Inside Konoha's Hokage Tower conference hall.
Danzo strained to push himself forward with his left hand, inching his wheelchair toward Hiruzen and the others.
His face twisted in fury as he roared,
"Look!"
"Look at this! This is the Uchiha clan! This is what your leniency has brought us, Hiruzen!"
He slammed an official document onto the table. The paper clearly stated that the [Land of Rice Fields] had publicly accepted the Uchiha Clan and recognized the legitimacy of their newly founded [Homura Hidden Village]!
Seeing such news, it's no wonder Danzo was so furious he seemed ready to burst.
"We're already aware..."
"Are you aware? Then why are you still sitting there?"
"This... this is nothing short of an outrageous insult to Konoha!"
"The defected Uchiha Clan built themselves a [Homura Hidden Village], trying to ride high over Konoha!"
"How can we ever allow this? This is absolutely disgraceful!"
Danzo grew more and more agitated, nearly standing up in protest.
Then—his hand slipped, nearly causing him to tumble out of his wheelchair.
Only then did he remember—he no longer had his legs…
"Danzo—"
Homura Mitokado kindly asked with concern, "Your leg..."
"Oh? Oh!"
"I'm fine. That's not what we should be focusing on right now!"
Danzo straightened himself back up, his face dark with rage, continuing firmly.
Koharu Utatane finally spoke directly, asking, "So what do you suggest we do?"
"Notify the other great ninja villages immediately and act together. We must destroy this 'traitors' village' as fast as possible!"
Danzo clenched his fist tightly, proposing mercilessly.
In his eyes, only the cruelest vengeance—wiping out every last Uchiha traitor and turning that brat Shimoku Uchiha into dust—would finally rid him of the pain and shame eating away at him!
"No way!"
Hiruzen rejected instantly.
"Why not?!"
"Let's speak honestly here! The village simply cannot afford to wage another major war right now!"
"How could that be?!!"
"Do you mean to tell me, Hiruzen, that you will continue tolerating the Uchiha Clan?!" Danzo roared.
Hiruzen paused briefly before explaining,
"On the very night the Uchiha Clan defected, our village's Vault was also robbed..."
"It's strongly suspected that the thieves were also among those traitorous Uchiha."
"And now, with just the money remaining in the Vault, even barely supporting a major war would leave the village economy crippled for over a decade... possibly collapsing completely."
"Not to mention contacting the other great ninja villages to help us wage battle."
"Just the postwar financial burden alone would be enough to bankrupt Konoha!"
Upon hearing this, Danzo was momentarily stunned.
He'd been undergoing treatment at the hospital for the past few days and had no idea about the robbery.
It clearly showed how effective Sarutobi and the others had been in keeping this matter secret.
"Damn it! These damned traitors dared rob the Vault too!"
"But still, it's just a chunk of war money anyway."
"Can't we borrow from the Daimyo's nation instead?!"
Still unwilling to give up, Danzo pushed forth another suggestion.
Hiruzen let out another sigh.
"You know well enough that serving the nobles and bureaucrats of the Daimyo's domain has never been a pleasant task."
"Many similar missions have been assigned to ninja from the Uchiha Clan."
"That's why the Daimyo's government sees this as strictly an internal matter of the Uchiha Clan."
"It is said that even a Genin named Izumi Uchiha has gained special favor from the Daimyo's wife."
"As a result, the Daimyo's government already considers this an internal conflict within the Uchiha Clan. They do not agree with the village launching a direct war!"
"Nor will they fund such a war."
"If our village insists on going to war, they'll even significantly cut next year's economic aid to the village!"
Upon hearing this,
Danzo was absolutely stunned.
He had never imagined that the Daimyo's court in the Land of Fire would take such a stance!
Those spineless bureaucrats were far too cowardly!
"Then… then are we really just going to let those traitors keep acting so arrogantly?"
"Danzo, calm down!"
"We've already discussed this with Koharu and others," Sarutobi replied. "We'll try our best to send the remaining Uchiha ninja to hunt down those traitors."
"You don't have to worry about this anymore. Just focus on resting and healing up!"
Danzo was taken aback at first but quickly recovered.
"So you're trying to make the Uchiha clan turn on each other?"
"Don't you fear that those sent Uchiha ninja might also defect and never return?"
Danzo raised his voice in protest.
At the same time, another concern remained unspoken.
In his opinion,
among the remaining Uchiha ninja, almost none could match that terrifying little brat Shimoku!
Even Itachi might not stand a chance!
Sending those regular ninja after him would be like sending lambs straight to the slaughter!
"Danzo, we have our own plans within Root!"
"Don't forget—because you and your Root ninja acted recklessly that night, Shimoku Uchiha managed to escape!"
"Koharu, you…"
Danzo turned red with humiliation.
