Konoha!
The Hokage Office!
The entire office felt as if it were on fire.
Suffocating and heavy!
Not only was smoke swirling thick, but the fire in the hearts of those sitting inside was burning fiercely.
“How dare he?
How dare he…” The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had been repeating those words over and over.
Like an incantation!
Sitting to the side, the two advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, saw Hiruzen Sarutobi in this state and sensibly kept their mouths shut.
*Clack, clack, clack!* He was here!
Hearing the familiar sound of a cane tapping against the floor, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado perked up.
Right now, Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly on the verge of exploding.
Whatever the two of them said at this moment would be useless.
Danzo!
Only Danzo!
He had finally arrived!
Koharu and Homura exchanged a glance and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Oh, Danzo, we waited for you so long that the flowers withered!
Hurry and comfort your Hiruzen.
And at the same time!
Confess your crimes!
That was the Mangekyo!
Who wouldn’t want it!
“Hiruzen, I heard the Uchiha are making trouble again,” Danzo said the moment he walked in.
“I told you long ago, you cannot be soft-hearted when dealing with the Uchiha.
We should use thunderous means to wipe them out completely.” His voice was filled with coldness and killing intent.
“Fine!” The Third Hokage looked at him deeply and said coldly, “In that case, let’s launch a war against the Uchiha.
How about that?” Danzo was stunned.
Did I just have an auditory hallucination?
Hiruzen actually agreed?
At a time like this, aren’t you supposed to preach a bunch of high-minded principles to stop me?
Meanwhile, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado sat to the side expressionlessly, their faces unmoving.
They didn’t believe a word of it.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi had truly made up his mind, he wouldn’t have had that expression just now.
“W-What did you say?
You agree?” Danzo couldn’t help asking again.
Surely he had misheard.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was old.
When facing enemies, he only knew how to compromise, time and time again.
A Hiruzen like that would never be answered by the village.
Only he, Danzo, could make this ninja village great, and then spread that greatness throughout the Ninja World.
He was the man meant to bring reform to the Ninja World!
Danzo straightened his spine.
The Third Hokage looked at Danzo with calm eyes and said in a low voice, “Wiping out the Uchiha—you talk about it almost every single day.
Now that I agree, you and the Foundation can handle it.
Go, Danzo.
Bring Fugaku Uchiha’s head to me.” Danzo’s face turned grim.
“Hiruzen, stop joking around!” Against the entire Uchiha Clan, how could the Foundation alone wipe them out?
Even adding the Hokage’s direct Anbu wouldn’t be enough.
In the original trajectory, Itachi and Obito launched a surprise attack from the inside, coordinated with the Anbu and Foundation, to annihilate the Uchiha.
Relying on a single force, setting aside everything else, the Uchiha compound was so large and the clansmen were so spread out that even if they stood still and let you cut them down, one person might not even finish the job in a single night.
One person wiping out the Uchiha clan overnight in complete silence?
Might as well keep dreaming!
The Third Hokage said coldly, “A joke?
You started joking first.” Damn it, blabbering day in and day out.
Now I’m giving you the chance, why don’t you damn well do it?
At the crucial moment, why did you go soft?
You bastard!
Do you have any idea how much I want to cave your head in right now?
Daring to do anything!
And worse, doing it without saying a single word to me!
I am the freaking Hokage!
“You two!” Koharu Utatane sighed.
“Stop squabbling.
Such a major event has happened to the Uchiha.
We should be thinking about what to do.
The village right now is on the verge of civil war.” Civil war!
That was by no means an exaggeration!
The loss of two pairs of Mangekyo was enough to drive the Uchiha insane.
According to the records left by Tobirama Senju, the Mangekyo was bizarre and unpredictable; an Uchiha possessing the Mangekyo had strength no weaker than a Hokage.
Consider their Hokage faction: if they lost two Hokage-level shinobi, they would go wild too.
What was more…
Shisui Uchiha and Kazuki Uchiha weren’t dead; their eyes had been gouged out.
Damn it, they might as well be dead!
Thinking of how much the Uchiha valued their eyes, their heads throbbed even harder.
“Where are the eyes?” The Third Hokage glared coldly at Danzo.
