Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was ashen.
Because no matter how he looked at it, he appeared the most likely culprit.
But damn it
He really hadn't done it!
At this point he was on the verge of tears, scratching his scalp so hard it looked ready to bleed.
After all, the blame for assassinating the Hokage was one he absolutely could not shoulder.
Just as Hiruzen racked his brains, Danzo at his side curled his lip and spoke.
'Enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi!'
'I'm already a dead man; the world of the living has nothing to do with me. I'm fated never to become Hokage now.'
'So you should understand I have absolutely no reason to lie to you.'
'Minato Namikaze's death had nothing to do with me, Danzo, or Root!'
'On the contrary…'
'I also believe Kakashi isn't the murderer he has no motive to betray Minato.'
'So just admit it.'
'There's a good chance this was your doing, Old Monkey.'
'Though I must say, you're one ruthless bastard.'
'Just because Minato refused to be a puppet Hokage, you mustered the guts to have him killed…'
'Frankly, even I was fooled; I thought you'd only grown more muddled and timid with age. I never imagined you'd done Minato in I used to swear it was the Uchiha.'
'But thinking it over now, I finally see the light.'
'The Uchiha weren't accepted by the Village brass back then how could they have learned the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's due date?'
'That leaves only you, monkey, with the capability.'
'After all, you knew the delivery date, and you had a personal reason to act.'
'Because while Minato seemed gentle and agreeable, the moment he became Fourth Hokage he started trying to reclaim the office's authority.'
'First he placed Kakashi in the Anbu clearly aiming to plant his own man in your unit.'
'Second, he formed his own Hokage guard. Ever since you took office as Third, that institution had been tossed into the trash.'
'Yet Minato dug it back out of the garbage and used the guard to court the Civilian Ninja class.'
'More importantly, although he lacked die-hard loyalists, he'd won over the Ino-Shika-Chō trio and the Aburame clan with just a few joint missions during the Third Great War.'
'Thanks to Kushina and Mikoto Uchiha, the Uchiha were even starting to back him.'
'Give Minato two more years and he would've stripped you of power for sure.'
'But who'd have guessed!'
'You Old Monkey were so ruthless: the instant you sensed danger, you struck and killed him.'
'Impressive—truly impressive!'
'Every one of us, myself included, underestimated you.'
'I still can't figure out where you found someone who not only possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails but was also a space-time Ninjutsu expert.'
'Space-time Ninjutsu!'
'Think about it what else could it be but the Flying Thunder God Technique?'
'I never considered it before, but the answer's been staring us in the face: besides Flying Thunder God, where in the Ninja World is there another space-time jutsu?'
'That guy must be a secret weapon your Sarutobi Clan trained.'
'As for the Mangekyo the intruder showed on the Nine-Tails Attack Night, I used to assume it was an Uchiha trademark, yet I only ever got my hands on one of Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan back then.'
'So where's the other Mangekyo?'
'Heh such a tough riddle!'
Danzo's tone dripped with mockery and contempt.
Yet…
…as this fresh 'conspiracy theory' left Danzo's lips, everyone present sucked in a cold breath.
If Danzo's reasoning were true, the events of the Nine-Tails night suddenly made perfect sense.
The intruder's mastery of space-time Ninjutsu? He must have learned Flying Thunder God.
And Flying Thunder God is a forbidden jutsu unique to Konoha something Hiruzen Sarutobi could certainly obtain.
Next… the stranger's Mangekyo Sharingan could be the other eye that went missing when Kagami Uchiha vanished.
The logic was airtight.
'So it really was Hiruzen Sarutobi!'
'Now it's proven—that old fox was far more ruthless than we thought.'
'Kagami's missing Mangekyo plus a Sarutobi who knows Flying Thunder God…'
'But it still feels off. If the culprit was a Sarutobi, why didn't he help Hiruzen when the clan fell on hard times?'
'What's hard to understand? The Sarutobi probably split into two branches ages ago for self-preservation who knows where the other branch is hiding.'
'Makes sense.'
'…'
Voices rose among those present.
Even Senju Tobirama, who had been sure Danzo was the villain, now stared grimly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Clearly…
…Danzo's argument had convinced them.
After all, Hiruzen knew the Jinchuriki's delivery date and could have obtained Kagami's missing Sharingan.
More importantly, only someone of Hiruzen's stature could train a user of the forbidden Flying Thunder God neither the Uchiha nor anyone else had access to Konoha's sealed scrolls.
Taken together…
…Hiruzen Sarutobi was the prime suspect.
Uchiha Jin: '…'
Seated on the rostrum, he froze in place.
His mind went blank as he stared at Danzo in shock.
Honestly… if he, a transmigrator, didn't already know the truth that Obito was the culprit, a fact he'd overheard from Kakashi Danzo's tale would have sounded airtight.
Damn it!
Danzo really was a genius at this.
'No, no!'
'You have to believe me, I didn't kill Minato!'
'I swear on my life please, you've got to believe me!'
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was hoarse.
He felt chilled to the bone, his face ashen.
He had no choice...
He'd never felt more wronged in his life!