"Enough, Minato, that's enough."
The Third Hokage said, holding the massive staff in his hand.
Minato's figure paused. He looked at the Third Hokage. Had it come to this, and he still chose to protect him?
"Lord Third, are his crimes truly forgivable?" Minato's tone was calm, but the question struck the Third Hokage's heart like an accusation.
The Third Hokage opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to say that Danzō was innocent.
The Sharingan on his arm alone was enough to confirm that he had harmed his fellow villagers.
"I'm sorry, Minato, Danzō's mistakes are indeed worthy of the death penalty, but I cannot stand by and watch him die," the Third Hokage finally said.
"Lord Third, Danzō's life is valuable, but aren't my clan members also part of Konoha? Aren't their lives valuable too?!" Fugaku asked, somewhat angrily.
Just when Danzo was about to die, such a turn of events occurred.
Facing Fugaku's questioning, the Third Hokage couldn't answer. He looked at Minato, took a deep breath, and said, "Minato, I'm begging you, spare Danzō this one time."
"You don't need to beg, Minato, if you have the guts, kill me!" Danzo stood there, covering his completely blind right eye. At this moment, he knew he was completely finished.
In the end, he couldn't take Minato with him. Live?
Why continue to live?
However, no one paid attention to Danzo's words, and the scene remained silent for a long time.
Finally, Minato put down the Flying Thunder God Kunai in his hand.
The Third Hokage also breathed a sigh of relief at this sight.
"Lord Third, you are Jiraiya-sensei's teacher, so I will listen to you this time. However, while the death penalty may be avoided, the living punishment cannot. I need to make Danzo lose his ability to use Ninjutsu. Is that acceptable?" Minato asked.
The Third Hokage opened his mouth, then finally nodded. He had done his best, and the other party had already given him a lot of face, at least sparing Danzo's life.
Fugaku gritted his teeth, wanting to say something but ultimately holding back.
If the other party truly lost his ninja abilities as per the Fourth Hokage's request, and was no longer the leader of Root, he would truly become a cripple, posing no further threat to the Uchiha Clan.
If he were to forcefully demand Danzo's death here, it would inevitably completely offend the Third Hokage and the two Advisors. It wasn't worth it for a cripple.
"You dare dream of sealing my Chakra!" Danzo tried to form hand signs, but the next moment he was once again pinned to the ground by Minato, unable to move.
"Hyūga Clan Head, I'll trouble you to use the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist. This time, don't hold back; you can directly destroy his Chakra points," Minato said.
"Yes!" Hyuga Hiashi nodded, then came to Minato's side, watching Danzo, who was pinned to the ground, still trying to lift his head, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at him.
Hyuga Hiashi also sighed, marveling at how the once high and mighty Danzo was now in such a sorry state.
Then, without hesitation, he activated his Byakugan, his fingers rapidly tapping Danzo's body.
"Ugh ah ah!" Danzo screamed. At this moment, he no longer had a Sharingan, so he could no longer rely on Izanagi to return to his original state.
"Hokage-sama, I have severed all the pathways through which Chakra flows throughout his body."
Hyuga Hiashi quickly finished the Gentle Fist technique and then spoke.
"Mm." Minato nodded, then he began to form hand signs again, pressing them onto Danzo's body. Advanced Sealing Jutsu formulas appeared on Danzo's body.
The people around were somewhat astonished at this sight. Gentle Fist alone wasn't enough; he even had to set up Sealing Jutsu—
He was truly ruthless!
The Minato in their eyes was a very gentle person, so they were now a bit curious as to what Danzo had done to make Minato so fierce.
Takuno also chuckled at this sight.
How did that saying go? It was something like—
A villain's convoluted schemes are no match for a fool's sudden inspiration.
The Third Hokage might have thought he was saving Danzo's life, but unfortunately, this might be Danzo's greatest punishment.
The most suitable form of punishment varies for each person.
For instance, those who fear death naturally value life the most, so sparing their life is indeed sufficient.
But was Danzo someone who feared death?
Perhaps, but at this moment, what he desired more was power.
Now, Danzo had no power and no personal strength. It could be said that his ambition to become Hokage was completely shattered.
This outcome, for someone like Danzo, could be considered worse than death; this was the most fitting punishment for him.
Of course, if possible, Takuno thought it would be even more interesting to make Danzo live every day with the possibility of death, but that wasn't something he could decide.
From now on, Danzo would no longer be able to cause trouble. Not only did he completely lack the power to do so, but even if he somehow managed to get some, it would be useless.
Because he didn't believe that the Sealing Jutsu Minato had set up didn't include Flying Thunder God markings.
As long as Danzo dared to stir up trouble again, Minato would immediately kill him. This time, he would no longer have the Sharingan to use Izanagi!
After completing all this, Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he ultimately couldn't kill Danzo, he had achieved his goal of removing the Root organization from Konoha.
Minato had always believed that the existence of Root was unnecessary.
Its existence completely overlapped with the Anbu's functions. One could say that what Anbu could do, Root couldn't, and what Root could do, Anbu could also do.
