Chapter 325: How Could We Possibly Allow This?!

Konoha Hospital — Special Care Ward

"This jōnin meeting was personally presided over by the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato..."

"Before the jōnin meeting officially began, Namikaze Minato presented two appointment decrees, formally appointing Uchiha Ren and Hyūga Hiashi as elders of Konoha."

At this point, Mito Kadō Jirō of Konoha's Logistics Department glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose expression had already darkened, hesitating over whether he should continue.

Not long ago, Homura Mitokado and Tsunemaki Koharu had regained consciousness one after another. After briefly conferring with them, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided that their most urgent priority was to understand the current situation in Konoha.

Unfortunately, all three of them were currently unable to move freely. Tsunemaki Koharu was even still receiving oxygen.

So Hiruzen had asked Asuma Sarutobi to summon Mito Kadō Jirō and have him report the situation to them in person.

Afterward, Hiruzen sent the dissatisfied Asuma away, and the four of them began a closed-door meeting.

"Are you certain that Namikaze Minato was the one who actively pushed for Uchiha Ren and Hyūga Hiashi to become Konoha elders? It wasn't something Uchiha Ren and Hyūga Hiashi proposed themselves?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with a grim expression.

"Well..." Mito Kadō Jirō hesitated for a moment. After carefully recalling the proceedings of today's meeting, he said, "It was indeed Minato who brought it up himself. Everyone present was quite surprised at the time. However, we examined the two appointment decrees, and there was nothing wrong with the procedures or signatures."

"Enough. Continue."

The two appointment decrees had come directly from Minato himself, so naturally there was nothing wrong with them.

Hiruzen waved his hand, his expression shifting unpredictably as he told Mito Kadō Jirō to continue.

"After the jōnin meeting began, Uchiha Ren first announced Shimura Danzō's Ten Crimes. Everyone present was furious at the time."

"Ten Crimes?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes became deep and unreadable, as though he were contemplating something.

Mito Kadō Jirō hesitated before cautiously saying, "Some of the charges against Shimura Danzō also involved you..."

"Oh? They involved me as well?"

A sharp glint flashed through Hiruzen's eyes.

"What did they say about me?"

"Nothing particularly serious," Mito Kadō Jirō said carefully. "Uchiha Ren was mainly targeting Shimura Danzō. He went relatively easy on you."

"For example, one of Danzō's charges was persecuting his fellow shinobi. Uchiha Ren used the incident involving Hatake Sakumo as an example, saying that Shimura Danzō had orchestrated the plot against Hatake Sakumo and that you had tacitly approved Danzō's actions at the time."

"However, they directed most of their accusations at Shimura Danzō and did not implicate you too deeply."

A trace of coldness flashed deep within Hiruzen's eyes, but his voice remained completely calm.

"I understand. Continue."

"Yes."

Mito Kadō Jirō nodded.

"Then Uchiha Ren brought up the assassination attempt against you ordered by Shimura Danzō and used that incident to challenge the ANBU."

"Minato went even further and directly abolished the existing ANBU structure, appointing Uchiha Ren as its commander while transferring elite shinobi from the Konoha Military Police Force and the Hyūga clan into the ANBU!"

Bang!

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm against the bedside table, leaving a clear handprint in the steel.

"Absurd!"

Homura Mitokado, who was lying nearby, was equally furious.

"What is wrong with Minato?! Appointing Uchiha Ren and Hyūga Hiashi as Konoha elders was one thing. We had agreed to that after all. But how could he possibly hand over such an important organization as the ANBU to the Uchiha?!"

"How could we possibly allow this?!"

"Does Namikaze Minato not understand the problem with the Uchiha clan?!"

"Second Hokage Tobirama merely allowed the Uchiha to control a little organization like the Konoha Military Police Force, and their noses were already pointing toward the heavens! If we let them control the ANBU, won't they turn the entire village upside down?!"

Homura Mitokado was so agitated that even the bandages around his recently reattached arm began to seep with blood.

"Enough, Homura. Calm down. Your injuries haven't healed yet."

Hiruzen, who had been furious himself, managed to calm down upon seeing Homura's condition and advised him to stop.

After a pause, Hiruzen looked toward Mito Kadō Jirō.

"Continue. What else did they do?"

Mito Kadō Jirō nodded.

