The two continued their exchange as if no one else existed.
In that moment, Utatane Koharu finally lost all hope.
Her gaze swept across the conference room, lingering on every familiar face, and she suddenly burst out, her voice shrill and breaking:
"So that's it, then? You're going to hand me, Homura, and Danzo over to take the blame?"
"It isn't taking the blame," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a weary sigh. "And it isn't just you. My name is on the bounty list as well."
Koharu's voice shot up, sharp enough to pierce the room.
"So you intend to die as Hokage? Just like Sakumo Hatake—ending your life with your reputation in tatters?!"
"Shut up!" Hiruzen snapped, his own voice suddenly rising. "Don't drag Sakumo into this!"
Even after all these years, Sakumo's suicide remained a wound he could not touch.
"This is the only path that minimizes Konoha's losses."
Even now, Hiruzen could not understand why Sakumo had chosen death.
He had reprimanded him, issued a direct order, suppressed the spread of rumors, and told him to return home and reflect. He had not even punished him for failing the mission after choosing to save his comrades—despite the heavy losses Konoha had suffered as a result.
Yet Sakumo had still chosen to die.
"Today's Konoha," Hiruzen continued hoarsely, "is simply incapable of standing against the combined force of four Great Ninja Villages."
"And taking hostages would change that?" Koharu shot back. "What if those villages simply abandon their people and attack Konoha outright to seize the elixirs?!"
She opened her mouth again—but no words came out.
"Give it up, Koharu." Hiruzen's voice was filled with exhaustion. "The Sacrificial Shop's power far exceeds what we imagined."
"From the moment we made that wrong decision… our fate stopped being ours to control."
Throughout the exchange, Danzo had remained silent.
At last, he turned abruptly and strode toward the exit.
A yellow flash cut him off.
Minato Namikaze appeared in front of him, his expression calm but unyielding.
"Konoha is in a period of extreme instability," Minato said evenly. "I ask that Lord Danzo refrain from acting alone in the coming days."
"Impudent!" Danzo roared, slamming his cane into the floor. The entire conference room trembled with the impact.
"This old man is still the Hokage's assistant! How dare a mere Jonin bar my way? Are you planning to betray the Village?!"
Minato said nothing.
He simply stood there, unmoving.
At once, Nara Shikaku and the others stepped forward, silently positioning themselves behind Minato.
The atmosphere in the room tightened instantly—two sides, clearly divided.
Uchiha Yatsushiro and Hyuga Hizashi frantically signaled to their respective clan heads. This was the moment to choose a side.
Uchiha Fugaku hesitated.
Hyuga Hiashi wavered.
In contrast, the leaders of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans made their decision without hesitation, standing firmly behind Minato.
The Inuzuka and Aburame clan heads, long dissatisfied with Konoha's upper echelons, followed suit.
Seeing the tide turn, Hyuga Hiashi finally clenched his teeth and led the Hyuga Clan to stand with Minato.
Only Uchiha Fugaku remained where he was, his expression dark and conflicted, still watching, still weighing.
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained seated, as though oblivious to the confrontation unfolding before him.
Danzo's voice dropped, cold and venomous.
"What exactly do you intend to do?"
Minato's gaze was steady, his voice clear and resolute.
"We will convene a Jonin Council."
"We will publicly review the merits and crimes of the four esteemed Elders."
"At the same time, the council will formally nominate Lady Tsunade as the Fourth Hokage, to stabilize the hearts of Konoha's people."
For the first time, even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Homura Mitokado—who had already resigned themselves to death—could not hide the shock on their faces.
Homura slammed the table, his face contorted with fury.
"You are destroying Konoha's foundation!"
"Putting the Hokage and Elders on trial—do you have any loyalty left? Do you still remember the Will of Fire?!"
"Precisely because we uphold the Will of Fire," Minato replied without wavering, "we must submit the Elders to judgment."
"Enough!" Hiruzen suddenly roared.
He tore off his Hokage hat and hurled it to the floor. The flame emblem bounced against the tiles, spinning helplessly.
