"Minato Namikaze" watched the stunned Konoha elites in silence.
Even Danzo, unwilling and fearful, had sat back down in his seat, staring at this civilian Hokage who now felt completely different.
Just moments ago, Minato had addressed him directly as "Danzo," without the slightest respect.
That alone made Danzo's expression darken.
After all, the real Fourth Hokage had always called him Danzo sama.
"That masked man called himself Uchiha Madara," Brook said coldly through Minato's face. "His Mangekyo Sharingan grants a very strange space time ninjutsu."
"For Konoha's safety, I have decided to select elite shinobi to form a Konoha Security Guard. They will answer only to me and exist specifically to deal with that masked space time user."
"You can consider them my personal guard."
Brook sneered inwardly.
It had already been more than a year since Minato became the Fourth Hokage, yet the ANBU was still effectively controlled by Hiruzen. Minato did not even have his own personal guard force.
Most of the time, the Third Hokage had used Kushina's pregnancy as an excuse, telling Minato to stop worrying about politics and spend more time with his wife.
Hiruzen had even arranged for his own wife, Biwako, to stay close to Kushina, and often pushed various duties onto Minato in a way that greatly slowed down his takeover of Konoha's political machinery.
So at present, the only person Minato could truly trust and use was Kakashi Hatake.
His only direct subordinate in the ANBU.
When Kushina had gone into labor, Minato had only sent one shinobi, Kakashi, to the secret birthing site for protection.
"Fourth Hokage," Danzo said, narrowing his eyes. "Are the elite ANBU not enough for you?"
He had already sensed Minato's intent to seize power.
Drawing elite troops?
Wouldn't that also mean drawing from Root?
Now that Hiruzen was dead, Danzo still wanted to take control of the ANBU.
He immediately shot meaningful glances at his two old partners, Koharu and Homura.
This civilian Hokage wants to take power. If you two still want to keep your authority, help me press this yellow haired brat down and turn him into a puppet.
"Yes," Brook said flatly. "Not enough."
"Oh, and by the way, I think Uchiha Shisui's strength is excellent. His and Kakashi's talent are obvious to everyone. Both of them are among the candidates I've chosen for the Security Guard."
His Haki pressed down on Danzo and the other two as he spoke, forcing the words into the room like iron nails.
"What?!"
Not only Danzo cried out.
Even Uchiha Fugaku's face changed and he shouted in shock.
No one had expected the Fourth Hokage to openly pull an Uchiha into his direct line.
The Hokage's personal guards were all future powerhouses, and more importantly, they were among the clearest candidates for future Hokage positions.
Among the Second Hokage's six bodyguards, if Uchiha Kagami had not died young, perhaps he would now hold authority like Koharu and Homura did as senior advisors.
"No! Uchiha Shisui already belongs to Root!" Danzo gritted his teeth and spoke through the pressure crushing the room. "His grandfather, Uchiha Kagami, was my good friend. I'll personally teach him!"
Danzo had long since set his sights on Shisui's eyes.
That kid was monstrously talented and had already awakened the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan.
That was why, despite his youth, Uchiha Shisui had earned the title of "Shisui of the Body Flicker" during the Third Shinobi War.
Did Shisui think he had hidden it well?
Danzo had noticed long ago.
So Shisui had to remain in his hands, even if that meant openly defying the Fourth Hokage.
"Yes, Minato. There is no need for an Uchiha in your personal guard," Koharu said immediately.
"We can choose a jonin from the Hyuga clan instead," Homura added. "The Uchiha already manage the Konoha Police Force. Stop drawing from their ranks."
"Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Brook's tone turned colder.
"Listen carefully."
"Danzo, Koharu, and Homura did nothing during the Nine Tails Rebellion."
"I have decided to strip Danzo of his position as Root's leader and remove Koharu and Homura from their posts as senior advisors."
He slowly rose from his seat and adjusted his Hokage robe.
Then the room was crushed again under another burst of Haki.
"Who objects?"
Not a single person dared speak.
The pressure suffocated the entire hall.
"How dare you…"
Koharu was the first to snap.
The old woman surged to her feet in anger and shouted in protest.
Brook moved.
Smack.
The slap sent her flying.
Teeth and blood sprayed through the air as she smashed through the wall, her life and death unknown.
The room froze.
Every shinobi present felt a chill stab through their heart.
How had Minato become this fierce?
He had just struck a senior advisor.
Could Kushina's death really have changed him this much?
