"Hmph, who knows if they are just actors you hired!" Danzo still wanted to struggle.
"You!" The patriarchs of those two clans immediately glared furiously at Danzo.
"I am the disciple of the Second Hokage. It is not enough to convict me based on these fabricated things!"
Danzo glared at Minato.
At that moment, he also looked toward the Third Hokage, hoping he would speak up for him, but he found that the latter had already closed his eyes, filling Danzō's heart with intense hatred.
"Enough." The Third Hokage looked even more aged now; he opened his eyes.
Based on his understanding of Danzo, it was possible that Danzō had truly committed these acts.
He looked at Danzo with his aged eyes and then asked, "Danzō, the position of Hokage—"
"Was it truly that important to you?"
Upon hearing this, Danzo immediately understood that the Third Hokage had ultimately chosen to believe Minato's investigation.
He immediately became enraged and said, "Enough! Don't be so hypocritical. It was only because I hesitated for a moment back then that you became the Hokage. If I hadn't hesitated then, the Third Hokage should have been me!"
The Third Hokage closed his eyes in pain upon hearing this.
"When exactly did you become like this? Was I too lenient with you before?" The Third Hokage murmured to himself, his tone filled with self-reproach.
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado also sighed at this moment and began comforting the Third Hokage.
The surrounding Jonin, including Fugaku, dared not speak now. These were secrets they had never known.
Furthermore, now that the situation had reached this stage, they clearly understood that Danzo might truly be facing ruin.
His current performance was nothing more than a death throe.
Seeing this, Danzo became even more furious. That was supposed to be his Hokage position. If it weren't for this guy giving the Hokage position to Minato, would he have been reduced to this state today?
All the fault belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato too, so why hadn't he died during the Nine-Tails Attack!
"Minato, can you spare Danzō's life?" The Third Hokage spoke again at this moment. He still couldn't bear to see his old comrade reach such a dead end; at the very least, he wanted to preserve his life.
Minato immediately fell silent. He hadn't expected that even at this point, the Third Hokage still wanted to protect Danzo.
Fortunately, the Third Hokage was no longer insisting on preserving Danzo's position, which met Minato's basic objective.
Just then, an Anbu entered the conference room. Based on the person's white hair, Minato recognized him as his disciple, Kakashi.
At this time, Takuno had sent Kakashi back—
Minato's eyes lit up.
"If there's anything, you can say it directly." Minato instructed.
Kakashi spoke, "Hokage-sama, the Root members are rebelling. They received your written order but refused to comply with the command and are now fiercely resisting. The Deputy Commander is currently leading other members to suppress the resistance, and he sent me to inform Hokage-sama."
The Third Hokage was startled and couldn't help but look at Minato, only then realizing that this meeting Minato had called was actually to announce a decision already made, not to hold a discussion.
"Minato! How dare you send people to investigate my organization!" Danzo's eyes widened at this moment.
"That is a Konoha organization, and as the Hokage of Konoha, I have the right to investigate it. Now, I should ask you: why are your members refusing to obey the Hokage's orders?" Minato countered.
Danzo was somewhat speechless. At this moment, he didn't know whether he should be thankful for his organization members' loyalty or curse them for their foolishness.
Since he couldn't defend himself on that point, he could only argue from a different angle.
"Even so, as the Hokage, you shouldn't send people to kill comrades!"
"Lord Danzō is mistaken. The members of Root made no contribution to Konoha during the Nine-Tails Attack, and now they only obey Lord Danzō's commands, completely ignoring Hokage-sama's orders. Are they still Konoha ninja? Or are they merely Lord Danzō's private soldiers?"
Fugaku said with a smile at this moment. This was the first time he had called him "Lord Danzō," yet it sounded undeniably mocking.
"Do you have anything else you want to say now?" Minato looked at Danzo, his eyes cold.
Danzo's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Minato's icy gaze, then at the Third Hokage's closed eyes, and finally at the evasive looks of the two Advisors.
In addition, he could feel all the Jonin present staring at him with mocking eyes.
When had he ever fallen to such a state?
Had he done anything wrong?
No, he had absolutely done nothing wrong. The fault lay with the Second Hokage for not giving the position of Hokage to him, and the fault lay with the Third Hokage for handing the position to Minato after stepping down!
He was not wrong! Konoha was wrong!
Immediately, a terrifying surge of Chakra erupted violently from Danzo's body.
On the other side.
After Danzo headed to the Hokage conference room, Takuno led dozens of Anbu into the Root base.
"Who are you?!"
