Konoha Court

Such a long list of charges left the four people present, aside from Uchiha Yato, thoroughly stunned.

At the same time, they thought, You really know how to pile things onto Danzo Shimura.

And Uchiha Kei understood the reasoning behind it best. Uchiha Yato had deliberately exaggerated Danzo Shimura's crimes before Hiruzen Sarutobi in order to poison Hiruzen Sarutobi's opinion of him.

Still smiling, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Yato~."

"So, who exactly was the minor being incited?"

"Ryoma Aburame."

"And what about this Uchiha sapling?"

Uchiha Yato pointed at himself and said, "This humble one is the sapling."

Hearing that explanation, Hiruzen Sarutobi could barely maintain his expression.

"Ding~"

"The host has caused Hiruzen Sarutobi's emotions to fluctuate."

"Congratulations, host. You have obtained 20 Emotion Coins."

That notification put Uchiha Yato in an even better mood.

Because he knew today would definitely be a day of harvest. There were still the big turnips to come.

Danzo Shimura had yet to arrive. Once he did, Uchiha Yato could harvest another wave.

By then, Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer wanted to bicker with Uchiha Yato, so he said, "In summary, you mean Elder Danzo incited Ryoma Aburame to attempt to murder you?"

"But from what I can see, no murder took place, and you yourself were not harmed."

"Have the Aburame Clan head take him back and discipline him. He is still a child, so forgive him."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was quite satisfied with that line of reasoning.

"He is still a child." He had learned that phrase from Uchiha Yato, and now he was returning it to him.

All of this had been within Uchiha Yato's calculations. After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were two men wearing the same pair of pants.

So it was perfectly normal for the Third Hokage to help whitewash Danzo Shimura.

What had begun as the murder Uchiha Yato described had become children fooling around.

What had begun with the focus on punishing Danzo had become having the Aburame Clan head take Ryoma back for discipline.

Without exception, every word was helping Danzo evade responsibility.

Before Uchiha Yato could speak, Uchiha Kei said, "Lord Hokage, you misunderstand."

"We do indeed have conclusive evidence that Lord Danzo Shimura incited a crime."

"We wish to conduct a fair and public legal proceeding before you. This would also help you govern Konoha Village."

Ever since succeeding as Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been overwhelmed with work every day.

Danzo Shimura had established Root not only to ease his burden, but also as compensation for Danzo Shimura not being chosen as Hokage.

Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi was considering whether he should sacrifice some of his old friend's interests in exchange for the friendship of the two clans.

Moreover, the Sarutobi Clan and the Hyuga Clan had also been drawn into this matter to varying degrees.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "What is a legal proceeding?"

Uchiha Yato cut in to explain.

It was not that he feared Uchiha Kei would explain it wrongly. Mainly, Uchiha Yato had been the one to introduce the term to the clan, and he was worried they had not fully understood it yet.

"It is a building we constructed in a remote part of Konoha."

"And its purpose is to judge certain noteworthy cases."

"For example, Sarutobi Tsuru and Hyuga Boya get into a fight, resulting in someone being injured."

"Under an Uchiha judgment, both would need to be sentenced to death."

"But some people might think that is too arbitrary, and that they should be given a chance to reform."

"At such times, we would use this new building envisioned by the Uchiha—the court."

"Its purpose is to judge and sort through matters, as well as explain to the public the crimes committed by those two and the resulting punishments."

After getting a general understanding of the court's purpose, Hiruzen Sarutobi became somewhat interested.

When it came to new things, men and children were on the same side. It had nothing to do with age.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "Yato, you have not finished introducing it yet, have you?"

"What is its process, and how does it conduct a judgment?"

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Uchiha Yato was overjoyed.

A question meant Hiruzen Sarutobi was interested and that there was a chance of moving forward.

Only then could they drag Danzo Shimura into the water while also whitewashing the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Yato explained, "Lord Hokage, words alone are useless. Saying it a thousand times is not as good as putting it into practice once."

"Look, there is just such an incident before us right now. It would be perfect for sorting things out."

"Wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone? If it succeeds, managing Konoha will become easier once again."

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was still considering it, Danzo Shimura arrived at the Hokage Building and entered the Hokage's office.

Danzo Shimura had not come alone. He had also brought along the other two members of Konoha's F4—Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.

The moment he entered, he said, "I heard you Uchiha had something to discuss with this old man, and you even came all the way to the Hokage."

At that moment, Uchiha Yato's acting mode activated.

"Lord Danzo, how cruel of you!"

"You actually sent a seven-year-old child to kill me. Is it because I made your name famous on the battlefield in the Hidden Rain Village, so you hold it against me?"

As he spoke, Uchiha Yato looked as though he were almost weeping delicately.

Danzo Shimura swiftly composed himself and said, "Nonsense. You made a joke out of this old man's reputation back then."

"Afterward, you even used your clan head to brush this old man off, yet I never held it against you."

"How could this old man possibly seek trouble with you over something like that? Do not belittle yourself or make baseless accusations."

There was some fire to it, but not much.

Uchiha Yato had said all that in order to steer Danzo Shimura's words toward what had happened before.

That way, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not dwell too much on the current matter and would at most treat it as settling old scores afterward.

Danzo Shimura had taken the bait easily. Rather than distancing himself from the matter, he followed along behind Uchiha Yato's lead.

Everyone present was perceptive. They all knew exactly what had happened.

If you did not jump out to clear yourself, someone would naturally see the truth.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, that is all in the past. There is no need to dredge up old matters here."

"Danzo, you too."

"Why bother arguing with the younger generation? Let us discuss another matter now."

"The Uchiha Clan has proposed another method of trial—public, fair, and comprehensive."

"I intend to give it a simple trial run in Konoha Village using this matter. What do you think?"

See? As expected of someone who could become the Third Hokage, his way with words was different from Danzo Shimura's.

He directly changed the subject to bring this matter to an end, while also using his status as an elder to imply that Uchiha Yato should not go too far.

Danzo Shimura also understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's meaning.

"Since Lord Hokage has made his decision, then let us proceed as you say."

After speaking, Danzo Shimura stood together with Konoha's two assistants, watching Uchiha Yato and the others for their reactions.

Uchiha Yato said, "Since the matter has been decided, we will begin in two days. We shall go make preparations now."

"Then we will not disturb Lord Hokage any longer today. We will take our leave."

With Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval, the three hurriedly departed.

What remained was a small meeting among Konoha's F4.

This time, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado spoke first. "Hiruzen, what exactly is going on this time?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi roughly explained to his two old friends the matter Danzo Shimura had caused this time.

Danzo Shimura said, "Everything this old man does is for Konoha."

"How could that brat from the evil Uchiha Clan go without a little lesson?"

"But you, Hiruzen."

"How could you so easily agree to the Uchiha Clan's demands? At the very least, you should have made them cut off a piece of their flesh first."

Hearing those words, Hiruzen Sarutobi became somewhat displeased.

He had kindly cleaned up Danzo Shimura's mess, yet the man did not appreciate it.

After the two exchanged words, they finally uttered the Hokage's classic scene.

"Enough. I am the Hokage!"

"Hiruzen, you will regret this."

With those two classic lines, Konoha's F4 meeting came to an end, and they began preparing for the Konoha Court's trial.