With witnesses and evidence both present, Shimura Agou felt certain he had this in the bag.
Shimura Agou did not believe Hiruzen Sarutobi had no idea what his lord had come here to do. Without his tacit approval, how would the Root he belonged to have dared raise its blades against the Uchiha Clan?
But look at Hiruzen Sarutobi now. He did not so much as glance at the Root members on Shimura Agou's side, walking straight past them to stand before the Uchiha Clan.
"Was what that man just said true?"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi come straight over to them, the Uchiha wore intriguing smiles. At his question, one of them answered bluntly.
"How could it be, Lord Hokage? You said it yourself, they're just two children. Since they're children, how could they have beaten Lord Danzo into this state? That's impossible. Who doesn't have children? Could your children do something like this, Lord Hokage? Mine certainly couldn't."
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi became even more convinced that there was nothing wrong with what he had just said. That brat Shimura Agou simply did not know any better.
He shot Shimura Agou a displeased glance, then picked another Uchiha clansman to question:
"How did Danzo get injured like this?"
"Who? Lord Hokage, are you asking me?"
"Yes. So do you know how Danzo ended up like this?"
"I dunno. Maybe Lord Danzo fell."
The man Hiruzen Sarutobi had questioned was Yashiro Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan, who had beaten Danzo the hardest earlier. Some Root members were now giving him hostile looks, but because of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, they would not say anything useless.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and questioned several more people in succession. They all gave much the same answer.
Danzo might have fallen.
He looked at Shimura Agou with some displeasure. Why was this brat so dishonest? Telling barefaced lies was no good.
"Agou, I've asked them all for you. They all say Danzo did this to himself by falling."
At this point, Shimura Agou wanted to cry but had no tears. Why do you keep asking the Uchiha? Don't you know they're all in cahoots? Ask the Root members behind me!
"Lord Hokage, why not ask the Root members behind me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi scoffed at this. Did he not know what sort of people Root members were?
You could kick them three times without getting so much as a fart out of them. They were nothing but machines that only knew how to carry out orders. Asking them would be pointless.
"Hmph, your Root? Let's forget it. Your Root doesn't answer to me. Danzo would start kicking up a fuss again."
"Huh?"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's sarcasm, Shimura Agou was dumbfounded. Wait, you can do that?
Is my lord really this unwelcome? Looking at the utterly united Uchiha, then at Danzo, Shimura Agou finally realized the Uchiha had set him up.
It seemed as though all the truth stood behind him, but in reality, there was no one behind Agou. At this moment, not a single person could step forward to speak for him. No one cared about his Lord Danzo. His colleagues were like blocks of wood, completely devoid of emotion.
For the first time, this made Shimura Agou question whether his lord had made the right choice by placing the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on them.
While Shimura Agou was lamenting this, a weak voice rang out.
"Cough, cough..."
Hearing the sound, Shimura Agou hurried to check on Danzo.
"Lord Danzo, how are you feeling?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi also came over at this point. Watching Shimura Agou prop Danzo up slightly, he spoke with some displeasure.
"Danzo, how did you fall so badly? You're hardly a child anymore. Can't you watch where you're going?"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Danzo felt a sweet taste rise in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Ah! Lord Danzo, why are you coughing up blood now? Don't scare me!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat surprised to see Danzo cough up blood, but he still called over the medical-nin who had accompanied him to treat Danzo.
In truth, Danzo already badly wanted to activate Izanagi to remove the negative effects on his body. His injuries hurt far too much. He suspected that damned Jinchūriki brat had pierced his lung with Wood Release earlier. Now even breathing hurt terribly.
Wait, Wood Release? As though something had occurred to him, Danzo abruptly opened his eyes. The sudden movement startled Shimura Agou beside him.
"Ah! Lord Danzo's corpse came back to life!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Shimura Agou a speechless look. Why did this Root ninja seem a little too lively?
"Enough. Shut up for now. Stop making noise."
Hiruzen Sarutobi came to Danzo's side, because he could tell Danzo had something he wanted to say to him.
"What is it, Danzo? Go ahead, I'm listening."
"Mon...key... Jinchūriki... Wood Release..."
As he said this, Danzo pointed at Naruto, who was standing a short distance away. Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"You mean the Nine-Tails Chakra inside the Jinchūriki has leaked out, and we need to find a ninja who can use Wood Release to suppress it, right? I understand, Danzo. I think your Root's Tenzo would be a fine choice. Lend him to me."
At this, Danzo agitatedly raised a finger and pointed at Hiruzen Sarutobi. How is this borrowing? This is outright robbery! But before he could speak, Hiruzen Sarutobi took his hand.
Hiruzen Sarutobi patted the back of Danzo's hand, signaling for him to rest assured. Tenzo would absolutely live very comfortably with him.
"All right, all right, Danzo. I know what you're worried about. Rest assured, I'll treat Tenzo well."
Danzo: Treat him well, my ass! Which eye of yours saw me agree?
But Hiruzen Sarutobi gave him no chance at all to refuse. Danzo was so furious that he really wanted to use Izanagi. But with so many Uchiha here, if he dared use it, this pack of lunatics would swarm him and beat him to death in minutes. He did not have many spare Sharingan left.
"All right, Danzo, you still haven't told me how you ended up like this."
"It was that damned..."
Before Danzo could finish, there was a bang, and an explosion went off.
Now Shimura Agou howled even louder.
"Disaster! Lord Danzo exploded!"
Some might not have known what was going on, but Sasuke, standing beside Naruto, wore an extremely shocked expression. Be like: image.JPG.
The two exchanged looks and eyebrow signals. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, lifted his left eyebrow twice and his right once, then pursed his lips toward the spot where the explosion had just occurred.
Naruto responded too, spreading his hands to indicate his innocence.
Sasuke understood instantly. Naruto had definitely stuck it on earlier. After all, only Naruto would do something like this.
In response, Naruto merely smiled innocently. He had not put much Explosive Clay in there to begin with. His aim was simple: to blow that arm off Danzo so he could not use the Sharingan on it to perform Izanagi.
"Cough, cough."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's coughing came from the smoke of the explosion. Of course, Naruto had not expected that little bit of damage to finish Hiruzen Sarutobi off. His target was Danzo's arm, the one covered in Sharingan.