Orthodox Recognition

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze lingered on the bright yellow Susanoo Armor for a moment.

A trace of gravity flashed through his eyes before he shifted his gaze, sweeping it across every face present.

No one immediately answered his question. The ruins were silent, with only the crackling of flames that had yet to die out.

"Can no one tell me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sank.

The scene remained silent, but Utatane Koharu spoke first. "Hiruzen, you came at just the right time."

Her voice was shrill, and she spoke extremely quickly.

"Genkawa Uchiha fought someone within the village and caused such widespread destruction, yet he failed to notify the village on his own initiative. I have reason to suspect that he has ties to the other party. I cannot even rule out the possibility that he deliberately let him escape..."

"Koharu!"

Mitokado Homura stopped her in a low voice, but it was already too late.

Every word Utatane Koharu had said reached the ears of everyone present.

Fugaku Uchiha's expression first stiffened, then reddened. In the end, he actually laughed in fury.

"Fine. So he deliberately let him escape."

His voice was low, but the anger within it could not be suppressed.

"Hokage Advisor Utatane Koharu truly has a talent for twisting right and wrong. Genkawa was attacked at the training grounds, and my eldest son, Itachi, was there as well. In a battle of that level, he still had to divide his attention to protect Itachi. Where was he supposed to find the time to notify the village first? It was already no easy task for him to protect Itachi's life. What more do you expect from him?"

He took a deep breath and continued, "Besides, Genkawa fought the other party from beginning to end. It was the two advisors who stepped in and demanded that the village handle the matter, so he stopped. Now that the man has escaped, you want to push the blame onto him instead?"

After Fugaku Uchiha finished speaking, his chest rose and fell violently. He was clearly furious to the extreme.

In the past, he had held many grievances against Genkawa Uchiha. That had been his responsibility as the Uchiha Clan Head.

After all, a genius of the clan had grown estranged from his own family and even held considerable resentment toward him, the Clan Head. Naturally, he had been angered by that.

But now, all of that was in the past.

After all, that was a Mangekyō.

Why ask for anything more?

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not immediately state his position. As Hokage, he clearly did not intend to blindly trust either side. Instead, he turned to Mitokado Homura.

"Homura, tell me. What exactly happened?"

Mitokado Homura took a deep breath. He knew that he could not add fuel to the fire at a time like this. Otherwise, if the matter grew too serious, it would truly become difficult to resolve. There were still so many people watching.

"When we heard the commotion and arrived, the battle had already begun. The person fighting Genkawa Uchiha was a masked ninja who called himself Madara Uchiha. During the battle, he used Susanoo Armor and Wood Release."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelid twitched. Clearly, upon hearing the name Madara Uchiha, he was not as calm as he appeared.

Mitokado Homura paused, as though carefully choosing his words.

"Later, his mask was shattered, revealing his true face. Clan Head Fugaku identified him as Obito Uchiha. He personally admitted that he was the instigator of the Nine-Tails Incident. We ordered his capture, but he escaped using a Space-Time ninjutsu."

After Mitokado Homura finished speaking, he closed his mouth.

His account was fairly objective. He had not exaggerated anything, but neither had he mentioned that they had seen Obito Uchiha being suppressed and wanted to bring him under the village's control.

Naturally, Hiruzen Sarutobi heard the meaning left unsaid in his words. Their years of mutual understanding kept him from saying it outright, and he merely nodded slightly.

Behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake froze as if struck by lightning the instant he heard that name.

"Impossible."

His voice came from behind his mask, filled with disbelief.

"Obito Uchiha is already dead. I saw it with my own eyes. At Kannabi Bridge, he was crushed beneath a boulder and gave me his left eye... He's dead. How could it possibly be him?"

Kakashi Hatake's voice trembled, and the visible eye of his was filled with disbelief.

No one answered him.

The silence over the ruins was crueler than any words.

Kakashi Hatake looked toward Genkawa Uchiha, seemingly hoping to get an answer from him.

Just then, a soft sound broke the silence.

The bright yellow chakra receded like a tide, and the skeletal frame of the Susanoo Armor swiftly dispersed.

Genkawa Uchiha reappeared before everyone. As if nothing had happened, he turned and walked toward the place where Obito Uchiha had vanished.

Everyone's eyes followed him.

He walked to a patch of scorched ground, bent down, and picked up a completely black Ninja Blade.

It was what Obito Uchiha had left behind.

His left arm had been shattered by the chakra longsword of the Susanoo Armor, so the Ninja Blade had naturally been left behind. Perhaps Obito Uchiha had feared that Genkawa Uchiha would not let him leave, so he had fled in such haste that he had failed to take it with him.

The blade was long and slightly curved, its edge gleaming with a cold light.

Despite having gone through such an intense battle, there was not a single nick on its edge.

Genkawa Uchiha weighed the Ninja Blade in his hand and nodded, seemingly quite satisfied.

"This is a fine sword."

With this one included, he now had three Ninja Blades: the Kusanagi Sword, the gift from Fugaku Uchiha, and the one in his hand.

With that, perhaps he could cosplay as Three-Sword Zoro someday.

He did not put it away. Instead, he casually held it in his hand, its tip pointed down as it drew a shallow line across the ground.

After coming to a stop, he raised his head. His gaze passed over Hiruzen Sarutobi and landed on Utatane Koharu.

"Are you done?"

His voice was not loud, but everyone present heard it clearly.

"Since you're done talking, it's my turn now."

He raised his empty left hand, pointed in Utatane Koharu's direction, and faced Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"I need an explanation. Why is this old hag targeting me so fiercely?"

Utatane Koharu's face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

Old hag.

In front of everyone, he had called her an old hag. It was too humiliating.

Her lips trembled as she tried to say something, but Mitokado Homura grabbed her sleeve.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression did not look good.

He looked at Genkawa Uchiha, then at Utatane Koharu, remaining silent for a moment.

"Koharu."

He spoke, his voice steady and devoid of emotion.

"Is there anything you need to explain?"

Utatane Koharu opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.

What could she say?

That she had merely held reasonable suspicions? That excuse had already been refuted.

That she had not deliberately targeted him? But everyone had seen it. She had been targeting him.

She stood there silently, her lips pressed into a thin line.

The surroundings were silent as well.

The ninjas standing behind the advisors lowered their heads. No one spoke up for her.

The neutral parties from ninja clans stood where they were. Some were expressionless, while others lightly shook their heads.

Everyone could see that Utatane Koharu had no grounds to stand on in this matter.

Her words could not hold up, her accusations had no evidence, and everything she had done was aimed at Genkawa Uchiha.

Naturally, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it as well. From that silence, he understood many things.

He took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

Beside him, Genkawa Uchiha watched him with a faintly amused expression.

There was no anger, only that calm gaze, as if he were watching a good show.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's fist clenched and loosened inside his sleeve.

"Utatane Koharu."

His voice was not loud, but he enunciated every word clearly.

"Effective immediately, you are suspended from your position as Hokage Advisor."

Utatane Koharu abruptly raised her head.

Her eyes widened, and all color drained from her face in that instant.

"Hiruzen, you can't..."

Her voice was so shrill that it nearly cracked.

"You can't treat me like this!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at her, his gaze calm.

"I am the Hokage."

Only those four words. Nothing more.

Utatane Koharu's lips trembled violently. She looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then at Genkawa Uchiha, before finally sweeping her gaze across every face present.

No one stepped forward to speak for her.

Even Mitokado Homura turned his head away and did not look at her.

At that moment, she finally understood how Shimura Danzō had felt in the past.

"You'll regret this, Hiruzen," she said.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath. "I am the Hokage."

Genkawa Uchiha's expression immediately turned strange.

So the mantle of orthodox recognition had passed from Shimura Danzō to Utatane Koharu, huh?