Hiruzen sighed deeply, a complex look leaking and flowing out within his eyes, possessing both a helplessness toward his old friend's stubborn refusal to wake up.
"That rebellion indeed possessed its reality in matter, but it has already been properly resolved.
And furthermore, Danzo, the chief culprit who triggered this rebellion was precisely that masked man who planned the Nine-Tails disaster back then!
It was his bewitchment and manipulation that ignited the final fuse.
If it were him stirring up wind and waves in the dark, then this single disturbance of the Uchiha conversely possesses a logical explanation."
He paused, his gaze becoming sharp.
"Stepping back to say, even if that masked man did not fan flames and ignite fires inside the Uchiha clan ground, with that divine-out-and-demon-in capability of his, if he manufactured matters and incidents in other locations of the village, the result is feared to return to the same track through different paths."
Of course, these words carried a sliver of hypothetical meaning; under the situation of possessing the "Yellow Flash" Minato sitting in garrison, as well as the Hyūga clan's Byakugan vigilance distributed throughout the village, whether that masked man would still dare to act so completely without restraint indeed had to be stamped with a massive question mark.
Hiruzen's gaze shifted toward the window side, as if looking toward the village's direction, his tone carrying a sliver of difficult-to-express heaviness and self-reproach.
"Then, what about the Uchiha? Danzo, you think nicely about it... why did they assemble to live at the village's edge back then? Why were they isolated?
Is it not precisely us old fellows, including you and me, who step-by-step pushed them away from the village's center?
If the Uchiha clan up to now still peacefully resided within the village's core area, perhaps... perhaps that masked man's conspiracy would basically lack the space to be displayed, and this tragedy could originally be avoided."
This turn of words was like a reflection toward the past, and also like an interrogation toward Danzo.
"Humph! That is merely your wishful-thinking guess! A weak-and-powerless hypothesis and nothing more!" Danzo let out a cold snort, twisting his head toward one side, refusing to accept this blame pointing toward his own self.
Hiruzen no longer argued together with Danzo; he let out a long, long breath of air, within that pair of pupils that had read through life's vicissitudes, at this moment there conversely quietly surfaced a few fractions of true gratification.
"No matter what, Danzo. Under Minato's leadership, the solid ice between the village and the Uchiha is currently dissolving. Konoha's future, the Uchiha's future, will all step upon a completely brand-new, bright orbit."
His tone was certain and filled with hope.
"Bright? Orbit? Ha ha ha!" Danzo was as if hearing the most absurd joke in the world, suddenly exploding out a bout of hysterical great laughter, the laughter echoing within the empty and ruined residence, filled with distorted madness and unwilling curses.
"It won't happen! Hiruzen! You are too naive! The evil within the Uchiha's bones will forever not change! Right now they are merely hibernating!
In the future, they will definitely give that yellow-haired brat... give the entire Konoha! The most fatal, most pain-reaching-the-core-of-heart backstab!
It definitely will happen! You wait and look! Ha ha ha ha! Uh ah!"
The crazy laughter abruptly interrupted, transforming into a bout of tearing-heart-and-splitting-lung violent choking cough.
Danzo's body was like being squeezed dry of all strength, violently twitching once, his face instantly becoming gray-ruined.
He attempted to grasp something to support himself, his arm waving uselessly once in the air, ultimately his entire person like a puppet with snapped strings fell straightly toward the back, heavily smashing upon the ice-cold hard ground, raising up a patch of old-years dust.
Within the broken old residence, there only remained his heavy and intermittent panting sound, as well as the Third Hokage's sorrowful-and-compassionate gaze.
Hiruzen heavily gazed at the withered-clothed Danzo before his eyes.
Ever since being heavily wounded by Minato back then, and the Hashirama cells relied upon to tie and maintain power were also thoroughly stripped away, this past old friend then stepped upon an irreversible road of decline.
His body functions flowed away like a hourglass; the power that once supported his wild hopes had long since vanished without a trace, what was left behind being solely a body shell eroded by time and despair.
What caused people to choke with emotion even more was that the collapse upon the spirit was even more fatal than the decay of the flesh.
Power had once been the entire fuel of Danzo's life, the air he relied on to breathe.
Right now, the scheming planned through extreme care his entire life, all of his wild ambitions and calculations, entirely transformed into bubbles and shadows.
This massive feeling of loss day after day gnawed at his will.
That once sharp-eyed, deep-schemed leader of "Root"—right now there only remained an empty shell whose soul was squeezed empty.
His heart-vitality had long since been annihilated, vainly leaving behind a skin-and-flesh capsule to drag out his remaining breaths.
The person was still alive, but the god was already dead.
Time mercilessly carved down imprints.
During the Nine-Tails chaos, Danzo still appeared vigorous and healthy in spirit, appearing much younger than Hiruzen at that time.
However at this moment, Danzo curled up right there was white in both hair and beard, wrinkles deeply embedded, his withered face written full of wind and frost, actually appearing even more old, decayed, and ruined than the current Hiruzen.
This massive contrast silently related the destructive blow that incident dealt toward him.
