"Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Come out."
"Give the Uchiha an explanation."
The moment Sasuke finished speaking, the Anbu outside the Hokage Building all tensed.
The elderly figure upstairs did not move immediately.
But the crowd had already pressed up to the edge of the square.
The Uchiha stood at the front, with civilians packed behind them. The Root Ninja were held under Anbu guard at the street entrance, all their weapons confiscated.
Sasuke raised his still-bleeding arm, holding up the bloodstained strip of cloth for everyone to see.
"Root attacked me on the main street just now."
"Civilians saw it. Uchiha saw it. Anbu saw it."
He looked toward the entrance to the Hokage Building.
"Lord Hokage, would you like to call this a misunderstanding too?"
The upstairs window was pushed open.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi finally emerged.
He wore his Hokage Robe, wrinkles crowding his face, and still held his pipe, though it was unlit.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu followed him, both looking livid.
The Third stood on the steps, his gaze sweeping across the square.
"Sasuke, the village will thoroughly investigate tonight's events."
"Investigate?"
Sasuke took a step forward.
Kakashi raised a hand to stop him, but Sasuke shoved the bloodstained cloth into his hand instead.
"Hold this for me, Anbu sir."
Kakashi watched him through his mask.
Sasuke did not look at him. His eyes stayed fixed on the Third.
"My clansmen were killed. Itachi was the killer."
"The order to wipe out the clan came from Danzo."
"Root tried to silence me in the street."
"And now you're telling me the village will investigate, Lord Hokage?"
Someone shouted from the back of the crowd.
"What's left to investigate? The evidence is right here!"
"Where's Danzo? Bring him out!"
"Root already attacked. Surely Lord Hokage can't pretend he knows nothing?"
Mitokado Homura's expression darkened, and he pointed at the crowd.
"Quiet! This is the Hokage Building, not a marketplace!"
Sasuke immediately turned toward him.
"Too noisy for you, Lord Advisor?"
"Then tell me, should the Uchiha have kept quiet while they were being slaughtered, to make disposing of the bodies easier for you?"
Mitokado Homura's face twitched.
"Sasuke Uchiha, stop making vicious accusations!"
Sasuke raised his right hand.
An Uchiha immediately handed him a black recording scroll.
Sasuke laid the scroll in his palm and tapped it lightly with a finger.
Danzo's raspy voice rang out again.
"Once the operation is complete, Root will retrieve the Sharingan. Leave no trace of any falling into outside hands."
The square fell silent in an instant.
Even those who had been shouting curses closed their mouths.
Those words were too vile.
So vile that no one dared make excuses for them.
Sasuke held the scroll high.
"This is Danzo's voice."
"This is Itachi's voice."
"This is the order to wipe out the clan."
He looked at the Third.
"Lord Hokage, do you know these men?"
The Third's grip on his pipe tightened.
Utatane Koharu spoke first.
"Voices can be fabricated. The Uchiha are skilled at genjutsu to begin with. This cannot count as evidence."
The moment she finished, the Uchiha erupted.
"You're saying we faked it?"
"The bodies are still in the clan compound. Do you dare go look?"
"Was Root killing people just now fake too?"
Sasuke did not let his clansmen continue arguing.
He raised a hand.
The Uchiha actually fell silent.
The gesture made the Third's eyelid twitch.
An eight-year-old child could already silence a group of Uchiha so furious they were on the verge of losing control.
That was the most troublesome part.
Sasuke turned to Utatane Koharu.
"You say voices can be fabricated, Lord Advisor."
"Fine."
"Then let's try something you can't call fake."
He took a small sealing tag from his sleeve and pressed it against the ground.
He channeled chakra into it.
A neatly folded Order Document appeared on the ground.
Sasuke picked it up, dusted it off, and held it out to the nearest Anbu.
"Read it."
The Anbu did not take it.
He looked at the Third.
The Third's face tightened.
The corner of Sasuke's mouth curled.
"Don't dare read it?"
"Then I will."
He unfolded the Order Document, his voice carrying across the square.
"Root Squad Seven will assist Uchiha Itachi in clearing the perimeter of the Uchiha compound, cutting off escape routes, and retrieving Sharingan where necessary."
He paused, then turned the signature toward the crowd.
"Shimura Danzō."
"Root's seal."
"And the date is tonight."
The crowd erupted completely.
"How can that be fake too?"
"Who could forge Root's seal?"
"Danzo really means to gouge out their eyes!"
Utatane Koharu stepped forward.
"Hand it over!"
Sasuke swept the Order Document behind his back.
The Uchiha fighters immediately stepped forward to block her.
Sasuke looked at her.
"Are you trying to snatch the evidence, Lord Advisor?"
"In front of the entire village?"
Utatane Koharu's hand froze in midair, her face flushing red.
Mitokado Homura gritted his teeth.
"Where did a child like you get something like that?"
Sasuke looked at him, his eyes full of mockery.
"You shouldn't be asking where I got it."
"You should be asking why Danzo wrote it."
"Then ask Lord Hokage why Root can bypass the Hokage and directly carry out an order to slaughter a clan."
The Third finally spoke.
"Sasuke, hand the Order Document to the Anbu."
Sasuke shook his head.
"No."
The Third's expression darkened.
"You don't trust the Hokage?"
Sasuke countered.
"Should I?"
The square fell silent again.
The question struck far too directly.
The Third stared at him.
"I am the Hokage of Konoha."
Sasuke held up the Order Document.
"Then please answer me, Lord Hokage."
"Did the Hokage of Konoha know that Danzo intended to wipe out the Uchiha tonight?"
