What Has Danzo Contributed?

Konoha.

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.

Open 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 had not even been allowed to remain whole.

At that thought.

Fugaku's eyes were completely engulfed 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 moment.

Fugaku let out a shrill roar.

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

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

Kill him!

He had to kill him!

Even if it cost him his life.

Even if it triggered a full-scale conflict between the Uchiha and the village.

Today, he absolutely could not let this beast continue living in the world.

"Fugaku! Stop!"

Just as the short blade was about to strike Danzo.

An aged figure suddenly stepped in between them.

The Adamantine Ruyi Staff swept through the air with a howl and precisely blocked Fugaku's short blade.

The piercing clang of metal striking metal rang across the entire scene.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in front of Danzo.

The Third Hokage's face was ashen.

No one knew where his Hokage Hat had fallen.

There was no helping it.

Things had completely spiraled out of control.

He knew very well about the shady dealings Danzo had conducted in secret.

But he had never expected Danzo to dare graft these things onto his own body.

What he had expected even less was for Chiba to expose everything in public!

But he had to protect Danzo.

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

If Danzo were slain in public, the Hokage's prestige would be utterly ruined.

More frightening still.

Danzo held far too many secrets.

If Danzo were driven 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 enormous contributions to Konoha!"

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

What a massive accusation.

What a fine bit of moral blackmail.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had brought out the rhetoric he was best at.

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

Given Fugaku Uchiha's character, he would surely hesitate.

Sure enough.

Upon hearing the words "civil war."

Fugaku's hand gripping the blade trembled uncontrollably.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen thought the situation had stabilized somewhat.

An exceptionally grating sneer exploded across the empty grounds.

"Pfft—"

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

Chiba casually brushed the dust from his sleeve.

Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen standing before Danzo, his eyes were filled with undisguised mockery.

"Contributions?"

Chiba slowly repeated the word.

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

"Old Third."

"Why don't you explain it properly to everyone?"

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

The entire area fell deathly silent.

Everyone held their breath, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The heads of the various great and small clans all seemed to have turned into clay statues.

Shikaku Nara's brows were tightly furrowed.

His exceptionally sharp mind was racing.

This was serious.

Chiba was going to tear away the Konoha High Command's last shred of decency.

What kind of man Danzo was—what major clan present did not know?

Forcing the Orphanage to provide test subjects.

Assassinating disobedient civilian prodigies.

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

Everyone knew about these rotten deeds.

No one dared bring them into the open.

Now, Chiba had directly detonated this bomb!

Hyuga Hiashi touched the forehead protector on his brow.

Looking at Danzo's arm embedded with Sharingan, intense wariness flashed through his eyes.

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

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

A mad dog like this could not be allowed to remain!

Akimichi Choza's eyes widened as the tense, drawn-sword atmosphere completely stunned him.

Chiba's interrogation continued.

He pressed forward step by step, not giving Sarutobi Hiruzen any chance to catch his breath.

"Why aren't you talking?"

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

"Or are the things he did too filthy, too foul, too shameful to ever see the light?"

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

"Was it using Civilian Ninja from the village for human experiments!"

"Or was it racking his brains to persecute the Kekkei Genkai clans of his own village!"

"Are these the contributions you speak of?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips trembled slightly.

He could not answer at all.

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

How was he supposed to explain it?

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

That kind of bullshit might fool newly graduated Genin.

But fool the old foxes present?

What a delusion!

"Say something!"

"Third Hokage!"

"Digging out the eyes of our Uchiha ancestors and grafting them onto his own body!"

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

Fugaku suddenly came to his senses.

Chiba's words reignited the fury in his heart.

The Uchiha Clan head, his eyes red, let out a beast-like demand.

"Kill him!"

"Kill that beast who desecrated the dead!"

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

It was not just Fugaku.

The Uchiha clansmen gathered around the perimeter were now boiling with indignation.

Waves of furious shouts rose one after another.

The heads of the major shinobi clans, meanwhile, maintained an eerie silence.

But that silence itself was a stance.

When a wall collapsed, everyone pushed it.

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

Now that Danzo had fallen this far.

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

They wished Danzo would die here immediately.

Seeing the crowd's outrage, with the situation on the verge of completely exploding.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was frantic with worry.

He knew reason would no longer work.

These people could no longer hear any nonsense about the "greater good."

Then he could only use the most forceful method!

Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed the Adamantine Ruyi Staff into the ground, producing an earth-shaking boom.

A powerful wave of Chakra briefly suppressed the surrounding clamor.

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

"Enough!"