Even after Uchiha Akainu and the young Uchiha girl had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi still couldn't figure out what he'd said that could have been considered "cursing." He pinched a bit of tobacco onto his pipe, struck a match, and as the tobacco lit, he gently sucked on the mouthpiece.
"Hmph..."
A faint wisp of smoke obscured his aged face. Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, "It's pretty clear now that Akainu won't be a threat to Konoha. Are you satisfied, Danzō?"
As his voice faded, an Anbu Guard emerged from the corner of the office. But after only a few steps, his form shifted, gradually transforming into an old man wrapped in bandages, with only one eye visible, and an intensely sinister and gloomy aura. This was the master of Konoha's "Root"! The magnet of all blame in the ninja world!
—**Danzō Shimura!**
"Uchiha Akainu glanced in my direction the moment he walked into the office. He must have spotted me right away," Danzō narrowed his visible eye, looking towards the door. The hostility and detachment in his gaze were not intentionally hidden.
Then, he turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi and continued, "Hiruzen, you can't guarantee that Uchiha Akainu wasn't intentionally saying those things because he found me. This is an Uchiha whose methods are so extreme, his evil is almost visible! You just heard him say it yourself, he'd even draw his blade against the Hokage if necessary. This kind of inherently evil Uchiha brat shouldn't exist in Konoha."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed. "Danzō, I know what you're planning. Do not touch Uchiha Akainu. He's someone I see potential in, an Uchiha just like Itachi."
"While his extreme methods are a bit unsettling, he has indeed brought a new sense of justice to the village, making some with ill intentions much more restrained."
Hiruzen Sarutobi firmly stated, "Akainu's existence has pros and cons for the village, but for now, the pros outweigh the cons."
"Hmph," Danzō snorted darkly. "What 'pros outweigh cons'? That's just your indecisiveness. You're only saying that because it was a Gekkō clan member who died today. Would you still have that same look on your face if a Sarutobi clan ninja was killed, Hiruzen?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly replied, "I only act on what is just, not on personal ties."
Danzō admitted he almost chuckled at the "Monkey's" statement.
"Allowing this inherently evil Uchiha to carry out his so-called 'Absolute Justice' in Konoha is playing with fire! One day, you will regret this, Hiruzen!" Danzō gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a deep look.
Hiruzen Sarutobi met his gaze, stating gravely, "Danzō, you always struggle to understand your place. In Konoha, *I* am the Hokage. And you, you are merely Konoha's 'darkness'."
"If I say Akainu cannot be touched, then he cannot be touched! Don't forget, 'Root' only continues to exist because I allow it. One order from me, and 'Root' will be completely disbanded!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "Danzō, as the Hokage, my power is limitless. You wouldn't want me to do that, would you?"
Danzō's eyes widened. "You... Monkey..."
"Hmph!!!"
When words fail, Danzō, his old face grim and simmering with anger, said no more. He stomped out, the loudly slammed door echoing the depth of his suppressed fury.
---
### A Growing Problem
"Akainu isn't back yet?" Far off at the Uchiha Police Force headquarters, Fugaku Uchiha was looking at four corpses, his brow furrowed with worry.
"No," an Uchiha Police Force medical examiner replied.
Fugaku exhaled slowly. "He's struck at another Konoha ninja clan. This will only push the Uchiha's conflict with the village... probably further into an irreversible situation." This was Fugaku's greatest concern.
Truth be told, what Uchiha Akainu did, while extreme, was often quite **correct**, so correct that even Fugaku sometimes struggled to find fault with it. But this kind of "correctness," for the Uchiha clan currently on shaky ground, was like a series of deadly execution orders. Ever since the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha clan had been deeply mistrusted by the village.
Many ninja clans who once had a barely tolerable relationship with the Uchiha had grown increasingly distant over the past few years. The Uchiha's reputation among some civilians was also getting worse. This external pressure was indirectly fueling the demands of the hawk-faction Uchiha within the clan, pressuring him, their leader.
Today... several Uchiha had privately met with him again, demanding that a complete Konoha coup plan be formulated.
"Sigh..." Fugaku sighed. Was there truly no one in the entire Uchiha clan, besides his eldest son Itachi and the late Shisui, who wouldn't cause him endless headaches?
---
### Justice on the Streets
"U-U-Uchiha Akainu is here!!!"
At the same time, a trembling, panicked cry instantly shattered the peace of a Konoha village street.
A thief, in the middle of a discreet pilfering, froze. His face went ashen, as if he'd just received news of a death. He frantically shoved the stolen wallet back into its owner's pocket. Without even daring to look for Uchiha Akainu's location, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground in the most humble *dogeza* pose.
"I surrender! I'm willing to surrender! I'll honestly confess all my crimes to the Police Force! Please don't kill me!" the thief sobbed, drenched in sweat.
On the other side of the street, two Konoha villagers who had been arguing and spewing insults at each other instantly plastered on warm, friendly smiles. They slung their arms around each other, calling each other "brother," as if they hadn't been red-faced from arguing just moments before.
A villager who had casually littered frantically picked up the trash he'd thrown and stuffed it into his own pocket.
"How... how exaggerated..." Izumi finally witnessed just how widely known Senior Akainu's reputation was in Konoha village. She had been so focused on studying at the Academy, she truly hadn't paid attention to anyone outside it with such a reputation. Izumi thought that if Senior Akainu just patrolled the village regularly, Konoha's crime rate would drop by several percentage points!
"You brat! Stop right there!!!"
But soon, an angry shout broke the eerie silence.
"Who'd stop for you! If you catch me, it's gonna be terrible, believe it!" another shout rang out.
The first was an adult's voice, the second a child's. Izumi turned her head in confusion. She saw a blond brat running wildly, desperate to escape, with a man wielding a rolling pin chasing him. Their passage caused absolute chaos wherever they went. The blond brat kept picking up all sorts of things from the street and throwing them behind him to hinder his pursuer. But it also threw the street into disarray, sending many passing villagers scrambling to get out of the way.
Just as the blond brat brushed past Izumi, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Senior Akainu suddenly reach out a hand.
The blond brat, running gleefully just a moment ago, was instantly lifted by the scruff of his neck.
Caught!
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