"I know it's already too late to say any of this now, so I've come to terms with it. I don't care how you decide to deal with me."
"If you need me to cooperate with you in anything, as long as it doesn't harm the village, I will do everything in my power to assist you."
After a long silence, Shimura Danzō finally spoke and made his position clear.
"Oh?"
Ren's eyes flickered.
"You trust us that easily?"
To be honest, although Danzō's attitude was extremely sincere at this point, Ren still had his doubts.
Given the relationship between Ren and Danzō, even if Danzō had truly seen the error of his ways and regretted his crimes, he shouldn't have been willing to trust the Uchiha so readily.
Danzō slowly shook his head.
"I don't trust you. I don't trust the Uchiha."
"I trust Minato."
Danzō's words stunned everyone present. Almost instinctively, they all turned to look at Minato.
Even Minato himself was confused. He pointed at himself.
Surely his relationship with Danzō wasn't that good?
Danzō continued, "I admit that from the very beginning, ever since Teacher Tobirama took control of the village, Konoha's attitude toward the Uchiha clan was indeed somewhat excessive."
"When Teacher Tobirama established the Konoha Military Police Force and confined the Uchiha clan within a limited sphere, he was already guarding against the Uchiha."
"And Danzō, Hiruzen, and the other disciples of Teacher Tobirama inherited his intentions and became even more wary of the Uchiha clan."
"But it cannot be denied that your Uchiha clan did have reasons to warrant caution."
"Proud, self-important, eager for recognition, hot-tempered..."
"Combined with the special nature of your bloodline, wherever you are, you can become a potential threat to the stability and harmony of that place."
"You need to be treated differently."
After a pause, Danzō added, "Of course, that's not what I mean by 'treated differently.' Teacher Tobirama simply chose the wrong method from the very beginning."
"Your Uchiha clan does indeed have certain problems with its temperament. But in my eyes, you're more like a group of children who never properly grew up."
"Frank, innocent, tsundere..."
"And precisely because of that, you can be so irritating."
"So using confrontation against you would only provoke you and make you develop a rebellious mentality."
"On the contrary, if you were guided through gentler methods, the Uchiha clan would undoubtedly become the village's greatest asset."
Ren, Minato, and Yashiro exchanged awkward glances.
Although Danzō's assessment sounded somewhat strange, there was actually some truth to it.
The Uchiha weren't particularly good at reading social situations, and there was indeed a somewhat childish side to their personalities.
They also tended to respond poorly to force but well to kindness.
As long as you didn't provoke an Uchiha, they might look down on you, but they generally wouldn't bully you. In fact, if they considered you a comrade, they might even protect you.
Danzō's summary was surprisingly perceptive.
Danzō continued, "And precisely because the Uchiha possess such an 'innocent' temperament, they're also particularly susceptible to manipulation by people with ulterior motives."
"The reason the Uchiha clan and the village ended up in such a terrible state before was because of actions taken by Hiruzen, myself, and others."
"After realizing this, I actually have quite a bit of confidence in the Uchiha clan."
"But you're different."
At this point, Danzō stared directly into Ren's eyes.
"Uchiha Ren, you're an anomaly among the Uchiha."
"You possess the characteristic flaws of the Uchiha clan, but you also possess something the Uchiha generally lack."
"Intelligence."
"Even I was completely manipulated by you. Who knows what the Uchiha clan might do under your leadership?"
Ren chuckled.
"So you can't trust me because you feel that I played you?"
"No."
Danzō shook his head.
"Once your methods are exposed, there's actually nothing particularly impressive about them. I was simply already trapped in the game at the time, blinded by my obsession with becoming Hokage, and therefore failed to notice the abnormalities."
"No. More precisely, I eventually realized that something was wrong."
"But by then, I had already placed all my chips on the table. I had no way out."
"Even when I had doubts, I could only pretend not to see them and gamble everything on a single outcome."
"But that's not why I can't trust you now."
