"As long as you put up enough money, you won't have to carry this black pot."
"That won't do."
Shimura Danzo refused immediately.
He had to save his money to expand his forces and fund various experiments. How could he give it to those Konoha villagers?
How much money would that take!
"Then you take the blame."
Shimura Danzo curled his lip but did not continue to protest.
His Root organization finally had a child who had mastered the power of Wood Release. Success was imminent, so his money absolutely could not be wasted.
Let his reputation stink a bit more. As long as he had sufficient power, the position of Hokage would be his sooner or later.
Seeing Shimura Danzo fall silent, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his gaze to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. "I will take some money from my clan for the emergency, and you two should do the same. It will help salvage some of your reputation."
"Where there is life, there is hope. Money can always be earned later. Let's appease the people first."
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's arrangement, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane could only tearfully agree.
To satisfy everyone, they would likely have to bleed a great deal of wealth this time.
It was all the fault of the Uchiha. Those naturally evil fellows only knew how to cause trouble for them.
They also blamed themselves for not being ruthless enough back then, which led to today's disaster.
If they had another chance in the future, they absolutely would not make the same mistake. They would ensure the Uchiha name was thoroughly extinguished, just like the Senju clan!
While Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others were deliberating, an ANBU appeared in the office.
"Lord Hokage, the villagers outside have gathered. It is estimated that they will surround the Hokage Building before long. Should you seek shelter first, my lords?"
Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others looked out the window.
Not far from the Hokage Building, a large number of Konoha villagers had already gathered and were marching toward them in a mighty torrent.
"Third Hokage, we've had two wars! Why is it that the Third Raikage is always able to lead the charge at the front, while you forever hide inside the village?"
"Two wars have taken away so many young lives, yet you remain safe and sound. We want Lord Hokage to personally explain to everyone—what exactly is this so-called Will of Fire!"
"And also... did the Uchiha clan really leave the village because they couldn't stand your suppression?"
"What exactly happened with Hatake Sakumo? Why did those bastards from Kumogakure say you manipulated public opinion and made Hatake Sakumo into a scapegoat?"
The angry Konoha villagers completely surrounded the Hokage Building.
The thank-you letters written by the Kumogakure ninja had allowed them to understand the course of the battle between Kumogakure and the shinobi alliance.
This made them even more dissatisfied with Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others.
The Third Raikage led his village's Kage-level powerhouses to forcefully charge against a shinobi alliance of ten thousand men. He was willing to die to protect the ninja of his village. Meanwhile, their Third Hokage stayed inside the village the entire time and never set foot on the battlefield.
The four thousand ninja troops sent out were nearly wiped out, and even Orochimaru had an arm severed, yet Shimura Danzo, the commander-in-chief, returned to the village safe and sound.
They kept chanting slogans like "Where the leaves dance, the fire burns. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and allow the new leaves to sprout." But the reality was that the new generation was constantly withering away while the older generation of ninja lived well.
Who exactly was protecting whom?
Looking at the angry villagers, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no choice but to go to the roof of the Hokage Building.
Having been in power for so many years, he understood the power of public opinion all too well.
If he did not quell everyone's anger today, the public opinion would ferment, and his position as Hokage would be in danger.
"Everyone, please be quiet first. If you have any demands, you can speak to me. As the Hokage, I will certainly not evade responsibility."
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice, the originally noisy crowd quieted down briefly.
Immediately afterward, someone shouted loudly, "Third Hokage, did Hatake Sakumo defect from the village because he was dissatisfied with you pushing him out as a scapegoat?"
"And the Uchiha clan—have you and those three advisors been embezzling their assets?"
"Why don't you go to the battlefield to kill the enemy? Aren't you the strongest Hokage?"
Hearing the villagers' questioning, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised both hands and pressed them downward.
Only when the crowd quieted down did he speak in a deep voice. "I am also very saddened by Sakumo's matter. However, there were long-standing signs of the Uchiha clan's defection. It was because he, as the ANBU Director, did not report any information to me that the village was caught completely unaware."
"In the recent war with Kumogakure, Hatake Sakumo showed no mercy when killing his companions from the village. He must have been in collusion with the Uchiha clan for a long time. The reason he didn't defect with them back then was likely just to stay behind and transmit intelligence for the Uchiha clan."
"This matter is indeed my fault. If I had detected Hatake Sakumo's ambition earlier, I definitely would not have let him go!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen placed himself on the moral high ground and pointed fingers at Hatake Sakumo, directly pinning the crime of betraying the village and joining the enemy on him.
Immediately after, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke again. "As for the Uchiha clan..."
"They have always been unruly and done as they pleased. They enjoyed the privilege of not having to go out on dangerous missions, yet they tyrannized the village... Everyone should have experienced this deeply, right?"
"Moreover, the so-called embezzlement of Uchiha assets is sheer nonsense. This is merely a tactic by Kumogakure to divide us from within."
After speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "As for the defeat in the war, I am even more heartbroken than all of you."
"Those who died were all children I watched grow up with my own eyes!"
"In order to give everyone an explanation..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, and Shimura Danzo was marched to the front of the stage by two ANBU. "This is my old teammate of many years, and also the village's Hokage advisor."
