"What are you doing? All of you, stop."
A low voice reached the chaotic crowd, but no one showed any intention of stopping, especially the Uchiha, who were beating the Root members like mad, seemingly venting all the grievances they had suffered over the years.
The scene was still a complete mess, with Root members attacking Uchiha and Uchiha attacking Root members. More absurdly, Danzo was lying on the ground with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha beside him, both punching and kicking him where he lay. His screams alone made it clear how badly he was being beaten.
In fact, Naruto had long since spotted that old fart Hiruzen Sarutobi out of the corner of his eye, but now that things had finally descended into chaos, everyone was settling scores and airing grievances. Who had time for him?
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, he felt that his authority had been challenged. He had already shouted at them, yet not a single person had stopped.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression gradually darkened.
"Fine, fine, fine. So you Uchiha really won't show me any respect?"
Standing some distance away, Fugaku heard this and leaned sideways with exaggerated movements, cupping an open hand beside his ear.
"Huh? What did you say, Lord Hokage? It's too loud here! I can't hear you!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face clouded over at that. He had always thought Fugaku was a nice guy, but judging by today, stereotypes really could lead a person badly astray. What part of this fellow was a nice guy? With how devious he looked, he had nothing whatsoever to do with the word "nice."
Fugaku also noticed Hiruzen Sarutobi's unpleasant expression and made a show of shouting a few times.
"Stop! Don't fight anymore! Hurry up and stop..."
Yet not a single person responded to Fugaku. He could only turn around and look innocently at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his meaning perfectly clear: they weren't listening to him.
"Lord Hokage, they won't listen to me. Please hurry and stop them."
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat speechless at Fugaku's overblown acting, he still nodded silently. After all, he felt rather guilty himself. He had taken his sweet time getting here, but who could have imagined he would arrive to find such a shocking scene?
Root and the Uchiha Clan were locked in a brawl, while Danzo was being pinned to the ground and beaten by two little kids. How utterly humiliating. Could Danzo be deliberately playing the victim so that he would punish the Uchiha severely? Hadn't he said he was coming tonight to wipe out the Uchiha Clan? Why was he putting on this act instead?
After all, he had tacitly approved all of this. He had come so late because he figured Danzo would have more or less finished, and it would be time to confiscate their property, allowing him to arrive just in time for a share of the spoils. But who could have imagined things would turn out like this?
As Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered, his hands began forming hand seals. Although he couldn't quite work out what Danzo was trying to do, he could see that Danzo was already breathing out more than he was breathing in. He was really putting his all into this act, so shouldn't he help him out?
"Summoning Technique! Come out, Enma."
A huge ape appeared beside Hiruzen Sarutobi. He first glanced at the Uchiha and Root members fighting in a tangled mass, then scratched his head in confusion.
"Monkey, what happened? Do you need me to step in?"
Enma was thoroughly puzzled. Judging by their clothing, these people all seemed to be members of Konoha. Was he supposed to attack them or not?
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't make things difficult for him. He reached out, and Enma obligingly transformed into the Adamantine Staff. Holding the Adamantine Staff, Hiruzen Sarutobi first drove it hard into the ground, then gathered chakra in his lungs and throat.
"Stop! All of you, stop, or don't blame this old man for showing no mercy with his staff!"
Those who heard him looked at one another, and the scene fell quiet for a moment. However, those Root ninja seemed to be going to rescue their lord. This disregard for his orders displeased Hiruzen Sarutobi somewhat, but since they were going to save Danzo, he ultimately said nothing more.
Damn it, Root again. Danzo is getting more and more out of line.
How could Shimura Agou spare any thought for that? Seeing that he finally had an opening, he knew that if he didn't go rescue Danzo now, he could head home for the funeral feast. Hiruzen Sarutobi might not know what was going on, but how could Shimura Agou not know?
As the person who had spent the longest time at Danzo's side, he understood him all too well. Given how his lord had provoked these Uchiha right from the start, he must have had a trump card. But if he still hadn't used it by now, something had definitely gone wrong. That Jinchūriki must have been behind it.
He ran fast, wailing as he went.
"Lord Danzo, nothing can happen to you! If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to go on living?"
Shimura Agou's behavior made Hiruzen Sarutobi frown. Since when had Root had someone like this? How could his old friend allow his subordinates to have emotions? Hadn't he always said that ninja were emotionless killing machines? How had he ended up with a subordinate like this?
All sorts of questions arose, and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't figure them out, but he had no intention of stopping Shimura Agou either. After all, everyone around them had stopped fighting, so it was just as well for someone to check on Danzo.
Shimura Agou reached Danzo's side, shoved Naruto and Sasuke aside where they stood nearby, and hurriedly checked for breath beneath Danzo's nose. Only after feeling that he was still breathing and discovering that he had merely passed out did Shimura Agou breathe a sigh of relief.
But when he saw Danzo's miserable condition, he couldn't help wailing again.
Who knew how many bones in his body had been broken? There wasn't a single uninjured patch of flesh anywhere on him, and he had many wounds that pierced clean through him, too. All of it was that damned Jinchūriki's doing.
"Lord Danzo, how did you get beaten like this? Who was it? Who did this? What kind of vicious heart could commit such an atrocious deed?"
At that moment, Naruto and Sasuke both stuck their hands in their pockets and whistled, gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, refusing to meet Shimura Agou's eyes.
Naruto and Sasuke's current state be like: image.jpg.
Seeing that neither of the two culprits would acknowledge him, Shimura Agou looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, his face full of grief and indignation.
"Lord Hokage, look at them! Are you really not going to do anything?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki standing to one side. One had his head tilted up at a forty-five-degree angle to look at the sky, while the other was picking his nose. Neither was looking at him. His mouth twitched. Could these two children really have beaten Danzo like this? He didn't believe it. What if these two children had been pushed forward to take the blame?
After thinking it over, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that this was the only possibility. Naruto and Sasuke were both good children. They must have been pushed forward to take the blame.
"How could that be? Naruto and Sasuke are both good children. How could they possibly have beaten Danzo like this?"
At this point, Hiruzen looked again at that Root member and found him somewhat familiar. He seemed to be the fellow Shimura clansman Danzo had adopted back then. Only then did he recall that his name seemed to be Shimura Agou or something.
"Agou, what's wrong with you? They're only children. How much could a child's punches hurt? Could they beat Danzo like this? Perhaps he fell. A grown man like you, slandering children-you really have no shame."
At that moment, Shimura Agou felt as though his lungs were about to explode with anger. How the hell could a fall leave someone like this?
Hiruzen Sarutobi, are those two eggs hanging beneath your eyebrows only good for rolling around, not seeing? Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean they didn't! Everyone in Root could corroborate it. The witnesses and physical evidence were all right here.
"Lord Hokage, aren't you being too hasty in your judgment? So many people here were watching. We have both witnesses and physical evidence. You can't jump to conclusions."
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi scrutinized the Uchiha. He didn't even look at Danzo's Root members. They were all emotionless fellows who only followed orders. Asking them would be pointless.
At that moment, Shimura Agou felt his back straighten. With so many people having seen it, he refused to believe no one would testify for him.
After today's incident, his standing in Lord Danzo's heart would definitely reach an unprecedented height. When no one else had stepped forward, it still came down to him, Shimura Agou.
He, Shimura Agou, had won the MVP!