Backstabbed by the High-Level Brass!

Hokage office.

Thump, thump!

The floorboards rang out as he struck them hard with his cane.

"Those damned Uchiha are actually slandering me! If I had known, I would have—!"

Danzo spewed profanities, casting aside his status to curse at the top of his lungs.

At this moment, not only had his Sharingan been exposed, but people were also pinning the blame for Shisui's disappearance on him.

Rumors had even surfaced claiming he was the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails incident, with the Uchiha merely serving as his scapegoats. It was precisely because of this that he had been trying every possible way to wipe out the Uchiha, hoping to prevent the truth from being unearthed later.

Heaven knows who leaked this information; it had not only spread throughout the entire village, but it was also being widely believed.

With so many black pots being dumped on him, how could Danzo possibly keep his emotions in check?

"Danzo, I will ask you one more time: where is Shisui's body, and you must hand over the Mangekyo!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a final warning with a stern expression.

Things had reached such a point; surely he couldn't keep refusing to produce any concrete evidence?

The problem was... Danzo was truly innocent in this!

How could he possibly know where Shisui's body was? Frustrated and desperate, he explained:

"I have already said it: Uchiha Shisui's disappearance has nothing to do with me!"

He really wasn't lying.

Last night, Shisui had merely had one Mangekyo gouged out by him before breaking through their pursuit squad; he had no idea where the man had fled to, so it truly had nothing to do with him.

As for the Mangekyo... could you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, even handle it?

"Shisui's disappearance really has nothing to do with you?"

Mitokado Homura caught the focus of Danzo's words. Setting aside the Mangekyo for a moment, perhaps Shisui's disappearance really was unrelated to him.

"Of course it has nothing to do with me, and I suspect that Uchiha White Dove is the one who did it!"

Danzo voiced his target of suspicion.

Suspecting the other party was simple: since he hadn't caused Shisui's disappearance, it must have been the other party's doing. There was no need to overthink it.

At this moment, Danzo finally understood how aggrieved it felt to be splashed with dirty water and slandered.

It clearly wasn't his doing, yet everyone insisted he was the one who struck. This kind of grievance made one wish they could die to prove their innocence.

"Uchiha White Dove...?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu exchanged glances, all nodding secretly.

Thinking back on it now, today's provocation by the Uchiha had been led by him from start to finish; he certainly had the greatest motive.

"That's right, that evil brat Uchiha White Dove is the true manipulator. Shisui's disappearance definitely has something to do with him!"

Danzo gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Being taken down by the other party's Sharingan genjutsu earlier was an absolute humiliation, not to mention that the brat had exposed his secret of transplanting Sharingan and then pinned the blame for Shisui's disappearance and the Nine-Tails incident on him. If the brat were here, he would have the urge to eat him alive.

He was just too inhumane.

He was the "Darkness of the Shinobi," for heaven's sake!

How could he not be furious after being humiliated like this?

"I never imagined the other party was hiding so deeply. It seems we should pay more attention to him in the future. How about we entrust this task to Itachi?"

Mitokado Homura suggested.

It was inconvenient for their Anbu to directly monitor the Uchiha, so the task could only be handed to Uchiha Itachi.

"Itachi, huh... that works!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. This was indeed the best choice. Setting aside the issue of strength for others, they wouldn't even be able to enter the Uchiha compound.

"Then, what about the conditions we agreed to earlier..."

Utatane Koharu's eyes darted around as she hatched a plan.

She was extremely dissatisfied with this audacious brat Uchiha White Dove, and now that there was an opportunity, she wanted to cause him some trouble.

"No, I agreed to those conditions in my capacity as Hokage, and besides, those conditions are not entirely unacceptable!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.

If they were to break their word on this, the Uchiha might very well revolt immediately.

If the Uchiha were led by Uchiha Fugaku, they certainly wouldn't have the guts.

But with Uchiha White Dove at the helm, things were different.

Therefore, even if it was just to buy themselves time, they had to use these conditions to stabilize the other party first.

