The doors on both sides of South Street opened a crack.
The merchants and civilians who had been cowering indoors worked up the courage to poke their heads out from beneath the eaves.
The apprentice at the barbecue shop rubbed his eyes.
The old tofu seller on the corner forgot even to wipe his apron, staring blankly at the old man on the stone platform.
That was Shimura Danzō.
Wanted posters had been plastered all over the village in recent days, and the portrait on them was unmistakable.
"Is that really Lord Danzo?"
"What do you mean, lord? That's Danzo, the wanted criminal!"
"My god, how did he get beaten that badly?"
An irrepressible stir ran through the crowd.
Many merchants who had suffered Root's extortion now watched with eager delight.
The wanted notice personally signed by the Third Hokage yesterday was no fake.
A distinguished elder of the Konoha High Command had truly become a prisoner crushed underfoot.
At the center of the stone platform, muddy water slid down Danzo's withered cheeks.
Danzo lay sprawled on the cold, hard steps, trembling violently.
His wrinkled old face had turned a livid purple.
The civilians of South Street and the merchants from other villages all stared at his tattered clothes and severed arm.
The humiliation swept away his reason.
Danzo dug his remaining right hand into a crack in the stone, raised his head, and roared at Chikage.
"Uchiha Chikage!"
"You criminal of Konoha!"
"Why do you possess Lord Hashirama Senju's constitution?"
Danzo's shrill, hoarse voice carried across the entire plaza.
"That constitution is a closely guarded secret of the Senju Clan!"
"You clearly stole the legacy of the village's former leader!"
"Don't let him fool you!"
"This brat isn't an Uchiha at all! He's a traitor who stole the First