Homura and Koharu gleaned a great deal from the exchange. Neither had expected so much to happen between the two men in just a few days.
"Danzo, you bear most of the blame for this. You secretly built bases outside the village. What were you planning? To break away from Konoha?
"Or is your current position no longer enough for you? Do you want more power?"
Koharu spoke with righteous indignation.
Homura said, "Danzo did make a serious mistake this time. If word gets out, even the three of us together won't be able to protect him.
"But Hiruzen has already ordered everyone to keep quiet, so this won't come back on you. Danzo, you should thank him for that."
Danzo's expression remained calm. Now that everything was out in the open, all he stood to lose were a few bases in other countries. He could rebuild them whenever he wanted.
"We've only just taken in those orphans. Many of them were meant to enter the spy network later. And haven't you seen where things have been heading these past few years?
"The great nations of the Shinobi World all have their eyes on the Land of Fire. I built those outlying bases so the enemy couldn't catch us off guard at a critical moment.
"When it matters, those bases will give us another force to draw on. They can strike enemy villages directly and buy us time.
"Name one thing I've done all these years that wasn't for Konoha."
"And what about Elder Ito?" the Third Hokage asked. "That was clearly an assassination attempt by Root. If we hadn't held back the Elders Council, do you think this would have blown over so easily?"
Danzo's expression turned grave. "Some people have become serious obstacles to the village's development. Naturally,