Danzo! Who Do You Think You Are? The Hokage?

"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

Danzo furiously kept slamming his cane against the ground.

The bottom of that cane had already been battered into the shape of a chrysanthemum.

Maybe one day, it would finally give out and snap with a crack.

He had never expected that Sarutobi Hiruzen would hesitate, and that even these ninjas who had arrived afterward would also shrink back, unwilling to make a move against Uchiha Mirai.

What, was Uchiha Mirai really that terrifying?

It was not like he ate people!

Just then, Uchiha Mirai, who had been watching the show all this time, finally spoke.

"Danzo, you said just now that I slaughtered the village's ninjas. But the truth is, your Root surrounded and attacked me first."

"Luckily, I reacted quickly enough. Otherwise, I might really have died at the hands of those Root agents."

Uchiha Mirai wore a frightened expression as he patted his chest, looking like a startled little lamb.

The surrounding ninjas' mouths twitched slightly.

As if we'd believe that!

Not even his clothes were damaged. How did he look like someone who had been in danger?

Those Root agents who had died horribly were the ones who were truly pitiful, weren't they?

Their corpses were so mangled even their mothers would not recognize them!

But Uchiha Mirai's words also revealed a shocking piece of information.

It seemed Danzo's Root had been the first to surround and attack Uchiha Mirai.

And Uchiha Mirai had been forced to fight back?

That changed everything.

The surrounding ninjas exchanged glances, each with a trace of doubt in their eyes.

"Uchiha Mirai! If you had not endangered the village first, why would my subordinates have attacked you?" Danzo shouted furiously.

"You've used that 'endangering the village' accusation so many times already, Danzo. Aren't you sick of it?"

Uchiha Mirai rolled his eyes, his face full of contempt.

"From three years ago, to the meeting at the Hokage Building, and now this—you could have made up dozens of new accusations by now!"

"Pfft!"

Some ninja failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.

Danzo trembled with rage!

The Second Hokage had been absolutely right—Uchiha were an inherently evil clan!

"Uchiha Mirai, this is Konoha. Are you trying to rebel?"

Uchiha Mirai gave a disdainful smile.

"The Third Hokage standing right beside us hasn't said a word, yet you're barking like a dog and ordering everyone around!"

"Who do you think you are? The Hokage?"

Danzo froze abruptly.

He stood there like a wooden post.

Uchiha Mirai's words were filled with mockery, his casual tone like grains of salt scattered over the deepest wound in Danzo's heart.

It hurt!

It hurt too much!

Almost impossible to suppress, the fury deep within Danzo's heart blazed like an inferno.

Hokage!

That was the most unattainable dream in his heart!

Somehow, it had become the goal he pursued.

Yet the position of Hokage had gone to his old friend, Sarutobi Hiruzen. And he could only remain behind the scenes forever, like a root buried deep in darkness, gazing up at the Hokage's radiance.

Every time he argued with Sarutobi Hiruzen, the other man would strike back with, "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

And he could only endure it in silence.

Because he was not the Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen was.

And now, the deepest wound buried in his heart had been ripped open by Uchiha Mirai in such a mocking tone, leaving him almost unable to restrain his rage.

Within the socket of his left eye, a fire called hatred burned fiercely.

"Uchiha Mirai, you will regret this..."

Danzo gritted his teeth, forcing out the words one by one through clenched teeth.

"Enough! Danzo!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had remained silent all this time, barked in a deep voice.

Danzo had clearly been completely consumed by his emotions.

If this continued, there was no telling what foolish thing he might do.

With so many ninja clans watching, they absolutely could not let him push things to an irreparable point.

Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's furious rebuke, the bloodshot veins in Danzo's eyes faded, and a trace of clarity returned.

A lingering fear rose in his heart.

He had clearly lost his head just now.

Fortunately, he had been stopped.

Along with it came an unbearable sense of humiliation.

It was precisely because he was not the Hokage that Sarutobi Hiruzen could rebuke him so casually in public.

