[After the Nine-Tails Incident concluded, the Third Hokage took over for the Fourth Hokage and resumed his position as Hokage.
He, Danzō Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado discussed the cause of this Nine-Tails Incident.]
Koharu Utatane: “I originally thought Kushina’s seal had been broken, but if that were the case, there would be no way to explain why Biwako and the Anbu were killed.”
Homura Mitokado: “That means there is a mastermind behind this.”
Danzō Shimura: “It must be the Uchiha Clan.”
Upon hearing this conclusion, Sasuke immediately gasped.
“Impossible.
My clansmen would never do such a thing.”
Danzō Shimura snorted coldly.
“The Uchiha are an evil clan; nothing they do would be surprising.
Besides, they were in that kind of situation back then.”
However, he did not expect that footage of such high-level Village discussions would be broadcast.
How did people in the future manage to do this?
“What did you say?”
Hearing someone insult the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke could not hold back any longer.
He activated his Sharingan, glaring at Danzō Shimura with a face full of resentment.
Danzō: “Hmph, what kind of attitude is that to have toward the Village leadership?
Do you intend to betray the Village?”
“It’s you, one-eyed old man, who is speaking too excessively.
Sasuke would never betray the Village.”
Although Naruto was very afraid of this old man, he still stood with his companion.
“Sasuke, Naruto, calm down.”
Kakashi helplessly held them both down.
“Let’s continue watching the video; perhaps the truth will be in there.”
“Hmph!”
Sasuke turned his head away indignantly and looked back at the screen.
[“But what is the evidence?” Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to convict anyone so easily.
Danzō Shimura: “If the seal had simply been broken, the Nine-Tails would only have gone on a rampage.
If someone hadn’t been controlling it, this incident would never have happened.”
“So, does this involve the Sharingan?”
“After all, it is said that the Uchiha Clan’s dōjutsu can control the Nine-Tails.”
“But what is the motive?”
“The Uchiha Clan’s restoration of power in Konoha.”
“I see.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as the three of them settled the matter with just one sentence each, feeling very helpless.
“But this is merely speculation.”
“From now on, we must strengthen surveillance on the Uchiha Clan.
Let’s place the Uchiha district under a 24-hour surveillance system,” Danzō Shimura said.
“But this will only lead to even more serious resistance,” the Sandaime objected.
“Just have the Anbu carry it out in secret.”
Sandaime: “Wait, it’s not yet certain that the Uchiha Clan did this.”
“It is precisely because we are unsure that we must do this.
If we find nothing, it will actually prove the Uchiha Clan’s innocence.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt helpless, but he could not stop anything.
The scene shifted to the Anbu.
“This is the place.”
Kakashi Hatake brought the newly reported Uchiha Itachi into the surveillance room.
“It’s not just here; Danzō-sama’s Anbu are also monitoring.
How about it, are you going to tell your clansmen?”
Two of the Anbu looked at Uchiha Itachi.
“What should I be doing?”
Itachi ignored the provocation and calmly asked about his duties.
…
“The Anbu also has this type of work.
Although it’s not assassination, it’s still work that cannot see the light of day.”
Kakashi, who was sitting in a chair reviewing the duty roster, spoke up.
“A mission is a mission.”
“Moreover, you are monitoring your own companions and family, which makes it even more so.
I can help you swap shifts.”
Itachi: “No need, and…”
Kakashi: “And?”
“The people of the Uchiha Clan have also sensed the Village’s suspicion toward them.”]
“24-hour secret surveillance?”
Someone gasped; this was a bit terrifying.
“But what if it really was the Uchiha who did it?
This is also for the sake of everyone in Konoha.”
“What if they didn’t do it?”
“Who knows.”
The Ninja were whispering among themselves.
Sasuke, however, only felt cold all over.
He had never known that every move his clan made had been living under Konoha’s surveillance.
Furthermore, he was completely unaware of the fact mentioned in the video that the Uchiha had once been ostracized by the villagers of Konoha.
He recalled the increasingly tense atmosphere between his father and Itachi that he had seen as a child.
So, was it because of these things?
He suddenly felt as if he were submerged in water; a sense of suffocation and powerlessness enveloped his entire body.
He was too weak.
Too weak to even have the qualification to understand the full picture of what happened.
(Tobirama Senju: What is going on?
Why are there two Anbu.)
Tobirama keenly noticed that one of the Anbu mentioned Danzō-sama’s Anbu.
(Danzō Shimura: Teacher Tobirama, this is all for the sake of Konoha.
Things that Hiruzen cannot do are all left for my Anbu to handle.)
(Tobirama Senju: The Anbu is directly under the Hokage.
The Village only needs one Hokage, and naturally, it only needs one Anbu!
Monkey, I thought that after you became Hokage, you would change those weak habits, but I didn’t expect…)
Not only was Anbu authority shared with Danzō, but even in high-level meetings, Hiruzen, as Hokage, seemed unable to get a word in.
It was as if he had been completely marginalized.
Hiruzen was too kind; this was something he had known before, but this kindness would turn into weakness when becoming Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned pale, his fingertips holding the pipe trembling.
The feeling of being denied to his face by Teacher Tobirama was too painful.
He looked as if he had aged ten years, sighing repeatedly and smoking incessantly.
Beside him, Danzō also wore a heavy expression.
His eyes were full of unwillingness, yet he dared not refute.
(Hiruzen Sarutobi: I’m sorry, Teacher Tobirama.)
(Danzō Shimura: I’m sorry, Teacher Tobirama.)
(Koharu Utatane: I’m sorry, Teacher Tobirama.)
(Homura Mitokado: I’m sorry, Teacher Tobirama.)
Although Teacher Tobirama did not say their names, he was clearly very disappointed in them as well.
Tobirama Senju did not speak again.
Forget it, he had been anxious for a moment.
Speaking here meant the entire Ninja World could see it, so not giving his students face like this didn’t seem very good.
But he had a very poor impression of the elderly Danzō; Tobirama could clearly feel that Danzō had changed.
When Danzō was young, although he was a bit paranoid and a bit stubborn, his gaze was not this gloomy.
He looked almost like another Uchiha Madara.
And Monkey, he was still, more or less, a little disappointed in him.
“Heh heh, the Third Hokage is going to lose all face.”
Tsuchikage Ōnoki watched the conversation on the screen with great schadenfreude.
The Kage of the other Ninja Villages were the same.
The video continued to play.
[“Military Police Force, get lost!”
“Hide to the side, just like you did during the Nine-Tails Incident.”
On the streets of Konoha Village, two drunks were fighting.
When the Uchiha Military Police Force came to stop them, they were cursed at instead.
Because during the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha did not go to the front lines to fight, everyone felt that the Uchiha were cowards.
There was no lack of whispering behind their backs.
The angry Uchiha clansmen took the two away, but this action invited some criticism.
“It’s just two drunks fighting; mediating it should have been enough.”
Why was it necessary to be so strict and throw them in jail?
In the end, they were just throwing their weight around as the Uchiha Clan; that was what the villagers thought.]