Backing Down

Mitokado Homura stared nervously at Danzo across from him. In the silent Konoha camp, only the wind rustling through the leaves could be heard.

"Homura, have you forgotten what I said back then?"

Danzo looked Mitokado Homura straight in the eye and stepped up before him.

"I swore an oath back then: if we lost this war, I, Shimura Danzō, would die on this battlefield."

"And now, I have already secured the opening of this war. The main force of the Cloud Hidden has completely collapsed. What right do you have to come here and point fingers at me?"

He was aggressive, and Killing Intent radiated from him.

Danzo's expression and words made Mitokado Homura feel as though he were facing a stranger. He had never seen Danzo like this before.

Danzo and Mitokado Homura, two old men from a bygone era, stared each other down. A wide space had been cleared around them, and no one dared approach.

Mito Hiroichi swallowed, glanced at the others behind him, then at the Clan Head beside him, who seemed to be trembling slightly. In the end, he still did not dare step forward.

Other clans might not have known Danzo's reputation, but the children of these three clans had been warned about him by their elders since childhood.

In Konoha, they could offend anyone but Danzo.

He was a madman!

"Danzo, this is Sarutobi's order! Are you trying to betray the village?!" Mitokado Homura held his ground. To be honest, with his serious injuries, he did not have the ability to take Danzo's position anyway.

He still valued his life and only wanted to return to Konoha as soon as possible to recover.

But pride was even more important than life. Danzo was pressing him so hard now. If he backed down and really returned to the village, what would everyone else think of him?

Who would still listen to him as a Hokage Advisor?

"Betray the village?!"

Danzo's eyes flew wide with fury as he shouted, "I, Shimura Danzō, have devoted my entire life to Konoha, working tirelessly and without complaint. How many outstanding talents have I raised for Konoha?"

"Even in my old age, I disregarded my own reputation and created Root with my own hands, guarding Konoha's great tree from the shadows. Our Root Ninja have no names, no pasts, and no futures. We silently protect every person in Konoha."

"And you? What great things have you done? Sit in an office every day with nothing better to do than oppose Sarutobi's plans?"

His words left everyone around them stunned.

Quite a few of them had never even heard Danzo's name before this war, nor did they know that Konoha had a department called Root.

Lord Danzo...

The Root Ninja beside him were so moved they nearly cried. They had never felt so proud as they did now.

Mitokado Homura's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to argue.

Of course, he did not spend every day in an office opposing Sarutobi's plans. Besides, he had gone to the battlefield in his youth and had bled and sweated for Konoha.

But Danzo gave him no chance to defend himself. His gaze turned cold as Killing Intent surged forth. "Homura, do you think I would not dare kill you just because of our years of friendship?"

Danzo looked at Mitokado Homura, his icy words leaving his mouth.

The sentence was like a bone-chilling wind, cutting into Mitokado Homura's heart amid the scorching heat of June and freezing his entire body stiff.

He could only watch helplessly as Danzo reached out and placed a hand around his neck.

The Aura of death was so close.

It was not as if Mitokado Homura had never felt this before, but perhaps the longer one lived, the more one yearned to remain alive.

At that moment, he wanted to back down immediately and obediently return to the village.

And that was indeed what he did.

"I understand."

"I'll go back."

His voice was so quiet that almost no one present could hear him clearly.

His life was important, but so was his pride. He had come to the front lines in grand fashion to seize power, only to be seriously injured the moment he entered the camp and then shamefully "volunteer" to return to the village.

It was simply too humiliating. Mitokado Homura wondered if leaving the village this time had been a mistake.

Koharu should have come instead.

The thought slipped into his mind unconsciously.

Danzo stared expressionlessly at Mitokado Homura. Only after a long while did he withdraw his hand and turn to look at Fugaku, whose expression was complicated.

"Take your clansmen and leave. Tell them what you know, and tell them how I feel about you," Danzo said.

Since Mitokado Homura had stirred up the Uchiha clansmen's suspicions, Danzo would not allow those doubts to spread and affect the coming battles.

He would make the truth clear and make his attitude toward them clear. These people were not fools. Once they returned to the village, they would become bargaining chips for Uchiha Fugaku to truly take control of the Uchiha.

This was something that had to be done sooner or later.

Mitokado Homura's arrival had merely forced him to lay the matter bare ahead of time.

"Yes."

Fugaku gave Danzo a complicated look, then led his bewildered clansmen away from the Konoha camp for the time being.

Danzo coldly swept his gaze over Mitokado Homura, whose face was flushed red with shame, then snorted and left.

The joy he had felt from activating Brass Body had been completely swept away by that man.

Meanwhile, Konoha had already received the battle report from the front lines.

"That fellow Danzo won a battle. Although he lost some Hyuga Clan forces, the overall result was still decent."

Sarutobi Hiruzen tossed the scroll containing the report to the others present and spoke calmly, with no joy or any other emotion detectable in his voice.

At that moment, he was suspicious. He suspected that Danzo had hidden his true strength.

The report clearly stated that Danzo had effortlessly beheaded Dodai with overwhelming strength, shaking the Cloud Hidden's morale and securing victory.

Sarutobi knew Dodai well. Though he was old and his physical capabilities had declined, his strength was definitely far beyond that of an ordinary jonin.

Even Danzo at his peak would not have been able to defeat Dodai "easily."

"Hiashi, shouldn't you explain what your younger brother did?"

Before anyone could celebrate, Utatane Koharu said with a dark expression, "He ignored orders and ventured deep into dangerous territory, causing the entire unit to nearly collapse. Shouldn't your Hyuga Clan give us an explanation?"

The Hyuga Clan had caused the trouble, and now Hyuga members had caused the casualties. Utatane Koharu no longer wanted to show them any courtesy.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression was equally grim. Both his younger brother's death and the losses his brother had caused dealt him a heavy blow.

"Once the three surviving Hyuga clansmen return, I will ask them about the situation and give you a satisfactory answer." After some thought, Hyuga Hiashi decided to stall for time.

Although Hizashi was not particularly steady-tempered, he was by no means rash.

How could he have led the unit so impulsively into dangerous territory?

Hyuga Hiashi did not believe it. He would wait for the three Hyuga Clan members, who had return to the village early due to being seriously injured, to return before giving an answer.

He needed to understand the situation first. He would never allow his younger brother or the Hyuga Clan to bear baseless accusations.