I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 112 I, Danzo, will not take the blame for this.

"Heh, Third Hokage, it seems you've made up your mind."

A hoarse, wicked laugh echoed through the dark forest. At that moment, Orochimaru, who was seriously injured in the waist, looked at the four of them, his body gradually turning into dust.

Mud clone!

When?! The four were shocked. They had to admit that Orochimaru's skill in ninjutsu was so great that he probably used the smoke to create a mud clone the moment he was seriously injured by the explosive tags.

"How could this be! How could it have turned out like this!" At this moment, Uchiha Shisui stared in disbelief at Orochimaru, who was fleeing heavily injured. In his mind, the village's hero had escaped in such a sorry state. This moment completely overturned his understanding.

The Third Hokage and Orochimaru have turned against each other! And he even wants to kill Lord Orochimaru!

Shisui's mind replayed all of this, while Kakashi, pale-faced and shocked, stared at it all, just like White Fang! Was this referring to his father?!

Might Guy, an ordinary ninja, witnessed all of this firsthand. Although he didn't know the specific reasons, he also learned some information because of Kakashi, and he was equally shocked.

Swoosh~

One by one, the figures of the Anbu flashed in, and crisp footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel. The Third Hokage, clad in armor, slowly emerged from the darkness.

"The Anbu are pursuing Orochimaru!"

The Third Hokage's hoarse voice echoed through the dark forest, shocking everyone. Even the newly arrived Anbu members looked on in disbelief, considering Orochimaru was a hero of Konoha, second only to the Hokage.

Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, the Third Hokage roared, "Issue my Hokage order! The Anbu are to pursue Orochimaru!"

"No! I don't believe it!"

Uchiha Shisui stared at all in shock, filled with disbelief. However, seeing the furious Hokage, the Anbu members could only instinctively obey orders.

Uchiha Yoru's expression changed drastically at that moment, while the Third Hokage, clearly in a foul mood, glanced coldly at the four of them and shouted, "I hereby order the Anbu to pursue Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin!"

Whizzing!

The Third Hokage and the Anbu members vanished, but at that moment, Uchiha Yoru's expression changed drastically, turning deathly pale. "No! There's still a chance!"

At this moment, Uchiha Yoru seemed to have grasped at his last straw. He turned to Shisui, Might Guy, and Kakashi, and roared, "Quick! You three go to the prison! Protect those children! At the same time, order all members of the Seventh Division of the Police Department to drop everything and assemble at the prison!"

"As long as these children are safe, there's still a chance! In my capacity as the captain of the Seventh Squad, I order everyone in the Seventh Squad to defend the prison at all costs! These children absolutely cannot be harmed!"

The three of them snapped out of their daze at that moment. Kakashi, being the quickest to react, immediately shouted to the others, "Quick! Guy, go to the Seventh Division and relay the order: everyone abandon your current missions and assemble at the prison!"

At this moment, Uchiha Shisui seemed to have grasped at the last straw. In his panic, he seemed to have no sense of direction. Upon hearing Kakashi's words, he nodded frantically and said, "Yes, yes, hurry, let's go protect the children in the prison. This is our last chance."

At this moment, the darkness of Konoha had filled him with utter despair. If even the village hero Orochimaru could treat them this way, what about those children? If the news leaked out, someone would probably take action against them too.

……

Suddenly, the cry of an eagle echoed over Konoha. At that moment, the ninjas in the village, whether at home, in the training ground, or preparing to go on a mission, all looked up and saw the black eagle circling overhead. Their faces changed drastically with fear.

What a big deal!

Such a grand spectacle reminded them that the last time was the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Countless people were filled with terror, as if they were reliving that night, after all, it hadn't been that long ago.

Under the bright sunlight, the houses in Konoha Village were covered with shimmering black dots, all of which were ninjas running at high speed.

At the same time, the signal issued by the village caused all the Konoha ninjas to quickly enter a state of high alert, and all the ninjas quickly went to their respective posts.

"Pursue Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin!"

This was an order directly issued by the Anbu (Anbu). At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was just about to rush back, saw this and his eyes widened in fury as he roared, "Who gave this lowly servant the audacity?!"

