"How is this possible? Why would the Daimyo do this..."
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart was utterly dead, his aged eyes dull and lifeless.
A disgrace! An absolute disgrace!
He had actually become the first person in history to be forcibly stripped of the Hokage position!
"It was you! It had to be you, Hatake Shinichi!"
Suddenly, realization flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind. He fixed a venomous stare on Shinichi and snarled, "I wondered why you insisted on sending Shisui to serve as a guard at the Daimyo's Residence back then. You were plotting against me even then!"
The Land of Fire's Daimyo could not possibly have targeted him without reason. Even if he was dissatisfied with him, he would never have passed such a heartless judgment on an old Hokage who had faithfully served for so many years.
There was only one explanation: someone had been meddling behind the scenes!
"Not completely stupid, are you?"
Shinichi made no attempt to deny it. He smiled. "Shisui works for me, and I won't deny that he contributed quite a bit to this. But I never used any special methods to deceive or manipulate the Daimyo. You brought all of this on yourself, you old Sarutobi dog!"
"Bullshit!"
Unable to keep his composure any longer, Hiruzen Sarutobi erupted into curses. "You must have used some underhanded trick! Otherwise, the Daimyo would never have treated me this way!"
"Itachi."
But Shinichi could not even be bothered to respond. He merely glanced at Itachi beside him.
Itachi immediately understood and took a scroll from inside his clothes. It was secured with a powerful Sealing Jutsu.
Hiss.
Shinichi casually undid the seal. Holding the scroll, he smiled. "Old Sarutobi dog, do you know what's written on this scroll? Let me kindly explain. It records