The senior members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans stood at their gates, trying to maintain composure.
In their eyes, this was still their territory.
The Sarutobi compound.
The Shimura estate.
The home of the former Third Hokage and his right hand.
Even if Ryuji now wore the hat of the Fourth, there were still rules. Customs. Influence.
He couldn't just storm in.
That was what they believed.
Ryuji looked at the men blocking his path—and laughed softly.
"I truly don't understand," he said calmly. "Watching you all today… it's almost pitiful."
The words had barely left his mouth—
Pfft.
Steel flashed.
Ahhh!
A blur of silver light tore through the air.
Several heads lifted cleanly from their shoulders before the bodies even understood they had died.
Blood sprayed.
Screams erupted.
Only then did the crowd see Hatake Sakumo, blade already sliding back into its sheath.
He looked at the stunned clan members with an icy gaze.
"Who dares," the White Fang said coldly, "to disrespect the Fourth Hokage?"
He stepped back into position behind Ryuji.
Silence swallowed the street.
No one moved.
No one dared.
The Sarutobi and Shimura clan members trembled—caught between fury and terror.
And then—
"Ahem~"
A familiar voice drifted outward from within the compound.
"Fourth Hokage… you've gone a little too far."
The crowd parted as two figures emerged.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Shimura Danzō.
Their appearance steadied their clans instantly.
Hiruzen still wore the Hokage's imperial robe.
Ryuji's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So," Ryuji said lightly, "still unwilling to let go of the title?"
He gestured toward the robe.
"Does that cloak refuse to come off?"
Hiruzen chuckled, completely unbothered.
"When one grows old," he said gently, "one tends to cling to memories."
"I was wearing it at home… reminiscing with Danzō."
He spread his hands faintly.
"I heard you were here and didn't have time to change."
Then his expression shifted.
"But before anything else… perhaps you owe this old man an explanation?"
He gestured to the headless bodies.
His gaze turned sharp.
Hiruzen's hatred simmered beneath the surface. He had underestimated Ryuji once—never again. The young man had gathered evidence silently, struck decisively, and combined forces with Tsunade to impeach him from office.
And now he stood here again.
Danzō stepped forward impatiently, unable to restrain himself.
"You are being reckless, Fourth Hokage!" he barked.
"You hold the Hokage's seat, yet you permit slaughter of your own villagers?"
"There will be consequences!"
Ryuji didn't answer them.
Instead, he turned his head slightly toward Minato.
That was enough.
Minato immediately signaled the ANBU behind him.
"Begin."
Hand seals flashed.
Crimson light erupted from four corners.
A massive barrier ignited in the sky—
Four Red Yang Formation.
The blazing red wall sealed the Sarutobi and Shimura compounds entirely within it.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Inside the barrier stood Hiruzen, Danzō, and their clans.
Outside, Konoha.
Ryuji had chosen this jutsu precisely for this moment.
Absolute containment.
No collateral damage.
No outside interference.
Hiruzen's expression changed instantly.
Danzō's face drained of color.
The memory was unmistakable—their impeachment trial. The public disgrace.
"This is bad," Danzō hissed.
"He must be stopped."
Hiruzen's mind raced. He didn't know what new evidence Ryuji possessed—but the young Hokage's confidence said enough.
Whatever it was—
It could end them.
Before they could act, Minato and Sakumo stepped forward—one on either side of Hiruzen.
Blocking.
Not attacking.
But making it clear.
There would be no escape.
Across Konoha
The enormous red barrier blazing in the sky did not go unnoticed.
Within the Hyūga compound—
"Patriarch, what should we do?" a clan member asked nervously.
Hyūga Hiashi remained composed.
"Wait," he said calmly. "Observe."
The Hyūga would not move until they understood which way the wind was blowing.
Inside the Uchiha district—
Uchiha Fugaku watched the barrier flare above the village.
A faint smirk touched his lips.
"Hmph. The Third Hokage still believed he could draw the Uchiha into his camp."
He shook his head.
"It seems the Sarutobi and Shimura clans are finished."
Fugaku had refused Hiruzen's overtures earlier.
Now he was glad.
If the Uchiha had sided incorrectly—
Ryuji's retaliation would have been devastating.
Elsewhere, the Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and other major clans remained within their compounds.
No one interfered.
Everyone watched.
Waiting to see which era had just begun.
The Announcement
Inside the Four Red Yang Formation, the crimson barrier shimmered.
Then it changed.
Light rippled across its surface.
Ryuji's figure materialized as a massive projection above Konoha—visible across the entire village.
"It's the Fourth Hokage!"
"Lord Fourth!"
"What's happening?!"
Excitement, fear, curiosity—it all surged together.
Ryuji's approval among civilian shinobi was immense. His reforms had protected lower-ranking ninja and restored fairness to mission distribution.
People trusted him.
Even if they didn't understand this moment.
Ryuji's voice carried through the village, amplified by the barrier.
"Citizens of Konoha."
"Today, an announcement must be made."
His gaze swept downward.
"For decades, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen…"
"…and his assistant, Shimura Danzō…"
"…have colluded in actions that violate the very foundation of this village."
The entire village held its breath.
Ryuji's eyes hardened.
"And today, the evidence will be made public."
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