With the comparison, Hiruzen quickly noticed this change. Although he was old, he understood that momentum is actually brought about by the leader. He just needed to defeat the leader.
He looked at Hiromi's tightly closed eyes and the terrifying flames burning on that small body, and said in a deep voice, "I will deal with Hiromi."
"Leave Shisui to me."
Itachi stepped out from the darkness and walked to Hiruzen's side, opposing the Uchiha clan.
Seeing this, the clan members were furious, their eyes splitting with rage.
"Itachi! What are you doing!"
"You are a member of the Uchiha clan!"
"As expected, you are a traitor to the Uchiha!"
"Our suspicions about you were correct!"
Compared to the anger of the clan members, Itachi cared more about Shisui's reaction. But Shisui was very calm, just as calm as Hiromi.
At this moment, Hiromi, with his eyes closed, turned toward Hiruzen and asked, "Where is Danzo?"
The surroundings fell silent.
All the ninjas in the village heard this sentence clearly. They all looked toward Hiruzen.
Hiruzen's expression sank. "Do you think I would tell you!"
This time, he chose to strike first, so that Hiromi would not walk to the center of the village again, and thus no disaster would be caused.
'As expected, the Uchiha clan must be wiped out.' Hiruzen's gaze became increasingly cold and stern.
Otherwise, now that the Uchiha clan has left their clan grounds, it would surely cause a major disaster, and who knows how many villagers would die.
"Heh."
Hiromi held his head high, looking at Hiruzen with contempt, and said, "Naruto was captured by him. Given your intelligence, it's impossible that you didn't think of this. Even if you were confused for a moment, you should have realized it when you went back to change into your battle uniform. Why are you still here?"
"Because... you think this is a good opportunity to wipe out the Uchiha clan."
Hiromi's words were like a devil revealing the malice in a human heart, slowly speaking out Hiruzen's thoughts, ringing in everyone's ears.
For a moment, Hiruzen's face turned livid, and he roared, "Shut up!"
The ninjas in the village originally thought nothing of Hiromi's words, but seeing Hiruzen's reaction, things became strange.
A thought couldn't help but pop into their minds: "It seems he really does think that way."
Hiromi chuckled and continued, "Using the pretext of an Uchiha Coup d'état to wipe out the Uchiha clan is quite a good idea, but why are you, a sixty-something-year-old man, leading the team?"
"Yes, you are the Hokage. But what about your Hokage Assistant? What about your two Hokage Advisors?"
"Whenever there is a life-or-death crisis, not even a shadow of them can be seen."
Hiruzen opened his mouth, wanting to explain something.
But Hiromi spoke for him in advance, "Are you trying to say their combat power is insufficient?"
"I have to laugh. You were all chosen by the Second Hokage to be Hokage guards. You're the only one capable, and the other three are trash?"
"If they are trash, why are they still occupying their positions without leaving?"
As he finished speaking, Hiromi changed from his relaxed and casual manner to one that was cold and stern.
"Hiruzen, the obstruction on the Nine-Tails incident."
Hiruzen's pupils constricted as he recalled the order from that night forbidding the Uchiha clan from coming to the rescue, instead ordering them to guard the streets.
"The tacit approval of Danzo's proposal."
The Uchiha clan moved from the center of the village to the outskirts and accepted twenty-four-hour surveillance.
"The spreading of rumors."
That the Uchiha clan could control Nine-Tails.
"Danzo's treason."
Danzo dispatched First Hokage experimental subjects to assassinate.
"The indulgence of Orochimaru."
Letting Orochimaru, who conducted human experiments, go free.
"The promise of war efforts."
The Uchiha clan's war achievements were not published.
"The weakness of the peace treaty."
Sacrificing the interests of Konoha's clans to appease Kumogakure.
"And... the arrangement for the Fourth's son."
Naruto...
Hiruzen's pupils narrowed to pinpricks, as if something absolutely untouchable had been touched. He was exceptionally terrified and ferocious, letting out a screaming roar, "What do you know!"
Hiruzen's demon-like appearance frightened countless people, including the village ninjas, who couldn't help but take a step back, their expressions panicked. They had never seen Hiruzen like this. They were terrified and lost, shrinking back.
But Hiromi, facing Hiruzen, was completely unafraid.
"I know everything."
As he finished, the orange flames on his body flared up intensely. The massive orange flames seemed to burn away the ferocity Hiruzen had gathered.
The terrifying, scorching high temperature burned away the moisture in the air, making the people around feel their skin burning dry, and they retreated several steps repeatedly before they could heave a sigh of relief.
Hiromi had his eyes closed, but it felt as if a pair of eyes filled with rage were staring at Hiruzen.
"Now, bring Root and Danzo to me. Otherwise, today is the day Konoha will be destroyed."
Hiruzen understood what Hiromi meant—if he didn't bring the Root and Danzo over, he would expose everything today.
This wouldn't be a big deal under normal circumstances, the worst that could happen is he would just step down.
But with the Uchiha clan's Coup détat, if this were exposed as well, the chaos in Konoha would reach its peak, and it would also be at its weakest.
By then, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and even the weakest Sunagakure nearby would be tempted to make a move.
If... if only he could control Hiromi...
He couldn't help but glance at Shisui, but quickly looked away, bowing his head, filled with frustration and helplessness.