"Lady Tsunade!"
Many Ninja recognized the person blocking the path between the two sides as Lady Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin and the Konoha Princess, a name familiar to all.
Fugaku only saw her as an accomplice to the Third Hokage, so his imposing aura didn't diminish in the slightest; instead, it intensified.
"Stop, Uchiha Fugaku."
Tsunade turned her back to the Uchiha side, standing in front of all the Uchiha and confronting her teacher.
"Hiruzen-sensei, I believe the Uchiha's demands are reasonable. Let them present their evidence first. With everyone here, we can see if what they say is true or false."
This attitude surprised everyone. Before this, no one thought Tsunade would side with the Uchiha and oppose her teacher.
But now, she was doing just that.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was incredulous and angrily said, "Tsunade, what are you doing? Stand down!"
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado also played good cop, bad cop, expressing their dissatisfaction with her "rebellious" behavior.
"Tsunade, do you know what consequences your actions will lead to? Hurry and stop!"
"Hmph, what evidence? Everyone knows the Uchiha thrive on chaos. This is all their conspiracy!"
Facing the combined suppression and denial from the three, Tsunade stood her ground, unyielding, her eyes firm: "No, I won't back down! Some things must be resolved now! Otherwise, you might as well just fight!"
Looking at her teacher's shifting expression, Tsunade felt both disappointment and anger.
Disappointed that her once ambitious teacher had become indecisive and wavering, allowing Danzo to wantonly oppress one of the Village's most important Ninja Clans, almost causing a riot.
And angry at his cold indifference, that even now he would collude with Danzo, misrepresenting the facts to the victims, wishing to wipe them out to cover up his own dereliction of duty.
If the Uchiha were to perish, Konoha would irredeemably fall into an abyss, with no justice left, ultimately leading to its own destruction.
Therefore, Danzo's crimes must be exposed, and everything he has done must be punished.
Even if the truth coming to light tonight would damage the Hokage's prestige—even requiring his resignation—she could not stand by and watch her teacher be dragged down by Danzo, going deeper and deeper down the wrong path, unable to turn back.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was almost unable to maintain his composed and dignified facade. His anger urged him to order his subordinates to attack again, but reason held his arm tightly, rendering him immobile.
Just as he was wavering, caught between rationality and emotion, another familiar figure landed beside Tsunade.
"Jiraiya?"
Danzo, hidden in the shadows, felt a bad premonition.
Just by looking at Jiraiya, it was clear he shared Tsunade's opinion. With two of the Sannin siding with the Uchiha, Konoha's morale would surely waver, and their fighting spirit would be completely gone.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Hokage, would have to weigh the chances of victory and the consequences of starting a battle now.
Sure enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, seeing that most of his subordinates and the Ninja Clans' leaders showed expressions of entanglement and hesitation to varying degrees. His anger, suppressed by reason, gradually subsided.
He pulled out his pipe and took a few puffs. Much of the irritation in his chest was carried away by the smoke. After weighing the pros and cons of forcefully suppressing the Uchiha, he reluctantly realized that the moment had passed.
If they couldn't fight, then he could only hope that Danzo had been clean in his actions and hadn't left too many indefensible handles, otherwise, even as Hokage, he couldn't cover for him.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi start to waver again, and with Utatane and Homura, two individuals who only knew how to follow the wind and had no other real abilities, being unreliable, Danzo turned to instruct his subordinates to deliver an order to destroy the evidence as quickly as possible.
Originally, he had wanted to keep a few talented Uchiha children, to deal with them after they awakened their Sharingan, but now it seemed they couldn't be kept.
Uchiha Fugaku felt the scene was too good to be true, like a dream, and couldn't help but suspect that the Third Hokage and his disciples had set a trap to lure him in and wipe out the Uchiha.
It wasn't until Tsunade, in a tone of disappointment, chastised the large group of Uchiha, "What are you waiting for?!"
Only then did Fugaku, half-believing, signal Fūyō with his eyes to return to the clan compound and bring people.
In a short while, Fūyō returned, bringing back a large pile of evidence and the mummified witness, Shimura Rō.
Shimura Rō, struggling out of the bandages, looked dazed and foolish, possibly still in shock.
Tsunade pried open his mouth, carefully examined the Tongue-Sealing Curse Mark on his tongue, and snapped her fingers to the side.
"Coming, Tsunade-nee!"
The summoned girl, with a cascade of fiery red hair, rushed through the crowd and ran to Tsunade's side, beginning to undo the seal.
As a direct descendant personally trained by Uzumaki Mito, Kushina's Sealing Jutsu skills were on par with, if not superior to, Tsunade's. Unsealing the Tongue-Sealing Curse Mark was only a matter of time.
Moreover, yesterday, as soon as Tsunade returned to Konoha, she had secretly captured a Root member and given him to Kushina for study.
Standing in the other line, Minato looked at his lover with a mix of helplessness and pride, overjoyed by her courage to stand up, feeling honored.
Akimichi Choza couldn't help but elbow him, "Control your expression, kid."
Shibi Aburame nodded, "You look like you really want to go over there."
"Ah, is it that obvious?" Minato chuckled awkwardly.
While Kushina was unsealing, on the Uchiha side, Entō and Fūyō, with grim faces, explained the information they had investigated to everyone present, and presented the relevant evidence.
Although all this evidence was provided by the Uchiha, and whether it was 100% reliable was still questionable, it didn't stop everyone from clearly hearing how the child named Uchiha Naraku had gradually stepped into the trap and walked towards death.
Might Dai, who had sneaked into the inner circle, felt his blood run cold.
Konoha Village, where he had lived for decades, suddenly became incredibly unfamiliar, filled with the glint of blades and lurking danger.
If even comrades fighting side by side couldn't be trusted, where in this world was there a place for Ninja?
—No, it must be a spy, right? A spy from another Village designed Naraku's death.
He longed for such a conclusion, staring intently at the leader of that mission, waiting for him to provide testimony.
Kakashi, who had returned to the Village yesterday with Jiraiya, was now standing behind Jiraiya with Shizune.
Only then did he understand why the two adults at the hotpot table that night hadn't said a word, only focusing on eating in silence, and why even Shizune had always avoided his gaze.
—They all knew, knew that Naraku had died this way.
—Only I, only I understood nothing.
Imagining Naraku's despair in his final moments again and again, Kakashi felt a twisting pain in his chest, his heart struggling violently in a large hand, the intense thumping filling his eardrums.
His vision spun, shadowed by dark figures. He gasped for breath with difficulty, but his lungs seemed to have a large hole, unable to retain the thin air no matter how he breathed. The pain of suffocation and heartbreak made his limbs spasm, making him sway precariously.
"Kakashi!"
Shizune timely noticed Kakashi's abnormal behavior, let out a soft gasp, and quickly supported him to stand steady, placing her palm on his back and using Medical Ninjutsu to alleviate his symptoms.
Jiraiya heard the commotion, took a few steps back, placed a large hand on Kakashi's head, and solemnly forced him to calm down.
"Pull yourself together, Kakashi!"
"You must endure all of this, you cannot fall!"
"Watch closely, watch the outcome of this matter!"