Uchiha Akaishi Tour

Chapter Ninety-One Burial

Upon hearing the news from the front lines, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief—he had been waiting for news from the Root ninjas at the front!

Of course, this news is certainly a relief for most people.

After all, not everyone in the Roots was held captive in the village; many members were outside, even on the front lines. If they learned of what was happening inside the village, especially if they learned of it earlier than others…

If they fear being purged and defect, or even secretly carry out sabotage, it will cause immeasurable damage to Konoha!

Therefore...

Upon learning the truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi's first action was to have Danzo Shimura issue an order to the front lines, requiring all Root ninja to unconditionally lay down their ninja tools and undergo investigation!

At the time, Danzo Shimura also told him that he had already given the order, but he didn't know if they would obey it. After all, Danzo was about to fall from power, so who could be sure that the Root members would still obey orders and surrender?

Danzo can be confirmed...

Danzo was already very confident in his control and brainwashing abilities, especially after Yakushi Nonou betrayed him, he intensified his sealing control!

Therefore, Danzo was actually quite confident, but he deliberately feigned weakness and said he couldn't be sure. On one hand, he didn't want Hiruzen to be wary of his control over Root, and on the other hand... he wanted Hiruzen to attribute this to "Root's loyalty to Konoha transcending personal honor and disgrace," rather than simply loyalty to Danzo.

just now……

He has clearly achieved his goal!

"The Jonin Aburame died charging into battle?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked rhetorically.

"That's right... Aburame Ryuuma, a ninja, charged alone towards the Shattered Sand Camp three hours ago, causing some casualties among the Iwa ninjas... before being killed by several Jonin from Iwa." The ANBU ninja reported.

The Shattered Sand Camp had already been captured, but there was little point in holding it, so Konoha withdrew after causing some damage.

Although the Iwa ninja were still in the Shattered Sand Camp, they were unable to rebuild the defensive seal, which gave Aburame Ryoma the opportunity to "charge".

"Alas! Why did Ryoma Aburame do this..." Hiruzen Sarutobi said with regret.

"it serves him right!"

Someone rudely interrupted.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi instinctively glared at Kensuke Uchiha...

It turned out that it really wasn't Uchiha Kensuke who said it.

Let's examine it more closely...

It was Shiko Aburame.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: ...

The conflict between Aburame Ryoma and the Aburame family had been brewing for a long time, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was certainly aware of it.

and……

While there is indeed no clear evidence against other Root members, Ryoma Aburame, as the second-in-command of Root, directly carried out or organized many things—after all, Danzo usually stayed in Konoha!

It's not an exaggeration to say that Ryoma Aburame "deserved his punishment," and it's not surprising that Aburame Shiko said it; in fact, it makes it seem irrefutable.

Even Hinata Sanesuke, who had been arguing earlier, nodded in agreement—it was righteous for the Aburame clan chief to criticize the branch family members who betrayed the clan!

Hiruzen Sarutobi, on the other hand, was somewhat embarrassed. If it had been Kensuke Uchiha who said it, he could have retorted a bit, since Ryoma Aburame had "died charging into battle." But he couldn't say anything about Shiko Aburame.

He even vaguely sensed Aburame Shiko's displeasure, realizing that he had deliberately interrupted him...

Aburame Shiko has always been an honest man, which is why he has always been "bullied" by the Root. However... even honest men have their moments of anger.

Previously, Danzo Shimura was powerful, and with Ryoma Aburame instigating things, it was one thing for Root to bully me...

Now that Shimura Danzo and Aburame Ryoma have already done such things, why do you still want to side with them?

After subtly sensing Aburame Shiko's emotions, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not mention Aburame Ryoma again, but instead said, "For Root members who voluntarily accept the investigation, we must fairly verify whether they participated in illegal experiments. We must not let go of anyone who betrays the Will of Fire, but we must also not let those who trust Konoha be disheartened."

That makes sense, but...

"Lord Hokage, our Security Department will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly!" Kensei immediately said.

This matter could indeed be considered the responsibility of the security department, but...

Judging from the situation at the Root headquarters, the Uchiha clan's "strict investigation" is actually "kill all those who should be killed"!

"Let the Anbu handle this matter," Hiruzen Sarutobi said decisively.

"The illegal things done by Root are not limited to just the Wood Release experiment. We also found other information at Root headquarters..." Kensuke said matter-of-factly.

Upon hearing him bring this up, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face visibly darkened—what kind of organization is Root? Theoretically, it's a secret organization that reports directly to the Hokage, and Danzo was appointed by the Hokage to be in charge!

You just carelessly confiscated all the confidential information from the root?

Even now, Hiruzen Sarutobi is still worried that there might be something he shouldn't have seen that the Uchiha clan has taken away—although Orochimaru, after learning about it, had the clan head summarize the information he had obtained to the Third Hokage, but... who knows if Kensuke has kept anything for himself?