"This is Konoha's highest deliberation hall!" he thundered. "Not a place for you to commit insubordination!"
"As long as I remain Hokage, you have no right to be presumptuous here!"
Silence fell.
Hiruzen scanned the room, then fixed his gaze on Minato.
"Must it truly come to this?"
Minato met his eyes calmly.
"The other four Great Ninja Villages already know the truth. Concealment is meaningless."
"The matter will spread sooner or later. This is the only way to minimize the damage."
Hiruzen's gaze shifted, slowly sweeping over the ninjas behind Minato.
When he saw members of the Sarutobi Clan among them, his pupils contracted sharply.
"You… you all think this way as well?"
No one answered.
Heads lowered. Gazes avoided his.
Only heavy breathing filled the vast conference room.
"…Good."
The Third Hokage bared his teeth, forcing out the words.
"Three days from now—the Jonin Council will convene."
Minato bowed deeply.
Then he turned and left without hesitation.
The Hyuga, Ino–Shika–Chō, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other clan representatives followed him out one by one.
Uchiha Fugaku remained behind, caught between loyalty and survival.
At last, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Hokage-sama, there are urgent matters within the clan. Please allow us to withdraw."
Hiruzen's gaze, sharp as a blade, lingered on the Uchiha for a long moment.
Finally, he nodded.
Fugaku felt as if he had been pardoned from execution. He immediately led his clansmen out of the stifling chamber.
When the doors closed, only four people remained.
Danzo's chilling voice broke the silence.
"Now you finally see the true faces of these ninja clans, don't you?"
He gripped his cane tightly, his tone dripping with malice.
"If we don't eliminate them now, once the Jonin Council convenes, we will die buried in infamy!"
He turned sharply to Hiruzen, his single visible eye gleaming with madness.
"Hiruzen! You devoted your life to Konoha—are you truly willing to die like this, your name dragged through the mud?!"
"You are defiling the title of Hokage!"
He slammed his cane again.
"With such an end, what face do you have to meet our teacher?!"
Hiruzen's face darkened.
Death did not frighten him.
But being tried as a criminal Hokage—that was far worse than death.
He had once imagined a quieter ending: suicide alongside his old comrades, preserving the dignity of the Hokage's name.
Not this.
Not walking to an execution ground in disgrace.
Homura Mitokado's composure finally shattered.
"First, control Minato Namikaze's faction and the foreign village emissaries," he said sharply.
"Then force the four Great Ninja Villages to swear secrecy."
"Execute Minato and the others for treason."
"After that, we will take our own lives, claiming to have died suppressing a rebellion."
"Finally, let the other villages take our bodies to claim the bounty."
"They only want the reward. Under our control, they will comply."
"Suicide?" Danzo sneered inwardly.
Once your plan succeeds, why would I die?
His mind raced.
Eliminate Minato. Use the Uchiha. Blame everything on them.
Then take their Sharingan.
Then ascend as Hokage.
Konoha… the entire Ninja World… will kneel beneath me.
Hiruzen did not notice the madness burning in Danzo's eyes.
He stood by the window, staring silently at Minato's departing figure.
Minato Namikaze—the successor he had once chosen.
The young elites of Konoha's clans.
The pillars holding the village upright.
Hiruzen did not want to act against them.
There were still three days.
Perhaps… perhaps a compromise still existed.
Utatane Koharu stepped to his side, her voice low and venomous.
"You're willing to die for Konoha, Hiruzen. To sacrifice yourself for its honor."
"But what about them?"
She suddenly raised her voice, shrill and accusing.
"They only care about power! The Will of Fire, Konoha's honor—none of that matters to them!"
Her reflection twisted in the glass.
"Are you truly going to abandon your duty, betray our teacher's expectations, and walk onto the trial stand wearing the Hokage hat?!"
She slammed the window.
"If you do, Konoha will be ruined!"
"And the title of Hokage will become a joke—because of you!"
Hiruzen's pupils contracted violently.
Those words finally pierced through his last hesitation.
He could tolerate death.
But he could not tolerate the Hokage's glory being buried by his own hands.
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