Witnessing his old friend piece-by-piece decaying within isolation and despair, the thoughts accumulated for many years within Hiruzen's heart finally broke through boundaries.
He made a decision to send this old friend on his final journey.
Therefore, he specially stepped into this residence courtyard that imprisoned Danzo's body and mind, taking the Uchiha clan's recent movements acting as a "gift," informing this old friend who had been isolated from the world for a long time.
Must know, prior to this, this deep-residence-great-courtyard was like an information grave; Danzo possessed no path to know anything happening in the outside world.
Danzo's reaction was precisely as Hiruzen anticipated.
Within those turbid eyes, even a sliver of wave was difficult to stir up, let alone the conventional calculations when hearing the name of "Uchiha" in the past.
His body was already like a remaining candle in the wind, his spirit furthermore fragile like rotten wood, no longer capable of bearing any single strand of external stimulation and blow.
Looking at his old friend's numb reaction, Hiruzen's heart slipped past a sliver of complex, difficult-to-express sorrow and compassion.
But this also counted as a kind of extrication.
With Danzo's current oil-exhausted-lamp-dried state, within this isolated residence courtyard, even if lacking this single matter, he probably also could not prop through a few cold-and-heats.
It also happened precisely right, Hiruzen toward his own body state was also very clear; roughly there lacked a few years of age capable of living.
In the final few years, he would use them to go accompany his grandson generation, and thereafter then could calmly leave the world.
Reaching that time, dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth, conversely it also does not count as isolated; they could still make a companion for each other.
...
"Danzo... is gone?" After Takuno saw this information, he was also a bit staring-blank in spirit.
He murmured out in voice, inside his tone carrying a sliver of un-detectable error-struck feeling.
This name, this man who once stirred up Konoha's wind and clouds and even threatened Minato—just like this quietly and soundlessly reached his end?
Takuno's thoughts could not help but float back to several years past.
The Danzo at that time, due to committing a great error, was near-entirely pushed onto the execution block.
It was the Third who, with a near-stubborn posture, rejected all opposing views before barely protecting a single life for him.
"Originally thought... like a person of his kind, he absolutely would not be reconciled to thus sinking into silence, and always would hibernate within some corner, waiting for an opportunity to roll back earth and come once more."
Takuno had once harbored this piece of vigilance, secretly paying attention toward Danzo for a period of time.
However, subsequent intelligence displayed that Hiruzen also did not seem to possess the thought of letting this old friend restore strength.
Danzo was strictly imprisoned; his past power and wild ambition all completely vanished into smoke and dispersed into clouds along with that single matter's complete failure.
In reality, looking at it with Takuno's current achievements within medical ninjutsu and sealing techniques, even if inviting back the medical holy-hand Tsunade, she would also be powerless to turn back heaven.
The Hyūga clan leader Hiashi Hyūga's Gentle Fist had long since precisely intercepted and cut off Danzo's entire body's Tenketsu, thoroughly locking dead his chakra circulation system.
Let alone what was applied upon his body was a powerful seal personally set down by the Fourth Hokage Minato; that was by no means a technique formula an ordinary generation could untie.
While he, Takuno, acting as the leader of Konoha's Sealing Jutsu Research Group, was furthermore a person on Minato's side; this road toward Danzo, from the very beginning, was a dead alley.
Even reaching that even if it were untied, who could once more guarantee that upon that sealing technique there was not applied a Flying Thunder God formula mark?
At the same time the sealing technique was untied, it would then trigger the Flying Thunder God mark; Minato should not mind directly sending Danzo to return to the Western Paradise.
Theoretically like this, but what if there were a ten-thousandth chance?
So, Takuno also observed the other party for a period of time.
Looking at it now, this "what if" ultimately did not happen.
Danzo—that grand hero who once regarded power like life and controlled the Root within the darkness.
Actually truly within the long-lasting prisoner career of losing all power as well as authority boiled dry his final bit of life force, reaching up to this moment thoroughly dying out.
"Heh..." Takuno's inner heart emitted a snort-laugh.
Death, toward the majority of people who cherish life, is the ultimate fear and punishment, but what about for Danzo?
Dragging him down from power's peak, crushing the power he took pride in, stripping away the authority he relied on to survive, letting him act as a thorough waste person dragging out his remaining breaths within despair and unreconciled feeling for several years—this was precisely the most cruel penalty truly tailored for him.
Right now this death, in a certain sense, was actually his extrication?
"Yes..."
Minato also possessed a bit of lament; he toward Danzo's death did not possess much pity, merely lamenting those matters of back then.
If it were not because of Danzo, he perhaps could still obtain the Third Hokage's assistance; he also would not reach being that tired.
Due to the disturbance triggered by Danzo leading toward the generation of estrangement between Hiruzen and him.
Minato minutely paused, his gaze landing upon Takuno's body.
"Senpai, trouble you to walk one trip on my behalf to participate a bit in his funeral."
Takuno's brow in a near-un-detectable manner knitted a bit, within his heart instantly surging up a bout of wordlessness.
'You do not want to go participate in that old fellow's funeral, could it be that I want to?' He silently criticized within his heart.
But facing the Hokage's order, especially the direct command coming from Minato, he could completely not refuse.
