"Let's leave it at that. Since Lord Danzō says he wishes to apologize on behalf of his former subordinate, I can't truly punish you. After all, this incident had nothing to do with you."
But to prevent something similar from happening again in the future, how about disbanding Root and turning it into a guard unit instead?"
Hatake Sakumo's words immediately made Shimura Danzō's expression turn exceedingly ugly.
Seeing his reaction, Hatake Sakumo's following tone remained relatively polite, but it already carried a hint of forcefulness.
"That way, the number of people under your command will be greatly reduced, making them easier to manage.
It can prevent subordinates from acting on their own and causing trouble in the future, avoiding any impact on you.
Lord Danzō, what do you think?"
But before Shimura Danzō could reply, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke first.
"Sakumo, you truly have thought this through! I think this proposal is excellent. Then I shall lead by example and voluntarily reduce the number of guards under my command as well."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's stance surprised Hatake Sakumo somewhat. He had originally thought that Sarutobi Hiruzen would side with Shimura Danzō.
However, with Sarutobi Hiruzen supporting him so wholeheartedly, Hatake Sakumo naturally would not refuse the gesture.
The reason Sarutobi Hiruzen took this stance was that, compared to his old friend who was already out of danger, he was more inclined to support Hatake Sakumo as the Hokage.
Although what Hatake Sakumo did weakened their influence, there was nothing wrong with it.
After all, as the Hokage, if there were all kinds of small factions in the village and he still had no say, how many people could accept that?
Thus, it had only been a matter of time before Root was dealt with. Hatake Sakumo was merely using this incident