"Danzo, look me in the eyes and tell me. Why did you do this?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded angrily.
Danzo kept his head lowered, hiding his expression. He seemed to be deep in thought, but there clearly wasn't time for him to think now.
"Danzo, answer my question. Look me in the eyes and tell me why. Why did you do this?"
Silence. Still silence. But some people couldn't wait any longer.
"Are you going to talk or not? If you won't, we'll pry his mouth open ourselves."
One bold Uchiha spoke bluntly, showing no regard whatsoever for Hiruzen Sarutobi's standing as Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was equally grim. He could imagine that, from this day onward, his prestige would be completely gone.
At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was fretting over Danzo. Just say something! Say anything that isn't too outrageous, and I can still protect you! But you're playing mute here. How am I supposed to save you?
Unfortunately, Danzo couldn't read minds, and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't communicate telepathically. He had no idea what to do.
Danzo seemed to ponder for a long time. Then he smiled, a smile of release.
"You ask why I did this? Heh. I have lived my entire life openly and honorably. When have I ever done anything shameful? Everything I have done was for Konoha. Where sunlight cannot reach, there will always be darkness. Then let me hide within that darkness and do things for Konoha from the shadows..."
"What wrong have I done? I was merely concerned about Shisui's powerful Dōjutsu and sought to reduce the danger to a minimum. Only that way could I protect Konoha."
"As for targeting your Uchiha Clan? Heh. If I didn't target you, was I supposed to wait for another Madara Uchiha to emerge among you?"
At first, Danzo's words were fairly normal, but the more he spoke, the more absurd he became. Naruto's mouth twitched as he listened, and he kept rolling his eyes.
It was the first time he had ever seen utter shamelessness dressed up so elegantly.
"Bullshit! What has our Uchiha Clan ever done wrong to deserve being targeted like this?"
"Exactly! So what if we had someone like Lord Madara? Who hasn't made mistakes? Don't forget that Konoha was founded by the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Otherwise, where would your two insignificant clans have found a place to survive? Stop your yapping! And stop calling yourself an old man in front of me. When I was making a name for myself, who knows where you were still mixing mud with your piss!"
A hot-tempered Uchiha elder spoke indignantly. His graying hair and beard made it clear that he was already very old.
"Elder Setsuna, please calm down. Calm down. Don't stoop to arguing with someone like him."
Seeing that even his own clan elder had stepped forward, especially looking so furious, Fugaku genuinely worried that Danzo might anger the elderly man into some serious health trouble. That wouldn't be worth it.
"Hmph! You bastard! You want to wipe out the Uchiha Clan? Do you really think we have no one left? Believe me, I'll stake these old bones on taking you down with me!"
"Hmm?"
Uchiha Setsuna swept his fierce gaze over Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi, frightening both men so badly that neither dared meet his eyes.
His eyes had clearly grown cloudy with age, yet when his scarlet Sharingan appeared, his imposing presence remained undiminished from his younger days. He seemed to still be the Uchiha Setsuna who had followed behind Madara Uchiha back then. Though time had left indelible marks upon his body, that terrifying aura remained. Was the old general still fit to fight?
Uchiha Setsuna's actions at that moment were like a silent answer: this time, the Uchiha would absolutely not compromise.
"We still hope you can give us a satisfactory answer, Lord Hokage."
Fugaku emphasized the final words, "Lord Hokage," as though reminding him not to abuse his authority for personal interests as Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt as though he were being roasted over a fire. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but there was nothing he could do.
"Well, ahem. I hereby announce that, effective today, Danzo will be stripped of his position as elder. Root, which operates under him, will be disbanded immediately, and he will be required to apologize to those he has harmed..."
Once he finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought he had resolved things perfectly. Just as he was about to feel pleased with himself, he looked up and saw all those pairs of scarlet Uchiha Sharingan staring at him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi swallowed hard. Honestly, looking at so many glaring pairs of Sharingan, it was true that he wasn't afraid. Even if he was called the God of the Shinobi World, with this many Uchiha before him, if each one unleashed a Fire Style attack, wouldn't there be nothing left of him, not even scraps?
Hiruzen Sarutobi really was frightened. These Uchiha were like madmen. At that moment, he began to understand how Danzo felt.
Naruto was also watching Hiruzen Sarutobi curiously, wanting to see what the old geezer intended to do in the end.
"Then how about this?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi informed Fugaku and the others of his revised decision.
Afterward, Fugaku began discussing it with several of his clan's elders. Hiruzen Sarutobi had just said that the next Hokage position would go to their Uchiha Clan, and that they should select someone capable of filling it.
"Elders, is his proposal workable? What do you think?"
"I ain't for it. Isn't that punishment far too light for Danzo?"
"Yes, I think so too. As for becoming Hokage, you should do it, Fugaku. What we need is someone to set a precedent. As for the clan head's position, your Itachi has the ability. He's quite a genius himself."
Hearing Uchiha Setsuna's words, Fugaku hadn't expected him to think so highly of his eldest son.
"All right, I understand, Elder Setsuna."
Watching Fugaku return from the group of elders, Hiruzen Sarutobi braced himself to pay a steep price.
"Lord Hokage, as for the Hokage position you mentioned, I have always believed that the position should go to whoever is most capable. What we want more is for Danzo to be severely punished and for our Uchiha to receive a proper accounting..."
"Sigh. All right."
Only after pondering for a long time did Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh.
"Guards, bind Danzo and take him away. He will be executed in three days."
When the Uchiha clan members heard that Danzo would be executed in three days, smiles of victory spread across their faces.
"Wow! Wonderful! Someone like him shouldn't be alive."
"Sniff... This is wonderful. A Dan, we've finally avenged you."
Listening to the Uchiha's cheers rising one after another, Danzo stared at his old friend in disbelief. He felt as though the blood in his body had frozen. He had never expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to abandon him. He felt utterly chilled. After everything he had done for him, in the end, Hiruzen hadn't spoken a single word in his defense.
Instead, he had directly pronounced his death sentence.
Danzo didn't know how he was led away. Like a corpse that had lost its soul, he had already gone numb.
Naruto frowned as he watched Danzo being taken away. For some reason, he kept feeling that something was wrong. Things couldn't possibly end this easily. Danzo back then had been extremely difficult to kill. Could this guy really have no backup plans?
Naruto didn't believe that for a second.
Seeing that there was no more spectacle to watch, Naruto was about to head home when Fugaku called out to him.
"Young Naruto, wait. Would you like to visit the Uchiha? We want to thank you properly."
"Huh? Wouldn't that be imposing?"
Naruto felt a little embarrassed, while Sasuke came over to his side with easy familiarity.
"Oh, come on, Naruto. We still need to thank you for today. You could say that without you, there would be no Uchiha left."
"Then... all right."
As everyone dispersed, the night gradually deepened...
The final outcome was that Danzo had been stripped of his post, Root had been completely disbanded, and he himself was to be executed in three days. Their Uchiha Clan no longer faced extermination, and they had even secured eligibility for the next Hokage position. It seemed like an outcome everyone could celebrate, but Naruto kept feeling that things weren't so simple...