"Jinchuriki... Naruto?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Danzō and Uchiha Chisen's conflict to involve Naruto.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't particularly believe Danzō's one-sided account.
After all, Danzō had always viewed the Uchiha Clan with prejudice.
"Chisen, you..." As Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Chisen, he suddenly noticed that Uchiha Chisen was still walking towards Danzō, the murderous intent in his Sharingan eyes undiminished.
Sarutobi Hiruzen got a headache. He remembered that once Uchiha Chisen set his sights on someone and acted against them, he would basically cling to them relentlessly.
Until the enemy in his eyes was completely "erased."
He would only stop if he encountered truly insurmountable obstacles.
"Chisen! Wait a moment!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart tightened, and he immediately shouted, "There must be some misunderstanding here. The village also has rules against ninja engaging in excessive private combat! You and Danzō are both Konoha ninja. How can Konoha ninja fight amongst themselves?"
He had no choice but to stand between Uchiha Chisen and Danzō with over a dozen Anbu ninja.
This was to separate the two of them.
"Chisen, do me a favor and let's first clarify what happened," Sarutobi Hiruzen said patiently, looking directly at Uchiha Chisen.
Uchiha Chisen glanced at a red square box floating above the Third Hokage's head, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Then, does Hokage-sama intend to use his power to protect a sinner who obstructs the execution of justice?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen found Chisen's words a bit harsh, but he remained outwardly calm and said patiently, "Chisen, this is just a misunderstanding."
The dozen or so Anbu ninja had already subtly surrounded Uchiha Chisen and Danzō.
"The Hokage is abusing his power to shield those who obstruct justice. I will remember this." Uchiha Chisen deactivated his Lava Release Chakra Warrior Body, and the flowing lava on his body slowly receded.
His pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan also returned to normal black eyes.
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."
He had a strange feeling, sensing that Uchiha Chisen's words weren't a joke but were meant very seriously.
But... he was the Hokage of Konoha. How could Chisen possibly hold him accountable for this?
At most, it would be forgotten as time passed.
Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief. Turning back, he glared at Danzō, "Danzō! Put away your kunai! Do you want this unnecessary conflict to escalate further?"
Danzō: "???"
Why was the Monkey so polite to that inherently evil Uchiha, yet so forceful with him?
This extremely biased behavior...
Made Danzō clench his fists.
After giving Uchiha Chisen a deep, sinister look, Danzō put away the kunai in his hand and said coldly with an unpleasant expression, "Hiruzen, you want to clarify what happened? The evil Uchiha wanted to control the Nine-Tails, and I stopped him. In the process, I sacrificed two capable subordinates. It's that simple."
With that, Danzō gritted his teeth and added resentfully, "If you hadn't suddenly appeared, I would have only needed one minute to kill this evil Uchiha brat!"
Damn it, he had already been forced to expend one Sharingan.
As a result, the Monkey's sudden appearance rendered his one-minute "Izanagi" completely useless.
Even...
He had exposed one of his trump cards to Uchiha Chisen!
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't know what Danzō was thinking. He only focused on the matter of "two subordinates died" that Danzō mentioned.
"Chisen, why did you..."
Just as he was about to ask Uchiha Chisen, he didn't expect Uchiha Chisen to speak indifferently, "Those who obstruct justice are my enemies and should be purged by absolute means!"
"Root attempted to take away the offending Uzumaki Naruto. In my eyes, their obstruction of justice is fostering the growth of 'evil'."
"This is the reason I acted. If Hokage-sama feels this reason is insufficient, he can expel me from the Konoha Military Police Force at any time."
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.
It was just like before. Even before he could ask his question, this child Chisen knew what he wanted to ask and directly provided the answer in advance.
This feeling...
It was as if talking to him, the Hokage, made this child Chisen very impatient.
He selectively ignored Uchiha Chisen's last sentence.
His focus shifted to the phrase "Naruto committed a crime."
In that case, Chisen's and Danzō's accounts conflicted.
Danzō believed Chisen deliberately wanted to control the Nine-Tails.
Chisen, however, seemed to have no such intention, simply believing Naruto had caused trouble and intending to apprehend him.
"Where is Naruto?" Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a moment and asked the Anbu ninja.
Soon.
The Anbu ninja responsible for monitoring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki quickly brought over a terrified Naruto.
Sarutobi Hiruzen crouched down and ruffled Naruto's golden hair, trying to comfort the child this way.
"Naruto, what happened just now? Why did this Konoha Military Police Force officer suddenly arrest you?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen tried to keep his tone gentle.
Naruto instinctively turned to look at Uchiha Chisen, but was so intimidated by the cold gaze that he quickly lowered his head.
Naruto's small face paled, and he stammered, "Hokage Grandpa, I, I think I committed a crime..."
"Today, I played a prank..."
He recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.
In front of Uchiha Chisen, Naruto didn't dare to lie, because that guy would really arrest him and throw him in jail! He had pulled so many pranks before and nothing happened!
Clearly.
Uchiha Chisen's earlier words about arresting Naruto and keeping him locked up for several months had thoroughly scared the child.
Naruto's narration was surprisingly clear, and Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression grew increasingly strange as he listened.
Danzo stood there, stunned.
"... Danzo." Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Danzo with a deep gaze. "As I suspected... all of this was just your malicious speculation! The source of all conflict started with you, didn't it?"
Danzo's expression was worse than eating feces.
He clenched his fists, his face grim.
He remained silent.
"This farce is over! Danzo!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a slightly cold expression. "I will never allow you to view a ninja like Chisen, who is so loyal to the village, through such prejudiced eyes!"
Danzo gritted his teeth. "Then what about my two guards who died?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned, "Isn't all the fault yours?"
Danzo's fists clenched so tightly they made a "crunch" sound. His chest rose and fell unevenly, his expression shifting like unpredictable weather.
"Hmph!!!"
He turned and left in anger.
...
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't try to stop him. After breathing a sigh of relief, he promised Uchiha Chisen, "Chisen, Root really went too far. They wrongly accused you without giving you a chance to explain. Don't worry, I will deal with them later."
Sarutobi Hiruzen paused.
He coughed lightly and said, "I will help Naruto compensate for the damages caused by his prank. As for arresting him and putting him in the Konoha prison... let's just drop this matter. He's still a child, and we can find other ways to teach him a lesson."
Uchiha Chisen's eyes narrowed slightly.
He said something that Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't expected at all: "Is the Hokage also going to obstruct the execution of justice?"
For some reason.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt the atmosphere suddenly become heavy.
Uchiha Chisen slowly said, "Hokage, gentle methods won't educate a brat whose thoughts have gone astray. Only by adhering to Absolute Justice, being strict in all matters, and showing no leniency, can we guide his thoughts back onto the right path and make him a new person."
"Only then..."
"Will we be worthy of the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, won't we?"
...
...
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