambitions grew to want another Hokage to emerge from the Sarutobi Clan, they had already embarked on a path of no return.

Furthermore, their direct disobedience in spreading the message, coupled with the fact that the suspended Third Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law had, in her capacity as the Anbu Captain, informed all the ninjas in the village, left them with no way back.

Turn back? If Orochimaru takes over, will he let them go? Even if he does, the Sarutobi Clan will definitely be targeted.

So they had no choice but to grit their teeth and move forward. And this time it was clear that Orochimaru had been nailed to the pillar of shame. Once he was nailed to the pillar, there would be no chance of him ever coming back.

The Hokage Office.

"Danzo! How could this happen? How did this escalate to this point?"

Utatane Koharu was furious at the sudden commotion in the village. She pushed open the office door and saw Danzo, who had just entered, and immediately began to berate him.

Meanwhile, in his office, Shimura Danzō was facing questioning from Mitokado Homura, and now another one was coming at him. He was just as frustrated as he was.

"I! I was just following plan. This wasn't done by the Root!"

"If it's not your Roots, then who else could it be? The entire Konoha has gone mad! Look outside the village!"

Looking out the window, all I could see in Konoha was black fleas everywhere—no, it was more like swarms of ninjas leaping wildly across the rooftops; it was utter chaos.

"Me!" Shimura Danzō, staring in shock at the scene outside the window. "Impossible! Who is it!"

"Damn it! Didn't we agree to keep the news under wraps and only leak a tiny bit? Look at the mess now, the whole village knows! Do you really want to drive Orochimaru to his death? Do you really want Orochimaru to follow in White Fang's footsteps?"

Utatane Koharu was furious this time and retorted without holding back. Shimura Danzō looked at his two old friends, one angry and the other dissatisfied. He was stunned, but then he seemed to realize something.

"No! No! This is the 'Sound Hawk' of the Anbu, the 'Sound Hawk' of the Anbu! It's not my Root. No matter how arrogant I am, Anbu Sarutobi never allow me to interfere."

Danzo seemed to have grasped something, and suddenly got excited and retorted angrily. Good heavens, he wanted to make him take the blame again, what a pipe dream.

"Fine! Third Hokage Sarutobi, you're ruthless! I thought I was ruthless enough, but you're ruthless than anyone else. You're trying to force Orochimaru to his death!"

At that moment, Danzo seemed to realize something and immediately became furious. He had driven Orochimaru to this state; wasn't this Sarutobi's way of completely kicking Orochimaru out and letting his son take over?

Upon hearing this, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were taken aback. However, upon seeing the hawk circling above Konoha outside the window, the two exchanged a grim-looking glance, their expressions turning extremely unpleasant.

"Sarutobi too far this time!"

The two cursed inwardly, thinking that Hiruzen Sarutobi had truly lost his composure this time. Hadn't he forgotten the lesson from White Fang? Enough was enough; this time, he had completely slipped out of control.

However, just then the door was suddenly pushed open, and the Third furious Shimura Danzō immediately became agitated, his face full of resentment, and was about to scold the Third Hokage when the latter unexpectedly accused him first.

"Danzo! I am the Hokage! Who told you to do this!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi burst into the office and roared furiously the moment he saw Shimura Danzō. The Third Hokage's roar echoed throughout the entire Hokage Building.

At this moment, Shimura Danzō seemed to be stunned. He had never seen Sarutobi so angry before, and his murderous gaze was terrifying, making him forget to refute for a moment.

"Danzo! I just warned you! You've been suspended from your post, and you've gone too far this time! Have you forgotten White Fang? Do you really intend to wreak havoc on Konoha before you give up?"

Clad in armor, Hiruzen Sarutobi charged forward in a furious rage, grabbing Danzo by the collar and spitting as he did so, his spittle landing on Danzo's face.

Danzo was stunned for a moment, but when he came to his senses, his face turned red, and his single eye was filled with ferocious bloodshot veins. The anger in his chest exploded.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi! You Old Monkey, this time I'm not taking the blame for this!"

Shimura Danzō incredibly aggrieved this time. "Damn it, don't you know what I did? I was the one who had Root report to you, and you were the one who approved it. Now I'm being made to take the blame? How can this be? All the bad things are my fault?"

"Danzo! I told you to restrain yourselves! Restrain yourselves! Don't repeat the mistakes of the past, and that's exactly what you did!"

With eyes blazing with fury Third Hokage roared as he grabbed Shimura Danzō by the collar, while Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura rushed forward to break up the fight.

Although this was a scene they hadn't witnessed in countless years, and it even evoked a sense of nostalgia for the two of them, they knew it wasn't the right time and quickly Hiruzen Sarutobi away.

At this moment, Shimura Danzō looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi's murderous eyes and said resentfully, "Fine! Fine, you, Sarutobi, you've done all the good work, you're enjoying the sunshine of Konoha while I'm just a root rotting in the ground, huh! But you still dare to bully me like this."

"Danzo, how dare you say that!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi Danzo Utatane Koharu Mitokado Homura quickly pulled the Third Hokage back, shouting at Danzo, "What time is it? You two better shut up and think of a way to salvage this!"

The Anbu outside the door had almost completely sealed off the Hokage's office, and had even set up a soundproof barrier.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was persuaded to calm down in the office, he was still furious. Danzo, on the other hand, had never suffered such humiliation in all his years; it was incredibly frustrating.

"Sarutobi! These are all our own people, why are you pretending to be so high and mighty? Didn't I send you the report on dealing with Orochimaru? You agreed to it yourself, and now that things have gone wrong, you're blaming me?"

At this moment, Danzo furious, and pointed at Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu with aggrieved expression, "They were both involved, and they both know everything. Why don't you say anything about them? You're pointing your finger at me as soon as you walk in the door? Root may be the darkness of the village, but it's not something you can treat like this."

"And another thing! What does this Yamato us?" At this point, Shimura Danzō became even angrier. He was furious too. Orochimaru was Kage Level shinobi of the village. Shinobi of this level were intimidating beings, like Tailed Beasts. Who would be stupid enough to force him to defect?

"It's your Sarutobi Clan! Your Sarutobi Clan wanted to pass down the Hokage position through generations, to make the village's Hokage your own, and now you're telling me you resent my Root clan? Without your tacit approval, would Root dare to do that?"

"Without your tacit approval, could your Sarutobi Clan be so arrogant? Now your Sarutobi Clan has blown things up and made a mess of things. What's wrong with that? Has it become my problem now?"

Shimura Danzō had never felt so relieved. His furious outburst enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi, who retorted, "When did you ever send me a report?"

Good heavens! Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's clueless expression, Shimura Danzō turned green with rage, his nose twisted, and he glared with one big eye, almost dying of anger.

"Very well! You, Hiruzen Sarutobi, truly live up to your reputation as a leaf under the sunlight, while I am a rotten root. If it weren't for Mitokado Homura, and your daughter-in -Utatane Koharu law being there last time, I would have been unable to clear my name even if I jumped into the ocean."