"Today, he is willing to atone with his death!"
Hearing this, Shimura Danzo looked up at Sarutobi Hiruzen, somewhat bewildered.
Wait, brother, don't go off-script! You didn't say I had to actually die when you asked me to take the fall!
But before he could speak, the ANBU raised his long sword and chopped off Shimura Danzo's head with a single stroke.
After doing all this, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately spoke. "Just now, Advisor Koharu Utatane and Advisor Homura Mitokado also said that they would bring out money and food from their clans to compensate for everyone's losses."
"The village will also take action to help everyone tide over the difficulties."
"I promise everyone here that I will absolutely not let everyone's lives be worse than before the Uchiha clan defected from the village!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with full confidence.
After killing the daimyo, the entire Land of Fire was under his control.
Mobilizing the power of the whole country to let the people of Konoha Village live the kind of moderately prosperous life they had before was not a particularly difficult task.
As for the others outside Konoha Village, they would just have to suffer for a while.
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's guarantee, a look of joy immediately appeared on the faces of the originally angry Konoha villagers.
They no longer clamored for the Uchiha clan to return to the village, nor did they clamor for Sarutobi Hiruzen to step down.
With money and food, everything was fine.
Once the crowd dispersed, Sarutobi Hiruzen quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had finally passed this hurdle.
Although he had to give up some benefits, it was all worth it to preserve his reputation and power.
Shimura Danzo walked out of the shadows and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with resentment. "Hiruzen, you chopped me down in public just now. How can I run for Hokage in the future?"
"I'll just give you a new identity later. Hardly anyone knows your face anyway."
After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, a trace of fierceness appeared in his eyes. "Uchiha Yuzuru, there will come a day when you go blind. I'll be waiting!"
In the distance, Uchiha Yuzuru stood atop Senju Tobirama's Hokage Rock, stretching his arms and waist.
This result was within his expectations.
However, one could not eat hot tofu if one was too impatient. The good show was just beginning.
He would make these ungrateful Konoha villagers repent for their actions in despair, and he would make Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and the others suffer betrayal by their allies and total ruin.
He would take back everything that originally belonged to the Uchiha and ensure the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane clans were slaughtered just like the Uchiha clan in the original work.
That day would not be too far off.
Uchiha Yuzuru snorted coldly and activated Kamui, disappearing from the spot.
Kumogakure.
As soon as Uchiha Yuzuru returned, he was dragged to the Raikage's office by A.
Inside the office, the Third Raikage, Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Fugaku, Mabushin, and Dodai were all present.
Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru, they asked curiously, "Yuzuru, how was the effect of the thank-you letters? What were the expressions of those Konoha bastards when they saw them?"
Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, Uchiha Yuzuru described everything about how the Konoha villagers flew into a rage out of humiliation and impotent fury.
After listening, the Third Raikage and the others laughed heartily.
"That is truly interesting. Against bastards like that, we should use methods like this."
"Seeing their lives get worse and worse amidst pain and regret is simply more relieving than killing them."
"I wonder if that fellow Sarutobi Hiruzen will come to the battlefield next time. I have long wanted to cross hands with this 'strongest Hokage'."
Listening to everyone's jokes, Uchiha Yuzuru waved his hand. "Alright, Third Raikage, you didn't ask A to call me over just to listen to this gossip, did you?"
The Third Raikage nodded and smiled. "Yuzuru, I wanted to tell you some good news."
"Sunagakure has agreed to your request. They have already sent a Kekkai Genkai ninja to our Kumogakure."
After the Third Raikage finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Thinking back, their village had gone everywhere swindling and abducting just to obtain a single Kekkai Genkai ninja.
For this, they had paid the price of many elite ninja's lives.
But in the end, they had gained little.
Yet now, after they mentioned the request to Sunagakure, the other party agreed immediately.
This was the benefit of being powerful.
If not for Uchiha Yuzuru's formidable power, things absolutely would not have progressed so smoothly.
First, they possessed the Uchiha clan, and then they obtained the Chinoike clan.
Now they had obtained another Kekkai Genkai ninja from Sunagakure.
The Third Raikage had a premonition that their Kumogakure would absolutely never lack Kekkai Genkai again in the future.
"Third Raikage, where is that ninja now? I'll go take a look."
A smile appeared on Uchiha Yuzuru's face.
The image of a ninja with a smooth, beautiful back unconsciously floated into his mind.
It should be Pakura, right?
After all, Sunagakure couldn't possibly send Rasa over.
"I arranged for that ninja to stay with your Uchiha clan. She should be with Uzumaki Kushina right now."
"Alright, I got it."
Uchiha Yuzuru turned and left the Raikage's office.
Arriving at the Uchiha clan compound, Uchiha Yuzuru returned to his own courtyard.
In the yard, Uzumaki Kushina was washing vegetables with Uchiha Mikoto. Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru return, smiles appeared on both their faces.
"Yuzuru, you're finally back."
Uzumaki Kushina threw herself into Uchiha Yuzuru's arms, keeping her head lowered as she rubbed against him incessantly.
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