"Trash do not deserve those seats," Brook said calmly, rubbing his palm as though her face had actually hurt his hand. "Nara Shikaku, are you interested in taking one of them?"
A stick in one hand.
A carrot in the other.
Crush the disobedient garbage.
Promote the capable and obedient.
"Minato Namikaze!" Homura roared as he shot to his feet. "How dare you strike an advisor?! We have the right to remove a dictatorial Hokage like you!"
"Noisy."
Smack.
Another slap.
Homura spat blood and flew out of the room just like Koharu, which made the hearts of everyone present tremble even harder.
Brook smiled and looked directly at Danzo, whose eyes were already bloodshot.
Then he swept his gaze over the clan heads, many of whom were beginning to calculate whether they could seize those vacant advisor positions.
"Say it again," Brook said softly. "Who objects? Who supports?"
Then his gaze locked onto Danzo.
"Shimura Danzo, do you intend to object as well?"
He pointed toward the broken wall.
"Look at those two former advisors. They couldn't even block a single slap. With strength like that, what qualifications do they have to stand at the top of Konoha?"
"If you think you are capable, then prove it. If you don't prove it, how am I supposed to know you have enough ability to keep controlling Root?"
"Just like in this Nine Tails disaster. You arrived so late. It seems you are truly old, dull, and no longer fit for that position."
Danzo ground his teeth so hard they almost cracked.
Were the other clan leaders any faster?
Hadn't they all failed to arrive in time too?
Why was Minato targeting only the three senior leaders?
The clan heads and senior jonin present also broke out in cold sweat.
As expected, Kushina's death and the delayed response from Konoha's senior shinobi had completely changed the Fourth Hokage's temperament.
"I made great contributions in the Second and Third Shinobi Wars," Danzo said, forcing himself to calm down under Brook's pressure. "Hokage, are you really going to erase all of our achievements simply because support came late and our combat power proved insufficient?"
"I believe I am still fully capable of handling Root."
He did not attack.
He argued.
Because even Danzo could feel it now.
The "Minato" standing before him was no longer someone he could casually suppress.
-------------
Brook did not care about Danzo's stubborn resistance.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had allowed Danzo to carry out so many filthy and forbidden acts over the years that Brook had more than enough material to play with.
His gaze shifted toward Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, who rarely appeared before the public.
After losing to Minato Namikaze in the race to become the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru had thrown himself completely into human experimentation. Danzo had been the one supplying him with abducted test subjects and financial support.
"Danzo," Brook said in Minato's voice, calm and cold, "your contribution to Konoha is real. But you even dared to steal the First Hokage's corpse and use it in human experiments, all to obtain Hashirama's Wood Release physique."
"That is an unforgivable crime."
"And now you're still trying to make excuses?"
The moment "Minato" exposed such a massive secret in front of the entire room, both Danzo and Orochimaru felt their scalps go numb.
They had been exposed.
"Namikaze Minato!" Danzo roared, immediately biting back. "You're framing me! You're inventing lies like this just to seize power!"
"No, no, no," Brook said with a faint smile. "There should still be a child in Root right now who successfully received the First Hokage's cells, right? What's his codename again?"
"[A], wasn't it?"
Then Brook's expression changed instantly, and he gave an order to every clan head and senior ninja present.
"Shimura Danzo stole the remains of the First Hokage and conducted illegal human experiments, killing countless villagers in the process. He also failed to provide proper support during the Nine Tails Rebellion."
"Everyone, hear my order!"
"Capture him!"
After giving the order, "Minato" did not personally move against Danzo.
He simply sat back down and watched.
Now he wanted to see whether these so called loyal Konoha elites would truly obey the Hokage's command.
Uchiha Fugaku and several Uchiha were the first to move.
Danzo had targeted the Uchiha clan for years. Their patience had long since run dry. Now they finally had the chance to attack him openly.
The moment the Uchiha moved, the Ino Shika Cho trio exchanged brief glances and joined the fight.
After all, the Fourth Hokage had just shown goodwill toward Nara Shikaku, and now that two advisor seats were about to open up, they had every reason to act.
Once Shikaku moved, the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans also made their choice. They rose in succession and joined the attack, following the Hokage's order to take down Konoha's dark root.
In an instant, Danzo became the common enemy of nearly every major family in Konoha.
Even he went numb for a second.
"Namikaze Minato!" Danzo shouted furiously while being hammered from all directions. "You have no evidence! You can't move against me like this!"
