Hiruzen was startled by the words and turned his head to look again, but there was no bandaged meat patty to be seen.
Danzo's corpse... was gone!
Even before he could give the order, the other Jonin had already stopped their attacks of their own accord.
Everyone knew exactly what kind of person Danzo was. If Hiromi had truly killed Danzo, they would have had no choice but to fight to the death.
But he hadn't.
Now, even if Hiruzen ordered another attack, aside from a few hotheads, no one else intended to risk their lives anymore.
The opponent was clearly targeting Danzo alone, so why bother?
When the Uchiha clan was being targeted, they had stood idly by. Now that Danzo was being targeted, they naturally stood idly by as well.
Moreover, if they overdid it, they would provoke this Uchiha brat. They didn't believe they could escape if those giant-sized, fiery red fists came crashing down.
Especially what that Uchiha brat mentioned—the Uchiha's Izanagi...
Although some didn't know what Izanagi was, the fact that Hiruzen, the Hokage, didn't refute it meant the Uchiha brat was telling the truth.
However, staying completely still wasn't good either. It was better to slack off and just pretend to attack.
But Hiromi's next words froze everyone's movements in place.
"Danzo! Whose Sharingan did you use as the price! It was my parents', wasn't it!"
The flames on the fiery red skeletal giant erupted, and a searing wind ravaged the field.
Everyone stood dumbfounded, frozen on the spot.
In the dead silence, they couldn't help but look toward Hiruzen, seeking the truth.
But Hiruzen's expression at that moment looked exactly as if Hiromi had exposed the truth, filled with the shock of someone who had just found out.
This left the other Jonin without even the thought of slacking off. They immediately stopped and stood their ground.
Hiruzen knew very well.
Danzo had indeed obtained a pair of Sharingan once.
Two years ago, during the ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure, he had traded for a pair from the Uchiha clan. But they had been traded back because a ninja from Root had a high compatibility with the Sharingan. Although it provided Danzo with a lot of convenience, Danzo definitely did not have the Sharingan anymore.
So... whose Sharingan was he using now?
And what Shisui's younger brother said—telling Danzo to return his brother's eye?
'What is going on?'
Just as the thought surfaced in his mind, he saw Shisui running over in a hurry.
The sight of Shisui's right eye tightly shut and bleeding made his heart tremble.
Even though Shisui hurriedly apologized and told Hiromi to come back, the shock in Hiruzen's heart didn't diminish in the slightest.
He now believed Hiromi's words. After all, he had only told Danzo about Shisui's Kotoamatsukami today.
Otherwise, why would Shisui's eye suddenly be gouged out today?
"Shisui, what is going on?!" He ultimately didn't ask this question out loud.
"Shisui, have your brother stop first."
This was Hiruzen's most accustomed method of pacification: Making big problems small and small problems disappear.
Seeing that Hiruzen didn't blame Hiromi, Shisui breathed a sigh of relief. The situation was a bit better than he had imagined.
"Hiromi, cancel it quickly!" Shisui shouted urgently.
But how could Hiromi possibly stop just like that?
If he stopped now, he would just be brushed off again.
Hiromi's will was perfectly manifested in the fiery red skeletal giant, making it even more solid and its killing intent even more fierce.
"Danzo! Give me back my brother's eye! Otherwise, today, either you die, or I die!" Hiromi's youthful voice was filled with violence.
Countless people felt a chill, as the fear named "Hiromi" was quietly carved into their hearts.
Within Hiromi's Mangekyo, it seemed as if a demonic arm was reaching out, flickering in and out of sight like a hallucination.
This special aura made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts. Their cells were screaming, instinctively wanting to retreat and get as far away from him as possible.
They all thought of one thing: "This Uchiha brat actually has another trump card!"
While others were afraid, Shisui was frantic.
He knew just how painful it was to activate Susanoo. And every time it was used, it would consume ocular power that could not be restored.
Others didn't know, but he did—Hiromi was gambling with his own future!
"Hiromi, calm down! Cancel it quickly!"
Although Shisui could also manifest Susanoo, he vaguely felt that if he did, Hiromi would shift his target from Danzo to the villagers. Even if his Susanoo could counter it, the mere clash of two Susanoo in the center of the village would result in countless deaths.
Hiromi would die too!
Such a consequence was something he didn't dare to imagine.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
As for Hiruzen, the first thing he saw were the collapsed houses nearby.
Fortunately, there were no casualties. It was just that the houses and the Root base were gone. The disaster wasn't too severe yet.
But if Hiromi really went on a rampage, even if they used all their strength to stop him, Konoha would likely experience another Nine-Tails incident.
Especially since Hiromi wasn't a beast. He had intelligence and knew where the shelters were.
The current Konoha could not withstand such a disaster!
Therefore, if he sided with Danzo...
The consequences were beyond his imagination.
'Now, there is only one choice!' Hiruzen's gaze became determined.
"Find Danzo!" Hiruzen said to a nearby Hyuga Clan Member.
"Yes!" The Hyuga Clan Member quickly activated his Byakugan and began searching.
The surrounding ninjas couldn't help but look at Hiruzen and Hiromi inside that terrifying, fiery red skeletal giant. They understood that Hiruzen had compromised. In other words, Danzo really had gouged out Shisui's eye.
This shocked many ninjas while simultaneously making them feel extremely angry.
Every ninja clan had its own foundation. Like the Nara's Shadow Imitation Technique, the Hyuga's Byakugan...
For the Uchiha clan, it was naturally the Sharingan.
Now that someone was plotting for the Uchiha's Sharingan, it was no different from saying—I am very interested in your secret techniques.
This was digging up their roots!
Digging up their ancestral graves!
Even if it was someone else's being dug up now, they couldn't find any reason to smile.
Everyone belonged to the same village. If the Uchiha were gone, who would be next?
In an instant, the Jonins' gazes turned cold.
As the "peacemaker," Hiruzen naturally saw this and knew the situation had become even more grim. Now, it was even more impossible to target Hiromi.
There was only one way to handle this—make Danzo hand over Shisui's eye.
Soon, the Hyuga Clan Member found Danzo.
However, Danzo remained stubborn and instead began berating Hiruzen.
"The Uchiha clan destroyed the Root base and is running amok in the center of the village! Instead of questioning the Uchiha for starting a Coup détat, you actually come to question me!"
In the past, or if they were somewhere private, Hiruzen would have chosen to back down and appease Danzo when he was being so forceful.
But now, it was time to demonstrate his integrity as the Hokage. He absolutely could not let the ninja clans be disappointed in him.
"Danzo! Look at the situation clearly and hand the item over." Hiruzen warned once more.
"I didn't take it!" Danzo was unyielding.
"Whether you took it or not, you..." Hiruzen had a massive headache.
He hadn't expected Danzo to still fail to see the situation clearly.
However, before Hiruzen could finish his sentence, Hiromi charged forward with his fiery red Susanoo.
"Then nobody gets to live!"