Seeing Danzō in this state, the Third Hokage knew that the man was determined to drag him down with him. He was furious.
'This guy...'
However, now was not the time to settle scores. If Danzō revealed everything they had done before he died, then it wouldn't just be Danzō who perished; the Third Hokage himself would be abandoned by the entire village.
Facing the Uchiha Clan then, losing the position of Hokage would be a minor concern. He could very well lose his life.
So, he made his decision.
He had to protect this guy at all costs.
He looked at Uchiha Ryōsuke.
"Leave Danzō to me to handle. If there are problems, I will certainly punish him and give your Uchiha Clan a satisfactory explanation," the Third Hokage said. "It is even possible that he will be expelled from the Leaf Village."
Since Danzō had already threatened him, and this concerned his own life and standing, he naturally wouldn't show any more mercy to his old friend later.
Uchiha Ryōsuke, however, sneered.
'Leave it to him to handle? How would these birds of a feather handle it?'
Back when Danzō tried to assassinate the Third Hokage, the Third Hokage was able to tolerate it. Now that it concerned the Uchiha Clan, and given the terrible relationship between the Uchiha and the Third Hokage, it was even less likely he would do anything meaningful.
"Third Hokage, there is no need for you to worry about this matter. It involves our Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai; this is already an internal clan affair," Ryōsuke declared. "If you dare to stand in my way, don't blame me for showing no mercy."
The Third Hokage's expression changed drastically.
'This guy... before he dared to move against Danzō, and now he even dares to shout at me? It's simply too much.'
Before he could open his mouth to rebuke him, Uchiha Ryōsuke clasped his hands together.
He molded his chakra and opened the first five gates of the Eight Inner Gates.
A powerful aura erupted from his body, gradually turning into blue-green steam.
Suddenly, invisible waves of air fluctuated around him, blowing away the surrounding dirt.
"Eight Inner Gates Technique."
With his attributes increased, he could feel that his strength while using the Eight Inner Gates had become even greater than before. The steam emitting from his body was shifting closer to a true blue.
After all, his base attributes had only increased slightly, but after the amplification of the Eight Inner Gates, that amounted to five times the attributes.
Facing a guy like Danzō, he wouldn't give him any chance to use a technique like Izanagi. That would simply be a waste of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan.
The reason he didn't use Susanoo anymore was that he felt a slight pain in his eyes. If he continued to use it, even with his oppressive ocular power, his vision would blur. The harm was too great.
So, he only activated the Mangekyō Sharingan but had no intention of using its ocular techniques.
Those standing on the Third Hokage's side felt that Ryōsuke was now like a blue beast.
'Is this the super-strong taijutsu, the Eight Inner Gates, that was displayed in the battle at the Cloud Village?'
Among them, some naturally knew that during the battle with the Mist Village, Might Duy had opened the Eight Inner Gates. A mere Genin had managed to sweep through the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, killing several of them.
And the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were undoubtedly Elite Jōnin level. In terms of strength, they were stronger than most of the people here.
This increase in strength was not as simple as tenfold.
The blue-green steam rising from Ryōsuke's body indicated that this guy had cultivated the Eight Inner Gates to an extremely high level.
He just hadn't opened the Eighth Gate yet.
The Eighth Gate produced red steam.
However, this was enough to shock them.
Uchiha Ryōsuke's own strength was undoubtedly already at the Elite Jōnin level—after all, he could activate the Mangekyō Sharingan. They hadn't expected the boost from the Eight Inner Gates to be so terrifying.
It shocked them even more than the Susanoo he had used earlier.
If the Susanoo just now was a giant monster, then he was now a concentrated beast of pure essence.
The Third Hokage was also startled.
Seeing the other party in this state, how could he not know that Ryōsuke was about to attack? He immediately spoke to everyone behind him.
"The Uchiha Clan is plotting a rebellion! Anbu ninjas, notify all ninjas in the village to prepare for battle!"
"Clan Heads present, please join me in protecting Danzō to prevent this clan from murdering him!"
The Clan Heads present were all shocked.
'Is this really going to turn into a large-scale conflict?'
At this moment, the Hyūga Head naturally was unwilling. He had witnessed the power of Ryōsuke's Eight Inner Gates and certainly couldn't obey the Third Hokage's words.
Moreover, the matter of the traitor earlier had left a very bad impression on their clan. Because the traitor might very well be Danzō.
The Uchiha Clan had just returned from winning a war, yet now the village was suppressing them, even causing the consequence of a civil war.
Hyūga Hiashi spoke up.
"Third Hokage, I cannot accept this order."
"Please ask Danzō to reveal his arm and let the Uchiha Clan inspect it. If there are no issues, I believe this dispute can be stopped."
The Third Hokage's expression changed drastically.
"Danzō has already said that this is a top secret of the Leaf Village and cannot be revealed to others. Does your Hyūga Clan refuse to listen to me, the Third Hokage? Or are you also conspiring with the Uchiha Clan to betray the village?"
Hyūga Hiashi felt anger in his heart. 'What kind of talk is this from the Third Hokage?' His face hardened.
"The Third Hokage speaks too harshly."
"Since Danzō refuses to prove his innocence, my Hyūga Clan will not participate in this internal strife."
He immediately took Hyūga Hizashi and left.
The remaining Clan Heads also had their own thoughts. Facing Uchiha Ryōsuke in this state...
They didn't want to, nor did they dare to, make an enemy of him. Even a powerhouse of the ninja world like the Third Raikage could be captured alive by him; what qualifications did they have to fight such a guy?
Even relying on numbers, the ninjas of the opposing Uchiha Clan were not to be trifled with.
They spoke up one after another.
"Please, Third Hokage, let Danzō prove himself to avoid war."
"That's right. If Danzō has no issues, then the Uchiha Clan is being excessive. If they still dare to attack then, we will definitely fight to the end."
More and more Clan Heads stood up.
Most of the Clan Heads were beating a retreat in their hearts.
After all, they still cherished their own lives.
Even the clans that were staunch supporters of the Third Hokage were the same.
Danzō had just demanded many geniuses from their families to join Root. This was a naked plunder of talent; how could they possibly put in a great effort to save Danzō?
The Third Hokage was even more furious seeing that these people refused to listen to him.
"Are you refusing to listen even to the words of the Third Hokage? The Uchiha Clan is rebelling!"
At this moment, Ryōsuke prepared to strike and issued a threat.
"If anyone dares to stand in front of my Uchiha Clan, bear the consequences yourself."