At that moment, inside the council chamber of Konoha's Hokage Building.
Danzo, who had lost both legs and sat in a wheelchair,
was using his left hand to laboriously push himself toward the three men before him.
His face was twisted with fury as he roared,
"Look!"
"Just look! This is the Uchiha! This is what you get for indulging them, Hiruzen!"
Danzo slammed a document down on the table.
It clearly stated that the Land of Fields had openly accepted the Uchiha Clan and recognized the legitimacy of the newly established Flame Hidden Village!
No wonder Danzo was so furious and worked up after seeing the news.
"We already know..."
"You know, and you're still sitting here?"
"What is this? It's a blatant provocation against Konoha!"
"The Uchiha Clan defected, founded their own Flame Hidden Village, and now they want to lord it over Konoha!"
"How can we allow that? It's a complete disgrace!"
Danzo grew more agitated with every word, even trying to stand up so he could denounce them properly.
But then—
His hand slipped, and he nearly fell out of his wheelchair.
Only then did he remember that he had no legs...
"Danzo, your legs..."
Mitokado Homura asked with concern.
"Oh? Oh!"
"I'm fine. That's not what we should be thinking about right now!"
Danzo straightened himself in the chair and continued grimly, his resolve unwavering.
Utatane Koharu spoke up beside him, asking directly, "Then what do you want to do?"
"Notify the other major ninja villages and have them join forces. We'll destroy this 'traitor village' as quickly as possible!"
Danzo clenched his fist and proposed it without mercy.
In his view,
only the most brutal methods would do: killing every Uchiha who had defected and grinding that brat, Uchiha Natsume, into dust.
Only then could he vent the pain and humiliation in his heart!
"No!"
Hiruzen immediately rejected the idea.
"Why not?"
"To be honest, the village simply can't afford another war right now!"
"How can that be?!"
"Are you still going to indulge the Uchiha Clan, Hiruzen?" Danzo roared.
The Third paused before explaining,
"The night the Uchiha Clan defected, the village's Vault was robbed as well..."
"We suspect it was also the work of the Uchiha defectors."
"Now, with only the money left in the Vault, even if we could barely sustain a war, the village's economy would be set back by more than a decade afterward—or even collapse..."
"Let alone contacting the other major ninja villages and asking them to join us in battle."
"Konoha couldn't afford the enormous bill afterward!"
Hearing this, Danzo was stunned.
He had been receiving treatment at the Medical Clinic for the past few days, so he genuinely hadn't known about the Vault robbery.
That showed just how well Hiruzen and the others had kept the matter under wraps.
"Damn it! Those despicable traitors even robbed the Vault!"
"But it's only a little war funding."
"We can just borrow it from the Daimyo!"
Hiruzen could only sigh at Danzo's refusal to give up.
"You know that serving the nobles and bureaucrats of the Land of Fire is a thankless task."
"Many such missions were assigned to Uchiha ninja."
"So the Daimyo's people have a fairly good impression of the Uchiha Clan."
"I heard there's even a Genin named Izumi Uchiha who's quite favored by the Daimyo's wife."
"As a result, the Daimyo's people have already classified this as an internal dispute within the Uchiha Clan. They don't agree with the village launching a war outright!"
"Nor will they pay for it."
"If the village insists on going to war, they'll drastically cut next year's financial aid to Konoha!"
At that,
Danzo was even more dumbfounded.
He had never expected the Daimyo Mansion of the Land of Fire to take this stance!
Those decrepit officials were far too cowardly!
"Are we really going to let those traitors keep running wild?"
"Danzo, calm down!"
"Koharu, the others, and I have already discussed this. We'll do our best to send the remaining Uchiha ninja in the village to hunt down the defectors."
"You don't need to worry about this any further. Focus on recovering!"
Danzo was taken aback, then understood.
"You want the Uchiha Clan to kill its own?"
"Aren't you afraid the Uchiha ninja you send out won't come back either?"
Danzo loudly challenged them.
At the same time, he kept another concern to himself.
In his view,
among the Uchiha ninja who remained, hardly any of them could beat that terrifying brat, Natsume!
Even Itachi was probably a little weaker!
Sending those cannon fodder after him would be like delivering them straight into his jaws.
"Danzo, we have our own arrangements!"
"And don't forget. That night, it was your rash move and the Root ninja's that let Uchiha Natsume escape!"
"Koharu, you..."
Danzo's face reddened with humiliation.
