The plan Shimura Danzō proposed was not an impulsive decision.
It was a strategy he had carefully thought through.
In Danzō's view, after decades of rule under Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha had inevitably inherited some of Hiruzen's personal flaws.
The biggest of these was the tendency to compromise for the so-called greater good.
The village leadership, led by Hiruzen, had long developed the habit of making concessions once a situation had already become an established fact—simply to prevent things from deteriorating further.
As the saying goes: those who stay near vermilion become red, those near ink become black.
Under this top-down influence, the entire village had gradually become accustomed to acting according to this same pattern.
Because of that, Danzō was certain of one thing:
If he struck swiftly and eliminated Hiruzen, Koharu Utatane , and Homura Mitokado, the rest of the village would inevitably hesitate.
And hesitation leads to defeat.
At that moment, if he produced the "evidence" of crimes committed by the three of them, the shinobi of the village—unwilling to see Konoha fall into deeper internal conflict—would naturally accept the explanation he provided.
As for that evidence…
Danzō had already prepared it long ago.
It included not only proof that Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura had embezzled village resources and abused their authority, but also many matters that actually implicated Danzō himself.
Once those three were dead, Danzō could simply shift all the blame onto them.
He could even attribute his own unauthorized actions to their orders.
After all—
dead men cannot defend themselves.
Whatever he said would become the truth.
Uchiha Ren pondered for a moment. Instead of refusing directly, he spoke calmly.
"Elder Shimura, tomorrow's election is a major event for the village."
"Even excluding the Jōnin stationed on border defense, there will still be close to one thousand Jōnin attending."
"With only the Uchiha clan and your Root forces, it's practically impossible to hold them back."
"At most, we could delay them for a few minutes."
Ren looked straight at him.
"Are you confident you can eliminate Hiruzen and the others within those few minutes?"
Frankly, Ren wasn't optimistic about Danzō's plan.
Even though Hiruzen was already old, a Kage-level shinobi was still a Kage-level shinobi.
Without someone at the super-Kage tier or Six Paths level, defeating such a fighter quickly was extremely difficult.
And more importantly—
Danzō might not even be stronger than Hiruzen.
But Danzō seemed extremely confident.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"I never expected the Uchiha to hold them off completely."
"You only need to create a momentary opening."
"My Root has several specialists with unique abilities. Individually they may not be Jōnin, but together they can stall thousands of Jōnin."
"Then as long as your Uchiha forces hold off Namikaze Minato and Jiraiya, the rest will be left to me."
Ren's eyes flickered.
His gaze drifted toward Danzō's right eye and right arm, both wrapped in bandages.
Danzō's original right eye had been gouged out personally by Ren.
However, that didn't rule out the possibility that Danzō had implanted another Sharingan.
Mangekyō Sharingan were rare, but three-tomoe Sharingan?
Danzō definitely still had some in reserve.
As for Danzō's right arm—
Ren had cut it off completely before.
At that time, Danzō had not yet transplanted the infamous arm implanted with Hashirama's cells and multiple Sharingan.
But now, the situation was probably different.
When Ren severed his arm before, it had been cut cleanly at the shoulder.
Yet although Danzō's current right arm was wrapped in bandages and hung against his chest, the arm clearly existed again.
In other words—
The current Danzō was likely his "complete form."
In terms of combat power, a Danzō with multiple spare lives was undoubtedly much stronger than before.
The presence of Hashirama's cells would also enhance his chakra and allow him to use some Wood Release techniques.
If Hiruzen did not know this information, he might truly suffer a major setback.
After all—
A shinobi's battle is often a battle of intelligence.
Right now, Hiruzen knew very little about Danzō's current capabilities.
But Danzō knew Hiruzen inside and out.
After a moment of contemplation, Ren spoke again.
"We can try it."
"But first you must tell me how you plan to block the village's Jōnin."
"Otherwise, I won't risk dragging the entire Uchiha clan into this."
Danzō didn't hide anything.
"Have you heard of the Four Violet Flames Formation?"
If Ren hadn't asked further questions, Danzō might actually have grown suspicious.
After all, rebellion meant risking one's head.
If Ren had agreed blindly without understanding the plan, it would either mean he was foolish—or that he had ulterior motives.
So Danzō had already prepared to reveal some details.
"Four Violet Flames Formation?"
Ren was naturally familiar with the barrier.
In the original history, Orochimaru had used the same barrier to hold off Konoha's entire force while he assassinated Hiruzen.
Above it was an even stronger variant—the Four Crimson Flames Formation.
That version required four Kage-level shinobi to activate and was powerful enough to withstand even the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
Using the Four Violet Flames Formation, it was indeed possible to block most of Konoha's shinobi.
After thinking for a moment, Ren finally spoke.
"The Uchiha clan can help create an opening for you to deploy the barrier."
"But we will not fight Konoha's shinobi to the death."
"We can also help stall Minato and Jiraiya, but we won't completely break relations with them."
"At most, we'll delay them for ten minutes."
"And one more thing."
Ren's eyes gleamed slightly.
"The Uchiha clan will never acknowledge any cooperation with you."
"You understand what I mean, Elder Shimura?"
Although Ren spoke as if he were distancing himself, in reality he was already calculating another possibility.
Let Danzō kill Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura.
Then he could step in under the banner of protecting the Hokage and suppressing rebellion, eliminate Danzō and Root, and purge Konoha's entire leadership—the so-called Konoha's Four Elders—in one stroke.
The feasibility of this plan was actually very high.
But there was one prerequisite:
Danzō had to defeat Hiruzen first.
"Agreed!" Danzō said immediately.
"Ten minutes is more than enough."
"Then it's settled."
He stood up and prepared to leave.
Ren's conditions sounded strict, but strangely they made Danzō feel more reassured.
Ren smiled as he escorted him out.
Inside, however, he was already looking forward to tomorrow's Hokage election.
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