In the Hyuga Clan's Great Elder's room, the air was as thick as overcooked paste, pressing down on everyone's chests, making them feel stifled.
Normally, they wouldn't be this afraid of Danzo, but today they had truly encountered a thorny major problem. A heaven-sent handle had fallen into Danzo's hands.
Everyone froze in place, not daring to make a move, not even daring to breathe heavily, afraid of being misunderstood by the Darkness of the Shinobi World… Shimura Danzo.
Hizashi, as the only Branch Family's member present, was under the most pressure... His mind was filled with the thought, 'Should I just faint?'
But glancing at the expressions of the Main Family's elders, he swallowed the thought, afraid of drawing their attention.
The sound of the cane grew closer, like steel needles piercing their foreheads, making even their molars chatter involuntarily.
Danzo's reputation in Konoha was extremely frightening. Konoha's Shinobi would rather offend the Hokage, Hiruzen, than offend Danzo.
This guy truly held grudges, and he truly used underhanded methods. He played for real. Those who had openly him to death and were still breathing well now, aside from Hiruzen, were only Makoto.
The few exchanged glances. In that instant, they all saw the same word in each other's pupils: 'Divert!'
Not divert the corpse, as no one dared touch the corpse now, lest Danzo misunderstand.
But to go out and greet Danzo, lead him elsewhere. They could hide the corpse for as long as possible.
Just as their feet reached the threshold, Danzo in the distance suddenly twitched his nose, like a dog catching the scent of meat. His single eye gleamed in the shadows.
The nearby Root's member also twitched their noses, all looking in the direction the scent of blood was coming from, their eyes like hawks'.
Danzo nodded twice towards that direction. His cane tapped twice on the bluestone, making a dull 'tok' sound.
Two Root's members instantly turned into afterimages, flickering away without a trace.
Their Body Flicker Technique was used to the limit, the stirred wind rustling the fallen leaves under the eaves.
The Main Family's elders' hands had just touched the doorframe, not yet pulled it open…
Bang!
The next moment, the door panel was kicked open. Wood splinters flew like hidden weapons, grazing Hiashi's cheek and embedding in the wall, poking several holes in the wallboard.
The air froze with a 'crack'. The scene was awkward enough to dig out a three-bedroom apartment. You could hear a pin drop.
Immediately after, Danzo, leaning on his cane, strode in quickly. His black cloak swept over the dust on the threshold, the stirred wind carrying the scent of blood into people's noses, like ice water mixed with iron rust.
His single eye saw the corpse of Kumogakure's Shinobi covered with a straw mat in the corner. His pupils sharply contracted to pinpoints.
Seeing this, even the battle-hardened Danzo's heart skipped a beat. Even he would at most kidnap the Kumogakure's envoy leader, but he never expected the Hyuga Clan to actually kill him.
Utterly lawless! He, Shimura Danzo, would not allow anyone in Konoha to be more badass than him.
But this surprise quickly turned into a cold sneer in his heart, 'Fine, this gives even more reason to discipline them.'
'My Root has been established for so long, and we haven't managed to get any Byakugan for research. How can this be allowed?'
'As for Kumogakure?' Danzo sneered, 'At worst, it meant war!'
He belonged to the absolute hawk faction in Konoha. In his eyes, the ceasefire agreement wasn't even as useful as tissue to wipe his butt.
"Hmph…" Thinking of this, Danzo let out a cold snort.
The surrounding Root's members instantly gripped their sword hilts. Killing intent 'zinged' up like ice shards drilling into the gaps between bones. Even the air trembled, the sense of pressure extremely strong.
Hiashi's Adam's apple bobbed. The saliva he swallowed tasted of iron rust. The force of his fingertips digging into his palms intensified.
The Main Family's Second Elder's face was as white as if painted with whitewash.
The Great Elder opened his mouth, about to say something, but was pinned in place by Danzo's sweeping gaze.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't fear Danzo at all, but now there was trouble...
Danzo's gaze was like a bone-scraping knife, carrying a fierceness that could gouge out one's soul, forcibly blocking back his remaining words into his throat. Even his saliva choked in his windpipe, unable to cough it out or swallow it down.
"The Hyuga Clan, how dare you!"
Danzo's cane suddenly struck the ground, which made the floor tremble.
His voice sounded squeezed from a rusty iron pipe, wrapped in icy coldness: "Kumogakure and Konoha are about to sign a ceasefire agreement, and you actually dare to kill their leader!"
"Do you think not enough Shinobi died in Konoha's Third Shinobi World War? Want to start a war between Konoha and Kumogakure again? Completely destroy Konoha?"
Since that intense 'war of words' with Makoto over half a year ago, Danzo had pondered every word and phrase Makoto said that night.
Now he had honed the skill of 'slapping labels' to perfection. Every sentence now was like a red-hot knife, fiercely stabbing the Hyuga Clan's heart.
The Great Elder stiffened his neck, about to cry injustice.
"I don't want to hear any reasons or excuses. I only believe what I see," Danzo directly interrupted the Great Elder, his cane grinding on the floor.
