Danzō's Anger

"Outrageous!"

A furious, savage growl echoed within the tightly shut doors and windows of the Hokage's office, only to be trapped by the powerful soundproofing barrier, with not a trace escaping into the still darkness before dawn.

The Hokage's office was brightly lit, yet the light could not dispel the heavy gloom.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his broad desk. The pipe between his fingers had long since gone out, and its wisps of smoke faded helplessly into the air.

His brow was deeply furrowed, his expression graver than ever. The report scroll lay open before him, its carefully worded account submitted by Uchiha Tiandao in his capacity as clan head: "Uchiha Shaoyu attacked the elder Setsuna and fled with eleven clan members."

Shimura Danzō, who had just been urgently summoned to the office, had almost entirely lost his usual composure and restraint.

His one visible eye was wide, shot through with blood vessels. His good hand clenched a second, abbreviated copy so tightly that the veins bulged across its back. His body trembled slightly with sheer rage.

"Uchiha Shaoyu... that naturally evil Uchiha brat! He actually... he actually dared!"

Danzō's voice was hoarse, every word seeming to scrape its way up from deep in his throat.

"He attacked an elder, stole clan secrets, incited his accomplices... and defected?! He even took twelve people with him! Twelve Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan! Three of them were jōnin!"

He slammed the copy down on Sarutobi Hiruzen's desk with a muffled thud, making the ashtray jump.

"Hiruzen! Do you see? This is the Uchiha! Cubs of wolves who can never be tamed! We gave them authority over the Military Police Force, gave them status in the village, and how do they repay us?"

"With arrogance concealed beneath their respect, with rebellion written into their blood! Now they won't even keep up appearances—they've defected outright! And attacked one of their own elders! How brazen! How...!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took another drag from his pipe. The smoke obscured his face, making it impossible for Danzō to read his expression.

"Enough, Danzō. Calm down."

Flames of fury burned in Danzō's one eye as he tightened his grip on his cane.

"How am I supposed to stay calm? The Uchiha Clan just keeps pushing their luck. And that Uchiha Setsuna—he was ambushed? What a joke. He's an old fossil who's been alive since the Warring States period. You're telling me he couldn't outwit some hotheaded youngster? I could tell at a glance that old bastard planned it himself."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression darkened too. He knew Uchiha Setsuna: one of the oldest people in Konoha, the Uchiha Clan's great elder, and a man with a deeply calculating mind. Back in the day, he had even attempted to assassinate the Second.

To claim that someone like him had been outmaneuvered by Uchiha Shaoyu was hard to believe. After all, every member of the Konoha High Command knew Uchiha Shaoyu's reputation as a hotheaded fool. Uchiha Setsuna couldn't possibly have been that stupid.

It was obvious that old bastard Uchiha Setsuna had planned the whole thing, but at that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no way to act. Uchiha Setsuna's story was airtight, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen with no grounds to move against him.

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen sit there in silence, his expression dark, Danzō grew impatient. He struck the Hokage's desk hard with his cane.

"Hiruzen, say something! If you'd listened to me two days ago and signed the warrant, I could've arrested Uchiha Shaoyu. Then none of this would've happened."

As Danzō ranted, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly exhaled the last of his smoke and rapped his pipe sharply against the ashtray with a clear clink, cutting off Danzō's agitated words.

"Enough, Danzō."

His voice was quiet, but carried the authority of the Hokage.

"Is getting angry going to help? You accuse Uchiha Setsuna of scheming and staging the whole thing. Do you have proof? Without proof, it's all empty talk. You'll only alert them and drive the rest of the Uchiha further away from us!"

He stood, walked around the desk, and went to the window. With his back to Danzō, he gazed at the sky, which was gradually paling before dawn, his voice heavy.

"As for what you said two days ago, about signing a warrant and sending you to arrest Uchiha Shaoyu..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen turned around, his gaze as sharp as a blade as he stared into Danzō's remaining eye.

"Danzō, tell me: what grounds would you have used? That shoddy report of yours claiming Uchiha Shaoyu colluded with Sunagakure and deliberately tried—and failed—to assassinate the One-Tail Jinchuriki, Bunpuku? Do you take me for a fool, or Sunagakure and the entire Shinobi World?"

"That flimsy excuse wouldn't stand up to scrutiny! Do you understand how much turmoil you'd cause by rashly arresting a Uchiha prodigy without conclusive evidence that he'd betrayed the village? The Uchiha Clan would immediately retaliate, and the other clans would all become wary! You'd be pushing Konoha straight to the brink of civil war!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's barrage of questions left Danzō's face livid. He held his neck stiff, his one eye growing even more vicious.

"In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures are needed! With a clan as naturally evil and rebellious as the Uchiha, who cares about evidence? Who cares about procedure? We should use overwhelming force to intimidate them and wipe them out!"

"Hiruzen, you're far too indecisive, too devoted to that hypocritical Will of Fire! Look at what happened! You let an evil Uchiha escape, and lost eleven pairs of Sharingan along with him! Can you afford that loss?!"

There was one more thing: the three Root shinobi he had sent to capture Uchiha Shaoyu had mysteriously disappeared. They had undoubtedly been dealt with by Shaoyu.

The problem was, he had no way to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen about it.

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. His cane struck the floor again with a heavy thump.

"We can't hesitate any longer! Uchiha Shaoyu's defection is the perfect excuse! We should launch a full investigation into the Uchiha Clan at once!"

"Root has already gathered the names and movements of some of their more radical members. We can use this opportunity to wipe them all out and completely eliminate this unstable threat! Otherwise, once they recover—or once Uchiha Shaoyu gets established outside and works with the clan from within—Konoha will be in danger..."

"Enough!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's sharp shout cut off Danzō's increasingly dangerous and extreme words.

Open anger finally showed on his face. "Danzō! Put a stop to that! A full investigation of the Uchiha Clan? Wipe them all out? Do you understand what that means?"

"It means civil war! It means Konoha collapsing from within! It means becoming the laughingstock and target of the entire Shinobi World!"

He hurried back behind his desk, braced both hands against it, leaned forward, and fixed Danzō with a blazing stare.

"The Uchiha are one of Konoha's founding clans! There are tensions and suspicions, but they haven't openly rebelled. Most of them are still serving the village! That makes them our allies—partners of the village."

"What grounds would you use to wipe them out? The defection of one Uchiha, Uchiha Shaoyu? All you'd do is force the entire clan to fight back desperately! Who would bear the consequences then? You? Me? Or all of Konoha?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, but his tone remained resolute.

"Pursuing Uchiha Shaoyu and his accomplices is our top priority. But our overall policy toward the Uchiha Clan must remain unchanged: appeasement and surveillance. I absolutely will not let you use this as an excuse to go after them. Do you understand, Danzō?"

"Bullshit!"

"Hiruzen, you're getting weaker by the day! The evil Uchiha keep pushing their luck, and you just keep putting up with it!"

"Enough, Danzō. Starting now, I'm cutting Root's funding by thirty percent. If you dare act against the Uchiha, I'll disband Root outright."

??????????

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

"Danzō, I'm the Hokage now!"

Bang!

The furious Danzō slammed the door behind him, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen alone, his expression dark as he smoked his pipe.

"Danzō, don't blame me. We're at war now... The Uchiha... are still useful."