(Wait for Third Shinobi World War to directly type Konoha important person o(´^`)o)
The silence lasted for a long time. The wind outside the window blew in, and the cool tea on the tea table rippled in a circle.
"... can."
Fugaku's voice was as low as it was squeezed out from deep in the throat.
"Then let it go."
Fugaku did not move. His shoulders still maintained the slightly curled up posture.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't give him a buffer, nor did he give him consideration.
"Three days."
he said.
"Within three days, Danzo will return to Root's base. How you explain it to the tribe is your business, and how you let him get out of Uchiha Compound alive is also your business. I don't care about the process, I only care about the results."
Fugaku's knuckles clenched even whiter.
He lowered his head, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't see his expression, only saw his Adam's apple rolling.
"... Yes."
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the pipe again.
The tobacco had burned out. He did not light it again, but held it in the palm of his hand.
"Uchiha wants to blend in with Konoha."
His voice is very flat.
"This is what your father has been doing since his generation. The mirror did it, your father did it, and now it's your turn."
He paused.
"Integration cannot be achieved by shouting a few slogans and submitting a few reports. Integration means that you have to swallow some things and bear some anger."
Fugaku lowered his head and said nothing.
"Releasing people is not admitting defeat." Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
"Let the whole Konoha know that Uchiha abides by the rules. Follow Konoha's rules and trust Konoha's Hokage. The one who breaks the rules is Danzo, not you. It's me who should deal with him, not you."
He knocked his pipe on the edge of the table and knocked out a small handful of ashes.
"You go back and tell the clansmen that Danzo will be dismissed from office, grounded, and will not appear in any public places in the short term. I will give Homura a card for Root's budget, which can also be considered as an explanation for you."
Fugaku was silent for a long time.
"... I understand." His voice was very soft, without any emotion.
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.
"Go ahead."
Fugaku When he returned to his clan, it was already dark.
He stood at the door of the patriarch's mansion and did not go in immediately.
A dim light shone through the crack in the door, and noisy voices poured out from inside, which could be heard clearly through the door.
"Don't let him go! Beat him to death!"
"What happened to Elder Konoha? Elder Konoha can steal our eyes?"
"Why hasn't the Fugaku patriarch come back? What on earth did Hokage say--"
Fugaku Push the door open.
The meeting hall was packed with people.
Those from the garrison, the secret guards, the Presbyterian Church, and those clansmen whose ancestors had their eyes pried open.
Uchiha Midang stood at the front, with the bandage on his forehead that was torn off when he stopped him today.
Uchiha Inabi was not there, he was still lying in the infirmary, but his father came, standing in the middle of the crowd, leaning on the shiny old crutch.
Everyone became quiet when they saw Fugaku.
Fugaku said nothing. He walked through the crowd, walked to the seat at the front that belonged to the clan leader, and sat down.
"What do Hokage say?" Midang said.
Fugaku didn't look at him.
"Danzo..." he said, "We are going to let him go."
No one spoke.
The silence lasted for a long time. It was so long that someone accidentally knocked over the tea cup in the corner, and the crisp cracking sound was like a signal.
"Fugaku," Midang took a step forward, Three-Tomoe Sharingan already lit up.
"What did you say?"
"I said," Fugaku's voice was neither high nor trembling.
"Put Danzo."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Midang's voice was almost roaring. The tribesmen behind him also exploded--
"That's our Sharingan!"
"Uchiha Inabi Captain is still lying in the infirmary!"
"My father's eyes are in the third jar in that row. I was only six years old when he died. That was the last thing he left to the family--"
Fugaku said nothing.
He sat there, listening to the sounds coming in like a tide and receding like a tide.
"This is what Hokage means." After the voice stopped for a while, he said, "That's what I mean too."
"What do you mean?"
Midang stared at him.
"You mean to let the person who stole our ancestor's eyes go free and then pretend that nothing happened?"
"As if nothing happened?"
Another tribesman answered.
"How many missions has Root been stuck in in the security force over the years? How many jonins in the clan have applied for promotions but he has refused to approve them? Last year, Hinoka met Gen's people while performing a mission. Just because he took a second look, he was taken back to the base and interrogated for three days and three nights - all of these are treated as if they never happened?"
"Fugaku," Midang's voice was low, carrying something that had been suppressed for a long time.
"You are afraid of Hokage, but we are not. You dare not offend the village, but we dare. If you let him go today, Danzo will come again tomorrow. He will not be the only one who comes the day after tomorrow."
Fugaku raised his head and looked at Midang.
Midang suddenly paused.
Fugaku's eyes were not open Sharingan, and it was as dark as two deep wells.
"Then tell me," Fugaku said, "What to do."
Midang opened his mouth.
"Kill him," Fugaku said, "Then what?"
Midang said nothing.
"Danzo died in Uchiha Compound," said Fugaku.
"When Hokage asks tomorrow morning, who will tell him? Who will tell him that we have disposed of your decades-old comrade for you?"
No one answered the call.
"What would Hokage think? What would the village think? What would the other ninjas think?"
Fugaku's voice was still low, as if he was just stating some facts that did not need to be argued.
"What would Hyuga think? What would Ino–Shika–Cho think? They won't ask Danzo what he stole, they will only say that Uchiha killed an elder Konoha."
He paused.
"Then? Start a war? Or kill dozens more tribesmen, let some Hawk Faction backbones like you, Uncle Midang, die in battle, and then the remaining people will continue to stay in this village and continue to be guarded, suppressed, and missed by the remaining Danzos?"
Midang's face turned red.
"What do you mean-"
"I don't mean anything."
Fugaku Look away.
"I'm just saying that it's easy to kill him. Who will be responsible for what happens after you kill him."
No one spoke.
Midang stared at Fugaku, his chest heaving violently. Several young people behind him wanted to speak, but he raised his hand to stop them.
Fugaku did not answer the call.
Silence enveloped the entire meeting hall again.
"Fugaku Patriarch."
An old voice came from behind the crowd.
The crowd automatically separated.
Uchiha Inabi's father walked forward step by step, leaning on the old crutch.
He is seventy-two years old, and his knees are stiff when he walks, and every step feels like carving a mark on a stone slab.
"My son is still lying in the infirmary," the old man said.
"Uchiha Inabi is thirty-four this year, which is the year when he should be struck. Danzo If the knife misses even half an inch, he will be dead."
He looked at Fugaku.
"What do you want me to tell my grandson? That your father almost died in the hands of elder Konoha, and the patriarch made the decision to let him go, and you will go around when you see the root in the future?"