Danzō Shimura's speech sounded righteous and imposing. The way the people in the conference room looked at him changed noticeably.
Danzō was clever. He didn't deny his responsibility, but instead avoided the key issue, downplaying the facts while emphasizing his "original intention."
As a result, those who didn't know the full story would merely think that Danzō was somewhat radical—but not necessarily a bad person.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi easily saw through this little trick.
When it came to manipulating people's perceptions, Danzō was still far inferior to him.
Hiruzen immediately spoke up.
"Elder Danzō, please don't evade the real issue."
"I did not ask you why you started the war."
"What I want to know is whether you admit that your actions caused the village to suffer such heavy losses."
Hiruzen's question struck directly at the heart of the matter, rendering most of Danzō's earlier speech meaningless.
Danzō's gaze turned cold.
"I do not admit that."
"Jōnin Sarutobi," he said in a deep voice, "it seems you've stayed inside the village for far too long and no longer understand how missions operate outside."
"You should know that battlefield conditions change constantly. Anything can happen."
"You say that I withdrew the Border Defense Forces, creating a gap in Konoha's defenses."
"That much, I admit."
"But if you claim that I caused the complete collapse of Konoha's defensive line, I will not accept that accusation."
"After all, not long after I redeployed five hundred shinobi from the border defense unit, an army of five thousand Iwagakure ninja and four thousand Sunagakure ninja launched their attack."
"And what does that prove?"
He looked around the room.
"Mobilizing thousands of troops takes time."
"Especially gathering such a large force along the border without us detecting it."
"That alone proves that Iwagakure and Sunagakure had been preparing for this long in advance."
"Yes, my redeployment of five hundred border shinobi may have created an opportunity for them."
"But would their combined army of nearly ten thousand shinobi have abandoned their original objective just because those five hundred remained in place?"
"They wouldn't."
Danzō snorted coldly.
"They had already set their sights on Konoha."
"Even without my involvement, this war would have happened anyway."
"In fact—"
"If I hadn't triggered the conflict ahead of time, who knows what might have happened later?"
"The village might have suffered even greater losses."
He concluded firmly:
"So, Jōnin Sarutobi, you may say that I made mistakes during the war."
"But if you want me to shoulder all the blame for the war, that is absolutely impossible."
Danzō's argument was logical and well-structured.
More importantly, it was true that Iwagakure and Sunagakure had already stationed troops near the border in advance.
As long as that fact stood, it became much easier for Danzō to defend himself.
After all, Konoha could never determine the exact battle plan those villages had prepared at the time.
Konoha couldn't simply ask them.
And even if they did ask—
Those villages might refuse to answer.
Even if they did answer, their answers couldn't be trusted.
Because of this, once Danzō seized on that point, it became extremely difficult for Hiruzen to use the matter to bring him down.
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
Even he hadn't expected Danzō to find a way out so quickly.
The atmosphere in the conference room also shifted slightly. The hostility in the crowd's gazes toward Danzō softened somewhat.
After all, his argument made sense.
If Iwagakure and Sunagakure had already prepared for war, then whether Danzō had started the conflict first was no longer the most important issue.
Seeing the shift in momentum, Danzō pressed forward.
He looked at Hiruzen and said calmly:
"Jōnin Sarutobi, I believe I've already explained everything clearly."
"Do you still have any doubts?"
"If not—"
"Am I now permitted to run for the position of Fourth Hokage?"
"Still not."
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened as he gritted his teeth.
"For the moment, I have no further questions about the Battle of Kikyō Mountain Fortress."
"But there is another matter for which I would like Elder Danzō to provide an explanation."
If one failed to finish off a snake after striking it, the consequences would come back to haunt them.
Hiruzen had come to this meeting today fully determined to crush Danzō completely.
There was no way he would let him off so easily.
For that reason, Hiruzen had prepared thoroughly.
The issue of the Kikyō Mountain Fortress battle was his primary weapon—
But he also had a backup plan prepared in case things went wrong.
However…
Hiruzen's gaze briefly shifted toward someone sitting nearby.
Orochimaru.
A trace of guilt flashed deep within Hiruzen's eyes.
His backup plan would implicate Orochimaru—his own direct disciple.
Unless absolutely necessary, he had never intended to use it.
But Orochimaru's ties with Danzō ran too deep.
For the sake of Konoha—
He had no choice but to sacrifice Orochimaru.
Danzō noticed the determination in Hiruzen's eyes, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.
He immediately spoke.
"Jōnin Sarutobi, don't push your luck!"
"You've targeted me again and again today. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
"Don't forget—"
"You may have many doubts about me, but I have plenty of doubts about you as well."
Danzō's gaze turned vicious.
It was true that there were many stains on his record.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands were far from clean either.
Danzō knew numerous secrets that could completely overturn the image Hiruzen had built for himself.
If Hiruzen truly insisted on pressing the matter—
Then Danzō wouldn't hesitate to drag him down into ruin together.
Yet Hiruzen remained unmoved.
"Elder Danzō," he said calmly, "it's true that I made many wrong decisions in the past."
"But if we are to speak of my greatest mistake…"
"It was my indulgence toward a certain person."
"In the past, I had to consider the overall stability of the village, so I tolerated many things."
"But now…"
"I am no longer the Hokage."
"I believe it's time to close the barn door after the horse has bolted."
Danzō's expression changed.
His mind began racing.
Thinking back on the many events between himself and Hiruzen over the years, he suddenly realized a serious problem.
Most of the things he had done in the past had indeed received Hiruzen's tacit approval.
But that approval had only ever been tacit.
After the fact, Hiruzen would even symbolically scold or punish him.
And so—
Danzō had been the one falling into the filth, while Hiruzen remained spotless and clean.
In the past, Danzō had been the roots buried underground, while Hiruzen was the leaves basking in the sunlight.
Because of that, Danzō had never thought there was anything wrong with the arrangement.
But now that the two stood on opposite sides—
It became a fatal problem.
Danzō might know countless secrets about Hiruzen…
But he had no concrete evidence.
Meanwhile, if Hiruzen used those same incidents to accuse him—
Then Hiruzen could simply claim exactly what he had just said.
His greatest mistake had merely been being too tolerant of Danzō.
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