Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank.

There was something wrong with Kakashi's eyes.

He had seen that vacant stare far too many times; it appeared most often on the faces of ninjas who had lost their comrades on the battlefield.

If Kakashi broke down now, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Kakashi!" Hiruzen raised his voice, laced with urgency.

"Don't listen to his nonsense! There is a misunderstanding here!"

The shout jolted Hatake Kakashi awake. His body shuddered, and his unfocused pupils regained a fraction of clarity. He looked up at Hiruzen, his single exposed eye filled with bewilderment.

"What misunderstanding?" he asked, almost as if questioning himself.

Hiruzen opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat.

*What misunderstanding?*

What could he say? That Hatake Sakumo's death had nothing to do with Danzo?

But he knew better than anyone that what Uchiha Taiga said was true.

Danzo had indeed spread rumors behind the scenes, manipulated public opinion, and systematically driven Sakumo to a dead end.

And he, as the Hokage, had done nothing to stop it. To some extent, he had even tacitly approved of it.

His original intention had been to use Sakumo as an example to warn other ninjas, to make them understand the absolute importance of the mission.

That was the calculation of a Hokage.

But what did such calculations amount to when weighed against Sakumo's death, or the agony of Kakashi losing his father?

Hiruzen's lips moved, but ultimately, no words came out.

Taiga sneered, the sound exceptionally grating in the night wind.

"Third Hokage, you preach so many grand ideals all day long that you have to maintain your facade of righteousness. There are some things you can't do yourself, so you can only turn a blind eye and let that old dog Shimura Danzo do them for you."

His tone dripped with mockery. "You truly are comrades with a deep bond. I have to admire such flawless cooperation."

Taiga's gaze swept across everyone present, from the ANBU to the Hyuga Branch House ninjas, from Hiruzen to Kakashi.

"One in the light, one in the dark. You've collaborated for decades, targeting this person, targeting that person, turning Konoha into a foul, toxic mess. Hatake Sakumo died, the Fourth Hokage and his wife died, and now it's my turn?"

Many in the area instinctively turned their eyes toward Hiruzen.

Those gazes held doubt and unease; the sheer amount of information in Taiga's words was simply too massive to ignore.

They didn't want to believe that Hiruzen was such a deeply scheming man. In their hearts, the Third Hokage had always been a just and fair elder who would sacrifice everything for the village.

But Taiga's accusations were too specific—too detailed to be mere fabrications.

Furthermore, Hiruzen's silence just moments ago was an answer in itself.

Hiruzen felt their stares.

A chill ran down his spine.

*This is bad.*

*I can't let Uchiha Taiga say another word.*

*If he keeps talking, it won't just be Danzo's reputation ruined—my own authority as Hokage will be shaken.*

*After today, regardless of the outcome, all sorts of rumors will spread throughout the village.*

*I cannot allow that to happen.*

"Take him down!" Hiruzen's voice suddenly spiked, carrying unquestionable authority.

"We absolutely cannot let him cause any more chaos! All ninjas, hear my command: attack with full force!"

Orders were orders.

Even if the ANBU and Hyuga Branch House ninjas felt their resolve wavering, they could only suppress their distracting thoughts and lunge at Taiga once more.

Some wove hand signs, some drew their swords, some flanked from the sides, and others dove from above.

This time, Taiga did not hold back.

His figure transformed into a streak of lightning under the moonlight, meeting the three leading ANBU head-on.

The three ninjato slashed down simultaneously, their blades carving three silver arcs through the night sky.

Taiga's body spun between the blades. The three swords brushed past him, failing to touch even the hem of his clothes.

His hands shot out; his left hand clamped around one man's throat, while his right hand pierced another's chest.

The Chakra Scalpel condensed into invisible blades at his fingertips, severing a throat and piercing a heart in one fluid, seamless motion.

The third man tried to retreat, but Taiga's foot had already slammed into his knee. The sound of shattering bone was exceptionally clear in the night air.

The man screamed as his body pitched forward. Taiga's palm smoothly struck the back of his head, the force penetrating the skull and pulverizing his brain.

The three corpses hit the ground almost simultaneously.

He didn't stop. His figure moved rapidly through the crowd, claiming a life every time he reappeared.

Before the ninjas' attacks could land on him, he had already vacated the spot. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, secret arts—nothing could touch him.

His voice echoed from all corners of the battlefield, shifting left and right, front and back, as if sounding from all directions at once.

"Third Hokage, now that it's come to this, do you regret it?"

An ANBU launched a sneak attack from behind, thrusting a kunai toward his lower back.

Without even turning his head, Taiga reached back, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted it. The sound of snapping bone was accompanied by a scream.

He hurled the man away, crashing him into another ANBU who was weaving hand signs, sending them both tumbling into a tangled heap.

"First, it was Hatake Sakumo."

