The Uchiha Clan's Sun

Nara Shikaku murmured, "No wonder Shimura Danzo received so few votes at the Hokage election ceremony. So the Uchiha and Hyuga clans have always been on the Third Hokage's side..."

"The Third Hokage's methods are truly impressive; even Shimura Danzo was kept in the dark!"

"Ahem," Minato Namikaze coughed twice more, drawing everyone's attention before speaking, "Now that everyone has verified the authenticity of this appointment letter, I won't say any more!"

"We now celebrate the Uchiha clan chief and the Hyuga clan chief becoming the new elders of Konoha!"

"Everyone applaud!"

As he spoke, Minato Namikaze was the first to clap his hands.

Then, the Uchiha and Hyuga clansmen all clapped enthusiastically.

Afterwards, everyone in the conference room joined in the applause with mixed feelings.

Uchiha Jin and Hyuga Hiashi also got up and sat on either side of Namikaze Minato, thus confirming their status as elders of Konoha!

Chapter 308 Danzo Shimura's Ten Deadly Sins!

After Uchiha Jin and Hyuga Hiashi were seated, the entire meeting room suddenly fell into an eerie silence, the atmosphere quite strange.

After all, the sight of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans sitting in the main seats of the conference room was rather incongruous; this was the first time in Konoha's history!

"Ahem," Minato Namikaze spoke up again, breaking the awkward silence, and said, "Alright, let's begin the first item on the agenda for this Jonin meeting: the fate of former Konoha elder Danzo Shimura!"

After a pause, Minato Namikaze looked at King Uchiha and said, "Next, Elder King Uchiha will explain the specific situation to us."

Everyone had anticipated the matter concerning Danzo Shimura and had already reached a preliminary consensus. Now, all that is needed is to list out Danzo Shimura's crimes one by one and then formulate a punishment.

So no one in the meeting room said much, and they all looked at Uchiha Jin, waiting for him to speak.

Uchiha Jin coughed lightly and said, "Fellow countrymen, thanks to the efforts of our Konoha Police Department over the past day and night, we have turned the Root base upside down and collected a lot of evidence of Shimura Danzo's crimes!"

"Now I will list all the crimes committed by Danzo Shimura. If you have any questions, please wait until I finish speaking before asking them. I will then provide a detailed explanation and evidence!"

After a pause, seeing that no one had any objections, Uchiha Jin continued, "Shimura Danzo's first crime was launching an armed coup, attacking the village elders and the previous Hokage, causing enormous damage to the village!"

"Shimura Danzo's second crime was his disregard for human life and his inhumanity in conducting unauthorized human experiments in the village!"

"Shimura Danzo's third crime was murder for money, human trafficking, using his power to oppress the various ninja clans in the village, and seizing their family secret techniques and talented young members!"

......

"Shimura Danzo's fourth crime was colluding with enemy villages and betraying their interests!"

"Shimura Danzo's fifth crime was murdering his fellow villagers in order to suppress dissent!"

"Shimura Danzo's sixth crime was causing the village to suffer by instigating war!"

"Shimura Danzo's seventh crime was to use his position to undermine world peace!"

......

As Uchiha Jin recounted his story, the expressions of everyone in the conference room changed.

The first three charges that Uchiha Jin leveled against Shimura Danzo were all relatively minor, as they already knew about them, so there were no major surprises.

However, the charges that King Uchiha brought against Danzo Shimura were more and more outrageous, even including the threat of disrupting world peace, leaving everyone dumbfounded!

After Uchiha Jin finished listing all of Shimura Danzo's crimes, Nara Shikaku said in a deep voice, "Uchiha... Elder, are you sure there is evidence to support all of what you've said?"

"You have to understand that all this evidence will eventually be made public. The first three charges alone are enough to ruin Shimura Danzo. So if the later charges don't have substantial evidence, you can just gloss over them!"

Nara Shikaku was worried that Uchiha Jin was trying to completely ruin Shimura Danzo by fabricating some evidence, so he kindly reminded Uchiha Jin that Shimura Danzo was already doomed and there was no need to do anything unnecessary!

Uchiha Jin naturally understood the meaning behind Nara Shikaku's words, and said calmly, "Class Monitor Nara, there's no need to worry. Our Konoha Police Department has always acted fairly, justly, and openly. All of Shimura Danzo's crimes are supported by evidence!"

After a pause, Uchiha Jin pulled out a few pages from a stack of documents he had prepared and handed them to Nara Shikaku, saying, "Just like the fourth charge against Shimura Danzo, our Konoha Police Department found many cooperation agreements between Shimura Danzo and the leaders of countries such as the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Hot Springs in the Root's archives."

"Shimura Danzo usually used the name of Konoha to offer numerous benefits to the leaders of these countries, in order to get these countries to do things for him!"

"Isn't this colluding with enemy villages and betraying the interests of the village?"

Nara Shikaku took the document and carefully opened it, his expression growing increasingly serious.

Uchiha Jin continued, "There are also several other charges against Shimura Danzo. Nara-sensei can take a closer look at these documents, which contain records of Root's missions in the Land of Rain some time ago."

