Hiruzen, You'll Regret This. Everything I've Done Was for Konoha

At that thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the scroll Fugaku had just put down, intending to examine it.

The next moment, the office door was pushed open.

Shimura Danzō entered at a leisurely pace, leaning on his cane.

His right hand was tightly wrapped in bandages, and his gaze was like a dry well.

"Hiruzen, what did Uchiha Fugaku just say?"

Danzō addressed Sarutobi Hiruzen by his name, as if it were perfectly natural.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped reaching for the scroll. Without looking up, he picked up the pipe on his desk and refilled it with tobacco.

Click!

The sound of the flint striking rang sharply through the silent office.

"The Anbu outside didn't stop you," Sarutobi Hiruzen said slowly, his voice betraying no emotion. "Or have you already replaced them with your own people?"

Danzō ignored the question and went straight to the chair opposite Sarutobi Hiruzen, where he sat down.

"Hiruzen, what did Uchiha Fugaku say?"

Danzō asked again.

As smoke curled through the air, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Danzō. "Did you come here hoping I'd praise you for a job well done? Or did you come to find out whether I'll really 'investigate' this?"

His voice was calm, but Danzō's brow furrowed slightly. He had heard the restrained anger in Sarutobi Hiruzen's words.

Danzō's mouth twitched. "The Konoha Military Police Force has become increasingly overbearing. I was just teaching them a lesson."

Bang!

Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his pipe against the desk, scattering ash.

"Those were human lives! Four people from two squads died. They were Konoha Ninja."

"They were Uchiha," Danzō corrected him coldly. "Hiruzen, you're always like this—too softhearted."

"Those four simply died in an accident. If they hadn't died then, who knows? They might have been at the forefront of an Uchiha rebellion someday."

"What difference does it make whether they die sooner or later?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rose abruptly and slapped the desk. "A rebellion? Have they rebelled?"

"Fugaku came here today because he wanted an explanation, because he was seeking a dialogue. And you're using my name to drive them down that path!"

"A dialogue?" Danzō scoffed.

"Hiruzen, you've lived this long, so how can you still be so naive? Fugaku came to talk today because the Uchiha aren't ready yet. Once they are, the ones who come will be an army of Uchiha wielding the Sharingan!"

Danzō stood up too, leaning forward as he stared hard at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"On the Night of the Nine-Tails, have you forgotten the Sharingan that appeared in the Nine-Tails' eyes? Who besides the Uchiha Clan could control the Nine-Tails?"

"That was already a declaration of war! A declaration of war against Konoha. And what did you do as the Third Hokage of Konoha? You acted as though nothing had happened and let them keep their positions in the Police Force."

"You're giving them time and space to sharpen their blades!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen froze for a moment, then sat back down. His voice carried a hint of uncertainty. "There's no evidence that the Uchiha Clan did it. I said as much back then."

"Hmph, no evidence?"

Danzō snorted. "Hiruzen, that's what I despise most about you. You're sitting in the Hokage's seat! You're responsible for Konoha, not the Uchiha!"

"Some threats must be snuffed out before they can take root."

The air grew still.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at Danzō, who had all but lost his mind. "So you forged my orders, transferred members of the Police Force, and then killed them, hoping to muddy the waters."

Danzō raised his eyelids slightly. This time, he hadn't done it out of sheer idleness. Orochimaru's experiments simply needed some freshly awakened Sharingan.

Who could have known that four of the six would die, while the other two would manage to escape and return?

Still, if Hiruzen could believe that was what had happened, Danzō could use it as an excuse. "Those people were all members of the Police Force's Hawk Faction. Their deaths were unexplained, so of course Fugaku would come to investigate..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes widened. "Danzō! Attacking Konoha Ninja is treason!"

Thud!

Danzō's cane slammed into the floor. "I did it for Konoha! Your mercy is the village's greatest liability."

With that, Danzō turned and headed for the door. "I'll take care of that order. Root will have a traitor. You can tell Fugaku the culprit has been brought to justice. Whether he believes it..."

"That depends on how much he trusts you, his merciful Hokage."

"Enough! Danzō, I'm the Hokage. You're defying me!"

Hearing Danzō speak as though it were all perfectly justified, Sarutobi Hiruzen roared in fury.

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this. Everything I've done was for Konoha."

Bang!

Danzō slammed the door behind him, shaking dust loose from the office doorframe.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat there like a stone statue, his eyes full of sorrow and exhaustion.

At this moment, he truly had no way to respond. Fugaku's attitude had already made it clear that something was wrong.

And Danzō's approach was the most suitable response available. In the face of it... Hiruzen couldn't refute him at all.

Because he wasn't certain who the masked man from the Night of the Nine-Tails really was, either. The only person who had confronted the masked man directly was the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

But Minato was dead. That was why, all these years, Hiruzen had turned a blind eye to some of Danzō's actions.

Just now, he really had wanted to kill Danzō. But when he seriously considered doing it, he realized that killing Danzō wouldn't change anything.

On the contrary, the higher-ups would split apart, the village would fall into turmoil, and those who had their eyes on Konoha and the Uchiha would seize the chance to make trouble.

And if he killed Danzō, would the Uchiha be grateful?

Perhaps. But their gratitude wouldn't solve the problem.

If he did nothing, as he had in the past—putting things off, placating them, and hoping for some turning point—then the Uchiha would grow increasingly uneasy until, in the end, they either rebelled or were wiped out.

Every word Danzō had said was true. The problem with the Uchiha was real, and so was the shadow cast by the Nine-Tails.

And though Hiruzen himself hadn't killed anyone, he had tacitly approved some of those actions. Day after day, he had gradually used ignorance as an excuse and the greater good as a salve.

Mercy was just a cocoon he had spun for himself.

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen truly regretted his cowardice.

A despair that came with clarity, yet left him powerless, spread through the Third Hokage's heart.

In the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage sat alone in silence. For the first time, he clearly understood that perhaps he truly wasn't a worthy Hokage.

When he opened his eyes again, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the scroll before him and murmured, "I'm sorry..."