"At that time, the consequences of this matter for Konoha would be more detrimental than beneficial."
Under Li Anshi's gaze, Shikaku Nara still finished his words.
Instantly, the Jonin from the other ninja clans voiced their agreement.
"Indeed, Lord Hokage."
"Squad Leader Danzo Shimura was only in a hurry to test the three boys to confirm if they could protect the secret of the flying dagger. The fault does not lie with him."
Since Shikaku had spoken, the head of the Yamanaka clan, as an ally of the Nara, immediately voiced his support.
The head of the Akimichi clan was Torifu Akimichi.
However, in the battle with the Stone Village, Torifu, as the heavy hitter of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, had engaged in fierce combat with the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki. His injuries were not light, and he did not attend this Jonin meeting.
But the ninjas of the Akimichi clan also spoke up, echoing the sentiments of Shikaku and the Yamanaka clan head.
With the tone set by the three clans, the ninjas from the other clans also voiced their support for Shikaku Nara's proposal.
"Hmph!"
The Jonin of the Uchiha clan snorted coldly but did not state their own attitude.
However, they did not refute Shikaku Nara either.
With the battle against the Sand Village, the Uchiha had won back the trust of the villagers.
Even the ninjas from the other clans, due to the heavy casualties suffered by the Uchiha, no longer viewed them as a "rebellious clan."
Therefore, although the Uchiha Jonin were dissatisfied with the other clans' judgment of Danzo Shimura, they would not openly oppose them and waste the status that the sacrifices of most of their clan members had earned.
But this was their limit.
To have the Uchiha Jonin echo the sentiments of the other clans was impossible.
What a joke.
Danzo Shimura's actions were clearly a planned and premeditated attempt to seize a secret technique.
He had merely used the excuse of "protecting a secret technique," something Li Anshi, a commoner Jonin, was unfamiliar with.
Although Sakumo Hatake was also a commoner ninja, before becoming one, the Hatake clan was a renowned samurai family during the samurai era.
Like ninjas, samurai families also had ways of protecting their sword techniques, so this excuse would have been useless against him.
Li Anshi was just an ordinary villager of Konoha.
His secret art was merely something he had created based on the throwing of ninja tools.
Therefore, he had no experience in "protecting a secret technique" and had directly passed it on to his three subordinates.
"Lord Hokage."
Seeing that these ninjas had thus decided Danzo's crime, Li Anshi knew that for such a transgression, he would not receive a severe punishment.
He might not even be confined, perhaps just a few words of reprimand would be enough to quell the matter of his "mistake."
So, at this moment, Li Anshi spoke up.
"I have already said before, whatever punishment you decide for Danzo Shimura has nothing to do with me."
"However, on my end, I will not change my will."
"For the sake of being fellow villagers, I will not actively go and assassinate Danzo Shimura."
"But, as long as he and his subordinates dare to appear within a hundred meters of me, I will immediately strike, on the grounds that they are attempting to seize my secret technique, and eliminate them."
After speaking, Li Anshi ignored the ugly expressions on the faces of the ninjas present and left the meeting room directly.
"Hmph, that guy is really ill-mannered."
Seeing Li Anshi leave just like that, a Jonin from one of the clans couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
As a ninja clan with a legacy of hundreds of years, they had their pride.
A commoner in his teens, relying on a single secret technique, had risen above them.
They still recognized Li Anshi's talent for being able to create such a technique.
But decades of training, hundreds of years of inheritance, being suppressed by a teenage commoner ninja like this, made their clan's pride a joke.
Even so, he only dared to mutter a few complaints after Li Anshi had left.
Hadn't he seen that almost all of Konoha's Jonin had taken a stance to protect Danzo? In such a situation, even the First and Second Hokage, for the sake of Konoha, would have considered the attitude of the many ninja clans.
But what about Li Anshi?
He had twice emphasized that as long as Danzo appeared within a hundred meters of him, he would strike.
The second time, he had even included Danzo's subordinates.
Such an attitude was the height of arrogance, a complete disregard for their ninja clans.
And yet, everyone present was helpless against his attitude.
Li Anshi was just a commoner ninja, with no faction to restrain him. The ninja clans were powerless against him.
They couldn't match his strength, and other forms of pressure had no effect on him.
Previously, Sagawa and his friends might have been a weakness.
But now, they had been incorporated into the Anbu as candidate ninjas by Lord Hokage, making them his direct subordinates.
If they made a move on the three boys, it wouldn't be making things difficult for Li Anshi, but opposing Lord Hokage.
It could be said that they truly had no deterrent against him.
It was already good enough that he wasn't causing them trouble.
If they were to offend him in some other way, and he decided to give them the same hundred-meter treatment, who could withstand it?
Therefore, when the other Jonin heard this Jonin's words, they couldn't help but look at him with a "you're so brave" expression.
Under their gazes, the Jonin's face turned pale, and he regretted his hasty words.
He knew that many of the Jonin present were as dissatisfied with Li Anshi as he was.
But he was the only one who dared to say it out loud.
Sakumo Hatake shook his head, but in the end, he did not leave the meeting room as Li Anshi had.
He still firmly believed that when he reached a high position, by setting an example, he could surely practice his "Will of Fire."
…
After leaving the meeting room, Li Anshi returned directly to his shop.
From the attitude of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Jonin from the village's ninja clans, he already knew that this time, Danzo Shimura would not receive a severe punishment.
However, he didn't care about that.
As he had said, how the village dealt with Danzo and how he dealt with Danzo were two separate matters.