Chapter 50: Riot... The Destruction of the Shimura Clan
Danzō's head rolled onto the stone slabs of the square.
That perpetually gloomy face was still frozen in an expression of disbelief.
The entire square fell into a deathly silence, then erupted into earth-shaking cheers.
"Well killed! Well killed!"
"Danzō Shimura deserves to die!"
"Danzō Shimura deserves to die!"
The cheers came wave after wave like a tide. More and more people rushed over upon hearing the noise.
In the blink of an eye, the treetops and rooftops were packed with people. Tens of thousands had gathered to watch.
Danzō Shimura was a Konoha advisor elder. His status was almost equal to that of the Hokage.
No one expected that in just a few seconds, his head would be chopped off right on the street.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed through the crowd, his face pale as he looked at his old friend and political rival lying decapitated on the ground. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Uchiha Sanpō, do you know what you've done?"
Uchiha Sanpō said disdainfully: "I wield the blade of justice and killed someone who deserved to die!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at Uchiha Sanpō and roared: "Even if Danzō was guilty, he should have been put on trial… Moreover, he was a Konoha advisor elder. Even if the death penalty was to be carried out, it should have been done with dignity. How dare you use private punishment!"
Uchiha Sanpō placed the gouged-out Three Tomoe Sharingan into a nutrient jar, then collected Danzō's severed arm that had been transplanted with Hashirama cells.
Only then did he turn to face Hiruzen Sarutobi, his eyes full of contempt.
"Everyone, look. This is the true face of our Hokage. He thinks these people are above everyone else and even need a dignified death. They never imagined that in the Root base, thousands of children were placed on operating tables, cut open, and forced to watch their own organs being dug out with eyes full of despair and helplessness… But when it comes to these higher-ups, they demand a trial and dignity… Tell me, did I kill him correctly?!"
"Kill… kill… kill! These scum deserve to die!"
The shouts grew louder and louder. At this moment, the Konoha villagers around them seemed to have turned into a mob!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face grew uglier and uglier.
He looked around and saw Uchiha Hiashi, Senju Akaki, and others standing behind Uchiha Sanpō. He understood that the situation was beyond saving.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's pale face, Uchiha Sanpō arrogantly walked over and spat a thick glob of phlegm at his feet.
"Hahaha… You think you're worthy of calling yourself the strongest Hokage? Trash… garbage. If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one! Considering your age of 55, I won't hit you too hard to kill you! Come on… fight me one-on-one!"
At this moment, Uchiha Sanpō was extremely arrogant. He stood opposite Hiruzen Sarutobi, constantly provoking him, practically grinding the Third Hokage's face into the mud.
Dozens of Hiruzen Sarutobi's die-hard supporters wanted to rush over and teach Uchiha Sanpō a lesson, but they were blocked by the surrounding Police Force members.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned from green to white, but he instead calmed down. He snorted coldly: "We're leaving!"
As soon as he spoke, more than a dozen Anbu members and Hiruzen Sarutobi disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
At that moment, a brilliant signal flare rose into the sky above the Forest of Death… The Uchiha clan emblem bloomed in the sky.
Uchiha Sanpō looked up, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He knew the Root base had been completely taken over.
He turned to the surrounding villagers and announced loudly: "Fellow Konoha citizens, are you willing to follow me to the Root base to see the hidden dark truth?"
The crowd responded with even more enthusiastic cheers and began moving.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood inside the Hokage Building office, feeling a wave of powerlessness wash over him.
He understood that Konoha's power structure was about to undergo a earth-shaking change.
"Damn it, what should I do… Someone… quickly call Advisors Koharu and Homura to the Hokage office…"
Deep within the Forest of Death, at the entrance of the Root base, the crowd surged forward like a tidal wave.
Uchiha Sanpō's voice, amplified by chakra, spread throughout the area: "Everyone, please prepare yourselves mentally. You are about to see the darkest truth of Konoha Village hidden under Hiruzen Sarutobi's protection."
Looking at the wide-open base entrance, the Konoha villagers hesitated for a moment before gradually walking inside.
The interior of the base was brightly lit, and the walls still bore traces of the recent battle.
Every few steps, one could see subdued Root ninjas bound by special sealing techniques.
"What… what is this?" A woman's voice trembled slightly.
The crowd pressed forward, then burst into terrified screams.
Inside the spacious laboratory, dozens of two-meter-tall transparent cultivation tanks were neatly arranged. Inside each tank floated the body of a 5-to-7-year-old child.
"Oh my god! That's… that's Ryōta who went missing two years ago!" A middle-aged woman suddenly rushed toward one of the tanks.
Her trembling fingers pressed against the cold glass, tears pouring from her eyes: "At that time, he was only 5 years old! Anbu said he was taken by enemy ninjas…"
"This one is… a child from our Senju clan who went missing!" A Senju clan ninja recognized the figure in another cultivation tank.
Detailed experiment records were hung all over the laboratory walls.
They coldly documented how organs were extracted from these living subjects and how Hashirama cell rejection reactions were tested.
A Senju clan elder punched the wall. Under the burst of chakra, the solid stone wall instantly cracked.
"Beasts! They actually used our children for such experiments!"
Anger spread through the crowd like a plague. Some began to cry, some stood frozen in place, and even more eyes burned with flames of hatred.
Uchiha Sanpō raised his voice: "Everyone, please stay calm! This is only the first level. There's more below…"
Before he could finish speaking, a furious roar erupted from the crowd: "Shimura clan bastards! They all deserve to die!"
Like a fuse being lit, the crowd instantly boiled over.
The villagers no longer continued the tour. Instead, they turned and rushed outward.
They shouted slogans of revenge, their eyes filled with tears and fury.
On Konoha's commercial street, the furious crowd surged like a tidal wave toward the various shops operated by the Shimura clan.
"Smash it!" A father who had lost his son picked up a roadside stone and smashed it hard against the display window of "Shimura Medicinal Shop."
The sound of shattering glass acted as a signal. Dozens of people swarmed forward.
Shelves were toppled, precious medicinal herbs were trampled, and counters were torn into pieces.
The owner of the neighboring Shimura Weapon Shop hurriedly tried to close the door, but it was too late.
"What are you doing? This is private property!" A Shimura clan ninja tried to stop them but was immediately surrounded by the angry crowd.
Fists rained down like hailstones. He was beaten to death on the spot.
Tens of thousands of villagers gathered outside the Shimura clan grounds. People kept throwing Molotov cocktails.
The exquisite Japanese-style buildings quickly caught fire, with black smoke rising straight into the sky.
Inside the mansion, the Shimura clan members panicked as they packed their valuables and fled through secret passages.
A Shimura clan elder kept cursing nonstop: "These ungrateful lowly commoners… Lord Danzō did so much for Konoha…"
Before he could finish, a kunai shot out from the shadows and accurately pierced his throat.
The old man's eyes widened as he fell. Until his death, he never understood who had done it…
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