Facing the questioning from the two Hokage Advisors, Nara Shikaku continued calmly and unhurriedly:
"What I mean is Lord Third Hokage's indulgence towards Danzo Shimura."
"From the scenes, we can learn that Danzo Shimura upholds the prejudiced ideology towards the Uchiha Clan passed down by the Second Hokage, targeting the Uchiha Clan at every turn, even going so far as to instigate a civil war within the Village for this purpose."
"And the problem with Lord Third Hokage is that he did not stop Danzo Shimura, allowing this guy to continuously do things that harm the Village's interests."
Nara Shikaku's words were like a sharp sword piercing Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, leaving the Old Monkey speechless.
The indulgence towards Danzo Shimura is almost Hiruzen Sarutobi's biggest stain.
And everyone in the Village with a certain status and influence knows about this matter.
Danzo Shimura has a whole pile of shit on his hands.
Splitting the Anbu, playing his own underground kingdom.
Forcibly taking members from the major Ninja Clans, brainwashing them, applying cursed seals, and making them do dirty work for him.
Playing with conspiracies and power tactics, making countless enemies for the Village.
Desperately wanting to become Hokage, for this he guided public opinion to eliminate Sakumo Hatake, who was the most likely to become the Fourth Hokage.
Aren't these all part of Danzo Shimura's dark history?
Yet, despite committing so many crimes, he has been able to remain at large.
Even maintaining his own underground kingdom without it collapsing, who does Danzo Shimura rely on?
Isn't it you, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi?
If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to kick the bucket someday, as long as someone took the lead, Danzo Shimura would immediately be torn to pieces by the major Ninja Clans.
"That is my conclusion."
"The Uchiha Clan's coup d'état, and even the 'Uchiha Clan Massacre,' must have an inseparable connection to Danzo Shimura."
"And the Root cause of all these events is you, Lord Third Hokage."
Nara Shikaku had pretty much laid it all out. Since Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze supported him, allowing him to publicize this speculation and expose the ugliness buried underground to the sunlight.
Then what did he, Nara Shikaku, have to fear?
If the sky falls, won't Minato Namikaze be the one to hold it up?
"Danzo Shimura he..."
Jiraiya frowned tightly. He had very little contact with Danzo Shimura, but he also disliked this guy from the bottom of his heart.
And Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, as if tacitly agreeing with Nara Shikaku's words.
This situation made Jiraiya even more dissatisfied.
"Old Man..."
"Shut up."
Jiraiya had just opened his mouth when Tsunade interrupted him.
The Senju princess's face was calm, not even glancing at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
[The scene continues. In front of an underground base not far from Konoha Village, two figures stand.]
[One is Uchiha Shisui, the other is none other than Danzo Shimura.]
["Lord Danzo, the meeting time is almost here. If you have something to say, please wait until after this matter is concluded," Uchiha Shisui said, sounding slightly anxious.]
["If, after you cast a genjutsu on Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan members still insist on carrying out the coup d'état, what will you do?" Danzo Shimura asked coldly.]
["Don't worry, Lord Danzo. I am already prepared."]
[Uchiha Shisui's face was calm as he said firmly:]
["If anyone still insists on such foolish actions, I will give them an end."]
["Even if you kill a group of clansmen who want to rebel, there will still be more hidden Uchiha who are dissatisfied with the Village. What do you think should be done?" Danzo Shimura asked with a dark expression.]
["But..." Uchiha Shisui didn't know how to answer.]
["As long as the Uchiha exist for one day, the Village's wariness towards them will not disappear for one day. Do you think you can change that?"]
[Danzo Shimura asked coldly.]
["The Hokage-sama promised me he would change things."]
["And if he can't?"]
["Will you use Kotoamatsukami on me then as well?"]
[Just as Uchiha Shisui was being cornered by Danzo Shimura's difficult questions,]
[Danzo Shimura directly reached out to gouge Uchiha Shisui's right eye, a triumphant smile appearing on his zombie-like old face: "I'll take your Sharingan!"]
[With a *buzz*! Danzo Shimura was instead immobilized by Uchiha Shisui's genjutsu.]
[But the next second, Danzo Shimura suddenly appeared in front of Uchiha Shisui.]
[Before Uchiha Shisui could react, he casually plucked Shisui's right eye. Then he pressed it into his own right eye socket, the original Sharingan having already gone blind and turned white.]
["Give me the remaining one as well!" Danzo Shimura said greedily.]
"This guy! He dares to attack a Ninja from the Village!"
Jiraiya was utterly shocked.
The betrayal mentioned in the topic, he never imagined it would be this kind of betrayal.
Directly using words to distract during a discussion, then suddenly striking to gouge out an eye while the other is lost in thought.
One can only say, as expected of you, Danzo Shimura.
"This bastard! So it was him all along!"
Kakashi Hatake, who had been offline for a long time, said hatefully.
Regarding the previous incident where Danzo Shimura sent people to Konoha Hospital to kidnap him, although Kakashi Hatake couldn't pursue it due to the circumstances and was also gag-ordered,
who would be so magnanimous as to not hold a grudge at all after their life was threatened?
In any case, Kakashi Hatake had mentally noted this down against Danzo Shimura.
Seeing Danzo Shimura once again attack a comrade from the Village, and doing it personally this time, Kakashi Hatake couldn't help but feel a shared hatred.
"Danzo! Ah..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even want to smoke anymore. He lowered his head, his entire face indescribably complex.
That's right, many of Danzo Shimura's actions were tacitly permitted by him, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
That Danzo Shimura could reach this point today, becoming the leader of Root, a state within a state in Konoha, is inextricably linked to Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi had never tacitly permitted Danzo Shimura to attack comrades within the Village!
Many things were done by Danzo Shimura secretly.
It's just that after the incidents happened, he dumped the blame on Hiruzen Sarutobi to bear, and everyone thought Hiruzen Sarutobi had ordered him to do it.
What they didn't know was, many times Hiruzen Sarutobi was just as bewildered when he saw the situation.
But he could only swallow his tears and bear the blame.
Now, seeing the stark reality laid out before him, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to re-examine his own attitude towards Danzo Shimura and whether it was truly problematic.
"Homura, Koharu."
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke softly, his voice so low only Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu beside him could hear.
"Did I really do wrong?"
His aged voice actually sounded somewhat plaintive.
Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, neither knowing how to respond.
Of course you were wrong!
It would have been much better to give the power to us.
We guarantee we wouldn't do such stupid things.
Even letting a dog be the leader of Root would have done a better job than Danzo Shimura.
The two inwardly grumbled, but on the surface, they still didn't know how to respond, so they both remained silent, pretending not to have heard.