The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked at Uchiha Itachi with regret and a hint of guilt in his eyes.
"Itachi, I'm sorry. As Sarutobi Hiruzen, I really want to apologize to Uchiha Funan, but as Hokage, I must be responsible for the entire village."
"The Hokage is destined to put his heart on the whole village, not on any one person."
"This is the Hokage's responsibility!"
"After Uchiha Funan seized power of the Uchiha clan, the conflict between the Uchiha and the village became increasingly intense."
"I feel it too!" Itachi spoke in a deep voice. "So, first, let's kill Funan so that the Uchiha return to how they were before, and then I will continue to guide them."
"Once the Uchiha clashes head-on with the village, the final result will be that the entire Konoha is enveloped in flames of war." Itachi's voice was firm: "I definitely won't allow it!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed again: "Yes, we absolutely must not allow it."
"Itachi, did you come here with information about Funan?" Mitokado Homura asked.
Itachi replied: "I have two reports."
"What?" The Konoha Corrupt Quartet's spirit lifted.
Including Danzo. Although the assassination attempt on Funan had failed, he would not blame Itachi for it. He clearly remembered Itachi telling him more than once that Uchiha Funan was incredibly strong, the most powerful he had ever seen. Therefore, how could he blame Itachi if the assassination attempt failed?
He could only say that Funan was too strong.
"The first information is about the Mangekyo Sharingan." Itachi said gravely. "According to my investigation, the Mangekyo Sharingan has extremely side effects. The more times it is used, the blurrier the vision becomes, eventually leading to complete blindness."
"In addition, the user suffers immense pain when using the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Um?" Sarutobi Hiruzen and others looked at each other and nodded slightly. They were already aware of that.
As disciples of Senju Tobirama, they had a deeper knowledge of the power of the Uchiha clan than the clan itself. Of course, the Mangekyo Sharingan, that terrifying forbidden force, was no exception.
However, although it was news that had been known for a long time, it had a different meaning when it came out of Itachi's mouth.
Undoubtedly, in the eyes of the four of them, Itachi was more trustworthy.
"Second information, Uchiha Funan is likely to leave the village for a while."
The Konoha Corrupt Quartet immediately became nervous.
Homura said: "Leave the village? What is he going to do?"
"I don't know!" Itachi said regretfully. "He doesn't trust me, or in other words, he doesn't trust anyone. Even his direct subordinates, Yashiro and others, Uchiha Funan only forbade them from talking about it in private."
The eyes of those present shone. To Danzo and the others, this information was worth more than the previous information.
When the ninjas of Konoha leave the village, they must pass by the Hokage and others, and Funan can't hide it at all.
Unless he wants to become a missing-nin.
If that were the case, it would be perfect. To the Hokage and the others this would give them a reason to deal with him, or even the Uchiha.
As for the secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan, they have known it for a long time.
However, What Itachi said casually at the end contained important information... Funan was suspicious by nature and did not trust his subordinates.
This means there is a lot of room for manipulation.
"Hmph!" Danzo snorted coldly and said: "A guy full of darkness!"
Huh? Huh!!!
Including the Third Hokage, everyone couldn't help but look at Danzo.
Itachi almost bit his tongue.
Danzo said that people are full of darkness? Wow, that's something new!
"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" Danzo snorted angrily. "Does everyone think I'm so... Hmph, everything I do is for Konoha!"
Everyone's looks became even more strange.
The Hokage looked at Itachi and said gently: "Itachi, on behalf of Konoha, I would like to thank you. You are a great ninja. You have made a huge sacrifice for the peace of Konoha. Thank you!"
Itachi felt a little overwhelmed. "You... You are too kind." He looked at Danzo and said, "It's all for Konoha!"
Danzo: "…"
Hokage: "..."
Homura and Koharu: "..."
Why do you have a bad feeling? Every time Danzo said this phrase, to justify his actions.
Wow, illusions! It sure is an illusion!
Itachi is loyal to the village, and he is absolutely trustworthy as the successor of the Will of Fire. When he said this, it came from his heart.
You don't have to let your imagination run wild. Although, it feels disturbing anyway...
Uchiha Itachi used the Body Flicker Technique and left the Hokage's office.
This time, Funan was not drinking tea or carrying a cage with birds but was reading the hands of a beautiful Uchiha kunoichi.
"Oh, if you ask me, Shirayu, your palm reading indicates wealth and greatness. Your future is to become the wife of the leader of the Uchiha clan, or even the wife of the village leader. That's amazing!"
The beautiful woman rolled her eyes but did not withdraw her hand. She let Funan hold her hands, allowing him to continue reading her fate.
[Swish!]
Itachi suddenly appeared.
The woman took one look at him, withdrew her hand and stood behind Funan.
Funan seemed full of reluctance and said: "Itachi, in this situation, if it is not urgent, don't look for me, and if it is, even less so."
Uchiha Itachi was obviously stunned for a moment and looked at Funan speechlessly.
The woman stretched out her hand and pinched Funan tightly.
"Okay, okay!" Funan said with resignation. "Tell me what happens?"