"What truly prevents me from trusting you is your vision, your objective, and your ambition."
Ren raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"You know what my goal is?"
Danzō shook his head.
"No. But I wouldn't say I know nothing."
After a pause, Danzō explained, "Everything began to change after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, when you returned to the village and became the Uchiha clan head."
"No."
"Perhaps it began even earlier."
"It's just that you operated from the shadows back then. It wasn't until you returned to the village after the Third Shinobi World War that you began to reveal yourself and formally entered our field of vision."
"Of course, from the standpoint of the Uchiha clan, there is nothing wrong with what you've done."
"But your attitude is extremely suspicious."
"Your Uchiha clan currently possesses at least four Mangekyō Sharingan."
"That level of power is already far beyond what we possess."
"If your only goal were to resolve the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village, it would be ridiculously easy for the Uchiha to accomplish that now."
"Even if you chose the most brutal method and launched an armed coup d'état directly, your chances of success would be close to one hundred percent."
"The difficult part would merely be dealing with the aftermath."
"But you haven't done that."
"Or rather, you have already resolved that problem, but only as a side effect."
"Your true objective is definitely far greater than that."
"And aside from resolving the conflict between the Uchiha and the village, the greatest obsession of the Uchiha clan has always been the position of Hokage."
"But judging from your attitude, you're not even pursuing the position of Hokage."
"Yet someone like you would never willingly remain beneath someone else."
"Whatever you're after must therefore be even greater than becoming Hokage."
Danzō smiled.
"How many goals in this world could possibly be greater than becoming Hokage?"
"Although I don't know your exact objective, I can still make a fairly accurate guess."
"For someone like you, the village is nothing more than a pawn."
"An instrument you can use to achieve your own goals."
"So, from the standpoint of the village, I can't easily trust you."
Ren looked at the confident Danzō and couldn't help feeling somewhat impressed.
Danzō truly deserved his reputation as the leader of Root, the "Darkness of the Shinobi World."
From nothing more than a few clues, he had already deduced quite a lot.
But Ren had no intention of explaining himself.
There was no need to explain anything to Danzō.
Danzō wasn't waiting for an answer anyway.
"But Minato is different."
"Although he also deceived me and Hiruzen, I am certain that this was your doing as well, Uchiha Ren."
Danzō looked toward Minato.
Minato gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head.
Danzō smiled as well.
"I trust that I am not mistaken about people. Hiruzen wasn't mistaken about people either."
"Minato Namikaze's position is unquestionably on the side of the village."
"Even if Minato has reached an agreement with you, that only means your plans won't harm the village."
"Minato would never allow you to do anything that would harm the village."
"So I'm willing to cooperate with you."
"I see."
Ren nodded.
"You guessed correctly. My goal isn't limited to the village, but it won't cause the village any harm either."
"Likewise, Minato would indeed never do anything harmful to the village."
"But his goal is the same as mine."
"We're kindred spirits."
Danzō was stunned.
Then a bitter smile appeared on his face, accompanied by a trace of nostalgia.
"Kindred spirits..."
"This old man once had companions like that too."
Danzō shook his head.
"But greed for profit clouded our judgment. The pursuit of power blinded us."
"I fell because of my obsession."
"Hiruzen fell because of power."
"Koharu and Homura fell because of their interests."
"There are simply too many things in this world that can influence a person's heart."
"I only hope that the two of you can always preserve your original ideals."
Danzō was filled with emotion.
Back when they had served under the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, they had all been passionate young men like Ren and Minato.
They had been filled with ambition, with their hearts devoted solely to the village and the Hokage, unmoved by worldly temptations.
But after Hiruzen Sarutobi was suddenly thrust into the position of Third Hokage during a crisis, they gradually lost sight of their original ideals.
One by one, they fell.
At the time, Konoha was facing internal and external crises.
Externally, the war had not yet ended, and the other villages were watching Konoha like hungry predators.
