"Tsunade... the Uchiha Clan has indeed been rather arrogant and willful. It's a good thing for Danzo to rein them in a little..."
"Besides, this was your great-uncle's dying wish!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi invoked Tobirama Senju to try to keep Tsunade in check. He still wanted to defend his old friend.
"My great-uncle would never have acted like you. Even if he hated the Uchiha Clan, he wouldn't have targeted them the way you do!"
"Do you have to drive the Uchiha Clan into a corner and make them rebel?"
Tsunade retorted with a sneer.
She really had no idea how the old man dared compare himself to her great-uncle. However much her great-uncle had hated the Uchiha Clan, he had still known they were members of the village.
Although the Uchiha Clan had faced some suppression during the Second Hokage's tenure, it had all been within acceptable limits.
Although he had moved the Uchiha Clan to the village entrance, he had also given them the Konoha Military Police Force and taken Kagami Uchiha as his student. It had been a carrot-and-stick approach.
But under the Third Hokage, there had only ever been the stick, never the carrot.
As time went on, how could the Uchiha Clan possibly put up with it?
Putting herself in their shoes, if Tsunade had been constantly suppressed like this, without even a glimmer of hope, she would have been just like the Uchiha Clan.
"Tsunade, what do you want to do, then?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his forehead. He could no longer win this argument with Tsunade.
He could not refute a single thing she said.
"Immediately cancel every operation targeting the Uchiha Clan. They are a clan of our village! If you keep letting Shimura Danzō suppress them, I'll take the Uchiha Clan straight to Root to demand justice!"
Tsunade stated it bluntly.
"I'll discuss it with Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"I'm not asking for a discussion. I want it ended immediately!"
Tsunade slammed the desk.
"Tsunade, you've gone too far!"
Mitokado Homura walked in.
He had heard the commotion here some time ago, but he had been in no hurry to come in, intending to listen first.
But now that Tsunade had openly threatened Hiruzen Sarutobi, he no longer intended to eavesdrop at the door.
"I've gone too far? So what if I have? What are you going to do about it? Don't think I don't know. Danzo wouldn't dare act so recklessly without you covering for him!"
Tsunade looked at Mitokado Homura, meeting his gaze without the slightest courtesy.
"You..."
Mitokado Homura pointed at Tsunade, looking infuriated.
"Tsunade, don't speak to Elder Mito like that!"
Utatane Koharu came over as well.
"You think I've forgotten about you? Shimura Danzō has done so many disgusting things, and instead of doing anything about him, you're standing here arguing with me. What do you want?"
Tsunade was in high spirits, taking on all three of them alone and leaving them speechless.
"I've said all I have to say. Tomorrow, I'll visit the Uchiha Clan Compound myself. If I still see any Root members there, I'll beat every last one of them out!"
Tsunade strode straight out, leaving behind a despondent Hiruzen Sarutobi and the furious Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
"Summon Danzo."
After watching Tsunade leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved an Anbu over.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The Anbu bowed, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
"You two should go back. I have something to discuss with Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved the two of them away.
He intended to have a proper talk with Danzo alone.
"All right."
The two suppressed their anger.
After all, this was Konoha's princess. Who would dare spread rumors about her or lay a finger on her?
Never mind whether the Senju Clan would agree to it; Tsunade's number-one simp, Jiraiya, and her boyfriend, Dan Katō, would never stand for it.
The latter was manageable, being only a Special Jōnin, but Jiraiya would not be easy to deal with.
Root
Danzo had been in a very good mood lately.
If things continued like this, the Uchiha Clan would inevitably rebel.
When the time came, he would use his Root to suppress them, then pocket the Mangekyō Sharingan for himself...
After that, he would run for Hokage. With Orochimaru out of the picture, only Hatake Sakumo would remain.
He would sling a little mud at Hatake Sakumo, and the Hokage position would be his for certain!
But Shimura Danzō probably would not have expected Hatake Sakumo to be so fragile that he would simply kill himself.
Even if he had foreseen it, however, he would still have done it without hesitation for the Hokage position he had obsessed over for decades.
That was Shimura Danzō. Everything he did for Konoha's good came with one prerequisite-he had to be Hokage.
"Lord Danzo, Lord Hokage requests your presence in the Hokage's office!"
Just as Shimura Danzō was considering what he would do after becoming Hokage, an arriving Anbu shattered his pleasant dream.
"Hiruzen wants to see me?"
Shimura Danzō frowned.
"Yes. Please head over as soon as possible, Lord Danzo."
The Anbu nodded.
"I understand. You can go. I'll be there shortly."
The Anbu nodded and returned to report.
Shimura Danzō did not know why Hiruzen Sarutobi had summoned him, but he was not worried.
If anything were truly wrong, they could have arrested him on the spot. Since they had not arrested him outright, it meant this was no big deal.
Shimura Danzō knew his old friend very well.
As long as he did not cross his bottom line by harming Konoha, Hiruzen would not do anything to him, no matter what he did.
Shimura Danzō tidied himself up briefly, then headed for the Hokage's office.
"Hiruzen, what did you call me here for?"
Shimura Danzō pushed open the door and frowned at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was puffing away.
"Don't smoke all the time. Keep this up, and it'll be bad for your health."
Shimura Danzō offered Hiruzen Sarutobi a reminder.
It was a reminder given out of friendship.
Shimura Danzō's feelings toward Hiruzen Sarutobi were complicated. Sometimes he considered him his closest friend; at other times, he considered him a mortal enemy.
They were two deeply conflicting feelings, yet they could coexist in Shimura Danzō's heart.
"Danzo, I didn't summon you today to discuss my smoking."
Hiruzen Sarutobi put out his tobacco and looked at Shimura Danzō with a serious expression.
"Hmm?"
"The Uchiha Clan approached Tsunade. She decided to stand up for them and came to me. She wants you to withdraw Root from the Uchiha Clan Compound tomorrow, or she'll take action against you herself."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stated the matter directly, then watched Shimura Danzō's expression.
"Hmph..."
Shimura Danzō snorted, his face taking on a disdainful expression.
"A member of the Senju Clan, whose own grandfather died at the hands of the Uchiha, putting on this act here. How laughable."
"I won't withdraw Root. If she really wants to stand up for a clan that killed her grandfather, let her come!"
Shimura Danzō did not believe for a moment that Tsunade would stand up for the Uchiha. In his view, this was little different from winning people over.
If he, Shimura Danzō, withdrew, his reputation would suffer, while Tsunade's prestige would soar!