Hokage, Get Down on Your Knees and Surrender!

Victory or defeat would be decided here!

Uchiha Kazuto led his men toward the Hokage's Office. They had to capture the traitor Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi had just ordered the Anbu to deal with the village's problems. They hadn't even begun to act yet.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

Just then, an angry shout rang out. The next moment, a group of ninja surrounded the Hokage's Office.

Bang!

The office wall was kicked open, and someone Hiruzen Sarutobi had never expected to see walked in.

"Kazuto? What's wrong?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Uchiha Kazuto's grief-stricken, furious expression and frowned, asking in confusion. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Lord Hokage! Hahaha! Lord Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, you betrayed the trust I placed in you. You betrayed the trust the village placed in you. I never imagined you could be such a beast!"

Uchiha Kazuto gritted his teeth as he stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi. His blood-red eyes seemed to burn with furious flames—the rage of a shattered faith. He had been so loyal, always thinking of the village and Lord Hokage. But what about you, Hokage?

I admired you so much, and you're nothing but a beast!

"Kazuto, you've got it wrong. Those things are all slander Danzo made up about me. How could I kill my own teacher?"

Looking at Uchiha Kazuto, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately understood. Uchiha Kazuto was a good citizen of Konoha, a powerful ninja with the Will of Fire. He must have believed the rumors spreading outside and come to think that Hiruzen Sarutobi was a beast. But they were all lies!

He had to explain himself immediately, then get Uchiha Kazuto to suppress the unrest in Konoha.

Even now, he still didn't suspect Uchiha Kazuto. After all, Kazuto's disguise had been far too convincing.

He could never have imagined that everything happening now was the result of Uchiha Kazuto's plot.

"Save your breath, Hiruzen Sarutobi! You Innate Evil Old Ghost! I must have been blind to think someone like you could make a good Hokage. Then again, a beast like Danzo was your subordinate. As his superior, how could you possibly be innocent?"

Uchiha Kazuto shook his head. The next moment, a powerful surge of Chakra burst from him.

"The First Hokage said that if it was for the village, even he, Hashirama Senju, could be killed. As a practitioner of the great Will of Fire, today, for the village, I'll kill even you, Hiruzen Sarutobi! Everything is for the village!"

Boom!

The next moment, Uchiha Kazuto vanished, turning into a blur as he charged at Hiruzen Sarutobi. The instant he reached him, a massive Susanoo appeared, and a gigantic Chakra hand slammed down toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Rumble!

A tremendous explosion rang out, and the entire Hokage's Office was blown apart.

"Kazuto, listen to my explanation!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared in the distance, his expression grim as he looked at Uchiha Kazuto. It was over. Kazuto was too loyal to the village. He'd believed the slander and was now attacking the great Hokage.

This wasn't a coup. It was a purge of traitors and heretics!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank. He knew that Konoha's clans had been deeply dissatisfied with him for some time. On the surface, it looked as if they were unhappy with Uchiha Kazuto, but he was the one they were really angry with. They simply couldn't vent their resentment on him because he was the Hokage.

And now, with the village's rumors fueling them, those clans might not come to his aid at all!

This was bad!

Damn it, who was spreading these rumors?

"An explanation? Hahaha! Who would listen to an explanation from someone like you? You lying beast! Do you think I'd believe you? Lord Hokage, I'll call you Lord Hokage one last time. For the village, get down on your knees and surrender!"

Uchiha Kazuto laughed bitterly, tears as big as beans rolling from the corners of his eyes. He was truly heartbroken. He had never been this sad before. His beloved Lord Hokage had turned out to be a schemer with not a shred of the Will of Fire in his heart—though Kazuto had made all of it up.

"Kazuto!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. It seemed there was no settling this with words.

If so, then they would fight!

At the same time, members of the Anbu rushed over, only to be blocked by members of the Military Police Force.

"You people! Are you going to become traitors too? Don't you know what kind of man Hiruzen Sarutobi really is?"

"He has no right to be Hokage. He stole the position. If he hadn't killed the Second Hokage, how could he have become Hokage?"

"Are you really going to protect a beast like him?"

The Military Police Force members shouted, revealing Hiruzen Sarutobi's conspiracy in an instant.

"Kill Hiruzen Sarutobi! We can't let a beast like him lead Konoha!"

At the same time, some Konoha villagers rushed over, holding signs and shouting over and over as if they had a blood feud with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Anbu ninja hesitated.

"Lord Hokage..."

Kakashi closed his Sharingan and started slacking off, merely going through the motions. He thought of his father. What if his father's reputation really had threatened this so-called Lord Hokage, and the Anbu had spread rumors about him in secret, driving his father to suicide?

At the same time, the Anbu's attacks also slackened. They were no longer willing to fight for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had already lost the people's support in Konoha.

In the past, Uchiha Kazuto's actions would have amounted to launching a coup—and doing so openly. The entire village would have opposed such an act. The Anbu, Konoha's other clans, and even the civilian ninja would all have come to Hiruzen Sarutobi's defense.

Back then, Uchiha Kazuto would have led the Uchiha Clan against all of Konoha. Even if they won, it would have been a devastating victory. Konoha's top fighters might have been wiped out, leaving the village open to invasion by enemy villages and certain destruction.

But things were different now. Thanks to Uchiha Kazuto's efforts, Konoha's resentment toward Hiruzen Sarutobi had built to its breaking point and finally erupted. No one stood by Hiruzen Sarutobi anymore. Especially after Diary of Shimura Danzo had been exposed, Hiruzen Sarutobi had become a traitor to Konoha.

A madman who had killed his own teacher to seize power.