By your own admission, he's done nothing suspicious other than not being a ninja. "
That's the Root of it, isn't it old friend? He embarrassed you. His intelligence gathering embarrassed you.
Really, he embarrassed all of them, a mere civilian. And none of them could wash the insult away without literally destroying the research and killing the man as well as everyone else in the room.
The atmosphere chilled under Danzo's mood.
Hiruzen did not back down. It was hardly unreasonable for a civilian to fear overstep, especially in light of laws like the Kyuubi Taboo which the man had broken at several points during his 'defence.
' Particularly while summarising the section on 'potential sabotage by missing-in-action Uchiha survivors or defectors subverted by enemy factions. ' Fugaku had been offended at the insinuation, but a reminder of Madara's late life was as quelling as ever.
Hopefully Danzo would not take this personally like everyth-
"And what of the sensitive secrets he has stumbled upon? Are we to suffer those as well in his defenceless hands?"
There had been one and only point when Hiruzen almost lost his composure and nearly had the man arrested, despite having signed off on the pre-emptive amnesty. Masanari Hanzo had accurately inferred that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son, based purely on his appearance and the fact that Hiruzen had 'chosen the soft approach to inculcating the Will of Fire philosophy'.
The man dared question his intentions towards Naruto – the words had cut surprisingly deep – in the same breath that he pointed out how Naruto was publicly ostracised and vilified since before his pranking days, despite his close relation with Hiruzen. Which was apparently 'clear evidence of a conflict of interests on the matter so great in scope as to dictate the conduct of the entire Ville Hidden in the Leaf, from the lowest civilian to the highest ninja.
'
That was bad enough, but the man had also deduced Kushina's identity as the previous Kyuubi jinchuriki based on Minato's known relationship with her, his choice of vessel, and the timing of Mito's demise right after Kushina's arrival to Konoha. Then, as if half of everyone on the other side of the stands wasn't itching to have him permanently silenced already, the man went and theorised sabotage by third parties during Kushina's birth.
Based purely on the superlative sealing expertise of both Naruto's parents, the vitality of the Uzumaki, and the lack of Kyuubi rampage during Mito's own childbirth.
And then, to add injury to insult, the man afforded barely a page to speculating on the potential aims of such a third party, the intelligence gathering capabilities – or insider knowledge – needed to know when and how to strike, and the likely abilities required to overcome the Yellow Flash – including space-time manipulation that, notably, none of the Uchiha still in the village actually possessed at the time. Instead, the man moved on with a brief 'but this is beyond the competence of this researcher to speculate and beyond the scope of this thesis besides'.
Ibiki had smiled.
Hiruzen hadn't.
That at least half the Konoha leadership needed a mere civilian to spell that out to them was absolutely galling.
"To be quite honest," Nara Shikaku suddenly said amidst the tension. "The fact that Masanari expects Konoha to punish good service instead of rewarding it has me wondering where we failed.
"
Fugaku pounced immediately on that oblique shot against Danzo, starting a whole new rush of arguments. Hiruzen left them to it and looked grimly at Tobirama's portrait.
Did you know this would happen? He looked to the Fourth's frame next. What didn't you have time to tell me, Minato?
"Lord Hokage," Koharu called just as the tension was about to snap into shouting like they'd barely managed to avoid since that first, disastrous afternoon at the start of this mess. "What have you decided?"
I want this man on my staff, Hiruzen groused internally. He might actually know what peace looks like.
A vain hope, but it was nice to dream. "There is hardly anything to say that has not been said and re-said.
What remains is to determine how the relevant parties act on this information. "
Hiruzen looked at Fugaku then.
Fugaku tossed Danzo one last glare, frowned and pursed his lips as he looked down at his copy of the Masanari Treatise. Glancing at the page, Hiruzen saw it to be the much debated and controversial 'Predictions' section.
Hiruzen turned the pages on his own version and skimmed the words for the dozenth time. The scenarios most likely to occur according to current projections.
Alienation. Defection.
Exodus. Aggressive action.
Bloody counter action. Internal schism.
Violent schism. Coup d'etat.
Failed coup d'etat. Pre-emptive decapitation strike.
Failed decapitation strike. Consequences the same in all cases, different only in the degree of severity.
Moral failure for Konoha, moral Failure for Uchiha, diplomatic failure for both sides, loss of life, collateral damage, unrelated casualties even if the Konoha Military Police does not take advantage of its position to hold Konoha's general populace hostage, all scenarios will foment worry among other clans about being similarly suppressed and purged. Total war unlikely to conclude without survivors that will harbour resentment and betray Konoha to other factions, will eliminate the Sharingan as an asset and/or let hundreds of sharingan eyes to fall in the hands of bad actors, loss of major strategic deterrent will invite overstep by independent actors and any clandestine organisations seeking to fill the vacuum.
Total war will lead to either Konoha's destruction or a complete Uchiha Massacre, butchery of countless men and women and children, worst case scenario, avoid at all costs.
Study limitations: the thesis perspective may be influenced by the researcher's personal bias that 'all costs' does not include 'moral costs,' as there are no moral costs, only losses. Disclaimer: this researcher does not presume to dictate Konoha ninja policy or culture.
Hiruzen looked from the binder to Fugaku. He wondered what the man was thinking.
He wondered what it said about himself that he didn't instantly dismiss the possibility that he would ever order such a thing. He wondered what it meant that he was nonetheless determined not to push things to that point but....