As soon as Hiruzen spoke those words, the hall became much quieter than before. Fugaku stood up from his seat and said:
"Lord Third, as you know, we Uchiha have lost many young geniuses of our clan, just like everyone else present here. I'm sure those who died fighting enemies and protecting the peace of our village and their families would have a peaceful afterlife in the pure lands. But recently, the number of deaths has been increasing. We have our doubts that these deaths were not because of enemy encounters, and something more suspicious is going on. Recently, we got proof of what is actually happening.
Kaida Uchiha, one of the most promising youngsters in my clan, was ambushed by Root ninja on his way to complete a bandit extermination mission. I assume I don't have to point out who is the only person capable of deploying Root ninja."
"Do you have anything to say about this, Danzo?" Hiruzen turned to Danzo and asked, his tone neutral, not taking any sides.
"Yes, I have been very concerned about one of my teams I had sent on a secret mission to Iwagakure. They never reached their destination, and I don't even have their bodies. I was thinking it was the work of enemy ninja, but it looks like someone became extra paranoid and harmed allies. I am especially concerned about the death of my jonin, who had a very promising future ahead of him," Danzo said, completely making the Uchiha seem like they were in the wrong.
"So you're saying that a team of 7 Root ninja, including a jonin and 6 chunin, followed Kaida for half an hour even when he tried to run from his pursuers, and when he used shadow clone jutsu, they split up and followed him on their way to their mission for Iwagakure?" Fugaku asked.
"You know, Fugaku, with the number of years I have lived, I could come up with better stories than what you just narrated. But they wouldn't have any weight since I wouldn't have any proof, just like you, who don't have any proof," Danzo said.
"And who said that? Lord Third, I would like to present the proof I have to back my claims," Fugaku responded.
"Proceed," Hiruzen said.
Fugaku would have normally taken out the bodies, but using storage seals inside the meeting hall without permission was not allowed. After getting permission, he took out a scroll from his pocket and passed his chakra through it. Suddenly, four bodies emerged from the storage seal.
"I would like to ask Danzo-sama to remove the seals from their bodies so that we could access their memories and determine who is making up a story here," Fugaku said with a smile that could freeze a lake in summer.
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"You wish. I made those seals so that no one, not even me, could remove them once my ninja are dead. This ensures that secret information of our village never falls into enemy hands," Danzo said.
Hiruzen knew that Danzo was making this up, and Danzo knew that Hiruzen was aware of his little lie. But he was sure that Hiruzen wouldn't say anything about it. To his dismay, Fugaku's smile didn't waver, and he continued with that smile.
"In that case, you should be able to remove those seals from the ninja who are alive, right?" Fugaku asked.
'Those fools got caught alive. Are my subordinates becoming this incompetent?' Danzo thought. But since there was no way he could refuse, Danzo just nodded his head.
Fugaku turned to Hiruzen, who nodded in agreement.
After a minute, an Uchiha jonin came inside the hall, followed by three Root ninja who were tied in such a way that there was no way they could commit suicide.
"Danzo-sama," Fugaku said, gesturing toward the chunin.
"I can't. They know classified information which cannot be disclosed to anyone," Danzo said.
"I'm sure you trust Inoichi not to share those secrets with anyone. He would be the one to read their minds," Fugaku said and then turned to Inoichi Yamanaka. "I hope you don't have any problem with that."
Inoichi nodded his head in affirmation.
With no more excuses to make, since he couldn't say that he didn't trust Inoichi, who was in charge of handling the Intelligence Division of Konoha, Danzo's brain started working at full power to come up with a plan to minimize the damage as much as he could.
"There's no need for that. I agree that they were after 'your' little prodigy, but not to kill him—rather to bring him to me. He's not just an Uchiha; he belongs to the Senju clan too, and I wanted him to have a chance to help the village rather than just a clan. I may have done something wrong in thinking about the village," Danzo said while looking toward the bodies of 4 Root ninja present in the hall. "And they paid the price for that."
From Danzo's tone, one might think that he was grieving for his son who had just died, and civilians or even normal ninja might have believed that was actually the case. But none present were amateurs; they could easily sense that Danzo had played the victim card, using which Hiruzen could reduce his punishment, and no one would say anything.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Danzo-sama, but could you still remove that seal? There are many other ninja who have suddenly gone missing during simple missions. I want to know if those too were under your care for the sake of the village," Fugaku said, his face now as serious as it could be.
"Know your place, boy. I agree that your accusation this time was right, but other cases have nothing to do with me. I'm not going to remove that seal. They know many things about my organization which under no circumstance will fall into anyone else's hands," Danzo said, his presence becoming more oppressive.
Fugaku didn't take that lying down; his presence also became equally oppressive, joined by Shibi.
"I also want to know about the various Aburame clan ninja who were recruited into Root and those who suddenly 'died' during missions. If they are dead, I want to know the location of their bodies," Shibi said. The message was clear and concise: he was not going to play the game like Fugaku. Either remove the seal or fight—only two options.
"Quiet! Do you people think this is some battlefield?" Hiruzen said, with his chakra flaring out of his body, once again showing why he was Hokage.
Even when Danzo heard that, a smirk came to his face, thinking Hiruzen had come to his rescue. If everything Danzo had done came to light, then a civil war might break out in Konoha, just like in Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village.
But to his surprise, Hiruzen appeared behind one of the chunin and placed his hand on his head. After 5 seconds, the chunin was screaming and writhing on the floor.
"You made changes to the seal without telling me, huh?" Hiruzen said with an amused smile on his face.
Danzo felt that something was off, but considering the dire situation he was in, he knew that coming out of it without any punishment was impossible. He thought Hiruzen was trying to save him, so he kept his mouth shut.
Hiruzen then placed his hand on the head of another chunin, who also started screaming and writhing on the floor, but by then, Hiruzen was able to crack the seal.