"Speak directly. How do you plan to resolve this!"
If it were Hiruzen who came, he would definitely discuss it properly. But who was he, Shimura Danzo?
He didn't care at all now who killed the Kumogakure's leader, he just wanted to severely suppress the Hyuga Clan, while letting Root logically and naturally 'borrow' the Byakugan.
Of course, everything he, Shimura Danzo, did was for Konoha!
Unless the Kumogakure's envoy leader was killed by the Uchiha Clan, no matter how much these Hyuga Clan's people talked until they were blue in the face, Danzo would firmly pin this blame on their heads.
Hearing this, Hiashi suddenly clenched his fist. His nails dug into his palms, and he didn't even notice the beads of blood seeping out.
He had long known Danzo was difficult to deal with, but he never expected him to be this overbearing… not even asking, directly passing judgment.
This was clearly using the Kumogakure's envoy as a pretext to completely break the Hyuga Clan's backbone.
The faces of the other Main Family's elders also looked as if stepped on, alternating between green and white, their mouths twitching as if having a fit, yet none made a sound.
With both witness and material evidence present, and the one who came was Danzo...
Danzo's gaze swept over their faces, finally settling on the Great Elder, whose face was red with anxiety.
'This old fool, even now, still wanted to quibble!' Danzo sneered inwardly, 'It seems these old things of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family have lived comfortably for too long, forgetting who truly calls the shots in Konoha.'
He raised his cane, pointing towards the Great Elder: "Didn't you have something to say? Take him down and 'interrogate' him properly. Make him say everything he can and cannot say."
He emphasized 'interrogate' especially heavily, like two red-hot branding irons, scorching the air until it distorted.
The surrounding Root's members responded and stepped forward. The moment their icy hands touched the Great Elder's arms, the old man jumped up as if electrocuted, letting out an 'ow'!
"What are you doing? I am the Hyuga Clan's Main Family's Great Elder!"
The Root's members didn't give a damn about him.
His status only allowed him to do as he pleased within the Hyuga Clan, bullying the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family. Outside the Hyuga Clan, not many would indulge him.
And most importantly, Root's members only followed Danzo's orders. They dared to plan assassinations of the Hokage, and even truly dared to do it.
Dealing with a Hyuga Clan's Great Elder was not a big deal for them.
The remaining Main Family's elders and the Hyuga brothers watched this scene, their expressions turning extremely ugly.
It can be said that Danzo was grinding the Hyuga Clan's face into the dirt.
But no one spoke up. Making a fuss now was purely seeking death. If they wanted to cause trouble, it would have to be after this incident was over.
Soon, the Great Elder's curses came from outside the room, mixed with dragging sounds, scraping across the bluestone like dragging a dead pig.
It startled the sparrows under the eaves, knocking over their nest. Dead branches and broken feathers rustled down.
"No martial virtue! You little bastards actually dare to bully this old man..."
The angry curses, wrapped in spit, drifted in, making the eyelids of those inside twitch like drums. The sweat on the back of their necks soaked their collars dark.
'This Danzo was too much! He truly gave our Hyuga Clan no respect at all!'
When the Great Elder was dragged into an earth-style constructed secret room, seeing that being tough wasn't working, he stiffened his neck and began crying injustice: "I was framed! I didn't kill the Kumogakure's envoy! Someone is trying to frame me!!"
Before the words finished, a Root's member backhanded an elbow strike, hitting him squarely in the stomach. The Great Elder immediately curled up like a shrimp.
These Root's members understood Danzo's intention. They didn't ask anything at all, didn't even use Genjutsu, directly applying the 'Great Memory Restoration Technique'.
For normal Konoha's Shinobi, this level of beating was bearable. But for the Hyuga Clan's Great Elder, who had long stopped being a Shinobi and had lived in comfort for decades, it was too hard to endure.
Thumping sounds came in quick succession, the rhythm fast as if someone was drumming...
Wave after wave of miserable and shrill screams were unending.
The Main Family's Great Elder initially still said he was framed, said he never left his courtyard last night, the corpse of Kumogakure's Shinobi appeared out of thin air.
The Root's members remained silent, only throwing punches.
Before long, the Main Family's Great Elder could no longer hold on. His old bones couldn't take it, and if they continued, he would really die...
He began to 'confess'. Even though he didn't do it, relying on his own astonishing intelligence, he managed to fabricate the murder process with great detail, achieving watertight and self-consistent.
By the end, the Hyuga Clan's Great Elder even started to believe he had done it himself.
But the Root's members still acted as if they didn't hear, continuing to pile on the intensity...
In the end, the Great Elder's screams became hoarse. He was beaten until he lost control of his bowels and bladder several times... At his age, tears and snot covered his face, his hair a messy bird's nest.
He even started to wish for a quick death...
"I confess! I confess everything! All the bad things Konoha has done over the years were done by me!!"
The Root's members remained silent. The Main Family's Great Elder suddenly raised his voice: "The Kyubi Rampage attack! The Kyubi Rampage was also done by me!!"