Konoha Village.
Senju clan compound.
Fugaku Uchiha had completely lost his sanity.
This head of the Uchiha clan who usually sought only to keep the peace had turned into an enraged lion at this moment.
How many years had it been?
Ever since the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha clan had been pushed to the edge of the village by the high command.
Surveillance in the open and in the shadows; endless suspicion.
He had endured it all along.
He had always believed that as long as he backed down, as long as the Uchiha demonstrated sufficient sincerity, the high command would eventually accept them.
But what was he looking at now?
Sharingan!
Four whole Three Tomoe Sharingan embedded in Danzo’s arm!
What unimaginable humiliation this was.
This was trampling the entire Uchiha clan’s dignity underfoot with complete impunity!
The original owners of those eyes might have been fighting to the death for Konoha while alive, yet in death, they weren’t even left with intact corpses.
The moment he thought of this—
Fugaku’s eyes were completely flooded with blood-red.
The three tomoe spun to their absolute limit.
A surge of violent chakra erupted from within his body—that cold, ominous aura exclusive to the Uchiha clan.
“Danzo, you old dog, pay with your life!”
In the next instant, Fugaku let out a bloodcurdling roar.
He drew the short blade on his back without a moment’s hesitation.
Like an arrow shot from a bowstring, he charged straight toward Danzo lying on the ground.
Kill him!
He had to kill him!
Even if it cost him his life—even if it sparked an all-out conflict between the Uchiha and the village—he could never allow this beast to continue living in this world today!
“Fugaku! Stop!”
Just as the short blade was about to cleave into Danzo, an aged figure abruptly cut in.
The Adamantine Staff whistled through the air, accurately blocking Fugaku’s short blade.
The ear-splitting clash of metal echoed across the entire field as sparks flew in all directions.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood blocking the front of Danzo.
This Third Hokage’s face was livid at this moment.
His Hokage hat had long since fallen somewhere unknown.
There was no choice.
Matters had spiraled completely out of control.
He was well aware of the dirty dealings Danzo conducted in secret, but he had never expected Danzo would actually dare to graft those things onto his own body.
And he had expected even less that Chiba would directly expose all of this in front of everyone!
Yet he had to protect Danzo.
Danzo was the leader of Root, half the Hokage’s shadow.
If Danzo were executed in public, the Hokage’s prestige would be utterly ruined.
Even more terrifying was that Danzo held far too many secrets in his hands.
Once Danzo was driven into a corner and bit back at him, his glorious image as the Third Hokage would crumble in an instant.
“Fugaku! Calm down!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.
He attempted to suppress the enraged man before him with words.
“No matter what Danzo has done, he is an elder of Konoha!”
“For so many years, Danzo has remained in the darkness, silently making immense contributions to Konoha!”
“By openly attacking a high official of the village like this, do you intend to spark a civil war?!”
What a massive label.
What a textbook piece of moral blackmail.
Hiruzen Sarutobi brought out his favorite rhetoric.
As long as he hauled out phrases like “the safety of the village” and “civil war,” someone with Fugaku Uchiha’s personality would undoubtedly hesitate out of fear for the consequences.
Sure enough, hearing the words “civil war,” the hand holding Fugaku’s blade trembled uncontrollably.
Just when Hiruzen Sarutobi believed the situation had stabilized slightly—
An exceptionally sharp sneer echoed across the open ground.
Pfft—
Everyone’s gazes instantly snapped toward the source of the sound.
Chiba casually patted the dust off his sleeves.
Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi blocking the front of Danzo, his eyes were filled with unreserved mockery.
“Contributions?”
Chiba unhurriedly repeated those two words, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Old man Third.”
“Why don’t you explain in detail to everyone present…”
“…just what ‘contributions’ this despicable beast has actually made to Konoha?”
Dead silence blanketed the entire area.
Everyone held their breath, not even daring to breathe loudly.
The heads of the various large and small clans all turned into wooden statues at this moment.
Shikaku Nara’s brows knit together tightly.
His extraordinarily brilliant brain was spinning at top speed.
Things had gone completely off the rails.
Chiba was going to thoroughly tear away the high command’s fig leaf.
What kind of trash Danzo was—which of the major clans present didn’t know in their hearts?
Forcing the orphanage to provide experimental subjects.
Assassinating disobedient civilian geniuses.
Even during the Third Shinobi World War, Root had intentionally or unintentionally preserved its own strength.
Everyone knew these dirty secrets full well, yet no one had ever dared to bring them into the light.
Now, Chiba had directly detonated this bomb!
Hiashi Hyuga touched the forehead protector on his brow.
He looked at that arm of Danzo’s embedded with Sharingan, an extreme dread flashing in the depths of his eyes.
If Danzo dared to gouge out Uchiha eyes today, would he dare to gouge out the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan tomorrow?
A mad dog like this could never be allowed to live!
Choza Akimichi’s eyes widened, completely awed by this explosive, sword-drawn atmosphere.
Chiba’s interrogation continued.
He pressed forward step by step, giving Hiruzen Sarutobi no room to catch his breath at all.
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
“Is it because his contributions are so vast you can’t recall them off the top of your head?”
“Or is it because the things he did were so filthy, so foul, that they can never see the light of day?!”
Chiba’s voice suddenly rose in volume, booming in everyone’s ears like thunder.
“Is taking civilian ninjas from the village to conduct human experiments a contribution?!”
“Or racking his brains to harm the village’s own bloodline clans?!”
“Are these the so-called ‘contributions’ you speak of?!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s lips trembled slightly.
He couldn’t answer at all.
Every single word Chiba uttered was like a sharp knife, accurately plunging into his windpipe.
How was he supposed to explain?
Say that those were necessary shadows that had to exist to protect Konoha?
Spouting such nonsense might fool freshly graduated Genin, but fooling these old foxes present?
It was sheer fantasy!
“Speak!”
“Third Hokage!”
“Gouging out the eyes of our Uchiha ancestors and grafting them onto his own body—is this also a contribution he made for the village?!”
Fugaku snapped back to his senses, Chiba’s words reigniting the rage in his heart.
The head of the Uchiha clan bellowed like a beast with blood-red eyes.
“Kill him!”
“Kill this beast who desecrates the dead!”
“Does the Third Hokage intend to harbor such a criminal?!”
Not just Fugaku—the Uchiha clan members surrounding the area were all swept up in righteous fury.
Waves of angry shouts crashed one after another.
The clan heads of the various shinobi clans maintained an eerie silence.
Yet this silence was an attitude in itself.
When a wall totters, everyone pushes.
Usually, Danzo relied on Root’s power to undermine the major clans at every turn.
Now seeing Danzo fallen to such a state, who would step forward to speak up for him at a time like this?
They wished nothing more than for Danzo to die right here.
Seeing the swelling rage and the situation about to go completely berserk, Hiruzen Sarutobi was frantic with anxiety.
He knew reasoning was no longer an option—these people could no longer stomach any nonsense about “the bigger picture.”
Then he could only use the most rigid method!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the Adamantine Staff against the ground, producing a deafening thud.
A powerful wave of chakra temporarily suppressed the surrounding noise.
He straightened his slightly stooped back, doing his best to put on the posture of the Hokage.
“Enough!”
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