"..." Hiruzen realized he had lost his composure in front of Minato.
He steadied himself, bent down, and casually picked up his pipe. Holding it in his mouth, he said calmly, "Minato, isn't it too hasty to conclude that Danzo was involved in that incident based solely on Nagato's word?"
Just as expected...
Hiruzen's reaction was within Minato's expectations.
In truth, everything he had said—the matter of Nagato killing Hanzo and becoming Amegakure's leader, his own meeting with Nagato, and even the decision to handle things discreetly—had merely been groundwork.
After all, Minato was now the one in charge of Konoha. He did not need to specifically seek Hiruzen's approval for Konoha's external policies.
Only the matter of Danzo was internal. Furthermore, Danzo's status was sensitive. As a Konoha elder and Hiruzen's partner during his tenure as Hokage, Minato had to let the Hokage who had promoted him understand the situation, both emotionally and logically. Otherwise... when he took corresponding measures against Danzo, Hiruzen might step forward and plead on his behalf.
Making Hiruzen clearly understand what Danzo had done in secret and the consequences it had caused was also a way of preparing him in advance, so that he would not later appeal to sentiment and obstruct Minato's decisions.
That was the true purpose behind Minato treating Hiruzen to watermelon in the middle of the day.
This was how the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, handled affairs—humane yet shrewd, resolute toward outsiders, conciliatory yet firm within, with needles hidden in silk!
Faced with Hiruzen's claim of "hastiness," Minato responded with reason and evidence.
"Do you remember, Third Lord? On the night of the attack, when we defeated the enemy, Mr. Danzo, who usually kept to himself, was impatient to recover Pain's corpse. Oh, Pain was the collective name for those