Inside the Sarutobi clan compound.
Bang!
Hiruzen Sarutobi led Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado into the reception room of his house. However, as he pushed the door open, he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and slammed the door violently against the wall.
Hiruzen strode to the main seat in the reception room and sat down. Taking out his pipe, he lit it and silently began smoking.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane exchanged glances. After each found a seat and sat down, neither of them spoke first.
Both of them knew that Hiruzen was currently in a fit of anger, so neither wanted to provoke him. They planned to wait until he calmed down before speaking.
Besides, the two of them were also extremely furious and needed some time to settle their own emotions.
After a long while, Hiruzen finally set the pipe down and spoke.
"There are two urgent matters we must deal with as soon as possible."
Although Hiruzen was furious, he had not lost his composure. His earlier silence had actually been spent thinking through countermeasures.
Koharu Utatane's expression turned grave as she ventured a guess.
"Hiruzen, you mean Danzō—"
"No. But it is related to him."
Hiruzen interrupted before she could finish and continued:
"We all know what kind of person Shimura Danzō is. The position of Hokage has become the greatest obsession in his heart."
"On this matter, he will absolutely never compromise. And we cannot yield either. Therefore, there is no possibility of reconciliation between us."
"So there's no need to talk about negotiating with Shimura Danzō. None of us have a path of retreat anymore."
Hearing this, a trace of reluctance flashed across Koharu's face.
The four of them—the so-called Konoha's Four Elders—had fought side by side for many years. And everything they had done was for the village. She truly did not want matters to deteriorate to the point where there was no room left for compromise.
However, Homura Mitokado spoke coldly.
"Hiruzen is right. The conflict between us and Danzō has already become irreconcilable."
"We have blocked his path forward, and he has become an obstacle to ours."
"If reconciliation is possible, it will only be after this matter ends."
"But if we win, perhaps there will be a chance to mend the broken mirror someday."
"If Danzō wins… he will definitely show us no mercy."
Homura's words completely shattered the last trace of luck Koharu had been holding onto.
He was right.
They still retained some emotional attachment toward Shimura Danzō, but whether Danzō had any such feelings toward them was another matter entirely.
Given their understanding of him, he was someone who would truly stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
Now was not the time to be sentimental.
Seeing this, Hiruzen continued speaking.
"Today we failed to prevent Shimura Danzō from becoming a candidate for the Fourth Hokage. That means we have already lost the initiative."
"If Danzō successfully becomes the Fourth Hokage, everything will be over. He will immediately remove us from power, gather all authority into his own hands, and rule through dictatorship."
"And at that point, the village will truly be in danger."
"Even if Danzō fails to become the Fourth Hokage, our situation will still be extremely dangerous."
"The Uchiha clan has established ties with the Fire Daimyō's court. And right now the Uchiha are standing on Danzō's side."
"If Danzō contacts the Daimyō through the Uchiha clan and persuades the court to delay recognition, then even if Minato Namikaze becomes the Fourth Hokage, his position will lack legitimacy and he will be unable to exercise the Hokage's authority."
"Meanwhile, Danzō holds a great deal of incriminating information about our three families. If he is given enough time, he can still drag us down from power."
"When that happens, without our support, Minato Namikaze will absolutely be no match for Shimura Danzō."
"And Konoha will still end up under Danzō's control."
Hiruzen spoke with extreme seriousness, and the expressions of Homura and Koharu grew increasingly grim.
After a long silence, Homura finally spoke.
"Surely things aren't as severe as you say."
"The four of us have worked together for decades. To put it bluntly, we're already intertwined—there is you in me and me in you."
"If we hadn't been concerned about protecting ourselves today, bringing down Danzō wouldn't have been so difficult."
"And by the same logic, it shouldn't be easy for Danzō to bring us down either."
Before the Fourth Hokage election began, although the Konoha's Four Elders occasionally had internal disagreements, they had always presented a united front to the outside world.
Even if certain decisions weren't made together, they had at least informed one another beforehand.
Moreover, most of the shady actions decided by the F4 had actually been carried out by Shimura Danzō personally.
Therefore, in Homura's view, it would be nearly impossible for Danzō to bring them down while keeping himself clean.
"Hmph. Do you really think so?" Hiruzen sneered.
"Have you calculated how many village resources your two families have diverted over the years?"
Homura's expression changed immediately.
"What kind of accusation is that?! We have never embezzled even a single coin from the village! At most we only gave our own clans a little preferential treatment in certain projects!"
"And what do you mean 'our two families'? We treated the Sarutobi clan and the Shimura clan exactly the same!"
"Calm down," Hiruzen said calmly. "We're all on the same side here. There's no need to hide things from each other."
"Your accounting may look flawless, but if someone truly investigates it, can you guarantee that not a single flaw will appear?"
"More importantly, although the benefits were shared among all four families, neither I nor Shimura Danzō ever asked you for anything."
"Everything was done on your own initiative."
Homura's expression became even uglier, and he felt a surge of regret.
Within the Konoha's Four Elders, the authority held by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō leaned toward military power and influence, while the authority of Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane leaned toward administrative control and resource distribution.
Hiruzen and Danzō were effectively the protective backing of Homura and Koharu.
Naturally, the resources controlled by Homura and Koharu had always been shared with both the Sarutobi clan and the Shimura clan.
These matters could never be spoken openly, but over the years everyone had understood it without saying a word.
Koharu spoke again.
"Hiruzen, what exactly are you trying to say? Are you planning to abandon us as well?"
Hiruzen waved his hand.
"You misunderstand me."
"I'll speak frankly now. Although I never openly asked you for anything, I saw the benefits you gave to the Sarutobi clan. By not refusing them, I was already accepting them."
"But Shimura Danzō is different."
"He truly never wanted those benefits."
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