Danzo, upon hearing Hiruzen's rage, was stunned. He had not seen Hiruzen this furious in years—the last time had been after the Nine-Tails tragedy.
But Danzo wanted to say it aloud:
Didn't you allow all of this so I could do it? If you had stopped me, I wouldn't have gone this far. You permitted it because it benefited you.
When matters did not benefit Hiruzen, he rejected him with a single sentence—I am the Hokage.
As for the deaths of Shinnosuke and Itsuki, Danzo truly had nothing to do with them.
Still, Danzo did not argue. A real man knows when to bend. This was not the time to provoke Hiruzen further.
Silence filled the room for several minutes.
Finally, Hiruzen spoke in a cold, detached tone.
"Danzo, from this moment onward, you are relieved of your position as Konoha Advisory Elder. ROOT will be temporarily placed under Homura's command.
After its members are deemed capable of living as proper shinobi, they will be reintegrated into ANBU, and ROOT will be permanently disbanded."
The moment Hiruzen finished speaking, everyone present was shocked. He was stripping Danzo of nearly all his power.
"Hiruzen, I don't agree," Danzo said. "At the very least, give me valid proof. If you can prove that I, Shimura Danzo, killed Shinnosuke and Itsuki, then I will personally remove all the tongue-binding seals from ROOT and willingly assist in merging ROOT into ANBU."
Seeing the stubborn yet seemingly sincere look in Danzo's eyes, Hiruzen hesitated once more—but then steeled his resolve.
"Okay,"
When Danzo heard that single word, relief washed over him, followed immediately by a surge of hatred toward Hiruzen.
"I will give you one month. Before the New Year, I want the culprit alive and all evidence presented before me. Until then, half of ROOT will remain under Homura's control.
"If you fail to present both the criminal and the proof, then at the New Year meeting, you will publicly declare yourself the perpetrator behind the deaths of Shinnosuke and Itsuki, and you will be judged according to Konoha's laws.
"So, Danzo—will you take this bet?"
Hiruzen looked toward Danzo with a trace of hope in his eyes. If Danzo accepted and truly proved himself innocent, then Hiruzen would at least not lose a friend—and he himself could deal with the culprit who had taken his son's life.
After a full minute of silence, Danzo finally agreed.
"Okay, Hiruzen. I will prove myself innocent. But I don't want ROOT back—you can take care of it. If you can't even trust your friend, then I won't stick my hot mouth into your cold ass." { Just a tantrum / Not really }
After hearing this, Hiruzen felt even more guilt, but he did not waver from his decision.
"Danzo, if you truly prove me wrong, then it would mean I was manipulated by a conspirator, doubted the village's top leaders, and am not qualified to continue holding the position of HOKAGE.
On the first of January next year, I will resign as Hokage and conduct a fair election."
Danzo, who had been feeling frustrated and angry, felt a surge of excitement upon hearing Hiruzen's words—but he did not dare show it on his face.
Now, he had to act wounded, as if he needed compensation for Hiruzen's betrayal to heal his fragile heart.
Just like that, after a few more minutes of discussion regarding the terms and conditions of the bet, the meeting came to an end.
---
Three days later
Naka River Cliff
"So, how was it? Is he stronger than Shinnosuke?"
Shisui asked Itachi with curiosity.
"Nah. At most a special jōnin—maybe even an elite chūnin could take him down. He was completely out of combat shape and didn't even have the vigilance of a qualified ninja."
Itachi spoke in a bored tone.
Six days ago, he had successfully captured Sarutobi Itsuki using a shadow clone, but over the past six days he had been busy with work.
He chose today as Itsuki's death day—and it hadn't even taken a minute to end him.
"Itachi, I've noticed that the number of ninjas patrolling the Uchiha district has reduced significantly over the past few days. Do you know why?"
Shisui asked with curiosity. He had been on a mission outside the village for nearly four days and had only returned yesterday, so he was unaware of the reason.
"From what I've heard, half of ROOT is now under Elder Homura's control, and Homura has withdrawn those forces for his own use.
Danzo, on the other hand, is searching the entire village for clues like a mad dog. There's probably some kind of deal between him and Hiruzen.
The ANBU are also patrolling the village extensively with support from other clans, so they don't have any spare manpower to spy on the Uchiha."
Shisui was shocked—but also overjoyed. Although the method was dishonest and cruel, the situation of the Uchiha clan had improved drastically in just a few days.
Shisui had once thought they would need to kill dozens of people before the entire village united with the Uchiha against an external imaginary enemy. But he had underestimated Hiruzen's shamelessness.
During Hiruzen's reign, Orochimaru had stolen dozens of children from Konoha, and only when Danzo exposed Orochimaru to the village—using it to strike at Hiruzen's reputation—did the Jonin and ANBU finally mobilize.
Yet now, just two deaths had mobilized ROOT, ANBU, Danzo, and all the minor and major clans.
"So, Itachi… who do we target next?"
Shisui asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.
It wasn't that Shisui had become bloodthirsty or stopped loving the village.
It was simply that, as someone willing to sacrifice himself for both clan and village, Shisui believed that if a few lives could improve the fate of the village and the Uchiha, then perhaps a few more deaths were necessary.
"Hmmm, let's stop for now. In the past month, we've killed two officers from the Hokage faction.
Although there isn't much difference in the faction's overall strength compared to before, we've successfully distracted them from targeting the Uchiha clan—at least temporarily.
If we strike again next month, they might notice a pattern. So for the next target, we should go after a truly big fish. Let's do it on the 1st of January next year."
{ Itachi gets his reward every year, so he is hoping to get a reward that increases his strength and then he can catch a big fish at once. }
Shisui nodded at Itachi's reasoning, but he felt that killing someone on the first day of the year was ominous, so he voiced his concern.
"Ahh, if that's the case, then let's do it on the 2nd of January."
"Hm, that's better," Shisui agreed. "Let the person celebrate a happy New Year first."
Just like that, for the next two months, Itachi spent his mornings to evenings at work, followed by two hours of practice with Sasuke, and finally a date with Izumi at night—ending the day with dinner alongside his family.
END OF KONOHA YEAR XZQ
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