Although the Third Hokage spoke with great sincerity, Uchiha Yusuke had no intention of giving him face.
During the war, was Danzō the only one pulling strings behind the scenes?
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't exactly clean either.
Yusuke shook his head.
"Hokage-sama, the matter has already been investigated and clarified."
"The assassins were from Danzō's Root."
"Those two Root shinobi are still in my custody—and there were many eyewitnesses at the scene."
As soon as Yusuke finished speaking, Hyuga Hiashi immediately stepped forward.
"Hokage-sama, I can testify."
"Everything Yusuke just said is the truth."
Back when Konoha's higher-ups tried to sacrifice Hyuga Hizashi, Hiashi had already developed deep resentment toward Danzō.
Now that he finally had a chance, of course he was going to smear Danzō a little harder.
After Hiashi spoke, Nara Shikaku also stepped forward on behalf of Ino–Shika–Chō.
"Hokage-sama, we can also testify."
Uchiha Shisui looked conflicted.
He didn't want to make things difficult for the Third Hokage, but he also wanted justice for Uchiha Yusuke.
After struggling for a long time, Shisui still expressed his opinion—carefully and politely.
"Hokage-sama… those two assassins should be Root."
With Danzō becoming the target of everyone's accusations, Hiruzen's expression remained heavy and unreadable.
He took a deep breath and said in a low voice,
"I understand."
"After I send people to investigate and gather evidence, I will handle this impartially."
Everyone had essentially nailed it down already, yet the Third Hokage still refused to punish Danzō on the spot.
"Investigate and gather evidence" was nothing but a delaying tactic.
As long as he stabilized everyone's emotions, he could later go easy on Danzō.
Danzō was not only the head of Root, but also Hiruzen's appointed Hokage advisor.
The Police Force, which Yusuke commanded, had no authority to arrest or prosecute Danzō—only the Hokage's直属 ANBU could.
And if the Third Hokage was the one "enforcing the law," what serious punishment could Danzō ever really face?
After realizing this, the corner of Yusuke's mouth lifted into a cold smile.
You want to protect Danzō?
Then don't blame me for cutting you next.
"Cough."
Yusuke cleared his throat and said calmly,
"Let's set the assassination aside for now."
"Then what about Konoha refusing to send me reinforcements?"
"Third Hokage-sama—were you planning to watch the frontline soldiers die with your own eyes?"
Yusuke's gaze was sharp as a hawk, locking directly onto the Third Hokage.
Facing those cold, star-like eyes, Hiruzen felt uncomfortable in his own skin.
He sighed and tried to explain.
"Yusuke, don't be angry."
"Konoha couldn't send reinforcements in time because neighboring countries were making suspicious moves."
Yusuke gave a quiet chuckle from his throat.
"Suspicious moves from neighboring countries? Heh…"
"As far as I know, the other three great villages only wanted to watch and wait. None of them intended to attack Konoha."
"Hokage-sama… you're not seriously trying to brush me off with such a flimsy excuse, are you?"
Hiruzen forced a dry smile.
"How could I?"
"We did receive intelligence at the time."
"Root's reports can prove it."
Yusuke couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Intelligence?
That kind of thing could be written however they wanted.
He asked flatly,
"The Uchiha have our own intelligence channels."
"Why didn't I receive any news of 'neighboring movements'?"
Hiruzen's expression turned awkward.
Whether the neighbors had moved or not was easy to verify.
It wasn't some great secret.
And the "neighbor movement" intelligence had come from Danzō—Hiruzen didn't even trust the punctuation marks in it.
As for why he didn't deploy troops?
Of course it was because he wanted to use the opportunity to get Yusuke killed.
But that truth couldn't be said out loud.
Hiruzen thick-skinnedly continued to stall.
"Is that so?"
"Then the issue of intelligence sources—I'll have ANBU investigate together."
Yusuke directly revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and spoke coldly,
"No need."
"The assassins came from Root, and the fake reports submitted to the Hokage also came from Root."