"Aside from the ANBU, Minato and Uchiha Ren also proposed reforming the Konoha Military Police Force, so that it would no longer be the private domain of the Uchiha clan."

"Because everyone was still wary after the previous incident involving the Uchiha's control over legislative authority, most people supported the proposal."

"Heh. That's interesting."

Hiruzen's interest was piqued.

"Those self-serving Uchiha are actually willing to relinquish power voluntarily?"

"Exactly how did they reform it?"

Mito Kadō Jirō immediately gave a detailed explanation of Uchiha Ren's reform plan.

He concluded, "Although the Uchiha's reform plan didn't merely involve the Konoha Military Police Force, but also the Intelligence Team, Barrier Team, Analysis Team, and several other departments..."

"The Uchiha gave up enough benefits that most people would have something to gain, so nobody objected."

"We felt that something was wrong, but since you three weren't present, we couldn't identify the specific problem. And with the general trend already moving in that direction, we chose not to speak up."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression became dark and unreadable. He waved his hand.

"Continue. What else was discussed at today's jōnin meeting?"

Mito Kadō Jirō continued:

"Then there was the matter of compensation and support allowances. Minato used the issue to turn his attention toward the Finance Department, but Finance Director Tsunemaki Masao's response was airtight, so he managed to get through it. In the end, Uchiha Ren agreed to use the relief funds allocated by the Daimyō's court."

"There was also the matter of peace negotiations with the other villages. Minato had Mission Commander Shikaku Nara send people over first to sound out their positions, while Minato himself could afford to take a somewhat stronger stance."

"Then there was the deployment of the border defenses. Minato basically followed the village's existing operational contingency plans."

"Finally, just before the meeting ended, Uchiha Ren brought up the Orphan Support Program and the Konoha Orphanage. He proposed merging the two institutions."

"That isn't really a major issue. Everyone examined Uchiha Ren's merger proposal and found no obvious flaws, so they agreed."

After a pause, Mito Kadō Jirō carefully recalled the proceedings before continuing.

"That's essentially everything discussed at today's jōnin meeting. The entire village is already mobilizing and preparing for the reforms."

"All right. In that case, you should go back and get some rest."

Hiruzen waved his hand, signaling that the report was over.

"Yes!"

Mito Kadō Jirō stood and acknowledged him. He then bowed to Homura Mitokado and to the silent Tsunemaki Koharu before leaving the ward, closing the door behind him.

Once Mito Kadō Jirō's footsteps had faded away, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped pretending to remain composed.

His expression turned sinister.

"What do you two think?"

Hiruzen looked toward Homura Mitokado and Tsunemaki Koharu on the other two hospital beds.

Tsunemaki Koharu slowly shook her head.

She had countless things she wanted to say, but at the moment she could not utter a single word. It was deeply frustrating.

Hiruzen noticed and immediately said, "All right, Koharu. You don't need to speak for now. Just listen."

Homura Mitokado, however, spoke directly.

"Hiruzen, something isn't right. There seems to be something wrong with Namikaze Minato!"

It wasn't that Homura had only just realized it.

It was simply that Minato's image as a warm, sunshine-like young man and political innocent had become so deeply ingrained in their minds that Homura still found it difficult to believe that he had misjudged him.

"There's no need to doubt it anymore. We really did misjudge him."

Hiruzen spoke heavily.

"We spent our entire lives hunting hawks, only to be pecked in the eye by one. Namikaze Minato must have been on the same side as the Uchiha from the very beginning."

"We were careless this time."

Homura Mitokado frowned.

"How is that possible? Minato and Uchiha Ren barely interacted with each other. How could their relationship possibly be this close?"

Hiruzen also frowned slightly.

"That's precisely what confuses me."

"I investigated Minato's background before. Although Minato and Uchiha Ren were classmates, Ren was a withdrawn person like most other Uchiha during their time at the Ninja Academy. He barely had any friends and had little interaction with Minato."

"During the early stages of the Third Shinobi World War, when Minato was just beginning to rise to prominence, the two of them did interact several times. But even then, they weren't particularly close. Compared with Minato's relationships with others, their association was insignificant."

"In fact, according to the records, Minato's relationship with Uchiha Fugaku was actually better than his relationship with Uchiha Ren!"

