"Danzo is dead!?"
Upon hearing the news, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu displayed shock and anger on their faces. Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't lying, they quickly asked, "Hiruzen, what exactly happened?"
"Tonight's events are lengthy to explain; it starts from when Danzo seized Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe, took a puff, and slowly exhaled the smoke before beginning to recount the night's events to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
From Tsunade's return, Tsunade requesting Anbu and village Jonin to monitor Root, their visit to the Uchiha Race, to finally encountering and capturing the Nine-tails incident's mastermind.
Moreover, Sarutobi Hiruzen was also quite shocked; the person controlling the Nine-tailed eight years ago turned out to be Namikaze Minato's student, the Uchiha Obito who once always talked about becoming Hokage.
A lot happened tonight, but in Sarutobi Hiruzen's view, everything was unfolding in ways beneficial to the village; additionally, he just learned from Tsunade that Uchiha Itachi used Kotoamatsukami to change the ideologies of two hardliners within the Uchiha Race.
This reduced the core strength among Uchiha hardliners, making future trouble unlikely, plus Tsunade's return enlivened the village's situation.
"Uchiha Itachi!! How dare he lay hands on the village elders, Hiruzen! We absolutely cannot let him go unpunished!"
Utatane Koharu furiously spoke, wondering since when a village elder could be dealt with arbitrarily, without their mediation?
"This was my agreement, besides, what about Danzo's action against Uchiha Shisui? When could a Konoha elder act against a genius ninja of the village, just out of greed for the Sharingan's power?"
Tsunade thought of discovering her grandfather's cells from Danzo's corpse, and harbored no goodwill towards Danzo anymore.
"That bastard even used my grandfather's cells, whose agreement was that?"
Although she was inquiring, Tsunade angrily glared at Sarutobi Hiruzen, instantly sending a chill down his spine, so he hurriedly said, "I didn't know about that either, Danzo indeed went too far..."
After speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued pondering, suspecting Root's capabilities weren't sufficient to research the First's cells thoroughly—they might have been in cahoots with Orochimaru.
Utatane Koharu's demeanor diminished slightly upon hearing about the First's cells but she stubbornly stated, "Tsunade, you've been away from the village for a long time, and upon returning, you agree with Uchiha Itachi acting against Danzo; it's unreasonable from any angle!"
"What? You..."
Anger welled up in Tsunade's heart at these words—not only had Danzo acted overly raw, giving enough cause for execution but also due to Uchiha Yoichi's reason. She sought to uncover Uchiha Yoichi's whereabouts from Itachi.
"Old man, is your proposal to appoint me as the Fifth Generation Hokage real?"
"Ah this..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was momentarily taken aback, then nodded, "Naturally it's true, Tsunade, are you willing to take up the role?"
Tsunade snorted coldly, then looked straight at Utatane Koharu and said, "Since it's true, I'll preemptively exercise Hokage authority, approving Danzo's execution—is there a problem?"
"You aren't yet..."
"That's enough, Koharu, let's set Danzo's issue aside; right now, the village faces even more crucial matter."
Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted Utatane Koharu, knowing that should their argument persist, Tsunade might reconsider; then where else would he find another willing to become Hokage.
"As for Uchiha Itachi's matter, let Tsunade handle it—Danzo carried out plenty of deeds behind my back over the years. Once Root's information is arranged, I'll let you see all that Danzo has done."
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu fell silent upon hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, having reason to suspect Danzo's recent years hadn't been filled with good deeds, indeed tangentially relating them.
"To the elders, and Tsunade-sama, there's no need to argue over my matter; I'm willing to accept any punishment, even patrolling the nation's borders for ten years."
Itachi spoke, shocking everyone in the room, including Uchiha Fugaku who sighed helplessly in his heart, looking at his son.
Shocked?
It wasn't particularly shocking anymore, since initial surprise had worn off—he couldn't fathom how many times tonight he'd been stunned by this son.
Tsunade immediately asked, "Hey, kid, do you even know what you're saying..."
Bang!
Before Tsunade finished speaking, the Uchiha Itachi before her suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.
"Shadow Clone?"
Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Uchiha Fugaku were taken aback at the sight, their minds filled with assorted thoughts upon finding Uchiha Itachi had disappeared.
"The brat, just what is he up to!? Clan Leader Fugaku."
Uchiha Fugaku quickly broke into a cold sweat and said, "Third Hokage, Tsunade-sama, I also don't know what happened to Itachi today, I'll send someone to find him right away..."
When did he use the Shadow Clone?
This question lingered not just in Tsunade's mind, but also in Sarutobi Hiruzen's, feeling utterly perplexed as he hadn't relaxed his surveillance over Uchiha Itachi throughout the journey; alas, so unusual was his conduct tonight... yet Sarutobi Hiruzen truly hadn't noticed when the clone had been placed.