If the order he just gave was for the Anbu to hunt down Orochimaru, it was all done in secret, and at least it wouldn't be known to the public, meaning there was still a chance for Orochimaru's situation to turn around.

But now! The news has been spread throughout the entire village, and the Third Hokage is furious. Someone is trying to drive Orochimaru to the brink of destruction.

The Sarutobi clan.

"Sarutobi Hijiki, your forces are quite entangled with Orochimaru's. You should know your own surname."

Back in her clan, the Third Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law did not calm down at all; instead, she coldly stared at the Jonin in her clan.

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Higetsu gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Yes! I know what to do!"

Meanwhile, inside the room sat many of the older generation of the Sarutobi clan, each with an ambitious look in their eyes.

"Go ahead and do it with confidence."

"Now that we've already made our move, we can't hold back. If Orochimaru isn't completely defeated and instead takes that position, you should know that the Sarutobi clan will face full-scale attacks from the future Hokage."

"That's right! The Sarutobi clan has completely offended Orochimaru. To put it bluntly, even if someone else were to become Hokage, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to take the position."

"I have already spread the word that Orochimaru is using ninjas from his own village for human experiments. This time, Orochimaru will be severely injured, if not killed."

One by one, the leaders or elders of the Sarutobi clan spoke of the current situation. They had no choice; when their ambitions grew to want another Hokage to emerge from the Sarutobi clan, they had already embarked on a path of no return.

Furthermore, their direct disobedience in spreading the message, coupled with the fact that the suspended Third Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law had issued a message to all the ninjas in the village in her capacity as the head of the Anbu, left them with no way back.

Turn back? If Orochimaru takes over, will he let them go? Even if he does, the Sarutobi clan will definitely be targeted.

So they could only grit their teeth and move forward. And this time it was clear that Orochimaru had been nailed to the pillar of shame. Once he was nailed to the pillar, there would be no chance of him ever coming back.

The Hokage's office.

"Danzo! How could this happen? How did this escalate to this point?"

Koharu Utatane was furious when she saw the commotion that had suddenly broken out in the village. She pushed open the office door and saw Danzo, who had just entered, and immediately began to berate him.

Meanwhile, in his office, Shimura Danzo was facing questioning from Mitokado Homura, and then another one came along. He was just as frustrated as he was.

"I! I was just following plan. This wasn't done by the root of the problem!"

"If it's not your roots, then who else could it be? The entire Hidden Leaf Village has gone mad! Look outside the village!"

Looking out the window, all that could be seen in Konoha Village were black fleas everywhere—no, they were swarms of ninjas leaping wildly across the rooftops, it was utter chaos.

"Me!" Shimura Danzo stammered, equally shocked as he stared out the window. "Impossible! Who is it?!"

"Damn it! Didn't we agree to keep the news under wraps and only leak a tiny bit? Look at this, the whole village knows now! Do you really want to drive Orochimaru to his death? Do you really want Orochimaru to follow in White Fang's footsteps?"

Koharu Utatane was furious this time and retorted without holding back. Danzo Shimura looked at his two old friends, one angry and the other dissatisfied. He was stunned, but then he seemed to realize something.

"No! No! This is the 'Sound Hawk' of the Anbu, the 'Sound Hawk' of the Anbu! It's not my territory. No matter how arrogant I am, Anbu Sarutobi would never let me interfere."

Danzo seemed to have grasped something, and suddenly got excited and retorted angrily. Good heavens, he wanted to make him take the blame again. Wishful thinking.

"Fine! Third Hokage Sarutobi, you're ruthless. I thought I was ruthless enough, but you're ruthless than anyone else. You're trying to force Orochimaru to his death!"

At that moment, Danzo seemed to realize something and immediately became furious. He had driven Orochimaru to this point. Wasn't this Sarutobi's way of completely kicking Orochimaru out and letting his son take over?

Upon hearing this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were taken aback. However, when they saw the hawk circling above Konoha outside the window, they looked at each other with extremely grim expressions.

"Sarutobi went too far this time!"

The two cursed inwardly, thinking that Hiruzen Sarutobi had truly lost his composure this time. Hadn't he forgotten the lesson from Sakumo Hatake? That was enough; this time, he had completely slipped out of control.