“Hand over the two pairs of Mangekyo.” Danzo: “…” “Danzo!” Koharu Utatane also looked at Danzo with a strange expression.
“How did you manage it?
Heavy-injuring Shisui Uchiha and Kazuki Uchiha in the core area of the Uchiha compound and taking two pairs of Mangekyo…
impressive.” “Indeed,” Homura Mitokado sighed.
“Normally, it’s hard enough for us to send people in there, yet you actually managed to…
sigh!” We underestimated you!
Teacher, you misjudged him too, didn’t you!
Danzo is even more exceptional than you imagined!
Wait!
Could the reason Hiruzen is so angry be that Danzo pulled off such a huge feat, making Hiruzen wary and jealous?
Homura Mitokado felt he had uncovered the truth, a subtle shift in his expression.
It was common knowledge that Danzo lusted after the position of Hokage!
Now that he demonstrated such capability, the power-hungry Hiruzen Sarutobi would naturally feel anxious.
Homura felt he had seen through everything.
Danzo: “…” Here was the problem!
Why did all of you assume I did this?
Did I admit to it?
Or do you have any evidence?
Looking at the three people’s absolute certainty, a fire burned inside Danzo.
Damn it, a familiar scent was wafting toward him.
The scent of a scapegoat!
He gritted his teeth, his expression twisted.
“I understand what you mean.
I’ll take responsibility for this matter.” “What do you mean ‘you’ll take responsibility’?” The Third Hokage said displeasedly.
“What I’m asking is: where are the two pairs of Mangekyo?
Hand them over.” Getting greedy, aren’t you, Danzo!
Two pairs of Mangekyo, four eyes—you want to swallow them all yourself?
Keep dreaming!
At most, I’ll let you keep one to embed in your face.
“Where am I supposed to steal a Mangekyo from?
Let alone two pairs!” Danzo couldn’t hold back anymore and roared, “Do you really think I did this?” How come I didn’t know I was this capable?
Infiltrating the core area of the Uchiha compound, gravely injuring two Uchiha geniuses, and stealing their Mangekyo?
Forget me—even if our Teacher went himself, he’d be beaten until shit came out!
Besides, if I had that kind of ability, wouldn’t it be better to just kill Shisui and Kazuki directly?
No!
I should have damn well killed Hiruzen Sarutobi first and become the true Hokage!
“Danzo, talking like this is pointless!” The Third Hokage’s expression turned cold as well.
“I’ve checked—no suspicious individuals entered Konoha recently!” “I even dispatched all sensory ninja across Konoha for a blanket search, and only found a single unknown Jonin.” These words were practically stating outright that the problem couldn’t have come from the outside; it could only be internal.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Konoha itself had a barrier.
The Uchiha compound had a barrier as well!
If it were an outsider, they would have to pass through Konoha’s barrier, evade the patrols, break the Uchiha barrier, avoid the Uchiha patrols and the Konoha Police Force, and then attack Shisui and Kazuki!
After taking the Sharingan, they’d still have to leave smoothly.
Just thinking about it made one’s scalp numb.
Therefore!
The three of them stared firmly at Danzo.
It was him!
It was him!
It was definitely him!
Their good friend, the Darkness of Shinobi!
What about Danzo?
He was so angry his eyes turned bloodshot.
It had always been him framing others.
Even when he occasionally had to take the blame for the Third Hokage, others understood that he was innocent.
Except this time!
He really hadn’t done anything!
How had he inexplicably become the culprit lighting the spark of civil war?
“I won’t accept this!” Danzo took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.
“Whether you believe it or not, I didn’t do this.” After thinking for a moment, he added, “If necessary, I can step forward and take the blame.” Taking the blame!
This was Danzo’s duty as the Scapegoat Hokage.
Why did Hiruzen Sarutobi tolerate Danzo time and time again?
Precisely because Danzo kept his duty firmly in mind.
Unfortunately!
He had no idea that more surprises were waiting for him.
If Kazuki Uchiha could make him collapse once, he could make him collapse a second time.
To use an old saying: At that moment, Danzo recalled the terror of being dominated by Kazuki Uchiha!