Internally, the major clans of the village, including the Senju and Uchiha, were deeply dissatisfied with Hiruzen's sudden succession.
After all, even the Second Hokage had no authority to unilaterally designate the next Hokage.
The external threat was easy enough to deal with.
They simply had to fight.
At the time, Konoha was unquestionably the strongest shinobi village in the world. Even without Hashirama Senju, the Senju clan remained, and so did the Uchiha clan.
They had nothing to fear from any other village.
The internal crisis, however, could not be solved through brute force.
So they had no choice but to employ certain methods to silence the opposition.
Fortunately, Konoha still had Uzumaki Mito, a pillar capable of holding up the heavens and supporting the earth.
With Mito's support, they survived the most difficult initial period.
Afterward came the purging of rivals and the reclaiming of power.
Through their combined efforts, the Senju clan gradually faded into history, while the Uchiha clan was pushed out of Konoha's political center.
Before long, Konoha was effectively controlled by the four of them and those close to them.
Once they had experienced how convenient those methods were, they gradually became accustomed to ruling the village through them.
The entire Konoha became a place where the four of them had the final say.
And from there, Konoha began its decline.
Thinking about it now, perhaps that was why Chōza Akimichi withdrew from politics after the war, relinquished the power in his hands, and returned to his clan to live out his remaining years.
Perhaps he had already sensed what was happening.
Danzō smiled bitterly.
What he had failed to understand back then was simply too late to comprehend now.
Danzō shook his head and stopped dwelling on the past.
"None of that matters anymore."
"I accept the public execution three days from now."
"It is what I deserve."
"For these final three days, is there anything you need me to do?"
At this point, Danzō had only one thought left in his heart.
To atone for his sins.
Ren shook his head.
"There isn't anything we need you to do."
"It's fine that you've accepted your fate. Just leave things as they are."
Ren felt a little regretful.
Danzō was clearly completely broken now, so Ren's attempt to destroy him psychologically had ultimately been pointless.
"No. This old man can still be useful."
Danzō took the initiative to speak when Ren rejected him.
"The Root shinobi haven't done anything wrong. They were simply following orders."
"They are all Konoha shinobi."
"Some of the Root shinobi are stubborn and won't accept the village's offer of amnesty."
"But they will obey my orders."
"Give me a chance, and give them a chance as well."
"Let me persuade them."
"They are innocent."
Danzō's authority within Root was still considerable.
Aside from the Root shinobi bound by cursed seals, there were many who remained fiercely loyal to Danzō.
With Danzō personally stepping in, Ren and Minato could indeed bring Root under their control more efficiently and eliminate some of the hidden dangers threatening Konoha.
Ren looked toward Minato and saw that he agreed.
After pondering for a moment, Ren nodded.
"Fine."
"But you cannot leave this prison cell under any circumstances."
"If you need anything, someone will be sent to handle it for you."
"Thank you."
Danzō had clearly anticipated this answer.
Then he added, "There's something else."
"I have a secret research facility overseas."
"It isn't recorded in Root's archives, and very few people know about it."
"Most of those who knew about it should have died during the coup."
"So you probably don't know about this facility."
"You should send people there as soon as possible."
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
He didn't doubt Danzō's claim.
Although Root's laboratories were insignificant compared with Orochimaru's research facilities, Root had nevertheless developed a number of things through years of research.
For example, Root's research into Hashirama's cells eventually produced biological weapons, which would only begin to emerge into the spotlight during the era of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
So it was only natural that Root possessed certain hidden forces that the village had never discovered.
Danzō continued revealing one secret after another, most of them related to Root.
It appeared that Danzō truly intended to cooperate with Ren and Minato and help them completely dismantle Root.
Ren and Minato were naturally more than happy to see this happen.
What they didn't know, however, was that although Danzō himself had already accepted his fate, a force dedicated to rescuing Shimura Danzō was quietly gathering within the village.
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