He cursed inwardly: if that old woman Koharu had faced Natsume's Susanoo herself, she would've been cut down in a single strike. She wouldn't have had the chance to lecture him now!
"Danzo. Koharu."
"Enough! No more arguing..."
Hiruzen shouted, cutting them both off.
At that, Utatane Koharu gave Hiruzen the courtesy of backing down.
"I understand."
Then she turned to Mitokado Homura and said,
"Homura, let's go inspect the Vault."
"Good."
"Also..."
"Even if we can't wage a full-scale war, those rebels really are too brazen."
"For the sake of the village's reputation,"
"Hiruzen, you still need to urge the Uchiha ninja in the village to hunt down those traitors as soon as possible..."
Before leaving, Utatane Koharu once more pressed him sternly.
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment, feeling reluctant.
But in the end, he had no choice but to agree.
"Fine. I'll make the arrangements as soon as I can!"
Then Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura left the meeting chamber, leaving Hiruzen and Danzo alone.
"Hiruzen, you shouldn't be so indecisive!"
"Using the Uchiha Clan to deal with those traitors won't work!"
"You know how strong that brat, Uchiha Natsume, is..."
"If you let him keep growing, the entire village could be in danger of falling!"
Danzo glared at Hiruzen and shouted.
Hiruzen snapped back in anger.
"Danzo! What about you?"
"Who do you think is responsible for bringing us to this point?"
"You went behind my back and ordered Itachi to slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan?"
"Were you really doing it purely for Konoha?"
"Did you have to go this far?"
"Your real goal was coveting the Sharingan of their clan, wasn't it?!"
Danzo was startled.
"Hiruzen... you saw?"
"Hmph! That wicked arm of yours, those bloodstained eyeballs—you thought I wouldn't notice?"
"Danzo, you're already an old man. Are you still obsessed with those crooked ways?"
"The Will of Fire can't be carried by those sinful eyes on your arm!"
Hiruzen scolded him furiously. He was clearly truly angry.
Danzo was shaken once again.
He knew perfectly well that transplanting Sharingan was no righteous path.
But he was already old.
His physique, spirit, chakra... everything, just like Hiruzen's, was in decline.
It was hard enough to hold on to the strength he'd had in his youth.
Never mind getting stronger.
With no other choice, he had decided to take this path and work with Orochimaru, turning his claws toward the Uchiha Clan, which possessed the Izanagi Technique.
"My business is none of your concern!"
Danzo roared, waving his hand stubbornly.
"Danzo..."
"Ugh!"
"In any case, don't interfere in the Uchiha Clan's affairs again!"
Hiruzen spoke with rare severity.
"Fine!"
"Hiruzen, I won't interfere in what happens to the Uchiha Clan from now on. But you have to hand the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki over to me!"
"That's impossible!"
"You should know that Uchiha Natsume awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"And the Mangekyō Sharingan can forcibly break the seal inside a Jinchuriki. If he succeeds and controls the Nine-Tails again..."
"Do you want another Nine-Tails Incident?!"
Danzo shouted, entirely convinced of his own argument.
He couldn't count on collecting more Sharingan in the short term.
So he could only turn his attention to the powerful Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
"I'll increase Naruto's supervision. I won't let the tragedy from back then happen again!" Hiruzen replied through gritted teeth.
Clearly, that night seven years ago had always remained a deep wound in his heart!
"Hiruzen!"
"Danzo!"
Soon, the two were arguing fiercely again inside the council chamber.
The guards outside had grown used to it.
After all, the Third and Danzo got into their little "lovers' quarrels" every few days.
There was no need to intervene. It would be over soon.
And so,
when the news spread that the Uchiha defectors had established a new village and settled in the Land of Fields,
Konoha was not the only place to take the news seriously and argue furiously over it.
The other four great shinobi villages also took this matter quite seriously.
After all, how should one put it?
The Uchiha Clan wielded the Sharingan, one of the most famous Kekkei Genkai.
Even with only half of its members, it was not to be underestimated.
Its overall strength was absolutely comparable to that of many smaller hidden villages.
Such a force could not be ignored.
War?
Peace?
Or turn a blind eye?
The great hidden villages would inevitably have to make a decision.
Of course, at that very moment, in Iwagakure, one of the villages in the Land of Earth,
everyone was still in a frantic rush over the serious matter of the Vault being robbed and Kitsuchi being badly injured.
They temporarily had no time to deal with this issue.
Before you continue