Hiruzen seethed with rage. Upon hearing that Uchiha Shisui had died in an experiment involving Hashirama's cells, he feared unrest in Konoha under the rage of the Uchiha clan. To mitigate this, he blamed Orochimaru, which led to Orochimaru's revenge and the capture of his only living son, Asuma.
Considering this series of events, Hiruzen reflected on his decisions. If it weren't for Danzo, his youngest son wouldn't have been captured by Orochimaru.
"Look at the situation, Hiruzen," Danzo said coldly from his cell, casting a sidelong glance at Hiruzen. "I've helped you with a lot over the years. Don't you think I deserve a way out?"
"If you have any grudges, direct them at me! Asuma is innocent!" Hiruzen roared, the capture of Asuma being the last straw that broke him.
If it had been anything else, Hiruzen might have tried to rescue Danzo from prison. But knowing Danzo's lies had indirectly caused Orochimaru to capture Asuma made it difficult for them to forgive each other.
Danzo looked at Hiruzen with irony and no regret. "Innocent? Stop fooling yourself, Hiruzen. To secure your position as the Third Hokage, didn't we deal with plenty of 'innocents' in secret? You're only this upset because you lost your son."
From Danzo's perspective, Hiruzen didn't care about other victims, whether they were subjects who died in the First Hokage Cell Experiment or innocent people caught in political struggles. The only reason Hiruzen was outraged now was because his son was involved.
"When your interests aren't touched, you're willing to be blinded by your hypocritical world," Danzo continued. "According to my original plan, I could have surpassed you, Tsunade, killed Sakumo and that cursed Hatake Tatsuya. I could have gained the strongest power and become the one to change this ninja world!"
Danzo's eyes flashed feverishly. Midway through gritting his teeth, he suddenly clenched his fists in anger and said with resentment, "Unfortunately, I underestimated the slyness of that guy Orochimaru."
If there's anyone Danzo hates more than Tatsuya or Hiruzen, it's Orochimaru.
According to Danzo's previous plans, with the First Hokage Hashirama's cells in his possession, adding Shisui's Sharingan would have given him the powers of both the Senju and Uchiha clans, two of the strongest in the ninja world. His next step was to obtain the Nine Tails inside Uzumaki Kushina. With the power of the strongest-tailed beast, he believed he could become the revolutionary who would dominate the ninja world, surpassing even his sensei Tobirama, and the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
However, all of this was ruined by the informant, Orochimaru! When Tatsuya heard about Danzo's ambitions from Orochimaru, he could hardly contain his laughter.
"Dominate the Ninja World? No human will follow a monster."
"Orochimaru? What happened to Orochimaru?!" Hiruzen stepped forward excitedly, gripping the iron bars of the cell and shouting to Danzo inside. "Have you been in touch with Orochimaru? Tell me, Danzo! How is Asuma now!?"
Danzo didn't answer right away; he just raised an eyebrow and sneered.
"Danzo! Answer me!" Hiruzen shouted, his eyes blood-red with fury.
"Lord Third Hokage, it's time," Minato's voice came from afar. "Please leave immediately; otherwise, I won't be able to manage the situation."
Even though Hiruzen was unwilling, he knew he couldn't stay any longer. The people loyal to Hatake Tatsuya kept watching his every move. Tatsuya was ready to throw him, Koharu, and Homura into prison, just like Danzo.
"Tatsuya-sama and Tsunade-sama."
In a separate ward of Konoha Hospital, Uchiha Shisui, who was on a ventilator, woke up from his drowsiness. Upon seeing the two figures in front of him, he instinctively called out.
"Finally suppressed the Wood Style's rampage; you have..."
Tsunade turned to Tatsuya and said, "Zanpakutō itself has the effect of calming souls. This kid is lucky. Although the Hashirama cells in his body went berserk, they didn't consume him entirely."
After saying this, Tatsuya added silently to himself, "After all, Senju and Uchiha share a deep connection."
"Is this a hospital?" Shisui asked with difficulty.
"Although I'd love to hear about what happened after you graduated from the Ninja Academy, now isn't the time," Tatsuya said. He turned around and walked toward the door, adding, "Get some rest first. A lot has happened in the outside world over the past three years."
After Tatsuya and Tsunade left, Uchiha Shisui, who was less than ten years old, looked up at the white ceiling of the ward and couldn't help but shed tears of joy.
Is the time in that hell finally over?
"Shisui."
About half an hour later, someone entered the ward.
Shisui reluctantly turned his head, stunned.
"Fugaku-sama!?"
Entering were Uchiha Fugaku, the patriarch of the Uchiha family, and Uchiha Mikoto, his wife. In Mikoto's arms was their child, who looked around with curiosity.
...
...
In the highest meeting room of the administrative building, the Fourth Hokage, Tsunade Hime, and the patriarchs of the major ninja clans had gathered.
Standing beside Tsunade, Senju Nawaki, acting as an assistant, raised the topic of discussion for the council, what to do with Danzo?
"Excuse me, Tatsuya-san didn't come," Nara Shikaku observed, then raised his hand to speak.
"My Aniki suggested that we could simply send him to jail, execute him, and then claim he died of suicide or illness," Nawaki stated calmly.
The presence of the clan patriarchs was struck with terror at this suggestion. Wasn't that too harsh?
But considering what Danzo had done to Uchiha Shisui, it didn't seem so extreme. After all, Danzo was known as a shinobi with a remorseless conscience.
--
Read 40 chapters ahead on P*treon.c*m/Marioni and Ko*fi.c*m/Marioni to gain access to exclusive benefits to advance chapters of my other fanfictions.