"Root is clearly harboring sinister intentions—its leader Danzō bears responsibility."
"I request that the Hokage order harsh punishment for Danzō and give everyone justice."
"Otherwise… I'll have to handle it personally."
Yusuke's hand rested on his sword, killing intent bleeding into the air.
"Yusuke, calm down."
"I will handle these matters impartially!"
Hiruzen tried to salvage the situation, but Yusuke refused to buy it.
"Hokage-sama, I am very calm."
"If it weren't for your sake, would Danzō still be standing here unharmed after demanding the Eight-Tails from me?"
With Yusuke pushing it to this point, Hiruzen knew there was no way to keep this from exploding.
He couldn't help cursing Danzō in his heart.
Why did you have to come provoke Yusuke?
Wasn't the mess you caused me already big enough?
The assassination and the lack of reinforcements—neither could be explained easily.
Hiruzen silently sighed.
At this point, the only option was to make Danzō sacrifice something to calm Yusuke down.
Hiruzen turned his gaze on Danzō and barked,
"Do you know what Root's shinobi have been doing?"
"So many problems have emerged from Root—your leadership is grossly negligent!"
After being scolded, Danzō stood there expressionless.
On the surface, Hiruzen was condemning him, but he still hadn't pinned any truly serious crime on him.
With wording like that, Danzō's worst offense was just "poor oversight."
Feeling the Hokage's protection, Danzō even felt a flicker of smugness.
You Uchiha Yusuke can flip the table all you want.
In the end, what can you do to me?
Hiruzen is Hokage—I, Danzō, am Konoha's "second emperor."
But before Danzō could enjoy it, Hiruzen's next words shattered his fantasy.
"After careful consideration, I have decided to strip Danzō of all his positions."
"Root will be disbanded immediately."
The moment those words fell, Danzō froze in place.
You just called it "poor oversight"—so why was the punishment this severe?!
Yusuke, on the other hand, understood Hiruzen's intent at once.
He gave Danzō a light charge—but imposed a heavy penalty.
That way, he could calm Yusuke's anger and still leave room to re-enable Danzō in the future.
In terms of political maneuvering, Sarutobi Hiruzen truly was old and cunning.
But while plans could be "rational," reality could be "brutal."
Once Danzō stepped down, Yusuke would never allow him a chance to climb back up again.
"No! This handling is unacceptable!"
Danzō snapped back loudly after regaining his senses.
But Hiruzen had already decided and wouldn't tolerate opposition.
"This matter is decided."
"Only by disbanding Root can we give everyone an explanation."
Hiruzen didn't leave room for discussion, and Danzō could only swallow his rage.
Most of Root were Danzō's diehards—people even the Hokage couldn't freely command.
Even if Hiruzen ordered Root disbanded, as long as he turned a blind eye, Danzō could still remain the shadow power behind Konoha.
Yusuke knew this perfectly well.
After the Uchiha were annihilated in the original history, the Third Hokage also "suppressed" Danzō:
removed him as advisor, ordered Root dissolved—
yet Root members remained active in the shadows, continuing to serve Danzō.
After punishing Danzō, Hiruzen looked at Yusuke warmly.
"Is this outcome satisfactory, Yusuke?"
Yusuke withdrew his sword and nodded calmly.
He never expected the Third Hokage to crush Danzō outright in one blow.
Stripping Danzō of his posts was already enough.
Before, Danzō held the status of Hokage advisor—outside the Police Force's jurisdiction.
Now, on paper, Danzō was merely an ordinary jōnin.
For Yusuke, controlling him would be effortless.
With Danzō's "born to take the blame" nature, Yusuke could dig up countless issues with even a casual investigation.
If Yusuke wanted, he could make sure Danzō died without even a burial.
But seizing power in Konoha needed time—he couldn't rush it.
After all, the Third Hokage still held too many levers.
Konoha had seven major departments:
The Administration, ANBU, Medical, and Education departments were still in the hands of the Hokage and the two advisors.
Yusuke only controlled the Police Force.
Intelligence was jointly controlled by several clans led by the Yamanaka.