"As you ordered, I just came out of the Hokage's office." Uchiha Itachi nodded to the woman, and then said to Funan: "I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"You want to leave the village without being noticed at all. Why did you tell the Hokage specifically? Isn't this asking for trouble?"
A ninja who leaves the village without permission will be judged as a missing-nin, depending on who he is.
There are not just one or two examples like this in Konoha.
"Leave discreetly, how can the Hokage and the others send people to assassinate me?" Funan answered. "My purpose has been very simple from beginning to end, to continuously weaken the power of the Hokage faction."
There was a hint of coldness in his eyes, and he said: "Let them come, the more they come, the better. Moths fly into the flames and will destroy themselves, and..."
He looked at the sacred tree in the sea of consciousness. The sacred tree needs to swallow life energy in order to bear stronger fruits. Despite having killed twenty Jonin, he had not absorbed any life energy.
Why?
Firstly, he was worried that someone would discover that the corpses had been turned into mummies, which would lead to everyone investigating the cause. And secondly, having body parts is even more intimidating.
There are so many ninjas in the ninja world, and he is not short of twenty. If he wanted to feed the sacred tree, he had plenty of opportunities.
Itachi was silent for a moment and said: "What about the last sentence? Why should I say that sentence at the end: Everything is for Konoha."
"Haha!" Funan couldn't help laughing out loud and said: "Tell me, how do the Hokage and the others react? I'm very intrigued."
"You are really twisted!" Itachi smiled bitterly and said: "The expressions of the Hokage and the others are, well, very strange, yes, strange..."
"A mix of surprise and annoyance!" Funan said and then laughed out loud.
This is the phrase that Danzo kept saying all day. However, whether it was himself or the Third Hokage and others, they all knew that Danzo's words were just an excuse for himself.
Everything is for Konoha? When did Danzo do anything for Konoha? He is simply sacrificing others for his own benefit.
When the Konoha Corrupt Quartet hear this sentence from another person, especially an Uchiha, what will they think at that moment? Will there be shadows in their hearts?
…
The ninja clan of Konoha, big and small, have been very nervous recently.
At the same time, they are angry.
The third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, originally resigned the position of Hokage on his own accord. But when the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, suddenly passed away, he returned to power without further objection.
Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack put Konoha in chaos. Someone needed to stand up and take charge of the overall situation. It's understandable that the previous Hokage took charge.
But it has been several years, and the Third Hokage has no intention of selecting the fifth generation Hokage.
Is there no suitable candidate? No one in Konoha reaches this level? Do you think this is Iwagakure?
Fortunately, it is now a time of peace, and the aging Sarutobi Hiruzen can barely maintain the situation in Konoha.
But... At least he should be able to control Danzo and not let him act like a monster all day.
They were getting worse, like now, aiming directly at the Uchiha.
Many ninjas have noticed the bad blood between Uchiha and Konoha's top brass.
It's just that, firstly, they did not have the strength to intervene, and secondly, they simply did not care about the matter because it has nothing to do with them.
They were wary of the Uchiha and didn't have much regard for the current Sarutobi Hiruzen either.
They prefer that the memory of the third generation be retained before the fourth generation comes to power. At that time, Sarutobi Hiruzen was worthy of the title of Ninja.
After so many years, one thing after another made them feel more and more disappointed with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
They remained silent. They are also being patient. They thought that Sarutobi Hiruzen was already in his sixties and would definitely choose the Fifth Hokage in the next few years.
However, they never dreamed that all they would get in return would be repression from the Hokage.
Suppress the ninja clan, restrict civilian ninjas, snatch children, and devour resources...
This time, it almost ignited a civil war in the entire village.
Uchiha's few small actions awakened the almost forgotten memories of the Konoha ninja clan.
That is Uchiha, the strongest clan in Konoha.
Uchiha Fugaku has suppressed Uchiha for so many years, and the public opinion secretly manipulated by Danzo has put Uchiha on the opposite side of the village.
However, even if they are on the opposite side of the entire village, it will not diminish their strength.
Just like Funan, this time it roared to the entire Konoha.
Even if you think about it with your toes. It's obvious that if the Uchiha clan is cornered and a real commotion breaks out, what kind of fire will be lit in Konoha?
Is it Uchiha who is causing trouble? They are more likely to believe that Danzo is causing trouble.
Fugaku is quite trustworthy in this regard and will never be merciful when dealing with his clan members who cause trouble.
The ninjas are getting angrier the more they think about it.
In the few years after his retirement, Funan made many preparations, including recruiting dissidents from various ninja clans.
Now, all these dissidents are activated, carefully drawing out the dissatisfaction of a large number of ninjas, luring them to explode bit by bit, and conveying the words of dissatisfaction to the ears of the Hokage.
At this time, the Hokage and others did not dare to move.
They were just complaints for now, but if they act rashly they could turn into actions soon.
Even Danzo frowned when facing these large and small ninja clans.
If Root's losses were less, Danzo would have dared to counterattack forcefully, but he lost many jonin-level Root ninjas. If he wanted to do something just by relying on those few ninjas he has left, he would easily be caught and fall into passivity.
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