However, just then the door was suddenly pushed open, and the Third Hokage appeared, looking furious. Shimura Danzo immediately got excited, his face full of resentment, and was about to scold the Third Hokage when the other party unexpectedly accused him first.

"Danzo! I am the Hokage! Who told you to do this?!"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi stormed into the office, he roared furiously the moment he saw Danzo Shimura, and the Third Hokage's roar echoed throughout the entire Hokage's office building.

At this moment, Shimura Danzo seemed to be stunned. He had never seen Sarutobi so angry before, and his murderous gaze was terrifying, making him forget to refute for a moment.

"Danzo! I just warned you! You've been suspended from your post, and you've gone too far this time! Have you forgotten White Fang? Are you really determined to wreak havoc on Konoha before you give up?"

Wearing armor, Hiruzen Sarutobi charged forward in a furious rage, grabbing Danzo by the collar and spitting as he did so, his spittle landing on Danzo's face.

Danzo was stunned for a moment, but when he came to his senses, his face turned red, and his single eye was filled with ferocious blood vessels. The anger in his chest exploded.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi! You old monkey, this time I'm not taking the blame!"

Danzo Shimura was incredibly aggrieved this time. "Damn it, don't you know what I did? I was the one who had Root report to you, and you were the one who agreed. Now I'm being made to take the blame. How can this be fair? All the bad things are my fault?"

"Danzo! I told you to restrain yourselves! Restrain yourselves! Don't repeat the mistakes of the past, and that's exactly what you did!"

The Third Hokage, his eyes blazing with fury, roared as he grabbed Shimura Danzo by the collar. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who were standing nearby, rushed forward to break up the fight.

Although it had been many years since they had seen such a scene, and it even brought back a sense of nostalgia for the two of them, they knew it was not the right time and hurriedly pulled the enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi away.

At this moment, Shimura Danzo looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen's murderous eyes and said resentfully, "Fine! Fine, Sarutobi, you've done all the good work, you're enjoying the sunshine of Konoha while I'm just a root rotting in the ground, huh! But you still have to bully me like this."

"Danzo, how dare you say that!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared angrily at Danzo, while Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado quickly pulled the Third Hokage back, shouting at Danzo, "What time is it? You two should shut up and start thinking about how to fix this!"

The Anbu outside the door had almost completely sealed off the Hokage's office, and even set up a soundproof barrier.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was persuaded to calm down in the office, he was still furious. Danzo had never suffered such humiliation in all his years; it was incredibly frustrating.

"Sarutobi! These are all our own people, why are you pretending to be so high and mighty? Didn't I send you the report on dealing with Orochimaru? You agreed to it yourself, and now that something's happened, you're blaming me?"

At this moment, Danzo was furious and pointed at Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu with aggrieved expression, "They were involved too, and they know everything. Why don't you talk about them? You're pointing your finger at me as soon as you walk in. Root may be the darkness of the village, but it's not something you can treat like this."

"And another thing! What does this big fuss have to do with us?" At this point, Danzo Shimura became even angrier. He was furious too. Orochimaru was a Kage-level shinobi of the village. Shinobi of this level were intimidating beings, like tailed beasts. Who would be stupid enough to force him to defect?

"It's your Sarutobi clan! Your Sarutobi clan wanted a hereditary system, wanted to make the village's Hokage your own, and now you're telling me you resent my Root clan? Without your tacit approval, would Root dare to do that?"

"Without your tacit approval, could your Sarutobi clan be so arrogant? Now your Sarutobi clan has blown things up beyond control, and what's this? It's become my problem now?"

Danzo Shimura had never felt so exhilarated, venting his anger with unbridled rage. Hiruzen Sarutobi, upon hearing this, was even more enraged, demanding, "When did you ever send me a report?"

Good heavens! Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's clueless expression, Danzo Shimura turned green with rage, his nose twisted, and he glared with one big eye, almost dying of anger.

"Alright! You, Hiruzen Sarutobi, are truly the leaves under the sun, while I am the rotten root. If it weren't for Mitokado Homura, Koharu Utatane, and your daughter-in-law being there last time, I would have been unable to clear my name even if I jumped into the ocean."

(End of this chapter)