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Hiruzen Sarutobi may have retired, but the edge in his presence hadn't dulled one bit.
That Danzō had invoked the Second Hokage's name chafed at him, stoking a low fire of irritation.
Danzō, for his part, was seething. He met Hiruzen's gaze head-on. "Fine. You tell me. If you give the Uchiha this chance, and it all blows up in our faces again, who cleans up the mess? You? The retired Third Hokage? Or him?" He jerked a thumb toward the Hokage's desk. "The freshly-minted Fourth?"
Hiruzen took a long, slow drag from his pipe, the silence thick. Truth was, Danzō's scenario gnawed at him too. If the Uchiha were just biding their time, regrouping, returning to their pre-war arrogance… Minato would have a hell of a fight on his hands. But the Third Shinobi World War had bled Konoha dry. Pushing the Uchiha now, when they were backed into a corner, risked an explosion they couldn't contain.
He exhaled a plume of smoke. "Danzō. I understand your concern. But you can't only see the future threat of the Uchiha. Look at Konoha now. We cannot withstand another internal upheaval. Let the village recover. Let stability return. Then we can revisit this. For now… we maintain the status quo."
Danzō's chest heaved. Once. Twice. The man was practically vibrating with suppressed rage. It took him a solid minute to get his breathing back under control, the air in the room turning glacial.
"You're certain?" Danzō's voice was a low rasp. Hiruzen nodded. "Yes. We cannot let the Uchiha issue derail the village's recovery." A bitter, twisted smile touched Danzō's lips. "Of course. The current Hokage is your student's student. Your word is his word. Fine. I'll concede. But on one condition."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "Name it." "If you insist on this inaction," Danzō's voice was sharp with scorn, "we cannot sit idle. We will not repeat past mistakes. We prepare. My proposal: we establish a new department. A counterbalance to the Konoha Military Police Force." Hiruzen puffed his pipe thoughtfully. "A counterbalance?" "Exactly. The Police Force is the source of the Uchiha's prestige, their power within the village. We create a parallel entity. We split its authority. Dilute it. Let every Uchiha think twice, knowing another set of eyes is watching." "And how do you propose to split this authority?" "The Konoha Military Police currently holds three powers: establishing village regulations, maintaining order and security, and apprehending civilians and shinobi with criminal intent. That is too much. Let them keep order and handle civilian arrests. The new department will be responsible for establishing regulations… and for apprehending shinobi with criminal intent."
Hiruzen's eyes became slits. "Apprehending shinobi. This is still about targeting the Uchiha, Danzō." "If no Uchiha breaks the law, how can it target them?" Danzō's retort was icy. "You claim they've changed. Yet you don't trust them either, do you? This is my final line. We either move against them now, or we create this department. Choose."
Another long, heavy silence stretched between them. "…I am retired," Hiruzen said finally. "This is the Hokage's decision to make." Danzō stood abruptly, his face a mask of cold stone. "Then we go to him. Now. This cannot wait. Think on it, Hiruzen. I serve Konoha, same as you. Remember the trouble the Uchiha caused us. Remember it well."
The Hokage's office felt suddenly smaller with the weight of three men's ambitions pressing against its walls.
Hiruzen laid out the debate for Minato, his tone carefully neutral, leaving the final call in the Fourth's hands.
Minato listened, his youthful face set in a serious frown. After a moment, he spoke. "With respect, I believe targeted action against the Uchiha is unnecessary at this time. One of my personal guards is an Uchiha. Shisui Uchiha. His loyalty to Konoha is unquestionable. He serves as a bridge—conveying Clan Head Fugaku's sincere desire to rebuild trust between the clan and the leadership. Shisui provides regular reports. The clan has been… quiet. Compliant. If they are extending an olive branch, should we not meet them with some measure of good faith?"
Danzō's face darkened, a storm cloud ready to burst. 'Fugaku Uchiha is a shrewd man. If he seeks to change the clan's standing, he will likely use Shisui as a conduit to you and Hiruzen. To build a bridge.' Qianyu's words echoed in his mind, every prediction chillingly accurate.
He looked from Minato to Hiruzen, his gaze lingering. If this continued, the village would be wholly theirs. He would be left to rot in the shadows of ROOT forever.
"Trust?" Danzō's voice cut through the room, sharp and hard. "You speak of trust based on two individuals. Fugaku. Shisui. The Uchiha clan numbers in the hundreds! Two outliers emerge, and you are ready to gamble the entire village on it? Have you forgotten? Have you both wiped the slate clean of every transgression, every provocation?"
He leaned forward, planting his hands on the Hokage's desk, his presence overwhelming. "You choose to give them this chance. What is your plan, Hokage-sama, if that trust is betrayed? If they revert? Will you have any leverage left? Any defense? Or will you have left Konoha utterly vulnerable because you believed in the word of two Uchiha?"
He turned his burning gaze to Hiruzen. "And you. Our teacher, the Second Hokage, entrusted this village to you. Is this how you honor that trust? By letting sentiment override security?"
Danzō straightened, delivering his final, damning blow. "I will ask you one last time. Are you both prepared to wager the future of Konoha… on the fleeting, hollow goodwill of the Uchiha?"
The label hung in the air, heavy as a tombstone: Traitors to Konoha.
Minato's brow was deeply furrowed. Hiruzen's expression shifted, uncertainty warring with duty, the ghost of Tobirama's stern face flickering in his mind.
Sinners of Konoha.
Danzō's words, venomous and precise, had found their mark. They had no choice now.
They had to reconsider.
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