Uchiha Chizumi's voice was not loud, yet everyone at the scene could hear him clearly.
"Besides Uchiha Shisui… was Hatake Sakumo also indirectly killed by Danzō?"
An older Konoha jōnin froze. He had worked with Sakumo in the past but only knew that, because of certain events back then, Sakumo suffered a torrent of verbal abuse and slander.
He had never realized that someone had deliberately steered that smear campaign from the shadows.
Wait!
Could that wave of negative public opinion have been linked to Danzō as well?
At that moment—
Several Anbu operatives could not help casting their eyes toward Hatake Kakashi—for the Anbu squad captain's father was Hatake Sakumo.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze darkened. After shooting Danzō a frosty glare, he turned and looked to his rear right—at Kakashi.
The Third Hokage noticed that the normally listless Kakashi had clenched his fist at some point.
"Kakashi!"
Hiruzen suddenly called out. The situation was chaotic enough already; if Kakashi let his anger drive him to rash action, things would only become worse.
"...Hokage‑sama, I'm calm," Kakashi replied after half a heartbeat.
No one could see the expression behind his Anbu mask.
Hiruzen sighed inwardly. Even he could hear the tremor in Kakashi's voice. How could he possibly be calm?
Uchiha Chizumi's public airing of Danzō's past deeds was something Hiruzen had never expected.
Couldn't Chizumi spare a thought for the village's delicate balance?
Putting Danzō on the spit like this… there would be no tidy way to wrap things up!
"Years ago, in order to study the First Hokage's Wood Release cells, you and Orochimaru conducted extreme experiments that killed large numbers of volunteers. After the project was shut down, you still conspired with Orochimaru, secretly abducting infants for further tests, directly or indirectly causing the deaths of sixty‑seven innocent babies."
Chizumi recited the unseen record of evil as though he had pierced every hidden deed.
"How do you explain that?"
"And—"
"Enough!!" Danzō roared, eyes wide. "This is nothing more than the one‑sided tale of an evil brat! Uchiha Chizumi! What proof do you have that you can truly see the evils of past and future? What proof that your words are true?"
His interruption was abrupt—and betrayed his panic. He could feel the hostile, furious, and suspicious stares converging on him.
That skin‑crawling sense of becoming the enemy of everyone made his hair stand on end.
He snapped at the crowd:
"Are you really going to believe the word of this brat? Don't you doubt whether he's lying? I've devoted most of my life to Konoha—will you trust him over me?"
"Chizumi‑senpai never lies!" A sudden voice made Danzō's eyelid twitch. The speaker was yet another Uchiha brat.
Unable to bear it any longer, Izumi bit her lip, stepped forward, and shouted at the high‑ranking elder:
"Chizumi‑senpai has never misjudged anyone's crimes. You can't smear him with a few casual words!"
Danzō's rage flared higher.
Hearing harsh words from Hiruzen or Chizumi he could barely swallow—but what right did this snot‑nosed Uchiha brat have to challenge him?
"Fugaku, keep your clansmen in line!"
Even deigning to answer Izumi felt beneath him.
"Danzō, the one who needs restraining… is you."
Hiruzen's icy tone nearly made Danzō choke.
"Monkey, you—"
Before he could finish, Hiruzen turned his stony face back to Chizumi:
"Chizumi, can you guarantee what you've said is true? Shisui, Sakumo… Were their deaths really tied to Danzō?"
"Third Hokage, are you deliberately interrupting me?" Chizumi retorted. "Cutting me off before I reveal more of Shimura Danzō's crimes—so you, as Hokage, can keep shielding him, right?"
Hiruzen started; a muscle twitched at the corner of his eye.
"You misunderstand me," he said. He only wanted this clash to end as smoothly as possible—not tear the village apart.
But Chizumi simply refused to cooperate.
Worse yet—although Danzō had concealed many things, there were some Hiruzen did know and had silently allowed. Hiruzen stood in the sunlight; Danzō lurked in Konoha's shadows as the Root. Together they had built today's powerful village.
If Danzō's deeds implicated him…
A faint darkness flickered in Hiruzen's eyes.
Chizumi glanced at him, saw the displeasure on the Third's face, but went on in an icy voice:
"Three years ago—"
One crime after another linked to Danzō spilled from his lips.
The gathered shinobi felt chills run down their spines.
Hiruzen's expression grew ever more helpless.
Danzō's composure was on the verge of collapse—however loudly he declared Chizumi a liar, he could not deny the truth of those words.
Some deeds even he had nearly forgotten, yet Chizumi recited them in detail, dredging up long‑buried memories.
He felt countless eyes now staring at him as though he were gutter trash.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
How did it come to this?
"Now then, Third Hokage…" Chizumi suddenly halted his list of crimes and faced Hiruzen, voice low and steady. "As Hokage of Konoha, how do you intend to deal with Shimura Danzō?"
Hiruzen's face darkened; he remained silent.
"Third Hokage, if Danzō does not die, justice cannot be done. Are you, Hokage‑sama, going to shelter a villain who deserves a thousand deaths?
Or is justice in your eyes merely a political tool—something to grasp when convenient and discard when not?"
Hiruzen's breathing quickened.
He understood now. Chizumi's roasting of Danzō was also a roasting of him, the Third Hokage.
He could already feel the crowd's accusatory gazes shifting from Danzō to himself.
As Hokage, he had to give an answer.
"...Monkey!"
Danzō's furious stare is likewise fixed on Hiruzen.