What Has Danzo Contributed?

Ye Village.

Senju Clan Compound.

Fugaku Uchiha had completely lost his mind.

The Uchiha Clan head, who had always wanted to keep the peace, had now turned into a furious lion.

How many years had it been?

Ever since the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the Uchiha Clan had been driven to the edge of the village by the higher-ups.

Overt and covert surveillance, endless suspicion.

He had endured it all.

He had always believed that as long as he yielded, as long as the Uchiha showed enough sincerity, the higher-ups would eventually accept them.

But what did he see now?

Sharingan!

A full four Three-Tomoe Sharingan, embedded in Danzo's arm!

What humiliation.

This was trampling the dignity of the entire Uchiha Clan beneath his feet!

The owners of those eyes might have fought desperately for Konoha while alive, yet after death, they could not even keep their corpses whole.

At that thought.

Fugaku's eyes were completely drowned in blood-red.

The three tomoe spun to their limit.

A violent surge of chakra erupted from his body.

It was the cold, sinister aura unique to the Uchiha Clan.

"Danzo, you old dog, die!"

The next instant.

Fugaku let out a shrill roar.

Without hesitation, he drew the short blade from his back.

Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he shot straight toward Danzo, who lay on the ground.

Kill him!

He had to kill him!

Even if it cost him his life.

Even if it triggered an all-out conflict between the Uchiha and the village.

He could not let this beast remain alive today.

"Fugaku! Stop!"

Just as the short blade was about to cleave into Danzo.

An elderly figure abruptly stepped between them.

The Adamantine Ruyi Staff cut through the air with a howl, precisely blocking Fugaku's short blade.

The piercing clang of metal rang throughout the field.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in front of Danzo.

The Third Hokage's face was ashen.

His Hokage Hat had fallen somewhere long ago.

There was no helping it.

Things had completely spiraled out of control.

He knew very well about the things Danzo had done in secret.

But he had never expected Danzo to dare implant those things into his own body.

Even less had he expected Chiba to expose everything so directly in public!

But he had to protect Danzo.

Danzo was Root's leader, half of the Hokage's shadow.

If Danzo were slain before everyone, the Hokage's authority would be utterly disgraced.

What was even more terrifying was this.

Danzo held far too many secrets.

If Danzo were pushed into a corner and bit back at him.

The glorious image of him as the Third Hokage would collapse in an instant.

"Fugaku!"

"Calm down!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gripped the Adamantine Ruyi Staff tightly, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

He tried to suppress the enraged man before him with words.

"No matter what Danzo has done, he is still an elder of Konoha!"

"For all these years, Danzo has remained in the darkness, silently making tremendous contributions to Konoha!"

"By openly attacking the village's high command like this, are you trying to start a civil war?!"

What a huge accusation.

What a fine bit of moral coercion.

Sarutobi Hiruzen brought out the rhetoric he was best at.

As long as he invoked words like "the village's safety" and "civil war."

With Fugaku Uchiha's personality, he would certainly hesitate.

Sure enough.

Upon hearing the words "civil war."

Fugaku's hand holding the blade trembled uncontrollably.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen thought the situation had stabilized somewhat.

An exceptionally piercing sneer exploded across the open grounds.

"Ch—"

Everyone's gaze instantly turned toward the source of the sound.

Chiba casually brushed the dust from his sleeve.

As he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen standing before Danzo, his eyes were filled with undisguised mockery.

"Contributions?"

Chiba slowly repeated those words.

As if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Old man Third Hokage."

"Why don't you tell everyone in detail?"

"What exactly has this vile beast contributed to Konoha?"

The entire field fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, scarcely daring to breathe.

The heads of the various clans, large and small, had all become frozen like clay statues.

Shikaku Nara's brows knitted tightly together.

His exceptionally clever mind was racing.

This was huge.

Chiba was going to rip away the Konoha High Command's last veil of decency.

What kind of person was Danzo? Which of the great clans present did not know?

Forcing the Orphanage to provide human test subjects.

Assassinating talented commoners who refused to obey.

Even during the Third Shinobi World War, Root had deliberately, or otherwise, preserved its strength.

Everyone knew about this filthy business.

No one dared say it aloud.

Now, Chiba had directly detonated this bomb!

Hyuga Hiashi touched the forehead protector on his brow.

As he looked at Danzo's arm embedded with Sharingan, intense apprehension flashed in his eyes.

Today, Danzo dared to dig out the Uchiha's eyes.

Would he dare to dig out the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan tomorrow?

Such a mad dog could not be allowed to remain!

Akimichi Choza's eyes widened, completely intimidated by the tense atmosphere.

Ye's questioning continued.

He pressed forward step by step, giving Sarutobi Hiruzen no chance to catch his breath.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

"Does he have so many contributions that you can't remember them all at once?"

"Or are the things he did so filthy, so foul, that they cannot bear the light of day?"

Ye's voice suddenly rose, exploding beside everyone's ears like thunder.

"Using civilian ninja from the village for human experiments!"

"Or plotting every possible way to harm Kekkei Genkai clans from the same village!"

"Are these the contributions you speak of?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips trembled slightly.

He could not answer at all.

Every word Chiba spoke was like a sharp blade precisely stabbing into his lungs.

How was he supposed to explain it?

That those were shadows that had to exist in order to protect Konoha?

That kind of bullshit might fool newly graduated Genin.

But fool these old foxes present?

That was nothing but a fool's dream!

"Say something!"

"Third Hokage!"

"Digging out the eyes of our Uchiha ancestors and implanting them into his own body!"

"Is that also a contribution he made for the village?"

Fugaku suddenly came to his senses.

Ye's words reignited the fury in his heart.

The Uchiha Clan head, his eyes red, demanded answers like a wild beast.

"Kill him!"

"Kill this beast who desecrates the dead!"

"Is the Third Hokage going to shield a criminal like this?"

It was not just Fugaku.

The Uchiha clansmen around the perimeter were also seething with indignation.

Waves of furious cries rose one after another.

The heads of the major ninja clans, however, maintained an eerie silence.

But that silence itself was an attitude.

When a wall collapsed, everyone pushed it over.

Danzo had relied on Root's power to make trouble for the various clans often enough.

Now that Danzo had fallen so low.

Who would step forward to speak for him at a time like this?

They wished Danzo would die here immediately.

Seeing the crowd's indignation reach a boiling point, with the situation about to erupt completely.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was frantic.

He knew reason would no longer work.

These people could no longer listen to any bullshit about "the bigger picture."

Then he could only resort to the most forceful method!

Sarutobi Hiruzen planted the Adamantine Ruyi Staff into the ground, producing a deafening boom.

The powerful chakra fluctuation briefly suppressed the surrounding clamor.

He straightened his slightly hunched back and tried to assume the Hokage's bearing.

"Enough!"