"With the village and Iwagakure about to make peace, Danzo Shimura led Root ninjas to indiscriminately kill people in the Land of Rain under different identities such as Konoha ninjas, Iwagakure ninjas, and Amegakure ninjas, attempting to escalate the conflict between the three parties and reignite the war!"

"Furthermore, Danzo Shimura interfered in the internal affairs of the Land of Rain, instigating Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of the Land of Rain, to attack the newly emerging peace organization 'Akatsuki' within his country, resulting in the deaths and injuries of most of the Root ninja..."

"Wait, what did you say?!" Jiraiya suddenly caught a key word in Uchiha Jin's words and interrupted him, asking urgently, "You said Shimura Danzo and Hanzo of the Salamander attacked the Akatsuki?!"

Although it had been a long time since Jiraiya had visited the Land of Rain, he had been keeping an eye on Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan's actions and knew that they had created an organization called 'Akatsuki' to operate on the battlefield and advocate for peace.

There have been too many things happening in Konoha lately, and Jiraiya has just returned from the battlefield. He hasn't had time to find out about the news from the Land of Rain yet, and he still doesn't know that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan have just gone through a life-or-death ordeal!

Seeing Jiraiya's anxiety, Minato Namikaze smiled and reassured him, "Jiraiya-sensei, don't worry. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan are all alright, otherwise Danzo Shimura's Root organization wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses!"

Jiraiya breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, then looked at Uchiha Jin and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Uchiha Jin shrugged and said, "I don't know the specifics either, but according to the information in the Root archives, it was Shimura Danzo who led the Root ninjas around causing trouble. When they escalated the conflict, they happened to run into the Akatsuki organization, which was active at the time. They discovered the special eyes of the Akatsuki members and began to covet them!"

"However, when Shimura Danzo invited Hanzo of the Salamander to join him in plotting against the Akatsuki, he was betrayed by Hanzo, causing Root to suffer heavy losses!"

"According to subsequent investigation data, the Akatsuki organization has now officially taken over the Land of Rain, and several of the Akatsuki's leaders are being groomed as successors by Hanzo of the Salamander!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was completely relieved, as long as Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were alright.

Uchiha Jin ignored Jiraiya and looked at Nara Shikaku, saying, "Nara-class representative, you've seen the information. Do you still agree with the charges that my Konoha Police Department leveled against Shimura Danzo?"

Nara Shikaku's expression was very solemn. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and said, "I generally agree!"

These words caused another uproar in the meeting room!

Chapter 309: Mission or Companion?

If the crimes committed by Danzo Shimura, such as human experimentation, armed coup, and child trafficking, can be attributed to his extreme and radical personality, and the fact that he was essentially thinking of the good of Konoha, then the charge of treason and betrayal of the village leaves Danzo with no way to defend himself or clear his name!

It is said that no matter how many mistakes one has made in life, those who die for their country have their crimes reduced by one degree!

Danzo Shimura's current situation is that, on top of his already heinous crimes, he has been accused of treason, which is an exaggeration to say that his crimes have been tripled!

It is foreseeable that from this day forward, Shimura Danzo will become the greatest sinner in the history of Konoha, and will be cursed by all the villagers for generations to come!

In fact, not only after today, but now, after confirming Shimura Danzo's crimes, the ninjas in the conference room are also indignant and are cursing Shimura Danzo.

The ninjas of the Shimura clan in the conference room also suffered an undeserved calamity, being implicated by Shimura Danzo and subjected to the scorn of everyone.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, listen to what I have to say! Our Shimura clan is also a victim! We severed ties with Shimura Danzo long ago!"

The current head of the Shimura clan, Yoshio Shimura, sensed something was wrong. He realized that if he couldn't sever ties with Danzo Shimura today, the entire Shimura clan would have no chance of surviving in Konoha. He quickly stood up and began to explain.

"Ever since Shimura Danzo came along, our Shimura clan has been cursed with bad luck. When Shimura Danzo asked you for people, he needed to borrow your influence, but when it came to our Shimura clan, he just robbed them!"

"That ingrate Danzo Shimura has no family or father, and only cares about himself. He treats the entire Shimura clan as fertilizer to nourish his roots. If it weren't for the support of some of my fellow villagers, my Shimura clan would have been wiped out long ago!"

"Therefore, the Shimura clan is absolutely on the opposite side of Shimura Danzo! We stand with everyone!"

Shimura Yoshio spoke with such emotion that he was practically in tears, leaving the Konoha ninjas who wanted to vent their anger at them somewhat at a loss!

Seeing this, Nara Shikaku also spoke up: "Everyone, what the Shimura clan chief said is basically true. Over the years, the Shimura clan has not enjoyed the privileges that come with Shimura Danzo's identity. On the contrary, in a sense, they are the ones who have been persecuted the most by Shimura Danzo!"

As the former number one person after the Konoha F4, Nara Shikaku was familiar with most of the situation in the village, so he spoke up for the Shimura clan.

Upon hearing this, the people in the conference room looked at the Shimura clan with a strange expression, though the resentment they had shown earlier was gone.

The Shimura clan was truly unlucky to have a clansman like Danzo Shimura!