Inside, he cursed furiously—if only this old hag Koharu had faced Shimoku's Susanoo in person, she probably wouldn't have survived a single strike from his Susanoo!
How dare she scold him now?
"Danzo, Koharu!"
"That's enough! No more arguing..."
Hiruzen shouted loudly, stopping both of them.
Hearing this, Koharu Utatane gave Hiruzen some face and backed off slightly.
"I understand."
She then called out to Homura Mitokado:
"Homura, let's go inspect the Vault!"
"Alright."
"Besides..."
"While we cannot wage open war, those rebels have indeed gone too far."
"For the honor of the village..."
"Hiruzen, please urge the Uchiha ninja within the village as soon as possible to hunt down those traitors..."
Before leaving, Koharu Utatane urged once more in a serious tone.
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat reluctant in his heart.
But in the end, he could only agree:
"Fine, I will arrange it immediately!"
Then, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado left the meeting hall, leaving only Sarutobi and Danzo behind.
...
"Hiruzen, you shouldn't be so soft-hearted!"
"Trying to use the Uchiha Clan to deal with those rebels will never work!"
"You know how strong that punk Shimoku Uchiha is..."
"If you keep letting him grow stronger, the whole village risks total destruction!"
Danzo glared at Sarutobi and shouted.
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi also became furious.
"Danzo! What about you?"
"Do you think reaching this point isn't partly your fault?"
"Ordering Itachi to massacre the entire Uchiha Clan without my knowledge?"
"Are you really doing all this just for Konoha?"
"Must you always take such extreme measures?"
"Isn't your real goal to covet their Sharingan eyes?"
Danzo was stunned.
"Hiruzen...you saw everything?"
"Hmph! That twisted arm of yours, and those blood-soaked eyeballs. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"Danzo, you're already an old man, yet still obsessed with forbidden and wicked methods?"
"The Will of Fire cannot be carried on through corrupted eyes like yours!"
Sarutobi angrily shouted, clearly past his breaking point.
Danzo's heart trembled again.
He knew perfectly well that implanting Sharingan eyes was definitely not the right way to go.
But he was already so old.
His physical strength, mind, chakra—everything had been declining alongside Sarutobi's.
Just holding onto the strength he once had as a young man was becoming nearly impossible.
Let alone striving for further improvement.
Thus, reluctantly, he had decided to walk this path—joining forces with Orochimaru and setting his sights on the Uchiha Clan who possessed the [Izanagi technique].
"This is none of your business!"
Danzo roared furiously, stubbornly waving his hands.
"Danzo..."
"Sigh!"
"At any rate, leave the Uchiha Clan alone from now on!"
Sarutobi said sternly, something rare for him.
"All right then!"
"Hiruzen, I won't interfere with the Uchiha Clan anymore. But you must hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to me!"
"That's absolutely impossible!"
"You should already know that kid Shimoku Uchiha has awakened the [Mangekyo Sharingan]!"
"And the Mangekyo Sharingan can forcibly break the seal within a jinchuriki. If he succeeds, he'll control the Nine-Tails again."
"Do you want the tragedy of the 'Nine-Tailed Beast's Rampage' to happen all over once more?!!"
Danzo argued loudly, fully confident.
For now, collecting more Sharingan eyes wasn't something he could hope for.
That left him no choice but to turn his gaze toward the powerful Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
"I will increase supervision over Naruto. I will make sure that tragedy never happens again!" Sarutobi clenched his teeth and responded.
Clearly, that fateful night seven years ago remained deeply painful in his heart!
"Hiruzen!"
"Danzo!"
Before long, their heated arguments broke out once more inside the meeting hall.
Meanwhile, the guards outside were already quite accustomed to this.
After all, the Third Hokage and Danzo always ended up bickering like old rivals from time to time.
Don't worry, it'll be over soon enough.
...
That's just how things are.
When word spread that the Uchiha Clan had left, formed a new village, and settled within the [Land of Rice Fields].
Besides the Hidden Leaf Village ([Konoha]), where this news was taken very seriously and caused endless arguments,
the other four Great Ninja Villages also treated the matter with high importance.
After all,
the Uchiha Clan was a family possessing one of the most famous *Kekkei Genkai*—the Sharingan.
Even with only half their members remaining, they were still not to be underestimated.
They certainly matched the overall strength of many smaller hidden villages.
A force like that couldn't simply be ignored.
Would others declare war on them? Try to make peace? Or simply pretend they never existed?
Each hidden village inevitably had to make a decision.
Naturally, at this exact moment, somewhere deep within Iwagakure Village in the [Land of Earth],
they were still in chaos over the stolen Vault and the critical injuries sustained by Kitsuchi.
So naturally, Iwagakure Village had no time to deal with this issue for now.
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