Meeting Adjourned, the Hokage Abandoned by All

After speaking, Xuanye shoved open the meeting room doors and strode away with all the Security Division members.

The remaining ninja clan heads and civilian jonin exchanged glances, then left one after another as well.

There was no need for the meeting to continue any further.

Everyone was now convinced that Shimura Danzō was the true mastermind behind the Nine-Tails Incident.

When had ninja ever needed so much evidence? Back when they targeted the Uchiha, they had never produced any decent evidence either.

Besides, there was already more evidence than enough.

It was only because Sarutobi Hiruzen had relied on his old reputation to overrule everyone's objections that he had barely managed to suppress their anger.

Sarutobi Hiruzen himself knew that anger was not something that could be suppressed, especially when Danzo had incurred everyone's wrath.

In the end, even more than half the Anbu left. Before Kakashi departed, his exposed eye, bloodshot red, fixed Shimura Danzō with a cold stare.

If Xuanye's words were true, then Shimura Danzō had not only driven his father to death—Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee-san's deaths were connected to him as well.

The three most important elders in his life had all died at Danzo's hands.

If he could still endure something like this, then Kakashi might as well stop being a ninja and go home to farm.

Watching most of the Anbu leave, Sarutobi Hiruzen's back bent lower. In an instant, he seemed to have aged ten years.

He knew that the reputation he had built over a lifetime had been utterly destroyed.

A Hokage whom even the Anbu no longer trusted had no reason to exist at all.

Moreover, the label of having assassinated the Fourth Hokage could no longer be torn from Danzo.

He waved his hand and dismissed the remaining Anbu. Once only the two of them remained, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shimura Danzō beside him, who leaned on his cane with a terrified expression.

Shimura Danzō no longer possessed his usual composure. His exposed eye was filled with fear and unease.

"Danzo, I'll only ask you once. Was last night's Nine-Tails Incident really your doing!?" Sarutobi Hiruzen demanded sharply.

Danzo's face instantly flushed red, and he shouted:

"Hiruzen, even you suspect me!?"

Did he not know whether he had been framed or not?

What he found hardest to accept was that even Hiruzen no longer trusted him!

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the furious Danzo and slowly nodded, his expression utterly calm.

So alike.

They were truly too alike.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen had questioned Shimura Danzō before, Danzo had worn the same expression of being wronged.

He still remembered the assassination attempt against him. He had clearly found the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on the ninja's tongue, yet Danzo had still insisted on his innocence with this same attitude.

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly gave a mocking laugh.

That was right. Danzo had tried to assassinate him before as well. It was not as though he had no history of assassinating Hokage.

He had merely failed that time and succeeded this time.

Assassinating two successive Hokage—on some level, Danzo could be considered quite talented.

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen completely believed what Xuanye had just said.

The one who had planned the Nine-Tails Incident and personally orchestrated Minato and Kushina's deaths in battle was Shimura Danzō!

Danzo had known Sarutobi Hiruzen for decades. Seeing that expression, how could he not understand what Hiruzen was thinking?

But he truly had not done this!

How many times did he have to say it before anyone would believe him?

For the first time, Danzo truly understood what it felt like to be falsely accused—and to be forcibly framed by the Uchiha before the entire village.

Even his old comrade Sarutobi Hiruzen did not trust him!

The frustration made Shimura Danzō want to vomit blood.

This Konoha was no longer worth staying in!

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not ask Danzo such a stupid question as whether the right eye beneath his bandages was a Sharingan.

Danzo's instinctive reaction when he had been questioned earlier had already explained everything.

This incident truly made it difficult not to connect it to Danzo.

As for how the Anbu and Sealing Squad had been silently breached, Sarutobi Hiruzen also formed a bold guess.

The Flying Thunder God Technique!

He had never expected Danzo to secretly cultivate someone capable of using the Flying Thunder God Technique!

As Hokage Assistant, with Sarutobi Hiruzen indulging him so much, Shimura Danzō could naturally browse the Scroll of Sealing at will. He was fully capable of accessing the Flying Thunder God Technique.

However, Flying Thunder God was an extremely talent-dependent and technically demanding ninjutsu. It was extraordinarily difficult to learn, even harder than Impure World Reincarnation.

And not everyone who learned the Flying Thunder God Technique was Namikaze Minato.

Without Minato's extraordinary reflexes, even if someone barely learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, they could only perform fixed-point teleportation. Not only would it consume enormous amounts of chakra, but it also required preparation.

The principle behind Flying Thunder God was not particularly complicated. It was simply advanced Sealing Technique, along with Summoning Technique and Reverse Summoning Technique.

What was truly powerful was Senju Tobirama and Namikaze Minato, never any particular technique.

Besides, if Danzo had cultivated another Namikaze Minato, he would have leapt out long ago, impatient to contend for the Hokage position. How could he remain so calm?

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen close his eyes, Danzo could no longer control his emotions and shouted:

"Hiruzen! Would you rather believe the words of that Evil Uchiha than believe your comrade-in-arms!?"

"I was truly framed! I really did nothing last night!"

Danzo stepped forward, desperate to make Sarutobi Hiruzen believe him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer wanted to say anything to Danzo in this state. Wearily, he sighed.

Only now did he realize that Danzo had completely gone mad over the Hokage position.

He had actually committed an act that shook Konoha's foundations—releasing the Nine-Tails and killing Minato and Kushina.

And Sarutobi Hiruzen could already foresee how far his prestige would fall after today's events.

Even if he did not become as universally reviled as Shimura Danzō, no one would trust him anymore.

The possibility of returning to power was completely gone. No one would trust a former Hokage like him, someone who had shielded the murderer of the Fourth Hokage and his wife.

If everyone in the village trusted you, then you were the Hokage.

If not a single person in the village trusted you, then you were nothing.

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen also experienced what it felt like to be surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Danzo nearly crushed his teeth from gritting them. After a moment, as though he had suddenly come to his senses, he hurriedly said:

"Hiruzen! The Nine-Tails! Namikaze Minato sealed the Nine-Tails inside his child's belly. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki absolutely cannot be allowed to fall under the control of an evil clan like the Uchiha!"