"I brought you both witnesses and physical evidence! And you're still denying it?" Hatake Ziyan asked with some amusement as he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi's defiant expression.
"All of that could be fabricated. Who knows whether you specially found these people and corpses to frame me?" Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to insist.
"You really think highly of yourself. You think I'd go out of my way to frame you? So you think I'm framing you, do you? I remember the Tanaka clan has a secret technique that can retrieve some of a dead person's memories from their brain. In that case, why don't we have someone from the Tanaka clan examine these people's memories from before they died?" Hatake Ziyan's suggestion made Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression change drastically.
"No! Who knows whether you've bought off the Tanaka clan, or whether they're too afraid of your authority to tell the truth? Then I'd be unjustly put to death!" Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to deny everything.
Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi argue in circles, Hatake Ziyan was nearly out of patience. He slowly drew the long blade at his waist and walked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi with his eyes lowered.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, I'll give you one last chance. Admit it yourself, and I can give you a quick death," Hatake Ziyan said quietly.
Seeing that Hatake Ziyan intended to kill him outright regardless of anything else, Hiruzen Sarutobi backed away repeatedly.
"Lord Ziyan, you can't just kill me like this! I'm Konoha's Third Hokage! If you kill me on a whim, you'll..." Hiruzen Sarutobi said in panic.
"I'll what? Never mind that I have evidence of you moving against me. Even if I didn't, who would dare say anything to my face if I killed you?" Hatake Ziyan drew his sword and pointed it at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Ziyan,