Nara Shikaku thought for a moment and then looked at Uchiha Jin, changing the subject: "Elder Uchiha, I have no doubts about Shimura Danzo's other crimes, but do you have any evidence to support the charge of suppressing dissidents and persecuting his fellow villagers?"

"Of course!" Uchiha Jin replied confidently, "Everyone should have seen Shimura Danzo's right hand, which is covered in Sharingan eyes. However, to avoid suspicion, I won't talk about how Shimura Danzo plotted against the ninjas of my Uchiha clan!"

"Now let me give you a few more examples!"

"First and foremost, the death of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo!"

Upon hearing this, the entire meeting room fell silent!

Kakashi Hatake suddenly stood up, his dead fish eyes becoming bright and piercing as he stared intently at King Uchiha.

Uchiha Jin casually took out a document and handed it to Nara Shikaku, saying, "The name of Konoha's White Fang is renowned throughout the ninja world, so I won't go into too much detail here!"

"But there are many hidden stories behind Sakumo Hatake's suicide back then!"

"Because Sakumo Hatake was renowned back then, made great contributions to Konoha, and even won the Hokage's half-sleeve. His prestige was unparalleled at the time!"

"But precisely because of this, the already unassailable senior Hatake Sakumo made the Third Hokage and the Konoha Elders, who were in their prime at the time, feel threatened!"

......

"Threat? What threat? Would Senior Sakumo really attack the Third Hokage and the others?"

Listening to Uchiha Jin's account, some slow-witted ninjas asked questions with great confusion.

"Idiot! Elder Uchiha means that Sakumo-senpai's existence has threatened the Third Hokage's and their positions!"

"After all, Sakumo-senpai's status had already reached its peak. To go any further, he would either become the Fourth Hokage or an elder of Konoha!"

"But in either case, the power held by the Third Hokage and the Elder Council will be divided up!"

"Now you understand, right?"

Someone who understood the situation quietly explained it to the others.

Ignoring the discussions in the meeting room, Uchiha Jin continued, "Therefore, with the Third Hokage's tacit approval, Shimura Danzo began to suppress Hatake Sakumo's reputation, and the mission that Hatake Sakumo carried out was the beginning of Shimura Danzo's plan!"

"When faced with the difficult choice of abandoning the mission or abandoning your comrades, would you choose to abandon the mission or abandon your comrades?"

"At that time, Sakumo Hatake faced just such a choice!"

"However, whatever choice Sakumo Hatake made back then, it was a mistake!"

“If he abandons his comrades, Danzo Shimura will blame him for lacking the Will of Fire, being cold-blooded and ruthless, and not being a qualified leader.”

"If he abandons the mission, Danzo Shimura will blame him for causing even greater losses to the village and for not being a qualified ninja!"

"At that time, Sakumo Hatake chose to abandon the mission to save his comrades. Not long after returning to the village, the mission, which was originally classified, was accidentally leaked, causing a great deal of rumors in the village!"

"Perhaps Shimura Danzo only wanted to use this to suppress the prestige of Hatake Sakumo-senpai, but for Hatake Sakumo-senpai, this was a struggle of positions, beliefs, and ideals!"

"When faced with universal condemnation and no way to defend himself, Sakumo Hatake had no choice but to protect his beliefs with his own life!"

"The death of Sakumo Hatake also deprived Konoha of a pillar, causing Konoha to suffer enormous losses in the subsequent war!"

"All of this is Danzo Shimura's fault!"

Uchiha Jin's main focus was still on Shimura Danzo, and he also mentioned Sarutobi Hiruzen in passing, slowly dismantling Hiruzen's image as a righteous and noble figure.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room looked distressed and felt extremely depressed!

Many of them were witnesses to the events of that time, and some were even participants. However, everyone was coerced by the prevailing circumstances and did not think much about it. They never imagined that there were such hidden secrets in that incident!

Looking back now, it's really hard to explain!

Many people have started to think outside the box and imagine what choices they would make if they were in that situation.

Is it a mission or a companion?

Chapter 310 Returning Home!

In fact, the choice between mission and comradeship is not uncommon. Most of the ninjas present have experienced such choices once, several times, or even dozens of times.

The more missions a ninja carried out and the longer he lived, the more of these kinds of things he experienced.

However, when faced with situations like this, most of them don't have time to think much, because they are struggling to take care of themselves and can't afford to worry about anything else!

They were all forced to choose the task!

Sakumo Hatake has very few opportunities to make a decision, and the case that has been exposed is a unique one!

After the incident involving Sakumo Hatake, everyone felt a sense of unease. Perhaps in the future, even if they had the resources to rescue their comrades during missions, they would not dare to take action, prioritizing the completion of the mission!

This is definitely not a good sign!

The most direct consequence is that it may cause a crisis of trust among teammates, leading to problems in teamwork!

Before even considering using Sakumo Hatake's case as an example, Uchiha Jin had already thought of this and was prepared to crack down on this unhealthy trend!

Seeing that the time was right, Uchiha Jin gave Namikaze Minato a wink.

Some of these words are clearly more appropriate to be spoken by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage.