Openly Shielding Him

Only the person who wronged you knew just how wronged you were. That saying was indeed true.

If anyone present knew that what happened last night really was not Danzo's doing, aside from Danzo himself, it was probably only Xuanye.

At this moment, the Uchiha behind Xuanye had all furiously activated their Three-Tomoe Sharingan, glaring murderously at Danzo as he hurriedly tried to conceal himself.

Danzo's actions had already made it abundantly clear that there was a Sharingan in his right eye socket.

That fact alone was enough for the Uchiha to sentence him to death.

Danzo was not like Kakashi, who had received a Sharingan from his close friend before his death.

That made the origin of Danzo's Sharingan highly questionable.

Danzo's assessment of the Uchiha had not been wrong. Once they learned that someone had dared transplant a Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan, the Uchiha truly would retaliate without regard for consequences.

That was also why the Uchiha did not have something like the Hyuuga Clan's Caged Bird. They had no need for the protection of such a Cursed Seal.

Anyone who dared transplant a Sharingan would face the Uchiha's relentless vengeance.

Thus, even those who secretly transplanted Sharingan had to cover it up. Whenever they used them, they also had to remember to silence witnesses and ensure the information could never leak.

Just like Shimura Danzō.

If Xuanye had not yet given the order, these powerful Uchiha would have already swarmed forward and torn this man who had dared desecrate their clansmen's corpses to pieces.

It had to be said that Danzo had not yet transplanted a Wood Release right arm. Even if he had mastered Izanagi, it would only give him one extra life.

Facing so many enraged Uchiha, there was absolutely no chance of survival for him.

"Hiruzen..." At this moment, Danzo could only look hopefully at Sarutobi Hiruzen beside him, expecting him to shield his mistakes as he had before.

No, this time he truly had done nothing! This was all a conspiracy by the Evil Uchiha!

Xuanye looked at Shimura Danzō as though he were looking at a rat cornered against a wall.

"Elder Shimura, it seems you are unwilling to remove the bandages over your right eye?"

"But that is all right. To prove Elder Shimura's innocence, could we ask the Hyuga Clan Head to activate his Byakugan and take a look?"

"After all, I do not want Konoha's Hokage Assistant to bear the eternal disgrace of murdering fellow village shinobi and conducting bloodline transplant experiments."

Hyuga Hiashi glanced at Xuanye.

This newly appointed Captain of the Security Division was truly ruthless. He actually wanted Danzo to be doomed beyond redemption before everyone present.

Not only that, Xuanye had deliberately mentioned Danzo's position as Hokage Assistant.

He was trying to drag Sarutobi Hiruzen into this mess as well!

"Hyuga Hiashi, how dare you!"

Danzo's voice had completely cracked. If the Byakugan saw the secret beneath his bandages, then he was truly finished.

But such threats were useless against Hyuga Hiashi.

He had long found Danzo extremely displeasing. Just moments ago, Danzo had even indirectly called the Hyuga Clan a bunch of cowards.

What the hell was Danzo? Without Sarutobi Hiruzen, he would have been chopped into countless pieces long ago.

Just as Hiashi was about to activate his Byakugan, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"Enough!!"

"Konoha has just suffered such a tremendous disaster, and now you are going to turn your weapons against your own people?!"

Xuanye looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen without the slightest surprise, his expression still smiling.

He knew Sarutobi Hiruzen would definitely step forward for Danzo.

Although he had been certain that Sarutobi Hiruzen would intervene, even Xuanye was curious now. Why could Sarutobi Hiruzen tolerate Danzo again and again, even forgive something like an attempt on his own life?

He even suspected that Sarutobi Hiruzen had repeated the Will of Fire so often that he had brainwashed himself.

Or was the Hokage tradition of forgiveness hereditary?

If it had been Xuanye, and one of his subordinates had tried to overthrow the natural order and had already taken real action, he would have chopped that person into mince and fed it to the dogs.

Moreover, Sarutobi Hiruzen had chosen a terrible moment to speak for Danzo. Defending him now made it far too easy for others to view him as Danzo's accomplice.

Yet he had still done it. It had to be said, his love for Danzo truly ran deep.

Sure enough, every jonin present aside from the Anbu directly under the Hokage looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen differently.

Could it be that everything Danzo had done had been indulged by Sarutobi Hiruzen?

Was the goal to get rid of the Fourth Hokage and seize power once again?

They could not be blamed for thinking too much. The main reason was that what had happened today was simply too strange.

Even the two advisers, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, had subtly moved away from Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen, afraid they might be implicated as well.

And what Xuanye intended to do was kick them while they were down, completely driving Sarutobi Hiruzen's prestige into the Abyss.

Having fused with Level 5 electricity, Xuanye could naturally slash Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō into ashes with a single stroke. Even dealing with the clans behind them would not be difficult.

But what then?

Could he kill everyone who opposed him?

That was not how politics worked. He was not a madman like Uchiha Madara.

Unless he wanted to completely destroy Konoha and sit atop its ruins as the Hokage of one person, he could not kill Sarutobi Hiruzen at this time.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen died now, he would immediately become Konoha's hero, the kind of hero that even Konoha's destruction could not change.

At the very least, Xuanye first had to smear them and thoroughly ruin their reputations.

[Feeling the host's intense desire, main quest three has been issued: Shadow of the Village]

[Quest requirement: Become Konoha's Fifth Hokage within one year]

[Quest reward: One Myriad World Lottery chance, Yang Release chakra transformation]

Seeing the quest issued by the system, Xuanye revealed a meaningful smile.

The system truly delivered a pillow just as he was getting sleepy, issuing him a quest the moment he thought of it.

But this quest was rather interesting. Not only did it have a time limit, it also specifically required him to become the Fifth Hokage.

He could not wait until someone else took office, kill them, and then become Hokage.

It even guarded against something like Shimura Danzō realizing that the situation was hopeless, forcing a coup with Root, then declaring himself the Fifth Hokage.

Who knew whether the system would recognize something like that?

But overall, the difficulty was not great, especially since Xuanye had practically nailed the blame for being the mastermind behind the Night of the Nine-Tails firmly onto Danzo's head.

Did Sarutobi Hiruzen really think one sentence from him could make everyone put aside their misgivings?

Negative emotions like suspicion and hatred would ferment. The longer they were suppressed, the more fiercely they would rebound.

And that was precisely the effect Xuanye wanted.

After all, prestige was not something fixed. Strictly speaking, it was a consumable; the more it was used, the more it would be depleted.