The Third Hokage compromised

Shimura Danzō's eyes widened as he stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi in disbelief.

"Danzo, that slap was for Orochimaru."

"You were the one backing Orochimaru's forbidden experiments behind the scenes."

"He received the punishment he deserved. What about you?"

Shimura Danzō's expression darkened, and he tried to argue, "Hiruzen, Orochimaru's defection wasn't my fault. He experimented on the village's bloodline-limit ninja. That's an indisputable fact."

Shifting all the blame onto Orochimaru, who had packed up and fled-how could such a petty trick fool Hiruzen Sarutobi?

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not keep arguing with Shimura Danzō. With a smack, he delivered another hard slap.

"That slap was for Uchiha Itachi."

"He was such a good child. Why did you kill him? Huh? Why?"

At those words, Shimura Danzō was dumbfounded.

I killed Uchiha Itachi?

Seriously?

"Hiruzen, Uchiha Itachi is dead? When did that happen?"

Seeing Shimura Danzō acting as though he dared to do it but not admit it, playing dumb despite knowing the truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew even darker.

He picked up the investigation report Kakashi had written and tossed it to Shimura Danzō.

"Take a good look!"

"What you did was uncovered in less than a day."

Shimura Danzō took the investigation report and read through it carefully. The more he read, the more alarmed he became, and the colder his whole body felt.

Uchiha Itachi had actually been killed at the village gate.

The killer had fabricated evidence and pinned the blame on him.

Who was it?

Who exactly did this?

No, wait.

How did the killer know I'd had Sharingan and Wood Release transplanted into me?

Shimura Danzō's face was filled with shock, doubt, confusion, and anger.

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and explained, "Hiruzen, you have to believe me. This is a massive conspiracy against me."

Smack!

Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped Shimura Danzō across the face again.

"That slap was for myself."

"You say this is a conspiracy. It certainly is, but it's aimed at me, not you."

"You want to use the Uchiha to get rid of me, then become Hokage, don't you?"

Shimura Danzō clutched the burning half of his face. His lips moved for a long while, but he could not get a single word out.

He did indeed scheme every day about how to topple Hiruzen Sarutobi and take his place.

Hiruzen Sarutobi also knew that he schemed every day about how to topple him and take his place.

He had been the one who incited Kakashi to assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi.

If he flatly denied it now, never mind Hiruzen Sarutobi-even Shimura Danzō himself would not believe it.

Shimura Danzō knew that even a hundred mouths could not explain this away, so he simply kept silent.

Smack!

Seeing that Shimura Danzō was not speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped him again.

"That slap was for our teacher."

"If our teacher knew what you'd done, he'd break your legs."

"Look at the sorry state you're in now. Look at those eyes on your arm. Can you sleep at night?"

At the mention of Tobirama Senju, anger suddenly flared in Shimura Danzō, and he said furiously:

"Enough!"

"Monkey, I'm telling you, our teacher would be proud of me and ashamed of you.

"The Uchiha launched three rebellions and caused the deaths of the First and the Fourth."

"Our teacher said the Uchiha were an inherently evil clan."

"Only I carried out our teacher's will and ruthlessly suppressed the Uchiha Clan. Tell me, what have you done all these years?"

Shimura Danzō's pent-up emotions erupted.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared intently at Shimura Danzō, speechless.

He had no way to refute what Shimura Danzō had said.

He truly had not carried out his teacher's will. He had failed his teacher's trust.

That was also why he had tolerated Danzo time and again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed away on his pipe. After a long while, with his back to Shimura Danzō, he said somewhat reluctantly, "Danzo, leave Konoha. Go find Orochimaru."

Shimura Danzō's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. "Hiruzen, you're abandoning me to appease the Uchiha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing, but his gaze remained fixed on Shimura Danzō, refusing to yield.

The one who had died was not some nobody, but Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha Clan's young heir.

At that moment, the Uchiha Clan was a powder keg that could launch a coup at any time.

Only by abandoning Shimura Danzō and giving the Uchiha an answer could there be any chance of quelling their fury.

That was only the first reason.

The second was that Hiruzen Sarutobi intended to disband Root.

Root, also known as the "Anbu Training Department," was responsible for training Anbu for the Hokage.

At first, it had not held much power.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt guilty for failing to continue the Second Hokage's policy of suppressing the Uchiha Clan, so he had tacitly allowed Shimura Danzō, who carried out the Second Hokage's will, to establish his own independent organization, "Root," under the name of the Anbu Training Department.

He had not expected that, as time passed, Root would ravenously draw nourishment from beneath the great tree that was Konoha, spreading its tendrils through every department. By now, it had slipped entirely beyond Hiruzen Sarutobi's control.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, had no idea how many members Root had or what missions it carried out.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered disbanding Root as early as the aftermath of Minato Namikaze's death.

Now, Uchiha Itachi's death was the perfect opportunity to disband Root.

The third reason was that Shimura Danzō had become utterly blinded by the Hokage position. He had completely disregarded their bond as fellow students and repeatedly committed acts of grave betrayal.

Back then, he had incited Kakashi Hatake to assassinate him. Now, he was trying to use the Uchiha to eliminate him.

If he let Shimura Danzō off this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi reckoned that next time, Shimura Danzō might personally lead a team to assassinate him.

"Danzo, this is not negotiable!"

"Either leave the village or stand trial."

Hiruzen Sarutobi added some tobacco to his pipe and spoke coldly.

Bang!

Shimura Danzō slammed his fist onto the desk and said angrily, "Hiruzen, you..."

Before Danzo could get the words out, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand. "Are you going to say I'll regret this? I'm telling you, Danzo, I won't."

Shimura Danzō choked on his words, his ability to string them together thrown into complete disarray.

Hiruzen, was this part of your calculations too?

He badly wanted to say, "I'm the Hokage," but he did not dare.

"Hiruzen, I won't leave."

"No matter what happens, I am a ninja of Konoha."

"I will inherit our teacher's will, and I will pass judgment on the evil Uchiha."

With that, Shimura Danzō stormed out.

When he reached the doorway, he suddenly turned his head and said, "Hiruzen, you'll regret this."

After saying those words, Shimura Danzō felt much less pent up.

Not long after Shimura Danzō left, Kakashi Hatake and the other two returned to the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked eagerly, "What did you find?"

Kakashi Hatake took out two glass containers and handed them to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "We found a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Danzo's office. Douyang confirmed that they were Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh, then puffed away on his pipe.

Only after a long time did he speak. "Kakashi, go get some rest."

"Yes!"

Kakashi respectfully left the office.