"Damn it!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was livid, his hands trembling at his sides as he glared at the light curtain in the sky above the village.
"How did we leave so much evidence?!"
His voice was hoarse, filled with disbelief and mounting fear.
"You had one job, Danzo! What the hell were your Root dogs doing—eating dirt?!"
Danzo stood beside him, pale-faced and shaken. He flinched at the outburst but didn't respond. He didn't need to. Everything Kaizen Arashi had just revealed—the evidence, the secrets, the bodies—was the result of their own greed and arrogance.
And now, it was all falling apart.
"I—You were there too, Hiruzen," Danzo snapped back, trying to salvage his pride. "You planned this with me! Don't act like I dragged you into it!"
"Shut up!" Hiruzen barked, but the damage was done.
They both knew the truth: they had schemed together.
Now that it had blown up, Hiruzen wanted someone to blame—and Danzo was the easiest target.
"Whatever," Danzo spat, eyes burning. "There's no point in arguing. We need to find a way out of this. Fast."
Hiruzen scanned the area.
Anbu surrounded them from every direction—masked, silent, and still as statues. Loyal to Kaizen now.
Even worse, not a single allied clan had come to their aid. The once-loyal Ino–Shika–Chō trio? Gone. Nara? Silent. The other mid-level clans? Absent. It was clear—no one wanted to be associated with them anymore.
Even if they tried to fight their way out, the Sarutobi and Shimura clans didn't have the numbers or strength. Not anymore.
And so, in one last desperate move, Hiruzen did what all cornered men do.
He leaned into pride.
"Kaizen! You bastard!" he shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "You're really going to go this far?!"
"I am Third Hokage!"
He stood tall, his Hokage robe fluttering as if to remind the world of what he once was.
But Kaizen Arashi merely raised a brow and shrugged.
"Oh no, Third," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "You overestimate yourself."
"This?" He swept a hand to the chanting villagers pouring into the streets. "This isn't me. It's them. Listen closely—this is the voice of the people."
And indeed, the chants grew louder, rising into a roar that shook the air.
"Punish the Third!"
"Execute Danzo!"
"Punish the Third!"
"Execute Danzo!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen froze. So did Danzo.
The entire crowd was turning against them.
But what cut Danzo the deepest wasn't the fury. It was the words.
"Why is he getting punished, but I get execution?!" he muttered bitterly, glaring at Hiruzen.
As if sensing his partner's rising resentment, Hiruzen placed a trembling hand on Danzo's shoulder.
"Calm down," he whispered. "We need each other now."
Danzo clenched his jaw, barely restraining himself.
Still, both knew they had only one chance left.
And Danzo took it.
"Hiruzen… we kill Kaizen."
Hiruzen looked up, startled.
Danzo's eyes burned with a last spark of madness. "Blame everything on him. Tell the people he manipulated them. Say the evidence was fabricated."
He turned to rally his clansmen. "If we wait any longer, we'll be torn apart by the mob!"
Hiruzen hesitated—then looked at Kaizen, his Hokage robe pristine, his posture confident, his very presence commanding.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
He missed that feeling.
That power.
"…Do it," he hissed. "Kill him. I'll make you the next Hokage."
Danzo's heart surged with pride.
"Shimura clan! Attack!!" he shouted.
"And the Sarutobi!" Hiruzen followed up. "He's framing us—take him down!"
In a moment, the accused became the accusers.
Dozens of ninjas from both clans surged forward, battle cries rising.
"Fourth Hokage betrayed us!"
"He's a tyrant!"
"Restore the Third!"
The hypocrisy was staggering—but in chaos, truth often lost its voice.
Unfortunately for them… Kaizen was prepared.
He didn't flinch.
He didn't speak.
He simply raised a hand.
"Now."
In an instant, Anbu moved.
A Water Style user near the front sealed swiftly.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Another followed behind.
"Lightning Style: Surge Arc!"
The moment water touched the battlefield, electric chakra rippled across the surface, transforming the street into a lightning-laced flood.
A massive serpent of water roared through the attackers, its body pulsing with electricity. Sarutobi and Shimura ninjas screamed as they were launched into the air or knocked unconscious in an instant.
The villagers watched, wide-eyed.
It wasn't a battle.
It was a massacre.
The so-called rebellion was squashed before it could begin.
Blood stained the cobblestones. Cries of pain filled the air. But no Anbu hesitated.
They were not hunting civilians.
They were cleansing traitors.
Inside the battlefield, Danzo's face twisted in horror as his men fell like wheat before a scythe.
"No… no, this can't be happening!"
He turned toward Hiruzen. "Call them back! Order them to stand down!"
But Hiruzen was frozen.
He watched as his last shred of influence crumbled beneath a tide of justified fury.
Kaizen stood at the front, expression blank, eyes sharp.
This was the difference between an emperor and a fading king.
Danzo turned, trying to escape—but a blur blocked his path.
Hatake Sakumo.
White Fang's blade gleamed as he lowered it toward Danzo's throat.
"I told you," Sakumo said coldly. "Disrespect the Hokage again, and you die."
On the other side, Minato appeared in front of Hiruzen.
His Rasengan flared in his palm, glowing like a miniature sun.
"Hiruzen-sama," Minato said respectfully. "It's over."
Hiruzen looked at the young man once destined to be Fourth.
And in that moment, he knew:
He should have chosen him.
But it was too late now.
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