The Root ninja saw the arriving Anbu and immediately demanded loudly.
"We are the Anbu sent by the Hokage to investigate Root." Takuno said, instructing the Anbu next to him to hand over the Hokage's written order to the ninja leading the Root members.
After receiving the written order, the man hesitated for a moment and said, "We need to consult with Lord Danzō before making a decision."
"Oh? Then why do you think we came right after Danzo left?" Takuno asked, looking at the man with interest.
Immediately, that Root member widened his eyes, seemingly realizing the implication.
"So, are you still going to obstruct us?" Takuno suddenly demanded.
The Root member stood frozen there. At this moment, the other Root members had also gathered, standing behind him.
He didn't know how to decide now. If he let them pass, Lord Danzō would surely punish him severely for his incompetence when he returned. If he didn't let them pass, he would be disobeying the Hokage's orders.
"Obstructing us is equivalent to disobeying the Hokage's orders, and only rogue ninja disobey the Hokage's orders. You better think carefully before making a decision!" Takuno said again.
Immediately, all the Root members began to hesitate.
However, just as they were hesitating, a shuriken was suddenly thrown from an unknown direction, aimed straight at Takuno!
"Watch out, Deputy Commander!" Kakashi, who was nearby, noticed the shuriken, pulled out his Kunai, and blocked it.
"It seems you have made your choice. Everyone, begin eliminating the rogue ninja!" Takuno snorted coldly and gave the direct order.
The Anbu members did not hesitate. They were also enraged that the enemy dared to directly attack their Deputy Commander; this showed a complete disregard for them!
Thus, upon receiving Takuno's order, they charged forward without hesitation.
"No, wait, we didn't—"
The Root ninja wanted to curse the person who attacked. To strike without his command—did they want to kill them all?
But at this point, nothing they said mattered. Facing the charging Anbu, they had no choice but to fight; if they didn't fight, they would die!
Just as Kakashi was about to charge forward, Takuno grabbed him.
"Deputy Commander?" Kakashi looked at Takuno with confusion.
"Go and inform Hokage-sama that the Root ninja rebelled by ignoring the Hokage's orders and attacking the Anbu. This might be useful to Hokage-sama." Takuno said.
After hearing this, Kakashi also realized that this information would be useful to Minato. Although he was young, he could understand that the current situation was truly massive.
His teacher definitely intended to do something, so he didn't hesitate and immediately agreed.
Takuno watched Kakashi's retreating figure and chuckled. Without his Sharingan, things would be much easier to handle.
However, he certainly couldn't make a move himself.
Takuno looked at the battle before him. Every member of Root was a carefully selected ninja, but so were the Anbu, especially since several Anbu Squad Leaders were present.
Their combat strength was certainly no less than Jonin level.
And in the direction the shuriken was thrown from, stood a shadowy figure—it was Takuno's Shadow Clone.
If the Root ninja had been given a choice, they might really have accepted the Hokage's order.
However, he couldn't allow them to accept!
At this moment, he formed hand signs, used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into an inconspicuous Anbu member fighting on the other side, and charged into the fray.
His target was the youngest Root member, who, although forced to fight after the battle began, still seemed to be in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
Yamato, no, it should be Kinoe now, was indeed very confused at this moment.
He didn't understand why the others were fighting them when they were all Konoha ninja, or why he had suddenly become a Konoha rogue ninja.
Furthermore, he remembered that all the Root ninja remaining here seemed to be gathered in this area, so why was a shuriken shot out from the corner?
All of this left him very puzzled.
But no one would give him a chance to explain, and he could only slowly resist all of this.
Suddenly, a voice reached his ear, making his eyes instantly widen.
"My apologies."
After that, he wanted to use his full power, to use his Wood Release, but at that moment, he could no longer feel his Chakra, let alone use Chakra to activate Wood Release.
Why—why was this happening?
Before falling, Kinoe saw the Anbu behind him, and the two tomoe Sharingan beneath the mask.
After completing this, Takuno's Shadow Clone nodded toward the Anbu nearby, and that Anbu nodded back and went to another battlefield to continue assisting.
At this time, the Shadow Clone quietly used a prepared substitute to switch places with Yamato. Afterward, the clone also found a direction to continue assisting, and then found an opportunity to be hit by a Root ninja, dispelling the Shadow Clone.
Takuno's main body watched this scene, a slight smile curving his lips.
Just like that, Yamato—no, Wood Release—was acquired.
Given his Chakra reserves, the power of Wood Release would certainly not be weak. If he later added the enhancement of Hashirama cells and Yang Release, his strength would rise once again!