"Lord Third, on behalf of the Konoha Military Police Force, I hereby request once again that the full-scale investigation be reopened! We must thoroughly purge the lingering poison left behind by the missing-nin Shimura Danzō! We must launch a comprehensive investigation into the true mastermind behind the Nine-Tails' Attack!
"Starting with Mitokado Homura!"
Hearing Uchiha Minamoto mention Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura immediately turned to his old friend.
"Hiruzen! Hiruzen! Listen to these vicious accusations! I never colluded with Danzo! I never colluded with Kumogakure!"
Mitokado Homura's voice carried one last shred of hope, like a drowning man trying to clutch a straw about to snap.
"Hiruzen! You know! You know that!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips moved slightly.
Then he said nothing.
Sometimes, silence carried more force than any words.
The light in Mitokado Homura's eyes went out, bit by bit.
This was an entirely open maneuver by Uchiha Minamoto.
And with the prestige of his triumphant return from the battlefield behind it, it was an open maneuver no one could stop.
Last time, Hiruzen Sarutobi had used delaying tactics to suppress the Uchiha's request for a full-scale investigation of Konoha.
That was because Kumogakure's troops had been at their gates, and the village had needed internal stability first.
But now, Uchiha Minamoto had crushed Kumogakure's invasion with lightning force.
The Light of Konoha had returned to the village with unmatched might, intent on settling accounts with those rats in the gutters of the past.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could not stop him, and he knew he should not.
The Third Hokage, stopping the Konoha Military Police Force from investigating the Nine-Tails' Attack?
Did he really think Konoha was a place where Hiruzen Sarutobi alone called the shots?!
In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi said only one word.
"Approved."
Uchiha Minamoto raised his right hand