"But that relocation fund is a full 1.5 billion ryo; this money..."

Utatane Koharu felt a heart-wrenching pain.

All that cold, hard cash, just like that, handed over to the wicked Uchiha... what a sin!

If the Utatane Clan could get their hands on that money, they could have trained hundreds of ninja.

"Hiruzen, why not give the money to Root? I'll handle the Uchiha!"

Danzo looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, hoping to intercept the deal.

Root's demand for funds was truly astronomical; every base and research project required a massive influx of capital.

He usually had to rely on schemes and deception to scrape together enough funding, so how could he not be tempted when such a massive fortune was within reach?

"Enough, don't even think about that money... Koharu, cut the budget for public welfare next year. Let the villagers suffer for a while; I'll take the blame. Get the money to them as soon as possible. The Uchiha cannot be provoked any further!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen first scolded Danzo before turning his instructions to Utatane Koharu.

The Uchiha must not descend into chaos.

At the very least, not right now.

Everyone was watching the Uchiha, so even if they wanted to do something, they absolutely could not act at this moment.

Therefore, it was best to use money to appease them for now.

As for the money... don't let the poverty of individual ninja fool you; Konoha itself was not poor. While over a billion ryo was a massive sum, it wasn't impossible to scrape together.

"Whether it's the money or the mission quotas, withdrawing the surveillance is a minor matter, but the most critical issue is... what about the Sharingan?"

Mitokado Homura pointed out the crux of the matter.

Among the other party's conditions, there was also this specific demand.

To reclaim the Sharingan from Danzo or Kakashi!

The best choice would naturally be for Danzo to gouge out the Sharingan in his own eye socket and return it to the Uchiha.

But everyone present knew that Danzo would never agree to that.

Sure enough, Danzo exploded.

"No, this is absolutely out of the question. If we agree to everything, doesn't that mean the village is bowing down to the Uchiha? This is impossible! I'll take Root and wipe out the Uchiha tonight!"

Although he possessed several Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the other party's demand to "reclaim" them implied a claim of ownership.

In other words, if he didn't hand them over this time, the Uchiha would continue to use this as a pretext to cause trouble. If he did, he wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing the transplanted Sharingan in his right eye ever again.

That was the true benefit.

Therefore, even for the sake of that benefit, he could not hand it over.

To possess a Sharingan openly and legitimately—the temptation was simply too great.

However, if he wanted the others to set their sights on Kakashi, he had to put on a show, making them understand that the cost of forcing him to hand over his Sharingan would be an immediate war with the Uchiha. That way, they would know whose Sharingan to hand over instead.

The situation unfolded exactly as Danzo had anticipated; the others immediately voiced strong opposition.

"No, the village cannot afford any more chaos!"

"Everyone is watching us; we absolutely cannot make a move right now!"

"Danzo, you cannot act recklessly!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others felt a splitting headache.

Even though it was a mess of Danzo's own making, for some reason, it felt as if they were the ones who had caused it.

"I think we could send Kakashi along with Uchiha White Dove to clear out the Kumogakure intelligence outposts on the border. Whether he manages to reclaim the Sharingan is his own business; we cannot turn on our own people!"

Mitokado Homura offered a suggestion.

That was to simply provide the other party with an opportunity.

As for the mission... didn't the other party want mission quotas? This would be an S-rank mission.

One could only say this tactic was "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell."

The high-level officials had clearly sold out Kakashi, yet they insisted on pretending it had nothing to do with them—they wanted to have their cake and eat it too.

"Not bad. If they fail, it only proves their strength is nothing special!"

Danzo nodded in agreement.

Furthermore, his peerless wisdom led him to a brilliant plan: if he could leverage the power of Kumogakure, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?

"Kakashi... sigh!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed softly, but the others, who understood his character, exchanged glances, knowing this was his "tacit approval."

With that, the village began to execute the terms of the deal with the Uchiha.

And after a good night's rest, White Dove began his "tenure" at the Police Force.