Even if only one-tenth of the shinobi truly pledged their loyalty to Orochimaru, it was already a dire situation for the unprepared Leaf Village.
"You've gone mad, Orochimaru!"
The Third Hokage roared in fury. At this point in time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was far from the frail old man of later years. While no longer in his prime, he was still a formidable warrior whose authority was not to be trifled with.
"Sarutobi-sensei, I will explain everything to you later, but for now, please stay out of this!"
Orochimaru stepped in front of the Third Hokage. Though he was not yet strong enough to defeat his former teacher, it wasn't going to be easy for Sarutobi to get past him either.
[Kobayashi]: "Ahhh! What's happening? Why are they suddenly fighting?"
[Random Fan Trying to Get Luo Feng's Favor]: "Orochimaru is insane! Is he really going straight into battle?"
[Haibara Ai]: "What did you say to him?"
[Random Fan Trying to Get Luo Feng's Favor]: "Nothing! Orochimaru didn't ask me anything… At most, I accidentally mentioned that the Fourth Hokage is Minato Namikaze…"
[Haibara Ai]: "For someone like Orochimaru, knowing he didn't become Hokage would be enough for him to piece together the rest of the story."
[Kizaru]: "It's just a matter of time, isn't it? Even I, given the chance to change the future, would give it a try."
"What in the world is Orochimaru up to?!"
Faced with the sudden assault, Danzo instinctively tried to retreat into the crowd to avoid being surrounded.
But to his horror, more than half of the so-called "traitors" were targeting him specifically.
What made matters worse was that many of these attackers were familiar faces—individuals he had either tried to recruit or had previously antagonized.
Among them, the weakest were Special Jonin, while the strongest was someone he wasn't confident he could take down.
Left with no other choice, Danzo ordered the members of Root to engage, but the thought of the significant losses his carefully built faction would suffer made his heart ache.
"Shadow Immobilization Technique!"
Just as the Root ninja sprang into action, a Leaf shinobi with spiky pineapple-like hair hurled two kunai in quick succession. They struck Danzo's shadow at the last possible moment.
The shadow, an intangible and formless entity, suddenly solidified upon being hit by the kunai, freezing Danzo in place along with it.
"This is…?"
Suddenly finding himself unable to move, Danzo gritted his teeth. These damned traitors were clearly after him.
Fortunately, the binding shadow technique wasn't too difficult to break free from—he just needed a few seconds...
"Puppet Mind Control Jutsu!"
Just as Danzo was desperately trying to escape the shadow's restraints, another Leaf ninja with a blonde ponytail stepped forward.
The moment Danzo saw the individual casting the jutsu, his expression changed dramatically. Unfortunately, before he could react, his right hand moved involuntarily to the bandage covering his right eye and pulled it away in front of everyone.
Many in the village were aware that Danzo's right eye was lost during a battle alongside the Third Hokage. That eye was considered a badge of honor, proof of his sacrifice.
However, as the bandages fell away, the sight that greeted everyone was something that shouldn't have been there—a Sharingan!
"What is that?"
"Why does Danzo-sama have a Sharingan?"
"What's going on here?"
...
The sight of the crimson eye in Danzo's socket stunned even the most oblivious onlookers.
Although there were rare exceptions, such as Uchiha Obito giving a Sharingan to Kakashi Hatake, even the youngest child in the village knew that Danzo and the Uchiha clan were bitter enemies. How could any Uchiha willingly give their eye to him?
"What are you all standing around for? Eliminate these traitors who dare to assassinate the Third Hokage!"
Danzo quickly broke free from the enemy's control. Realizing how dire the situation had become, he made a swift decision.
The matter of the Sharingan could be explained to Hiruzen later. The immediate priority was to eliminate these rebellious traitors!
The Root ninja, trained by Danzo himself, charged toward the enemy without hesitation. However, some among them hesitated, as the so-called "traitors" Danzo ordered them to eliminate were their own friends and family.
It was then that Danzo finally understood how Orochimaru had managed to convince so many people to go against him.
At any other time, even with Orochimaru taking the lead, few would dare risk being branded as traitors to oppose him.
But now, with the village at its weakest, most of the ninja were still at the frontlines. The ones returning to the village with Orochimaru were the first wave of triumphant soldiers.
With these battle-worn ninjas as witnesses, Danzo had lost his most critical layer of protection.
Even the Third Hokage could not, under the watchful eyes of so many, blatantly shield him without evidence.
As for Danzo's past deeds—using family members to coerce ninjas into serving Root, sabotaging missions, sending assassins against his fellow Leaf shinobi, stealing others' kekkei genkai, and training his subordinates to become emotionless killing machines...
Danzo selectively ignored all of these acts, justifying everything in his mind as being "for the good of Konoha." To him, anyone opposing him was opposing the village itself.
"Orochimaru is attempting to assassinate the Third Hokage! Apprehend him immediately!"
Danzo growled through clenched teeth. If Orochimaru could be subdued, he might still turn the tide.
With Danzo's command, the Root ninja, conditioned to follow orders without question, charged forward like killing machines.
"Enough of this! Everyone, with me!"
At that moment, dozens of Uchiha clan members emerged from the crowd, intercepting Danzo's Root forces.
Initially, the proud Uchiha clan had no intention of aligning with Orochimaru. Even when Danzo used Root's authority to coerce other clans' ninjas into joining, he dared not provoke the Uchihas.
But when the Uchiha learned that over the years, many of their clan members who "died on missions" had, in fact, fallen victim to Danzo's machinations—or were outright assassinated by Root operatives—
The fiery-tempered Uchiha were incensed. Even Akimichi Choza, known for his easy-going nature, was enraged when he discovered how his clan members who joined Root had been treated. He was ready to risk his life to take down Danzo.
"Uchiha... Hiruzen, this is the 'fine disciple' you raised!"
When the Uchiha clan's ninjas revealed themselves, Danzo descended into a fit of hysterical rage.
°°°
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