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Qianyu confronted Danzō in front of everyone, going straight for the throat. He demanded Hiruzen Sarutobi strip Danzō of his Hokage Advisor position and disband the Root organization, right there and then.
Hiruzen refused outright. "Impossible. Danzō was merely raising a reasonable question. Moreover, I am perfectly aware of what he and Root were doing during the Nine-Tails' rampage. I approved it myself."
Qianyu was a powder keg ready to blow. He was in the mood to tear into anyone who rubbed him the wrong way. Respect? He wasn't giving any today.
In present-day Konoha, Qianyu bowed to no one—not in strength, and not in reputation. Not even to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
And Hiruzen? He was just the former Hokage. Sure, he still pulled strings from the shadows, but the official authority belonged to Minato Namikaze. To the average shinobi or villager who didn't know the inside story, Hiruzen was just a retired old man puttering around.
The establishment of the Leaf Village Defense Force had plastered Qianyu's face all over the village. Thanks to him, the villagers had stopped cowering before the Uchiha. When Qianyu stepped down as Captain and Nara Shinsuke took over, many villagers had been furious. They wanted Qianyu to stay.
After being pushed around by the Uchiha for so long, they'd finally been able to hold their heads high. And then the man who made that happen was just… replaced?
Under Nara Shinsuke, the difference was night and day. He was far too soft on the Uchiha, they felt. Back when Qianyu was in charge, if an Uchiha even dared to talk back, the Defense Force would haul them away without a second word. For a while, the Uchiha would turn tail and run at the first sign of an argument, terrified a squad would materialize out of nowhere to arrest them.
Now, with Shinsuke, a dispute merely ended with a verbal warning for both parties.
Even Qianyu's disciple, Kakashi, had done a better job when he briefly took the reins. People were starting to miss Qianyu.
As for strength? That went without saying. In Konoha, Qianyu had no equals. In the entire shinobi world, few could stand against him.
He had the power to flip the table now. Biting your tongue was for when you were weak. Why should he hold back when he was strong?
So Qianyu turned his fire on Hiruzen. "Oh, did you now? Then by all means, Third Hokage, enlighten us. What exactly were Danzō and Root doing? Because right now, it looks an awful lot like you're covering for him."
Hiruzen's and Danzō's faces soured instantly, like they'd bitten into something rotten. What were they doing? Monitoring every move of the entire Uchiha clan, of course.
But how could they possibly say that out loud, here, in front of all these people?
During the Nine-Tails' attack, the village's largest clan was tasked with guarding civilians—a task not ordered by the Fourth Hokage, Minato, but by the retired Third. That wasn't procedure. It reeked.
Qianyu was making it crystal clear: he was going to bury Danzō on this point today.
Danzō had targeted him. Hiruzen had backed Danzō, demanding an explanation. Now Qianyu was seizing that same point, and with Orochimaru adding his voice, Hiruzen couldn't just shield Danzō.
Qianyu tapped the table with a finger. "And another thing… the Third Hokage is retired. To my knowledge, he holds no official position. So I must ask: under what authority did he approve a Root operation?"
"How dare you!" Koharu Utatane snapped. "And what authority do you have to question Hiruzen? You're just an ordinary shinobi of Konoha! You have no right to make such a scene here!"
Qianyu's gaze shifted to her. "What authority? The authority of a hero who performed distinguished service during the Nine-Tails' attack. I held off two powerful invaders single-handedly. When the Fourth and his wife could no longer restrain the Nine-Tails for the seal, I was the one who controlled the beast and assisted in its sealing!"
His voice grew sharper, cutting through the room. "Danzō and Root were nowhere to be seen during that crisis. I now suspect Danzō of colluding with the enemy—of leaking the information about Miyuki Uzumaki's labor and helping them breach Konoha's barriers. Is that not a valid question?
"The Third Hokage says he approved their actions. So I ask what they were doing, and I question the legitimacy of his approval. Is that not valid?
"Advisor Utatane asks me by what right I question. Are you, by chance, questioning the merits and contributions I made during the Nine-Tails' attack?"
He leaned forward, his tone dripping with cold fury. "The Fourth is barely out of commission, and Danzō is already questioning me, the hero. But when I question him in return, suddenly that's not allowed? The Third blatantly covers for him, and I'm supposed to just accept his judgment? And now you, an Advisor, jump in to question my status?"
Qianyu shot to his feet. The air in the conference room turned to ice. The crimson pinwheels of his Mangekyō Sharingan spun to life, and an overwhelming pressure radiated from him, washing over every person present.
He swept his gaze across Hiruzen, Danzō, Koharu, and Homura Mitokado. "Is this it, then? Are you all banding together to target me? Do you feel I threaten your grip on Konoha, so you're using Danzō as your spearhead to come at me?"
The clan heads around the table were stunned. What was happening? Was Qianyu… directly confronting the village elders? This was insane!
Hiruzen, Danzō, Koharu, and Homura looked utterly mortified. They hadn't expected Qianyu to come at them with such ferocity, such blunt force.
Especially Danzō. He'd just wanted to needle Qianyu, put him in his place. But now, Qianyu's counterattack had left him backed into a corner. Did this lunatic not care about having a future in Konoha at all?
Hiruzen was also completely trapped. This meeting was supposed to be a simple selection of the Fifth Hokage candidate. If no suitable candidate emerged, he would temporarily resume the Hokage's duties.
He hadn't anticipated Danzō's direct accusation. He could guess Danzō's motive: to curb Qianyu's rising influence and block his path to the Hokage seat. Hiruzen had played along, first because Qianyu's actions were somewhat suspicious, but also to take Qianyu down a peg.
With Minato comatose, Qianyu was, on paper, the most suitable successor.
But the Hokage's seat? Hiruzen would never let it fall into Qianyu's hands.
There were too many reasons. His temperament. His ties to the Uchiha—Konoha needed the clan, but with Qianyu in power, they might react unpredictably. And above all, Qianyu's domineering nature meant he would never tolerate others meddling in how Konoha was run.
That was something Hiruzen could never accept. So he had backed Danzō, demanding an explanation.
But the situation had spiraled far, far beyond anything he had imagined.
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