Among the Konoha ranks, Danzo was the first to make a move.
"Uchiha White Dove, are you Uchiha planning to rebel against the village?"
As the culprit who had personally moved against Shisui, he naturally knew what the Uchiha wanted from them. That was why he hoped the two sides would start fighting right away.
If a fight broke out, he could use the opportunity to deal with those evil Uchiha and replenish his stock of Sharingan.
The key was that, after this battle, Sarutobi Hiruzen would surely have to take responsibility and step down. Then Danzo could seize the chance to take his place.
As for Konoha, which would suffer heavy casualties?
Konoha could suffer. I'd bear the blame.
With that in mind, it was no wonder Danzo was so aggressive.
"Danzo, Lord Hokage hasn't even spoken yet, and you've already jumped in. Looks like you're the real Hokage?"
White Dove's words changed the atmosphere on the other side at once.
After all, hardly anyone among Konoha's High Command was unaware of Danzo's ambition. They couldn't help wondering if he was entertaining some improper thoughts again.
"Ahem!" Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed twice, breaking the awkward silence. He stepped forward to the head of the group and said in a mild tone, "White Dove, may I call you that?"
In other respects, perhaps, but when it came to manners and other surface-level niceties, Danzo still had a lot to learn.
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't exactly clean, either. He'd done plenty of dirty things and pocketed plenty of benefits. Yet in everyone's eyes, he was still the "kind and gentle" Lord Hokage.
But Danzo?
His reputation was in the gutter. Everyone avoided him like the plague.
He took the blame, yet got nowhere near the benefits Sarutobi Hiruzen did. That was the difference that surface-level polish made.
Yes, in White Dove's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a "hypocrite."
Not because the man had ever personally caused him trouble or done anything bad to him.
When judging someone, don't listen to what they say. Look at what they do.
Just look at White Fang's suicide, Orochimaru's defection, Hizashi Hyuga's death, Danzo's unchecked actions, Naruto's treatment, Hiruzen's decades as Hokage, and the three thousand Sarutobi soldiers. Those things alone were enough to reveal what kind of man he was.
Either he was stupid or he was evil. You had to pick one, though perhaps he was both evil and stupid.
Three thousand Sarutobi soldiers!
White Dove had originally thought it was just a joke. But after establishing the One Heart Chamber of Commerce and gradually gathering information, he'd uncovered the Sarutobi Clan's true strength—and he'd been stunned.
It wasn't a joke!
They really did have three thousand Sarutobi soldiers.
And the reason hardly anyone knew was that most of the Sarutobi Clan lived scattered throughout the settlements outside Konoha. Their ninja weren't even on the official roster; they were stationed outside the village, so naturally they kept a very low profile and went almost unnoticed.
All you had to do was know that the Uchiha had only around four hundred ninja to understand what that number meant.
Now that was what you called "the Shinobi World's number one clan"!
Of course, numbers were one thing. In terms of quality, most of the Sarutobi ninja were Genin, and they had no more Jonin than the Uchiha did.
Maintaining that many "Sarutobi soldiers" had to cost an astronomical amount of resources. That was why the Konoha F4's strategy was to weaken the great ninja clans.
If they didn't weaken the clans that controlled the resources, how would their own clan grow?
Their excuse was the Second Hokage's "cultivation of civilian ninja."
As for how many civilian ninja had actually been trained over the decades they'd been in power?
No one dared say. No one dared ask. Ask again, and they'd welcome you with "seventeen Kunai in your back."
So White Dove wasn't about to let the man's polished act lower his guard. If anything, he became more vigilant, though he returned the greeting politely all the same.
"Whatever makes you happy, Lord Hokage~!"
White Dove had no intention of following the "acting" approach favored by other transmigrators: pretending to support the Hokage Faction, then stabbing them in the back later.
He was making it clear that he had no patience for the Hokage Faction!
Only by clearly stating his position could he attract more like-minded people to support and cooperate with him.
And that way, even if Sarutobi Hiruzen tried to scheme against him, he could refuse outright.
You might be Hokage, but I'll agree to orders that fall within reason. If they cross the line, I won't even entertain them.
The Hokage might be the leader of the village, but he still had to follow the rules.
"..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression stiffened, but he quickly recovered.
He was used to the respectful attitudes of Uchiha Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi. Naturally, encountering an Uchiha like White Dove, who couldn't even be bothered with the usual formalities, took him by surprise and left him at a loss.
After all, in his view, he was the Hokage. If he spoke to you like this, shouldn't you at least show some excitement?
Who could have known the other man would be this cold?
