Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened. "Damn it!"
"Danzo, what have you been doing all these years?" He turned his head, glaring at his longtime associate, and demanded.
Suppressing his contempt, Danzo spat in a low voice, "Sarutobi Hiruzen, you are a fool."
Sarutobi's desire to strangle him grew even stronger in an instant. His patience had long worn thin as he shouted sharply, "What are you still standing there for?"
"I shouldn't have appointed you back then!" The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. In the end, this was also a failure of the Anbu system. "But it's too late to say anything now!"
Scolded like this by Sarutobi, Danzo felt nothing but despair, on the verge of tears.
"When things were being done, you were endlessly lenient with me. Now that the truth has come to light, you want to push all the blame onto me?" His tone was full of bitterness, and he urgently cried out, "What's the use of saying this now? Hurry and think of a way to escape!"
Danzo had long seen through it. Every time a conspiracy was exposed, Sarutobi Hiruzen would always shift the blame onto him. At this point, explanations were useless—he would have to bear this blame. But the most urgent matter now was to find a way out.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked around with a grim expression, only to find that none of the ninja clans that had once relied on him had appeared, not even the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio. Seeing the Anbu surrounding them, far outnumbering their own forces, he was momentarily at a loss.
Relying on the two clans to force their way through was simply unrealistic; their strength was far inferior to that of the Anbu elites. The current Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer possessed the peak strength of his prime, and the overall combat power of the two clans was far less formidable than imagined.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Sarutobi Clan alone could muster three thousand ninjas, but such a scene was nowhere to be seen now.
"Aoki! You traitor!" Sarutobi Hiruzen glared with wide eyes, roaring, "Are you really going to drive me to the brink?"
"I am the Third Hokage!"
Cornered and desperate, he could only direct all his accusations at Aoki.
Aoki looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was like a cornered animal, raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and slowly lifted his hand. The mockery in his tone was almost overflowing. "You're overthinking it, Lord Third."
"Listen carefully—this is the will of the people. The situation now only proves one thing: you are utterly unfit to sit in the Hokage's seat!"
Before his words faded, rapid footsteps echoed from the streets, and waves of shouts soared into the sky.
"Overthrow the hypocritical Third Hokage! Execute Danzo Shimura!"
The villagers, enraged by the ironclad evidence displayed on the Light Screen, gathered one after another. The chants echoed incessantly in the ears of Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others. The Third Hokage's once-kindly image had completely crumbled, leaving behind only the infamy of colluding with villains.
As Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to the surrounding shouts, Danzo's expression grew even darker. Why was Sarutobi merely being denounced while he was to be executed? Did all the blame have to fall on him?
Sarutobi Hiruzen sensed Danzo's resentment and quickly patted his shoulder, his eyes filled with urgency. He was panicking now; he absolutely could not let Danzo turn against him at this critical moment. Fortunately, Danzo also understood that this was not the time for grievances. Despite his unwillingness, he had no choice but to join forces with Sarutobi to overcome this crisis.
"Danzo, now!" Danzo urgently shouted, "The only way now is to kill Aoki, reclaim the Hokage position, and pin all the blame on him! By then, all the major clans will only listen to the Hokage!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the increasingly clear chants, his heart in turmoil, his face contorted. But when his gaze fell upon the Hokage's Ceremonial Robe worn by Aoki, his obsession instantly overwhelmed all hesitation.
"Danzo, move!" he commanded gravely. "Once this is done, I will appoint you as the Fifth Hokage!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately issued a death order to the Sarutobi Clan. Upon hearing this, Danzo's eyes flashed with wild joy, and he immediately raised his voice in a sharp cry: "Members of the Shimura Clan, follow me! The Fourth Hokage has betrayed his trust and plotted against the former Hokage. It is our duty to uphold justice and eliminate him!"
Amidst the overwhelming chants, the two clans, originally the masterminds, suddenly transformed into so-called righteous warriors. The clan ninjas, seemingly united in hatred, charged fiercely toward the surrounding Anbu.
But this so-called righteousness was nothing more than a self-deceiving illusion.
Aoki watched coldly, not uttering a word, merely raising his hand in a wave. The Anbu, standing ready, immediately sprang into action. The Sarutobi and Shimura Clans, far from possessing the strength they would later achieve, were no match for the elite Anbu.
The Anbu ninjas launched a fierce assault, instantly suppressing the two clans. One water-release ninja immediately unleashed the devastating Water Dragon Bullet Technique, while another team jointly released Lightning Release, their attacks swift and merciless.
The two clans' ninjas were utterly defenseless. The battle quickly became one-sided, with cries of agony and screams rising one after another. The members scattered and fled, their formation completely broken.
Watching their clansmen being slaughtered like vegetables, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo grew frantic with anxiety. But Minato Namikaze and Sakumo Hatake had long since set their sights on the two, watching them intently from the side, leaving them no chance to escape.
Aoki looked at their panicked and helpless state, his tone filled with mockery and amusement. "Danzo, what do you plan to do next?"