And Root—until today—answered only to Danzō.
Before Yusuke rose, Konoha's higher-ups monopolized five out of seven departments.
No wonder, in the original storyline, the Uchiha eventually lost.
Trying to overthrow the system with only the Police Force was simply too thin a foundation.
Since Yusuke chose to rise, he had to change this structure.
Now that Danzō had been stripped of power, Root would eventually fall under Yusuke's blade.
After eliminating Root, he planned to build his own new apparatus.
If he could become Hokage advisor, he could openly inherit everything that had once belonged to Danzō.
If Danzō could create "Root," then as advisor, building a new department wouldn't be "out of line," would it?
Beyond that, the Intelligence Department held by the clans was also something he could maneuver to secure.
And with a major clan like the Hyuga supporting him…
Yusuke had a real chance to elevate his foundation to the same level as the Third Hokage's.
Strength, reputation, and institutional power—three-in-one.
Uchiha Yusuke would become the unquestionable next Hokage.
Even if Tsunade returned, she might not be able to compete with him.
And besides—Tsunade, disillusioned with Konoha's higher-ups, had no desire to be Hokage at all.
"Hokage is trash."
"Only an idiot would want that job."
By Tsunade's logic, Yusuke was a pretty big idiot.
Wouldn't lying flat be better?
Why the hell become Hokage?
Honestly, Yusuke would love to lie flat too—but the original storyline didn't allow it.
He didn't want to die on the night of the massacre—killed by "Obito" or the filial genius Uchiha Itachi.
The annihilation of the Uchiha was something he simply couldn't accept.
After exchanging a couple polite lines with the Third Hokage, Yusuke returned home to rest.
The next day—
Yusuke went out early to attend the mass funeral for the war dead.
At Konoha's Memorial Stone, he personally carved the names of fallen clan members according to the list.
Their deaths, in one way or another, were tied to him.
But Yusuke had no regrets.
If he wanted to change the Uchiha's situation, sacrifices were unavoidable.
If you refused to bleed now, you might bleed even more later.
In this war, Uchiha casualties weren't enormous, but they still lost nearly a quarter of those who had deployed.
Other clans' losses were even worse—around one-third.
After all, not every clan's shinobi had Uchiha-level quality.
Three thousand went to war—over two thousand returned.
That counted as an unprecedented great victory.
As for Kumogakure:
In the first major clash they lost nearly two thousand.
In the second, they lost over a thousand more.
Combined, the Cloud's losses exceeded three thousand—more than Konoha's entire expedition force.
The Fourth Raikage A had taken a humiliating hit from Yusuke.
News of the Cloud's defeat spread across the shinobi world, and many forces were now stirring.
After this battle, the Cloud wouldn't recover quickly.
Being able to defend themselves at all would be considered good.
After the funeral, Yusuke returned to a quiet routine again—
training, or going next door to mooch food.
The Cloud still hadn't sent anyone to negotiate for Killer B's ransom.
And the Third Hokage still hadn't brought up awarding merits for Yusuke and the others.
Yusuke didn't care.
Once fame was in his hands, how far could power really be?
Yusuke wanted to relax—but some people didn't plan to let him.
Only a few days after the funeral, Hyuga Hiashi delivered his eldest daughter, Hyuga Hinata, into Yusuke's care, hoping he would teach her personally.
After hearing this, Uchiha Fugaku—thick-skinnedly—also brought his youngest son Sasuke to Yusuke.
"Sasuke" had originally been the name of the Third Hokage's father.
Fugaku choosing that name showed how much hope he placed on his youngest.
Sasuke and Hinata were only four years old, and as children of great clans, they were seen as two of Konoha's future rising stars.
Now that both had become Yusuke's students, Yusuke's status and influence would only rise further.
When Hiruzen heard this, naturally, he wasn't happy.
Uchiha Yusuke had not only earned towering war merit—
he had also formed a tight bond with the Hyuga.
If things continued like this…
Konoha might truly be on the verge of changing hands.
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