Such an organization, when it was first established, was merely created by Danzo for his own power.
If Root had been obedient, it would have been fine, but afterward, the Hokage couldn't even control Root, and Root ignored the Hokage's orders.
And the Hokage's understanding of Root grew less and less. Even the Anbu, whose identities were top secret, had their specific details known to the Hokage, but when it came to Root, he didn't even know how many people were in it!
Danzo also had no intention of submitting these documents.
Therefore, only the Third Hokage could allow such an organization to exist.
Perhaps even the Third Hokage disliked this organization; he didn't act against Root simply because its leader was Danzo.
Minato looked at the destroyed Hokage Building and shook his head. He hadn't expected the Hokage Building, which hadn't been destroyed by the Nine-Tails Attack, to be destroyed here.
He was also somewhat glad he chose to deal with Danzo at this time.
Now, even the Third Hokage was so biased towards Danzo. If it were in the future, then perhaps he would truly only be able to give him a minor punishment.
The Third Hokage, Homura Mitokado, and Utatane Koharu now also came to Danzo's side, and Utatane Koharu began to treat Danzo.
"Hiruzen, why didn't you let me die?" Danzo coughed blood and demanded angrily, "What's the point of me living like this?!"
The Third Hokage looked at Danzo and said, "At least you're still alive."
"Hiruzen, don't think I'll thank you. I hate you, Hiruzen! If you had given me the position of Hokage back then, none of this would have happened!" Danzo roared, his eyes still wide with fury.
The Third Hokage fell silent. After a long while, he spoke, "That Sharingan in your right eye, was it Kagami's?"
One must know that the three-tomoe Sharingan was an absolutely precious and rare existence even within the Uchiha Clan.
Immediately, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado stiffened. They looked at Danzo in shock. If all the previous news was shocking, then this news was sorrowful.
Had Danzo even laid hands on their comrade?
Even if it was just a corpse.
"He's already dead. What's wrong with lending me his power?" Danzo didn't realize he had done anything wrong and retorted.
The Third Hokage looked at Danzo and no longer wished to say anything more.
Just then, as everything was about to end, Takuno arrived, coming to Minato's side and saying.
"Hokage-sama, Root's base has been thoroughly inspected."
Immediately, the surrounding Jonin were startled again. There was more? Was the Fourth Hokage trying to relentlessly pursue Danzo to his death?
"Don't rush. Prepare a room for Danzo near Lord Third's residence and take him there," Minato said at this time. Since he had already agreed to the Third Hokage, he didn't intend to continue.
The Third Hokage paused, then understood. Minato was asking him to keep an eye on Danzo from now on, to prevent him from causing any more trouble.
He was silent for a moment and did not object.
He left with the two Advisors and the Anbu.
Fugaku looked at this scene and suddenly had an idea. He wouldn't kill Danzo because it would dirty his hands.
But didn't he hate the Uchiha? From now on, he would visit the Third Hokage more often, appearing frequently before him. Even if he couldn't kill him, he would at least disgust him.
After Danzo was taken away, Minato allowed Takuno to begin reporting the situation. Everyone was present now, so they could hear about Danzo's crimes.
Takuno didn't hesitate, revealing Danzo's secret imprisonment of Konoha ninja and villagers. As for the collection room, since it contained Hashirama cells, he felt it best to report it separately.
Of course, these were the most important matters; a large number of less significant issues were recorded on a scroll.
Takuno also handed this scroll to Minato.
Looking at the contents of the scroll, Minato felt his veins throb. Sparing Danzo's life truly was letting him off easy.
If Danzo were still here, he wouldn't be able to resist attacking him again.
Minato sighed, handed the scroll in his hand to the Jonin who had attended the meeting, and said, "That's all for today's matters. Everyone has worked hard. In a few days, Konoha will hold a public condemnation meeting to reveal all of Danzo's actions. Everyone can prepare for it."
The Hokage Building couldn't have collapsed for no reason; he had to give the villagers of Konoha an explanation.
Holding a public condemnation meeting to expose Danzo's crimes would not only provide an explanation but also consolidate his position in the villagers' hearts. Why not?
"Yes!" The many Jonin exchanged glances and responded.
Minato left, but the Jonin had not yet departed. They gathered together, curious, to examine the records on the scroll.
Then, each person who read it was somewhat dumbfounded. How many unethical things had Danzo done?
These records were enough to execute Danzo several times over!
Suddenly, they also thought, had Danzo also died nearly ten times?
Although he could revive using the forbidden Jutsu of the Sharingan, each time he was killed was a genuine event.
So, their expressions were a bit strange. Had Danzo successfully endured these multiple punishments by using Izanagi?
That's quite impressive!
"Senpai, there should be some other things you haven't mentioned, right?"
Minato walked along the road, looking at Takuno and asking.
Takuno told him about the collection room, especially the Sharingan and the Hashirama cells.
Of course, he couldn't directly mention Hashirama cells; he only said they were cells with very powerful life energy.