Of course he said that.
But by now, everyone in the room had already made up their minds.
Evidence or not, Danzo had to die.
After all, a man like Danzo stealing Hashirama's corpse was almost too believable.
Seeing all the clan heads attacking with killing intent, Danzo understood that there was no way back.
"Orochimaru! Help me break out!"
He dragged Orochimaru into it without hesitation, glaring resentfully at Minato, who was still watching from his seat.
With two Kage level fighters working together, their chances of escaping Konoha would be far better.
Then Danzo roared toward the room.
"Namikaze Minato! Konoha has already lost Hiruzen, one of its Kage level pillars! The Nine Tails jinchuriki is useless now, and you're forcing Orochimaru and me, two more Kage class fighters, into rebellion!"
"You're dragging Konoha into ruin!"
For all his greed and ambition, Danzo did not truly want to see Konoha destroyed.
And his words did create a brief ripple of hesitation among the clan heads.
Especially once Orochimaru was named.
That was one of the Sannin.
One of Konoha's true strategic pillars.
Had Konoha really been brought back to its weakest era in a single night?
At that moment, Orochimaru, face cold and unreadable, was just about to move.
Then "Minato" placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Orochimaru," Brook whispered softly, his terrifying soul pressure freezing Orochimaru's thoughts in place. "If you still want to study immortality, sit quietly."
This completely unfamiliar and overpowering force stunned even Orochimaru, the man famous for surviving any situation through endless escape methods.
He had never felt a pressure like this before.
The Fourth Hokage standing beside him felt like a completely different person.
In that instant, countless thoughts rushed through Orochimaru's mind.
Was this cold, terrifying existence really the same Minato Namikaze known as Konoha's gentle little sun?
Seeing the Fourth Hokage suppress one of the Sannin with a single move, the other clan heads no longer had any reservations.
They attacked without restraint.
Konoha was the strongest shinobi village in the world. Danzo, even if he was Kage level, could not withstand the combined force of all these elite jonin and clan leaders.
The coordinated attack of the Ino Shika Cho trio alone was enough to pressure a Kage class fighter.
Now add Uchiha elites with the Sharingan and Hyuga elites with the Byakugan, and Danzo was quickly driven into a desperate corner.
"Namikaze Minato!" Danzo roared in grievance and fury, blood covering his body. "You will destroy Konoha! I'll die here today to prove my innocence!"
He actually tried to look wronged, as if he were the victim.
"Stop acting," Brook said lightly while still pressing down on Orochimaru's shoulder. "Danzo, you have a transplanted Sharingan, and you know the Uchiha forbidden technique, Izanagi."
"You want to fake your death and escape?"
"No chance."
The words stunned everyone in the room.
Brook had already left a permanent Flying Thunder God mark on Orochimaru while holding him in place, and even added a soul coordinate mark for good measure.
Orochimaru could slither away if he wanted.
Brook would still find him.
As for Danzo, Brook had just ripped his hidden cards out into the open.
"What?! Danzo has our Sharingan?!"
Uchiha Fugaku's face changed immediately. His gaze shot toward the bandaged right side of Danzo's face.
So that was why.
Even more shocking, many Uchiha did not even know the details of Izanagi themselves.
How had Danzo learned it?
Danzo stared at "Minato" in total disbelief.
Why did the Fourth Hokage know his secrets this clearly?
"Don't come any closer!" Danzo tore at his clothes and exposed the Four Symbols Seal carved into his body. "Or I'll drag you all down with me! Don't force me to activate the Reverse Four Symbols Seal!"
That threat made the clan heads jump back instantly.
No one wanted to be dragged into an unreasonable mutual death with this lunatic.
They all knew what that sealing jutsu could do.
It could swallow and seal everything nearby without mercy.
At that moment, "Minato" slowly stood up from Orochimaru's side and smiled gently.
"Then let me show you a forbidden sealing technique I just improved."
"A version of Shiki Fuujin with no side effects."
He raised both hands and began rapidly forming seals.
[Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram, Horse, Snake]
But this time, after finishing the seals, instead of clasping his hands together like before, he extended both middle fingers and pointed them straight at Danzo.
Behind him, a massive Death God appeared.
The moment it emerged, everyone in the room went pale.
The Fourth Hokage…
Was he really pulling out his ultimate move over a disagreement?
Was this truly the deadly forbidden technique, Shiki Fuujin?
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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