"Don't make wild accusations without evidence. It could easily disrupt harmony in the village..."
Although he'd wondered if he could simply deny everything, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shimura Danzō's old face and didn't dare use the ultimate excuse he'd heard about recently.
"The village trusts the Uchiha, just as it trusts Danzō. He may be a little impulsive, but when it comes to matters of right and wrong, he has always stood firm!"
"Besides, Danzō was injured in the head on the battlefield all those years ago, and his mental state is sometimes unstable. So I hope the Uchiha and the Police Force won't hold it against him!"
At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen could only try to laugh the matter off. After all, though the situation had turned against him, he still held the advantage on paper. He wasn't truly afraid Uchiha Jin would do anything reckless.
Things had already come to this. As long as he could drag things out until the end of the day, he'd have plenty of time and opportunities afterward.
"Sarutobi, the evil Uchiha must not—"
Danzō had just come to his senses, and happened to hear Sarutobi Hiruzen's concession. He immediately tried to erupt and proclaim his usual "Uchiha are evil" rhetoric again.
After all, Danzō had never cared about the consequences. If the sky fell, Sarutobi Hiruzen would hold it up. All he had to do was eliminate every threat to "Konoha."
"Shut up!"
Before Danzō could finish, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly roared and delivered a Groin Kick with perfect timing, silencing Danzō once again.
You foolish Danzō!
Sarutobi Hiruzen sneered. He was speechless that Danzō, despite being this incompetent, still coveted the Hokage Position—and had now caused such a huge mess for him.
"The village trusts the Uchiha completely!"
At Sarutobi Hiruzen's firm declaration, Shisui, who had been lying motionless on the ground, couldn't help but tear up.
"Lord Hokage!"
Though he was still shocked by Uchiha Jin's accusations against Sarutobi Hiruzen, he'd realized that the Lord Hokage he'd believed to be so upright and noble had another side to him.
It was all that bastard Danzō's fault!
But he supposed Lord Hokage had repeatedly protected that bastard, who drove a wedge between the clan and the village, because he couldn't bring himself to let go of his long-standing bond with Danzō.
But now everything was fine!
Shisui felt that the process had been incredibly difficult and twisted, yet somehow it had achieved the result he'd dreamed of. The rift caused by the Nine-Tails Rebellion had been wiped clean today, and the Third Hokage had expressed his trust in the Uchiha Clan!
Jin... Jin really... really understood...
He just needed to change that way he stood there advising Lord Hokage. It didn't look like the conduct of a proper shinobi at all. Shisui would have to talk to Uchiha Jin about it later.
Thud!
Before Uchiha Shisui could continue feeling moved, Jin suddenly raised his foot and kicked him flying again. Then he pointed at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said coolly,
"Since you don't want to discuss who betrayed the village, let's talk about you, the acting Hokage!"
As Uchiha Jin spoke with righteous indignation, his gaze swept slowly across every clan head present who had been watching from the sidelines.
"Starting tomorrow, the Uchiha Clan and the Police Force will formally move to impeach the acting Hokage. We'll also nominate our clan head, Fugaku, as a candidate for the Fifth Hokage!"
(Uchiha Fugaku: What?)
Uchiha Jin fixed his gaze on Sarutobi Hiruzen, once again revealing that familiar, disdainful smile.
"Back then, the whole point was to keep hostile forces outside the village from exploiting the situation. That was why your claim that you were only temporarily acting as Hokage was enough to let you resume your post and lead Konoha."
"But now, the aftermath of the Third Shinobi World War and the Nine-Tails Rebellion has died down. Even Kumogakure, which kept making trouble, has signed a peace treaty. Does the Sarutobi Clan still intend to cling to the Hokage Position?"
"If that's the case, then the Uchiha Clan and the Police Force will never stand by and let it happen. Even if the last member of the Police Force falls in battle, we'll wipe out any clan that threatens Konoha!"
Hiss... hiss... hiss...
At Uchiha Jin's words, even the clans that had been content to watch from the sidelines could no longer sit still!
He wanted to depose Sarutobi Hiruzen again!
And the grounds for removing the acting Hokage weren't unreasonable. The information implied by that whole string of remarks was already enough to deal a devastating blow to Sarutobi Hiruzen's political career.
But the more important point was that the Uchiha Clan was prepared to fight Sarutobi Hiruzen to the bitter end. Jin had even openly threatened the Sarutobi Clan.
He'd practically spelled it out: whether the Uchiha Clan became Hokage or not remained to be seen, but Sarutobi Hiruzen absolutely couldn't!
Was he really that bold?
At the same time, this meant they weren't necessarily barred from getting involved.
Hmm...
After Uchiha Jin's reminder, some of the clan heads realized that Sarutobi Hiruzen had been rather greedy, especially with that inhumane "Root," led by Danzō.
How many clan prodigies had they lost over the years? And what about the rise of those civilian shinobi...
Now that the snipe and the clam were fighting, who would be the last one standing to reap the benefits?
That remained to be seen...
"Outrageous!"
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu shouted in unison. Shimura Danzō, after a flicker of delight in his eyes, chose to keep quiet.
"What?"
But Uchiha Jin paid them no mind. He simply gazed calmly at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had fallen silent.
"Is the head of the Uchiha Clan and director of Konoha's Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku, not even qualified to run for Fifth Hokage?"
Heh~
Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent, Uchiha Jin continued without a care.
"Or was your claim back then—that you'd take over as Hokage temporarily in an emergency—just an excuse? I'm beginning to suspect that Danzō only blocked the Uchiha Clan from helping because you told him to!"
"Everyone knows that the Uchiha clan head's wife was Kushina's close friend. Fugaku also had a deep bond forged in battle with the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Yet you still blocked our clan from rescuing the Fourth Hokage..."
Uchiha Jin's gaze was deep, and though he kept his killing intent in check, it seeped out like water. The air around them seemed to drop several degrees.
"Besides, the Second's death and the dereliction of duty by your Shadow Guard seem even more suspicious to me now..."
His words pierced Sarutobi Hiruzen like sharp swords. The strange looks from the many clan leaders present—Hyuga, Aburame, Ise, Kurama, Gekko, Inuzuka, Ino-Shika-Cho, and others—were especially piercing.
At last...
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a long breath. The man once known as the "Ninja Hero" seemed to age a dozen years in an instant. Though reluctant, he forced himself to speak calmly.
"The village belongs to everyone. Naturally, everyone should decide who becomes Hokage!"
"Good!"
Uchiha Jin had finally gotten the answer he wanted. He couldn't be bothered to waste any more time with these people, so he turned to the Uchiha shinobi behind him and called out,
"Damn it, I came out for barbecue and ended up dealing with all this crap. What's wrong with you people?"
"Everyone, move out! We're heading to the Akimichi Yakitori House!"
"Huh?!"
Shimura Danzō: Damn it!
The on-guard shinobi: (°ー°〃)!
The clan leaders of Konoha, great and small: (⊙ˍ⊙)!
Sarutobi Hiruzen: ...(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ (Damn Danzō!)
Before you continue