Danzo: "..."
Orochimaru… you really are something else. Always striking your own allies. Cold-blooded through and through—just like a snake.
White Zetsu's got an incredible tongue, and here you are, cursing him to die every chance you get. Doesn't your conscience sting?
"Oh, and Lord Danzo," Orochimaru added casually, "White Zetsu's speech later might get… intense. Be ready to act. When the old man shows up, he might just lose it and kill Zetsu on the spot."
"Relax," Danzo said, patting his chest with conviction. "As long as I'm here, Sarutobi Hiruzen can't flip the tide."
"All the clan heads already sent word through Root. They've declared this a clash of leadership ideologies—they won't interfere. In simple terms: they'll back whoever wins."
"Heh. A bunch of spineless fence-sitters."
"Just like those two shriveled fossils—Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado."
"Utterly disgraceful." Danzo sneered. He had half-expected a trap when he returned, only to find Koharu and Homura bending the knee the moment he stepped into the village. What a dazzling display of loyalty.
"But I've got to admit, your plan worked beautifully. The villagers are completely on my side now." Danzo was beaming. He'd never felt this kind of adoration before—surrounded, praised, embraced.
After all the years he'd spent under Sarutobi's heel, finally standing tall, in control… it was exhilarating.
He could turn black into white, spin lies into truth. He understood how to exploit contradictions, contrasts, class resentments—to stir the villagers' outrage.
And White Zetsu… he was the kind of mouthpiece Danzo had always dreamed of.
He wouldn't let go of a talent like that—never.
"Our commemoration of Master Lu lies not in empty praise, but in carrying his spirit forward: to think as he thought, reflect as he did, and do what he couldn't."
"His warmth. His compassion. His resolve. His unyielding pride. His concern for the weak."
"His critical voice. His strategy for struggle. His independence. His courage in confronting Konoha's reality. His unrelenting call: never submit to slavery."
"When we recognize these truths, live by them, hold them up as a mirror to Konoha to see—and fix—its flaws, that is how we honor Master Lu. That is how we read him. Understand him. Feel him. Learn from him. Even surpass him."
Onstage, the fake Danzo—holding re-edited and culturally tuned versions of A Madman's Diary, The Outcry, Wandering, carefully adapted by Itachi Uchiha—delivered his speech with impassioned fervor.
"Tragically… I was too late."
"Master Lu was already gone."
"If only I had arrived earlier, maybe he'd still be alive."
"Maybe his home wouldn't have been reduced to ashes—burned down by the ANBU."
"But… thankfully, Master Lu left behind a final scroll." The fake Danzo lowered his head, tears flowing, grief etched into every word.
"Lord Danzo, don't blame yourself!" villagers cried.
"If not for you, we'd never have read Master Lu's words!"
"Without you, A Madman's Diary, The Outcry, Wandering—they would've been lost to time, buried in the dust of history."
"You risked your life to preserve them—we are grateful to you!"
"Yes! This is all Hiruzen Sarutobi's fault!"
"He can't stand anyone more talented than him!"
"Just like Sakumo Hatake—too powerful, so he pushed him to suicide!"
"Now Master Lu, whose writing surpasses him—he persecuted him too!"
"Sarutobi is jealous, a monkey in a crown. He's not a man—he's a beast!"
The crowd roared. Their voices burned with indignation. Especially after Sarutobi had ordered Root to wipe out the Shimura clan, shut down newspapers, and arrest countless civilians—he had ignited a firestorm of rebellion.
"Look," Danzo said with a sigh, "if you think about it, it's not hard to understand."
"In peaceful times, in a village basking in stability, someone like Master Lu—a thorn in the side—did nothing but provoke, criticize, reveal ugly truths, and speak in sharp irony."
"He kept calling for the Hokage to be held accountable. You think Hiruzen Sarutobi, who once sacrificed the Senju clan to the gods and secretly conducted human experiments—would tolerate him?"
"Of course not."
"To Sarutobi, Master Lu was dangerous."
"So, he silenced him."
"Not just by killing him—but by burning down his home."
"And then he blamed me."
"Said I, Danzo, was the one who killed Master Lu."
The fake Danzo gave a bitter smile, like a man cast out by the entire world.
"Even the Shimura clan… gone."
"I…" His voice broke.
The old man—over sixty—began to cry. Deep, ugly sobs.
"Tell me… could I—someone who believed in Master Lu so deeply—ever betray my teacher? Betray my ancestors? Harm a loyal man?"
The sight of Danzo crying so bitterly broke something in the villagers.
Their hearts softened.
He was so old. He should've retired.
Instead, he had stayed in the shadows, giving his life to Konoha, burning himself like a candle—giving light, giving heat. Even while misunderstood, even while hurt… he bore it all in silence.
How pitiful.
"Lord Danzo, we stand with you!"
"Even if the whole world turns its back—we, Root, will always stand by you!" the Root shinobi shouted in unison.
"That's right! The other clans might not support you—but we do!" the villagers cried.
"We support you too!"
"Same here!"
"Since everyone is with me…" Danzo wiped away his tears, voice firm and thunderous, "then I must reveal the truth—about the assassination of the Second Hokage, and the fate of the Senju clan!"
"Justice is never absent. It is only late."
"I, Shimura Danzo, may not be well-read—but I believe: what man does, the heavens see."
"The Six Paths watch us all. Good and evil will be repaid."
"It's not that retribution doesn't exist—only that its time hasn't come yet."
"I once thought… if Sarutobi Hiruzen proved himself a good Hokage, I'd take this secret with me to the grave."
"But he has disappointed me. Over and over again."
"Today—I will reveal a secret that's been buried for decades."
"What secret?" gasped the villagers.
Even the clan heads paused.
Was there still more dirt on Sarutobi Hiruzen?
"Years ago, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and six of us from his personal guard were surrounded by the Gold and Silver Brothers of the Cloud Village."
"To protect us, Tobirama offered himself as a decoy—entrusting the Will of Fire to the next generation—and died heroically in battle, buying time for our escape."
"That's the story they told you," Danzo said, voice low and cold.
"But do you believe it's the truth?"
"Isn't it?" The villagers murmured uneasily.
Could there be more?
A chill passed through the crowd.
"It's a lie," Danzo sneered. "That version was the official report—and Sarutobi's cover story."
"The real truth?"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen threw the fight—sold us out—leaked intel to Kumogakure and conspired to kill the Second Hokage!"
"WHAT?!"
"The Third killed the Second?!"
"That's insane!!"
The crowd exploded, jaws dropping.
"Why not?" Danzo growled. "I've spent decades investigating our sensei's death."
"It wasn't until I found Master Lu… that I confirmed my suspicions."
"What do you mean?!" the crowd demanded.
"I mean…" Danzo's voice dropped, as if delivering judgment.
"Master Lu—Lu Shugen—was the last surviving male member of the Senju clan."
"He spent years living quietly beyond the village borders."
"But Sarutobi still found him."
"And silenced him."
"WHAT?! Master Lu was a Senju?!"
The revelation hit like a bomb.
Konoha Plaza erupted—shock, awe, fury—Danzo's words had detonated something deep in every villager's heart.