Mitokado Homura immediately barked.
"How dare you!"
Sasuke turned his head.
"Why are you so worked up?"
"I wasn't asking you."
Mitokado Homura was left speechless.
Weariness settled over the Third's face.
"I didn't know Danzo would go this far."
Sasuke immediately seized on his words.
"So Danzo mobilized Root without authorization, colluded with Uchiha Itachi, and plotted the slaughter of one of Konoha's founding clans."
"Lord Hokage, do you acknowledge that he has committed Village Betrayal?"
The Third's gaze darkened.
This child had cut off every escape.
If he admitted it, Danzo was finished.
If he refused, tonight's public fury would turn on him.
Utatane Koharu hastily interjected.
"We haven't investigated yet. We can't jump to conclusions!"
Sasuke sneered.
"Itachi killed people with his blade, Danzo ordered the clan's extermination, and Root tried to silence me in the street."
"That's still not enough for a conclusion?"
"Or do you need to wait until every last Uchiha is dead before you hold a meeting to discuss it?"
The Uchiha roared in unison.
"Call it what it is!"
"Danzo committed Village Betrayal!"
"Hand over Danzo!"
At the back of the crowd, more and more civilians joined in.
"Hand over Danzo!"
"Bring out Root!"
Sweat beaded on the Third's forehead.
Kakashi stood at the street corner, still holding Sasuke's bloodstained cloth.
He looked at the Root members, then toward the Hokage Building, shifting his grip on his blade.
One of the restrained Root Ninja suddenly began to struggle.
"This brat is spreading lies to deceive everyone! He must be eliminated!"
Chakra surged from his body, snapping part of the rope, and he lunged at Sasuke.
Kakashi was about to move, but Sasuke sidestepped first.
An Uchiha kicked the Root Ninja in the knee, while another looped steel wire around his neck and dragged him to the ground.
Sasuke walked over to the Root Ninja, crouched down, and picked up the short blade he had dropped.
A Root identification number was engraved on the inside of the hilt.
He held the blade up for everyone to see.
"Lord Hokage."
"Look. He still wants to kill me."
"Is this another misunderstanding?"
The Third's face darkened completely.
The Root Ninja tried to bite through the poison pouch hidden in his tooth, but Kakashi dislocated his jaw.
Sasuke looked at Kakashi.
"Sir Anbu, you've kept the witness alive."
"You made the right choice again tonight."
Kakashi said nothing, merely handing the bloodstained cloth back.
Sasuke did not take it.
"Keep it."
"If someone claims Root never attacked me, you can take it out and have a look."
Kakashi's hand paused for a moment before he finally tucked the bloodstained cloth into his ninja tool pouch.
Seeing this, the Third's eyes grew darker.
Even the Anbu's loyalties were shifting.
Sasuke straightened again and looked at the outer wall of the Hokage Building.
"Lord Hokage, since you said you'd investigate, please do it now."
"Where is Danzo?"
The Third remained silent.
Mitokado Homura immediately spoke up.
"Danzo is unwell. He's recuperating at Root."
Sasuke laughed.
"Unwell?"
"He just sent people to kill me, and now he's sick?"
"The Konoha High Command's illnesses certainly strike at convenient times."
A burst of angry laughter erupted from the crowd.
Mitokado Homura's expression worsened.
The Third raised a hand, signaling him to be quiet.
"I will send the Anbu to summon Danzo."
Sasuke shook his head.
"That's not enough."
The Third stared at him.
"What else do you want?"
Sasuke folded the order document again and tucked it inside his clothes.
"All evidence gathered tonight must be held jointly by the Konoha Military Police Force, the Hokage's Direct Anbu, and Clan Representatives from every clan in the village."
"Root must not have access to it."
"Anyone who destroys evidence must be treated as having committed village betrayal."
Utatane Koharu snapped in anger.
"You have no authority to give the Hokage orders!"
Sasuke raised his wounded hand.
Blood seeped from the edges of the bandage again.
"I'm the victim."
"I'm the son of the Uchiha Clan Head."
"Is there a problem with my demanding that the evidence be protected?"
The Third looked at the people in the square.
Every pair of eyes awaited his answer.
He knew that if he said there was a problem, the Hokage Building might remain surrounded until dawn.
This was not a situation ninjutsu could resolve.
The Third spoke slowly.
"Very well."
Mitokado Homura grew anxious.
"Hiruzen!"
The Third did not look at him.
"The Anbu will secure the evidence, with the Konoha Military Police Force assisting."
Sasuke immediately drove the point home.
"And the clan representatives."
The Third turned his pipe halfway around in his palm.
"Notify the heads of every clan to come to the Hokage Building as witnesses."
Only then did Sasuke nod.
"That's more like it."
Just then, an Anbu suddenly rushed out from behind the Hokage Building and dropped to one knee before the Third.
"Lord Hokage, the Root Underground Base has begun sealing its passages. Documents inside are being moved."
The square fell silent again for a moment.
Sasuke looked up at the Third, without a trace of surprise in his eyes.
"Did you hear that?"
"Danzo is destroying evidence."
The Third's expression changed dramatically.
Sasuke raised his hand and pointed toward the darkness behind the Hokage Building.
"Lord Hokage, are you going to keep standing here talking about rules, or go arrest your old friend now?"
The Anbu added another report.
"Explosions have been heard in Root's outer perimeter. We've lost contact with the people who went inside."
Sasuke looked at Kakashi.
"Sir Anbu, it looks like tonight's second live broadcast has begun."
Before you continue