Actually... if White Dove hadn't transplanted a Mangekyo, he would've been better than anyone at sucking up. If Sarutobi Hiruzen had been willing, he wouldn't have minded calling the man his "godfather." If the benefits were good enough, he could even have changed his name to "Sarutobi White Dove." As long as his bottom line wasn't crossed, he'd never cared about his dignity.
But the Mangekyo gave him the power to protect himself, so of course he didn't want to trade acting skills with these schemers.
He couldn't beat them at their own game!
Ninja might lack the knowledge and imagination of a transmigrator like him, but they were no worse at acting and scheming. If anything, they were even better.
They were all born actors.
Without strength, he could play along with them. But now that he had power, he naturally wanted to build a new faction and face them openly.
White Dove was creating a new Uchiha faction instead of kicking Uchiha Fugaku out and taking the clan leader's seat himself. It would be a "clean" force, better suited to his plans than taking over an old faction riddled with problems and becoming its repairman.
Just as the atmosphere grew awkward and Sarutobi Hiruzen was left with no way to save face, Utatane Koharu spoke from the back.
"Uchiha White Dove, what are you Uchiha trying to do?"
With a single sentence, she drew everyone's attention away and gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a way out, steering the conversation straight to the point.
White Dove might not recognize her title as an Elder, but the others did, so she had every right to question him.
"We only want the truth about whether Shisui was harmed by the village leadership!"
Uchiha White Dove spoke firmly, as if he had truly come for Shisui's sake.
He might have fooled everyone else with that act, but he couldn't fool Danzo, the Darkness of the Shinobi.
"What is this evil Uchiha brat really after?"
"After Shisui escaped last night, did he take the chance to make a move? Did the other Mangekyo fall into his hands?"
"Should I drag him into this while I can... No, I have no evidence. He'd never admit he gave me the information, and besides, I can't admit it myself!"
Thoughts flashed through his mind.
In the end, they all turned into wariness toward White Dove.
Only now did he realize he had no way to voice his suspicions.
If he did, it would practically amount to admitting he was involved in what happened to Shisui.
That alone was bad enough. The problem was, he had no proof that Uchiha White Dove was involved.
No one outside Root knew about their conversation yesterday.
"Preposterous!" Mitokado Homura rebuked him loudly. "You Uchiha have gone too far! Just because of a rumor, you dare gather so many people to pressure the Hokage. Are you trying to rebel?"
He was using his position to throw his weight around.
Everyone already had a good idea whether something had happened to Shisui.
If it really were just a rumor, they would've had Shisui come forward by now. Once he did, the Uchiha's actions would be seen as a challenge to the village, and everyone would join forces to suppress them.
But Shisui hadn't appeared... which, in truth, was as good as confirmation that something had happened to him.
So even though the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Hyuga, the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and the other clans had all shown up, they remained completely silent. If any of their people tried to step forward, their clan heads stopped them with a glance.
No one was stupid!
Even if they didn't know exactly how Shisui had come to harm, they were certain the village leadership was involved. Otherwise, the Uchiha wouldn't be this furious. So let the Hokage Faction shoulder the blame. They weren't about to serve as cannon fodder for them.
White Dove had been watching those clans closely, so a look of understanding flickered through his eyes.
Just as he'd expected!
As long as the Uchiha weren't trying to rebel, those clans wouldn't serve as cannon fodder for the Hokage Faction.
After all, its policy was to "weaken the clans and benefit civilian ninja." They'd kept it up for decades, and the clans had long since grown sick of it.
And after what happened during the Third Shinobi World War, the fact that they hadn't personally gone after Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage, was already generous. Expecting them to help was wishful thinking.
Just look at the original story. Before Orochimaru killed Sarutobi Hiruzen, those clans might as well have vanished. The moment Hiruzen died, they all silently joined forces and crushed the Sand Ninja.
That alone showed how distant the clans were from the F4.
After learning the clans' position, White Dove felt at ease and opened his mouth to let loose.
"What are you getting all worked up for, you old coot? You dare yap at me?"
Don't make yourself miserable for no reason. If there's a problem, go berserk.
Now that he had strength, White Dove wasn't going to hold back. He wasn't like Uchiha Fugaku, who had power but still chose to endure things like a turtle.
He'd held back a little the night before last because he'd only been at near-Kage Level then, while Uchiha Fugaku was a Kage Level powerhouse. If he went too far, Fugaku could've dealt with him in an instant.
But things were different now.
After transplanting the Mangekyo, he was among the strongest even at Kage Level. He had little reason to hold back.
All his planning up to this point had been for the sake of letting loose now.
Before you continue