"Fugaku." Hiruzen said easing the tense atmosphere, "While I agree that Danzo's speculations have gone too far, I don't not accept the threat of life under my watch."
"I am merely responding in kind to the barbarian that he is lord Hokage." Fugaku's response made Danzo livid.
"So Uchiha clan leader, are we to believe that the tomoe pattern witnessed by countless ninjas and civilians was their imagination running wild. Fugaku, this is not the time for jokes." Danzo stood up his arm waving in rebuke.
Subtle nods came from the clan heads, Hiruzen was tense as he also suspected the Uchiha. Maybe years of suppression had erupted as this incident but even so to threaten the lives of innocent civilians that was unforgivable.
"So suddenly you happen to now lose your nerve to admit that you have been monitoring the Uchiha clan with the Anbu. That most of our clan members were in the clan compound and those outside were either on police duty or outside the village doing missions!"
"What monitoring? Uchiha clan leader do not make false accusations." Homura Mitokado stepped in, as an advisor to the hokage and friend he denied anything that disparaged the hokage.
"Uchiha clan leader, you are in the presence of the Hokage." Koharu subtly spoke. The hall had become unformattable for the other clan heads but they were gleaming a lot of information, information Hiruzen would have preferred not exposed.
"You forget the power of the sharingan! You were merely successful because we let you. Under these eyes there is nothing we cannot observe." Fugaku's three tomoe sharingan flickered. Many in hall immediately readied themselves for confrontation.
Fugaku was acting extremely out of character and it left many unsettled most of all Danzo and Hiruzen.
"Why don't we all come down but the Uchiha clan leader is right. The Uchiha cannot be blamed merely with speculation. Elder Danzo, do you have evidence?" Shikaku Nara interrupted calming the air.
'Damned Nara.' Danzo cursed turning to look at Hiruzen but even he was baffled by Shikaku's interference. 'Hiruzen you old fool. Why can't you ever get your subordinates in line.' Danzo sat down, clearly, he didn't have evidence but the witnesses strengthened his accusation.
"Uchiha clan head, if the incident wasn't your clan's doing who could it be given that the only the Uchiha possess the sharingan?" Shikaku asked.
"Only the Uchiha possess the sharingan? I am afraid that is not so." Though he did not say more, his glance at Danzo and Hiruzen said a lot.
"Bang!" "Watch your words Fugaku, show respect for the Hokage." Koharu said slamming the table.
"Answer this then, are we like the Hyuga?" Fugaku asked looking directly at Koharu.
"What do you mean?" Homura asked.
"Do we the Uchiha have a seal that destroys our eyes upon death or when other show intention to seize them? Obviously not, therefore the claim that only the Uchiha posses the sharingan is unfounded given how many of my clan members have been sacrificed to war." Fugaku stared intently at those in the hokage faction.
"Some people disdain the Uchiha yet can't hold themselves back in the temptation of our power, so who is to say only the Uchiha have the sharingan." While most wanted to deny it was true given that one such example existed, Kakashi Hatake. The council weren't foolish enough to believe that Kakashi was the only exception.
In the end the issue wasn't whether the Uchiha were behind the incident, it was about stripping their benefits and power as the founding clan of the village. Something the hokage faction had successfully done to the Senju clan. The Senju clan after 3 great shinobi wars was a shell of its former self no longer the hegemon of power renown in the shinobi world yet the Uchiha clan persisted no matter how many they sent to battlefields, even battlefields in their disadvantage they still survived. Such was the tenacity of the Uchiha.
"This won't get us anywhere." Hiruzen said, inside he was surprised by Fugaku, it would seem this opportunity to strip the Uchiha of their power would be lost. Danzo over at the side was seething.
"Lord Hokage. The individual in questioned not only located the safe house the birth was taking place, but they also knew the seal would weaken and at the same time had enough expertise in fuinjustu to undo lady Mito's sealing formula in the time Minato had taken his son to safety.
They possessed enough speed to accomplish this in less than five minutes given Minato's flying Raijin jutsu, so they likely know space-time ninjutsu like the fourth.
Is there any Uchiha with such expertise if not then lets move on to other matter instead of wasting time." The Hyuga clan head, Hiashi Hyuga spoke and like many other he had grown tired of the back and forth.
Put like this many in hall realized that this feat was impossible for the Uchiha, maybe not for 'him' but he was long dead. Like Fugaku had said many others could have the sharingan and the three tomoe was insufficient to control a beast like the nine-tails. Only the mangekyo sharingan but none had awakened it in the Uchiha since Madara Uchiha.
The meeting then devolved into an analysis of possible culprits and how to tighten security around the village but an overhaul of the barrier was impossible so they settled on minimizing gaps in the barrier.
After the meeting, in the Hokage's office;
"Hiruzen! Those Uchiha need to be handled. Especially that Fugaku, he had absolutely no regard for the authority of this office. Just give me the word and the Uchiha will become a thing of the past." Danzo was fuming and over at the side Homura and Koharu were also contemplating but unlike Danzo they remained silent.
"We can't touch the Uchiha yet especially not after what happened in there. I didn't expect that from Fugaku, we clearly need to reevaluate the man. So, Danzo, remain quiet for now, while we might have lost the chance to effectively deal with the Uchiha we have regained the hokage seat." Hiruzen spoke looking out the window over the village.