He appeared in front of three Hyuga Branch House ninjas. The three simultaneously unleashed the Eight Trigrams Palms, sending six streams of palm force striking from different directions.

His body wove through the palm strikes as if he had no bones, slipping past their defenses from an impossible angle.

Both hands shot out, plunging two fingers into the eye sockets of two men simultaneously. He kicked the third man in the chin, shattering his jawbone and sending him flying backward to crash into a ruined pillar, where he slumped down limply.

"Then, the Fourth Hokage and his wife."

Those words exploded like a bomb amidst the crowd.

Hiruzen's pupils violently contracted.

"And finally, it comes down to me."

Taiga's figure appeared on a rooftop, his foot resting on the corpse of an ANBU, the kunai in his hand still dripping with blood.

He looked down at Hiruzen from his vantage point, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"Out of all these events, which one wasn't tied to Shimura Danzo?"

Hiruzen's expression drastically changed, and he instinctively cried out in shock.

"What? Minato and his wife's deaths were also related to Danzo?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had made a colossal mistake.

Sakumo's death was tied to Danzo, and Taiga's situation was tied to Danzo.

He had intended to deny it, but hearing the Fourth Hokage and his wife mentioned had genuinely caught him off guard.

Minato.

That was his disciple's disciple, the man upon whose head he had personally placed the Hokage hat.

That young man whose smile was as warm as the sun, the hero who had sacrificed himself and his wife to protect the village.

If Minato's death was also connected to Danzo...

Hiruzen's mind descended into utter chaos.

Many ninjas on the battlefield subconsciously paused their movements.

They had heard Hiruzen's words. They had heard the word "also."

Some looked at Hiruzen in disbelief, some slowed their ninjutsu by half a beat, and others showed obvious signs of wavering on their faces.

*What did Lord Third mean just now?*

*Was Hatake Sakumo's incident really related to Danzo?*

*Is Uchiha Taiga's situation also related to Danzo?*

*Then the Fourth Hokage and his wife...*

They didn't dare think any further.

Hiruzen snapped back to reality, cursing inwardly. He quickly bit his thumb and slammed his hands onto the ground, the summoning formula spreading across the earth.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Smoke erupted, and a tall figure stepped out from within the cloud.

It was a massive ape wearing a black shirt and a purple sash around its waist. Standing over two meters tall, it was covered in brown fur, its eyes burning with vigor.

Monkey King Enma.

"Hiruzen, why did you call me out?"

Enma's voice was deep and laced with a hint of dissatisfaction, but his expression changed when he saw the surrounding ruins, corpses, and blood-soaked ground.

"What is this..."

"Enma, transform!"

Hiruzen offered no explanation; his voice was filled with urgency.

Enma didn't ask any more questions. He crossed his arms in front of him, and his body morphed, compressed, and elongated in a puff of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, a black staff appeared in Hiruzen's hands.

The Adamantine Staff.

Hiruzen gripped the staff, channeling chakra frantically into it.

The Adamantine Staff suddenly lengthened and thickened, turning into a massive pillar as it thrust toward Taiga's position.

Standing on the roof, Taiga watched the colossal staff hurtling toward him.

He didn't dodge. Instead, he kicked off the roof, using the momentum to fly backward.

But the Adamantine Staff was faster. The tip chased after his body. He blocked it with his kunai, but the sheer force pushed him relentlessly backward.

Rooftops, walls, trees—everything in its path was smashed to pieces by the Adamantine Staff.

Taiga's body was launched hundreds of meters through the air, pushed all the way from the Hyuga compound to the outer walls of Konoha.

"Sealing Squad!"

Hiruzen's voice echoed through the air as he carried the Adamantine Staff, his figure giving chase toward the outskirts of the village.

"Restrain the Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Taiga!"

Several masked ANBU darted out from the ranks, carrying sealing scrolls on their backs, their hands already weaving signs.

They moved swiftly, closely following Hiruzen as they rushed out of the village.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from another direction in the village.

It wasn't just one person; it was a large group.

They were rushing over from the direction of the Uchiha compound at high speed. Leading them was a woman in a dark dress, her long hair fluttering in the night wind, her expression a mix of anxiety and unwavering resolve.

Uchiha Mikoto.

Behind her were dozens of Uchiha clan ninjas. Some wore the uniform of the Police Force, while others were in ordinary dark civilian clothes, but every single one of them had glowing red eyes.

Hearing Hiruzen's command, her expression shifted. She raised her voice sharply, shouting to stop them.

"Lord Third!"

Her voice echoed through the air.

"Taiga is not a Rogue Ninja!"

The Uchiha clansmen behind her halted in unison. Some drew their ninjato, while others reached into their ninja pouches. Everyone's gaze was locked onto Hiruzen.

An explosive tension filled the air, ready to ignite at any moment.