If he were the Hokage...

Suddenly, the commotion from not far away interrupted his thoughts.

"Brother Mirai is over there!"

"Quick! We can't let those bastards bully Brother Mirai!"

"Brothers! Get them!"

Within mere seconds, the arriving Uchiha clansmen surged forward and all took their stand behind Uchiha Mirai.

Pairs of scarlet Sharingan, blazing with anger, stared fixedly at Danzo and the Konoha ninja opposite them.

The air suddenly froze.

The ninja from both sides faced off against each other. The Uchiha clansmen were not much fewer in number than their opponents, and the scarlet tomoe in their eyes numbered no fewer than two.

The surroundings seemed saturated with the sharp smell of gunpowder; all it needed was a single spark to ignite this enormous keg.

"Looks like everyone is here."

The corners of Uchiha Mirai's lips curled slightly.

He had deliberately chosen a location near the Uchiha Clan Compound because he had taken the postwar pressure into consideration.

These clansmen were practically all elite Uchiha ninja. There were no fewer than twenty clansmen alone who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.

Other than the few forces he had specifically instructed to remain hidden, nearly more than half of the Uchiha Clan's strongest had gathered here.

"So you're the ones who want to bully Brother Mirai?"

Uchiha Zhiyin stood tall with his chest out, his unfriendly gaze sweeping over Danzo and the others.

"Whoever dares bully Brother Mirai, Kuroko and I will be the first to let them off!"

"Right, Kuroko?"

"Right!"

Uchiha Kuroko roared himself hoarse.

He and Zhiyin had originally been diehard fans of Uchiha Fugaku, but after Uchiha Mirai's forceful emergence, they had become diehard fans of Uchiha Mirai instead.

The Konoha ninja who had not wanted to get involved in the first place subconsciously swallowed and retreated several steps in succession.

When the other ninja saw that someone had already backed down, they immediately followed suit, taking several steps back to distance themselves from the matter.

What a joke. Uchiha Mirai alone was already troublesome enough.

And now there were so many Uchiha lunatics here. If a fight really broke out, even ten lives would not be enough!

Thus...

An absurd scene unfolded.

Danzo, who had been so imposing just moments ago, was now practically standing alone with the Root behind him, facing the oppressive presence of the Uchiha clansmen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen at his side also wore an awkward expression.

Danzo, look at the mess you've made.

How were they supposed to wrap this up now?

"Uchiha Fugaku, what is the meaning of this?"

Danzo narrowed his left eye slightly and stared at Fugaku beside Uchiha Mirai with an unfriendly look.

"Uchiha Mirai killed so many of my subordinates. As the clan head, not only do you refuse to hold him accountable, you even allow your clansmen to disrupt the village."

"Could it be... you intend to stage a coup?"

Danzo knew Uchiha Fugaku's personality well. Though he appeared upright and impartial on the surface, he was actually quite weak-willed inside, indecisive just like Hiruzen.

Given his temperament, he definitely wouldn't dare support Uchiha Mirai under the banner of a coup.

As long as Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, began to back down, the other Uchiha behind him would be nothing to fear.

"Danzo, I must reiterate this: your Root attacked me first. I was merely acting in self-defense."

Uchiha Mirai shrugged.

"Ridiculous!"

Danzo sneered.

"As a member of the Uchiha Clan, with the clan head beside you yet to speak, you, a mere clansman, are barking nonsense like a dog."

"Who do you think you are? The clan head?"

This felt good!

It felt so damn good!

Danzo was practically delighted inside!

He could finally avenge the humiliation of Uchiha Mirai rubbing salt into his wounds in public!

Gotcha now, didn't I!

Hahaha...

"Um... I need to correct you on that."

Uchiha Fugaku's expression was somewhat complicated.

"Actually, Mirai is the clan head."

Oh!

So Uchiha Mirai was the clan head. I thought...

Wait, wait, wait, wait????

What the hell!

Uchiha Mirai was the clan head???

In an instant, Danzo felt his crotch go cold!