"I simply cannot understand how Uchiha Ren and Namikaze Minato ended up working together!"

Hiruzen's trust in Minato had not been established in a day or two.

When he had decided to cultivate Minato as his successor, Hiruzen had naturally conducted a thorough background investigation.

At the time, the investigation had revealed no problems whatsoever with Minato.

And in their subsequent interactions, Hiruzen had been extremely satisfied with Minato's performance.

But now, looking back, Minato had been too clean.

Especially compared with Orochimaru, who had been smeared with all kinds of accusations by Shimura Danzō, Minato was simply too spotless.

And someone who was too clean was often much harder to control.

Hiruzen's expression turned cold.

"Now that I think about it, the breakdown in our relationship with Danzō also seems abnormal."

"You and I both know what kind of person Danzō is, and Danzō knows exactly what kind of people you and I are. Although we occasionally had ideological disagreements, we were always in agreement on the larger issues."

Homura Mitokado belatedly nodded.

"That's right. I remember it was when we went together with Danzō to confront Uchiha Ren over the issue of funding from the Daimyō's court. Danzō suddenly stabbed us in the back, completely catching me off guard."

"At the time, I was blinded by anger. Looking back now, it really was far too sudden."

"You'd expect someone to manipulate me, perhaps, but how could someone as shrewd as Danzō have been manipulated as well?"

Hiruzen was now extraordinarily calm.

"Everyone has something they cannot let go of. For Danzō, that thing was the position of Hokage."

"I know Danzō has always wanted to become Hokage. He wasn't dissatisfied with me personally. He simply believed that he was equally qualified for the position."

"Especially after he lost his chance to become Hokage because of a single moment of hesitation."

Hiruzen understood Shimura Danzō perhaps better than anyone.

Back when the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had tested everyone, Danzō had been struggling intensely with his own thoughts while watching the reactions of the others.

Hiruzen had naturally been doing the same thing, observing Danzō's movements while wrestling with his own decision.

In truth, Hiruzen himself had not yet made up his mind at the time.

But the moment he saw Danzō move, Hiruzen acted without hesitation and stepped forward first.

Perhaps because he had been competing with Danzō for so many years, Hiruzen had always instinctively wanted to get one step ahead of him.

And so Hiruzen became Hokage.

Hiruzen continued:

"Uchiha Ren's judgment is frighteningly sharp. He knew that Minato had my support and that his becoming the Fourth Hokage was practically guaranteed."

"If Ren had become too close to Minato, however, it would have aroused my suspicions. So he deliberately maintained his distance from Minato."

"With me openly supporting Minato, while the Uchiha and Hyūga secretly supported him, there was no longer any question of Minato becoming Hokage."

"Under those circumstances, the Uchiha came up with another idea."

"First, they had Minato deliberately fall out with the major clans of the village, allowing Danzō to see a chance to become Hokage."

"Then they played both sides, negotiating for benefits from both me and Danzō. They even pretended to support Danzō, pushing him completely into madness!"

"What a scheme."

"That Uchiha actually used even me as a pawn!"

The more Hiruzen spoke, the clearer his reasoning became. He had almost reconstructed the entire sequence of events.

Homura Mitokado hesitated.

"The three of us are one thing. We were largely in a passive position, and we didn't have much contact with that Uchiha, so it isn't strange that we couldn't see that Ren was the one orchestrating everything."

"But if the Uchiha really reached an agreement with Danzō, even if it was only a false alliance, they would still have needed to earn Danzō's basic trust first."

"Couldn't Danzō see that there was something wrong with the Uchiha?"

Hiruzen shook his head.

"At the beginning, Danzō was blinded by hope. It was perfectly normal that he failed to see through it."

"Afterward, Danzō may have developed some suspicions. But once he had started moving against the current, there was no turning back. He could only stake everything on one final gamble."

"After all, he had already broken with us. What else could he do except make one last attempt?"

Homura Mitokado sighed.

"After decades of friendship, regardless of right or wrong, we had long since become inseparably bound together. How could decades of ties simply be severed overnight?"

"To be honest, even now, I don't really resent him."

"If anything, I'm simply angry that he failed to live up to what he could have been."

"Unfortunately, it's too late to say any of this now."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flickered at those words.

"Too late?"

"Perhaps..."

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