Danzō's Darkness Exposed

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Ever since the First Hokage founded the village, Konoha's bottom line has always been protecting the younger generation and one's comrades.

Even Uchiha Madara, the First Hokage's close friend and co-founder of Konoha—when he sought to destroy those hard-won bonds, the First Hokage still chose righteousness over family.

And now, Advisor Danzō has completely crossed that line. I hope Hokage-sama will not tolerate such conduct either."

"Hokage-sama, ..."

For a time, not only the clan ninja, but even civilian ninja who had always deeply respected Sarutobi Hiruzen were putting pressure on him as Hokage.

After all, Konoha had endured until now through the combined support of its many clans, along with the civilian ninja who formed its grassroots strength. Even as Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not disregard such overwhelming public sentiment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen shot a furious glare at Uchiha Fugaku, who still wore a mocking expression. The current situation was extremely unfavorable for him and the other higher-ups. Whether Shimura Danzō could be protected now depended on whether Danzō had cleaned up all traces of what he had done.

"Please rest assured, everyone. As Hokage, I naturally will not allow such a thing to happen. As far as I know, Advisor Danzō has never coveted anyone else's Kekkei Genkai.

"Though he does possess a Sharingan, it was a precious legacy left behind by our friend and classmate, Kagami Uchiha. Just like Kakashi back then, Advisor Danzō inherited his dear friend's resolve to protect Konoha in his stead."

"Furthermore, Clan Head Fugaku, we cannot take your word for it alone. Do these human experiments and the accusation that he murdered Shisui truly exist? Why was I, as Hokage, unaware of them? Do you have conclusive evidence for slandering Advisor Danzō like this? If not, I will regard this as the Uchiha Clan provoking all of Konoha."

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that claiming Shimura Danzō did not have a Sharingan would never fool anyone. Fortunately, Kakashi's case gave him an idea. Sarutobi Hiruzen was going all in, directly defining Danzō's Sharingan as a gift from a friend. By personally stepping in to cover for his old friend, no one else could say much.

Afterward, as long as Shimura Danzō did not expose any further incriminating evidence, at best this could be labeled a misunderstanding caused by the Uchiha being overly sensitive. At worst, it could be framed as the Uchiha deliberately slandering the village's higher-ups with ulterior motives.

One had to know that in this shinobi world, the hierarchy of obedience between superiors and subordinates was still very severe. At that point, they could even pin a crime on the Uchiha.

But this was also risky. If Uchiha Clan Members found more Sharingan in the Root Base, then Sarutobi Hiruzen's explanation would merely be excusing Shimura Danzō. His prestige among the many ninja would inevitably suffer. Still, Sarutobi Hiruzen had great faith in his old friend's ability to handle matters. This was a gamble he felt confident about.

Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen turning the tables on him, Uchiha Fugaku had no evidence to produce at the moment. However, he believed Minagawa Uchiha would surely find solid proof. For no other reason than that he had infiltrated the Root Base—he must have grasped some conclusive evidence to dare make such a bold claim.

But now that it had come to this, if Uchiha Fugaku failed to present evidence on the spot, Sarutobi Hiruzen would surely use that to dismiss the matter, perhaps even bringing unfavorable consequences upon the Uchiha.

Just as Uchiha Fugaku racked his brains to buy more time, a young voice rang out from the entrance of the Root Base.

"Want evidence? Hokage-sama, everyone in the village—take a look. This is the evidence!"

From the pitch-black entrance to the Root Base emerged numerous shifting figures. At the forefront was Uchiha Itachi, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated. He held a person in one hand and a pale arm in the other.

As soon as he finished speaking, he arrived among the crowd and threw the human-shaped object in his hand directly before them. Only then did everyone recognize the person on the ground—it was Shimura Danzō, whom they had just been discussing.

For a moment, everyone present could not help but admire this group of Uchiha who truly dared to act when something happened. That was a high-ranking Advisor, the leader of Root, a man known as the Darkness of the Shinobi World. Yet because the Uchiha had discovered that he might have secretly harmed one of their own, they had dared to storm his territory, kill him outright, and even drag out his corpse to disgrace it.

Looks like we should never push those Uchiha lunatics too far in the future. Otherwise, there's nothing they wouldn't dare do!

That was the truest thought in everyone's mind at that moment.

"How dare you attack one of the village's higher-ups directly? What have you done to Advisor Danzō?"

Seeing their old friend's head hanging limply and his face covered in blood, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and the others immediately cried out in anxious fury.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and his group hurried forward. After examining him, their anger surged even higher. They raised their heads and glared hatefully at the Uchiha, Sarutobi Hiruzen gritting out each word:

"What an Uchiha Clan. You actually dared to murder one of the village's higher-ups. This is treason! All personnel, heed my order—seize..."

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen panic, trying to use the confusion before the truth became clear to rally the many ninja into attacking the Uchiha Clan and deny them the chance to defend themselves—

Though not every ninja would loyally carry out Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders as Hokage, he was still the Hokage. Once he gave the command, even those who intended to slack off could not openly refuse. And once they made a move, the situation would spiral out of control.

The Uchiha side tensed instantly. But at that moment, Uchiha Itachi threw out the arm in his other hand. With his superb shuriken technique, it landed precisely at the severed arm of Shimura Danzō's corpse. Anyone with eyes could see that the two fit together flawlessly—it had clearly been cut from that body.

When everyone looked at the arm, they froze in place. Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose face had been filled with rage moments ago, went stiff.

That was because several wide-open Three Tomoe Sharingan had been embedded in that ghastly pale arm, which also showed obvious signs of woodification.

This completely confirmed what Uchiha Fugaku had said earlier. For a moment, no one could accept it. They had never imagined that one of the village's dignified higher-ups had truly committed something so abhorrent to both man and heaven.

As though that had not shocked them enough, at Uchiha Itachi's signal, Minagawa Uchiha stepped forward carrying a Sealing Scroll.

After releasing the seal on the storage scroll, glass jars containing Sharingan appeared one after another before the crowd. In particular, one Nutrient Bottle contained an eye whose pattern differed from ordinary Sharingan, still streaked with fresh crimson blood. One look told them it had just been removed from somewhere. Then they looked at Shimura Danzō's hollow left eye, and the answer was obvious.

Before everyone could process that it was Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, another Uchiha Clan Member stepped forward with a thick stack of documents and began handing them out, including to Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others.