Danzo felt a chill run down his spine, an inexplicable fear rising from the depths of his heart.
He knew the Uchiha remnants wouldn't surrender without a fight, but he never expected Shinji to be so bold and his methods so ruthless!
"Damn it!"
Seeing his subordinates either dead or injured, Danzo felt a faint regret.
He didn't regret taking action against the Uchiha remnants, but regretted not preparing properly this time and not bringing enough subordinates.
Actually, there were many powerful ninjas in his Root.
For example, Ryoma Aburame, Fu Yamanaka, Torune Aburame, and others were all ninjas with strength reaching or approaching the elite Jonin level.
However, as the Root was disbanded, these elites of the original Root were all transferred to the Anbu by Tsunade and went to the headquarters in the Land of Rain with the main force.
Therefore, although Danzo gathered quite a few subordinates this time, in reality, these were all lower-middle-level ninjas in his Root. Even in Danzo's own eyes, they were all expendable goods that could be replaced at any time.
"This..."
Sakura covered her mouth with both hands.
Ino and Tenten looked dazed.
Obviously, seeing Shinji start fighting with Danzo, the peers were incredibly surprised one by one.
They knew more or less about Danzo's identity, knowing he was an advisory elder who once held power in the village. So in their eyes, Danzo was a big shot whom even their fathers couldn't afford to offend.
But such a big shot, Shinji fought when he said fight, and killed when he said kill.
Mumei and Karin executed Shinji's orders without hesitation, as if the opponent was not a high-level official of the village at all.
This undoubtedly caused a violent impact on their inherent concepts.
Shikamaru had to shake his head at the peers, hinting everyone not to act rashly or get involved in the political struggle between high-level officials of the village.
Under this depressing atmosphere, Shinji spoke again indifferently: "Danzo, you colluded with Orochimaru to attack the village, caught with stolen goods. I now arrest you on behalf of the village as the Captain of the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force!"
"You dare to slander me!"
Danzo was furious.
The feeling of being slandered and falsely accused, he finally experienced it this time.
Swish swish swish...
At this time, some remaining Anbu, Intelligence Division ninjas, and Hidden Leaf ninjas staying behind in various parts of the village, after putting out the fires in various blocks, found there was still fighting here, so they rushed over from all directions.
A starving camel is bigger than a horse.
Although the Hidden Leaf was extremely empty at this moment, it was still the head of the Five Great Ninja Villages after all. There were hundreds or thousands of ninjas staying behind.
So soon the vicinity of the Military Police Force Building was crowded with Hidden Leaf ninjas.
Seeing a large number of Hidden Leaf ninjas arriving, Danzo regained his confidence. Pointing at Shinji, as well as Mumei, Karin, and those peers beside Shinji, he shouted: "Shinji Uchiha colluded with the Akatsuki organization together with the Military Police Force and Academy peers, intending to subvert the village. Now everyone listen to my order, kill him! Kill everyone here!"
The newly arrived Hidden Leaf ninjas looked at each other, somewhat bewildered.
Firstly, they were awed by Mumei's 'Susanoo'. Secondly, Danzo's order was too ridiculous. In their view, several Uchiha might be suspicious, but that group of peers with panicked faces obviously wouldn't be accomplices of the Akatsuki organization.
With Danzo's order, Mumei, Karin, and even Sasuke who just climbed up from the ground became alert.
Being surrounded by so many Hidden Leaf ninjas, they couldn't be careless!
And the peers accused by Danzo as traitors were all filled with righteous indignation. They never expected that in the blink of an eye, even they became traitors subverting the village.
Only now did they realize how aggrieved Sasuke, who was falsely accused by Danzo before, felt.
The situation soon became tense. Shikamaru was extremely nervous. Once a big battle broke out here, no matter which side won, the Hidden Leaf would be finished.
Because the threat of Sky Ninjas was not lifted, internal strife now meant no one could become the winner.
Danzo slammed his cane heavily on the ground and roared: "What are you all still standing there for! Do it, kill them, kill them all!"
Danzo's accumulated prestige over the years made some Hidden Leaf ninjas start to waver, hesitating whether to act.
Shinji remained calm, just casually asking the arriving Intelligence Division ninja: "Where is the Third Hokage?"
The Intelligence Division ninja answered hesitantly: "Third Hokage-sama has been killed in action."
"No!"
"What!?"
"How is this possible?"
Hidden Leaf ninjas present who didn't know the news of the Third Hokage's death were all shocked. Many people couldn't accept that the Third Hokage, known as the 'Professor of Ninjutsu', would die in battle. For a moment, they felt lost as if they had lost their backbone.
Shinji then asked the next sentence: "Then who is the highest-ranking commander in the village now?"
Shinji, who already knew about the Third Hokage's death through Karin's 'Kagura Shingan', asked this redundant question just for this sentence.
The Intelligence Division ninja was stunned for a moment, then said: "You... you are the Captain of the Military Police Force. According to the command hierarchy, with Third Hokage-sama killed in action, and Fifth Hokage-sama and the advisory elders not in the village, you are currently the highest-ranking commander in the village."
The surrounding Hidden Leaf ninjas stirred again.
In the inherent concept of everyone present, Danzo, the advisory elder who had held power for a long time, was obviously higher in rank than Shinji, a fledgling brat who just graduated from the Academy.
But after Shinji's simple question and answer with the Intelligence Division ninja, everyone realized that Danzo at this time was still a prisoner, while Shinji, although just graduated from the Academy not long ago, was indeed the highest-ranking commander in the village currently.
The situation reversed instantly. Hidden Leaf ninjas who hesitated to obey Danzo's order before dismissed the idea one after another.
Danzo looked weird. He didn't expect Shinji, this Uchiha, to play this game with him.
Observing the changes in the mentality of all surrounding Hidden Leaf ninjas, Shinji smiled slightly: "The Third Hokage died in battle. Before the Fifth Hokage returns, I temporarily take over the village defense as the Captain of the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force. All Hidden Leaf ninjas staying in the village must obey my orders. Violators... die!"
Shinji's calm words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
Hidden Leaf ninjas gathered around the Military Police Building looked at each other, finally all lowered their heads. No one raised doubts, tacitly accepting the fact that Shinji temporarily became the person in charge of the village.
At this time, Sasuke came to Shinji's side, looking at Danzo hatefully, and said: "Shinji, let me kill him!"
Danzo panicked a little, retreating two steps: "I am the village's advisory elder, I am the Second Hokage's disciple! You can't kill me!"