"Yes, Fourth." Takuno cleanly responded.
Minato clearly understood Takuno's mood, supplementing: "This time's funeral scale is not large, mainly entirely being some of Danzo's... past old acquaintances and old subordinates prior to his life."
Acting as the Hokage, even if within his heart he were once more unwilling, he must also take into account the Third Hokage's face.
While Takuno's identity—Anbu Chief Commander, one of the Hokage's most core arm-braces—attending on behalf of the Hokage, the weight was already sufficient.
"Understood." Takuno nodded, within his heart already possessing calculation.
Since he was unable to push away and decline, then letting a Wood Clone go walk through the motions would be fine.
A few days of time quietly flowed away.
Takuno had already officially communicated the decision regarding letting villagers participate in rebuilding the Uchiha clan to Itachi, and placed this tasks possessing heavy meaning entirely under his responsibility.
At the single moment of communicating the news, Takuno clearly captured the matchlessly determined light that instantly ignited within Itachi's eyes.
Since Shisui went into a coma, Itachi's cognition toward that complex relationship between the "village" and the "Uchiha" seemed to have experienced a qualitative leap and precipitation.
Takuno even felt that if there existed this kind of object like a "military pledge" within this world, Itachi would boundingly without a single fraction of hesitation establish it on the spot.
This piece of decisiveness actually did not completely emerge outside of expectations.
After all, within the "original work" trajectory known by Takuno, Shisui's death was precisely the heavy fuse that triggered Itachi's life's largest turning point.
Truthfully, the later generations lacked no conspiracy theory tones, speculating whether Shisui at life's final moment applied that pupil technique Kotoamatsukami that distorts the will toward Itachi.
But Takuno held a reservation attitude toward this.
He was more inclined to believe the scene of his companion Shisui dying tragically before his eyes violently hammered Itachi's mind, melting, casting, and strengthening his determination to guard a certain conviction.
It was precisely this extreme pain and awakening that was capable of quickening the birth of that pair of Mangekyō Sharingan symbolizing power and curse.
While this conviction born within intense pain along with it transformed into an existence near-to a persistent obsession.
Try thinking, if Itachi truly were hit by Kotoamatsukami and thoroughly degraded into a puppet of Konoha's will, how could he possibly leave behind his younger brother Sasuke's life?
And how could he within that destined brother duel deliberately stay his hand time after time?
Right now, Shisui in another manner, through his action of near-sacrifice for the sake of guarding, once more deeply shook Itachi.
What was different was that this time Shisui still retained a sliver of life-vitality.
Precisely because this faint hope-light was still present, Takuno deduced that Itachi probably would not open the Mangekyō Sharingan once more due to this time's shock.
And also temporarily lacked the need to worry Itachi would due to emotional agitation perform some extreme action incapable of being brought back.
Simultaneously, Takuno changed into a body of solemn black attire, moving his body to head toward Danzo's funeral scene.
The funeral's atmosphere was exceptionally cold and clear; his arrival did not stir up many waves.
The people coming to express condolences were scattered and sparse, capable of being counted on fingers.
The minority of people present clearly knew he came representing the Fourth Hokage Minato, and toward this also no person leaked dissatisfaction.
After all, that publicly known, stiff, and even opposing relationship between Danzo and Minato—everyone was clear in heart and clear in mind.
Being capable of letting a figure of the Anbu Chief Commander level personally attend, within their view, already counted as giving sufficient face to this deceased leader of "Root."
Takuno's gaze peacefully scanned across this sparse funeral procession, clear within his inner heart.
Danzo's wind-evaluation within the village at this moment obtained the most direct verification at this cold funeral.
The people truly harboring respect or mourning toward him within their hearts were truly too few, too few.
His methods and standpoints during his life established extremely many enemies; failing to obtain people's hearts was already an open secret.
However, a hunched figure within the crowd conversely caused Takuno's gaze to stay for a brief moment, within his heart slipping past a sliver of surprise.
That was the Third Hokage Hiruzen.
This "Shinobi High-Aura" who once commanded wind and clouds actually appeared thus decayed and ruined.
The wrinkles upon his face were deep, his body shape compared to within Takuno's memory of the future few years appeared even more withered, ruined, and weak.
A strand of difficult-to-express heavy gloominess closely shrouded him; Takuno could even vaguely capture a sliver of... gray-ruined breath belonging to life's end point from his expression.
This scene caused Takuno to secretly be shocked in heart.
Must know, within his memory Hiruzen several years later still was capable of moving hands to suppress Orochimaru!
Danzo—this death of his companion who entangled with him his entire life—the blow toward his spiritual stratum actually was heavy to this point, as if instantly squeezing empty his remaining life force?
Looking at it like this, Hiruzen's currently swaying state, whether it could support until the TV plot's beginning time had all become extremely distant and indistinct...
However, this strand of surprise also merely slipped past his heart-mouth.
Hiruzen's life and death, survival and ruin, toward Takuno's scheming and road possessed no substantive influence.
He coldly retracted his sight, his thoughts having long since floated to another place.
At this moment, his main body was currently alone immersing within the further exploration and control toward that profound and powerful power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.