"We will verify everything!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said firmly.

"Hmm, it's good that the Anbu is doing the verification, after all... Root is originally a subordinate department of the Anbu." Orochimaru said in a cold and hoarse tone.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a dark face, "Of course, the Security Department's assistance is also necessary."

Otherwise, it would sound like Orochimaru is "investigating himself."

Upon hearing this, Jiancheng's lips curled into a smile, but Orochimaru interrupted, saying, "No, if assistance is needed, I think the vetting of such classified departments should be institutionalized, with the Jonin Council appointing inspectors. This would also prevent a repeat of the Root situation!"

Upon hearing that this son-in-law was actually giving away the power he had acquired, Jian Cheng glared at him, while Elder Yang Yong was already about to speak up...

However, Canglan interrupted, "I second that!"

"That's right, we can't have these unregulated organizations anymore!"

"Secrets are still secrets in intelligence; we can't keep every action secret..."

"An organization that is not overseen by the Jonin Council cannot represent Konoha!"

……

Unbeknownst to them, more and more Jonin were joining the group.

On one hand, this incident itself "frightened" the Konoha ninjas; on the other hand... Root's reputation was already bad to begin with!

In the six years since the establishment of Root, its popularity has been catching up with that of the Uchiha clan, which has been established forty years ago.

Moreover, as Orochimaru said, Root and the Security Department are different. At least the Security Department only "acts recklessly" and has no secrets. But everything about Root is opaque to Jonin.

If we're being really serious, this actually goes against the original intention of the "Jonin Conference" system. Even the Anbu are only directly under the Hokage and don't have that much secrecy, nor do they have the authority to be separated from the Jonin squad leaders.

Although the Anbu is directly under the Hokage in terms of departmental missions, the Jonin in the Anbu do not always operate as Anbu members. When not on Anbu missions, they are still managed by the Jonin squad leader. The Root, on the other hand, has a completely different system.

Sarutobi was speechless for a moment, seemingly having understood something. Then, after a sigh, he said, "Orochimaru... what the class president said makes sense. Regarding how the Jonin Conference should supervise the special departments... Orochimaru, you should draft a set of regulations later."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up upon hearing this—the old man was indeed starting to back down!

At this moment, Jian Cheng only noticed that the other ninja clans, especially the ones from the Forest Town, seemed quite supportive, and that the Root had indeed been weakened, so he didn't say anything more.

However, those who were truly perceptive present had already realized the real intention behind this move.

This is no longer a fundamental problem...

Instead, there will never be any secret organizations in the village that are outside the supervision of the "Jonin Council" again!

Six years ago, the thorn that Hiruzen Sarutobi forcibly planted in the "Jonin Conference" system has been completely removed.

"Actually, I've thought about this before..." Orochimaru said quietly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: ...

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at him angrily—"You were thinking about this all along? You're not going to act anymore, are you?"

"The main problem is also the drawback of the Hokage's assistant system... As an informal position, the power boundaries of 'assistant' are too vague. We need to establish an Elder Council that is checked and balanced by the Jonin Council. The Elder Council will then be responsible for the current 'assistant' duties to assist the Hokage and also to supervise these special departments," Orochimaru said calmly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: ...

The position of assistant to the Hokage was indeed only an informal one, and it didn't actually exist during the time of the First and Second Hokage.

However, it is precisely because it is informal that the Hokage can appoint officials freely, much like assigning a secretary to oneself...

However, in terms of power, one by one, the "Hokage's assistants" are almost becoming "Hokage's deputies"!

Orochimaru's proposal seemed to strengthen the role of "Hokage's assistant" and make him a formal "elder," but the biggest change was that "elders" had to be selected from the "Jonin Council" and could no longer be appointed arbitrarily.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, the various ninja clans became even more "supporting" of his statement.

"The Council of Elders... Orochimaru, you've gone off on a tangent. You haven't said what your opinion is on Danzo Shimura's matter yet." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his good student again, his tone becoming deep.

"Actually, it's not that far off. I was just suggesting how to prevent the emergence of another Shimura Danzo. As for the current Shimura Danzo, he was also a victim of the previous unreasonable system..." Orochimaru started to drift further back in time.

Hiruzen Sarutobi realized that he shouldn't expect to hear about the punishment of Shimura Danzo directly from his good student!

However, Orochimaru has been indirectly expressing his attitude all along—seemingly not intending to do anything to Shimura Danzo, but he has never given up, binding Shimura Danzo to various abstract things, sometimes Konoha's reputation, sometimes the Hokage's credibility... and now he is binding him to some of the Hokage's power.

Now Hiruzen Sarutobi understood...

This good student was clearly saying that he could let Shimura Danzo go, but... it couldn't just be letting Shimura Danzo go; there had to be something for Shimura Danzo to "bury with him"!