Sarutobi Hiruzen had his doubts about Sora. The person who appeared next to Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Miyuki, and Naruto at that time must have been Sora's true form.
Sora had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create four clones and performed the Four Violet Flames Formation barrier technique.
Moreover, Sarutobi Hiruzen found the issues Danzo mentioned quite strange.
There was no doubt about Sora's strength. However, during the Nine-Tails attack, Sora was barely seen by anyone. Hiruzen only knew that Sora claimed to be fighting two invading enemies from beginning to end.
If Sora had joined the fight against the Nine-Tails directly, the beast might not have caused so much destruction.
Because the Sharingan was the natural weakness of the Tailed Beasts.
Therefore, it was impossible for Sarutobi Hiruzen not to have doubts about Yahiko.
And not just Sora—Sarutobi Hiruzen now suspected the entire Uchiha clan.
During the Nine-Tails attack, Sarutobi Hiruzen had wanted to send the Konoha Military Police Force to deal with the Nine-Tails, but Danzo prevented the dispatch of the police.
Danzo believed that if the rampaging Nine-Tails were controlled by the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, the consequences would be disastrous. He also suspected that the Uchiha were behind this incident.
After careful consideration, Sarutobi Hiruzen resolutely accepted Danzo's suggestion and refused to allow the Uchiha clan's involvement in the Nine-Tails incident.
Uchiha Fugaku expressed no objection at the time and accepted Sarutobi Hiruzen's order to guard the villagers instead.
Because of this distrust of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku had not been called to this meeting.
When Sora heard that Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted an explanation, he sneered and said, "I didn't want to explain myself. After all, there's no need to explain anything to an idiot. But since the Third Hokage also wants me to explain, I'll give it a try."
Danzo's eyes almost burst into flames when he heard Sora calling him a fool.
Sora explained: "First, why were all those ANBU killed in one blow? It's because these ANBU shinobi were too weak. My task was to guard the cave, not these weak ANBU."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. Sora's first answer had made him very dissatisfied.
This suggested that when the ANBU were killed, Sora had stood aside and watched. When he saw ANBU being killed, he didn't care at all.
Sora then continued: "As for those two enemies, I recognized one of them. He was a shinobi from Takigakure who once attacked the First Hokage—Kakuzu."
Utatane Koharu was surprised. "Him? Is he still alive?"
Some shinobi sitting there did not know Kakuzu, so Mitokado Homura helped introduce him: "Kakuzu used to be an elite in Takigakure Village. He once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage and was nearly killed, but he managed to escape.
"Later, because Konoha put pressure on Takigakure, they imprisoned Kakuzu.
"Eventually, we heard that Kakuzu escaped from prison and stole a secret kinjutsu that was treasured by Takigakure.
"He used this forbidden technique to steal the hearts of all the high-ranking officials in the village before defecting from Takigakure."
Sora said calmly: "That old man who once attacked the First Hokage and is still alive today is not simple in strength, and his jutsu is quite troublesome.
"There was also a shinobi who was skilled in Water Style jutsu and had amazing chakra reserves. He wielded Samehada, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's blades.
"The third enemy had the most troublesome ability, which is also how he entered the cave without triggering the barrier. He could make his body intangible, allowing any attack to pass through him. He simply phased through the barrier.
"The two shinobi I fought wanted to forcibly destroy the barrier. Miyuki was in labor at the time, so my decision was to block these two while letting the Fourth Hokage deal with the remaining shinobi who could become intangible.
"As for summoning the Nine-Tails..."
Sora looked at Danzo with a mocking smile and said: "If I wanted to summon the Nine-Tails to destroy Konoha, I would have killed the Fourth Hokage instead of helping him control the Nine-Tails and complete the jinchūriki sealing."
After answering, Sora asked Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Well? Is the Third Hokage satisfied with my explanation?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded silently.
Danzo didn't say anything more. Now he could only feel disgust toward Sora.
Danzo was also testing Sarutobi Hiruzen's attitude.
It seemed that Sarutobi Hiruzen was also suspicious of Sora, which would make things easier to handle.
Danzo was confident that he could discredit Sora in Konoha soon enough.
However, Sora wasn't satisfied with giving a simple explanation.
Sora pointed his finger at Danzo: "Third Hokage, I fought with all my heart for Konoha, but your assistant Danzo doubted me so much, which leaves me feeling cold.
"How can the Hokage's assistant so easily doubt the shinobi fighting for the village?
"I didn't see him or his Root operatives during the Nine-Tails attack, but now he jumps out and even suspects me of collaborating with the enemy. If the Third Hokage does not punish Danzo for this, I cannot accept it!"
Danzo shouted: "What are you implying?!"
Sora released a strong killing intent, staring at Danzo with his eyes: "What am I implying? I should be asking what Danzo is implying. It's just suspicion, right? In front of so many people, you question me, a hero of Konoha, demanding explanations from me. Don't you have to pay a price for that?
"I now suspect that Danzo assisted the enemy, passed information about Jinchūriki Uzumaki Miyuki's delivery to the enemy, and helped them break through Konoha's barrier!"
Danzo stood up suddenly: "Do you know what you're saying? This is slander!"
Sora replied coldly: "Slander? Aren't I doing exactly what you did to me?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen said to Sora seriously: "Sora, stop talking nonsense."
Orochimaru suddenly spoke up: "Lord Third, aren't you being a little too biased? Danzo questioned Sora, and you asked Sora to explain, which he did.
"Now it's Sora's turn to question Danzo, and you dismiss it as nonsense?"
Danzo said angrily: "Orochimaru, what were you doing during the Nine-Tails attack? What right do you have to criticize me!"
Orochimaru replied calmly: "I was in my laboratory, of course. I don't hold any official position now. I'm just an ordinary shinobi. As a shinobi, I only execute orders and remain on standby without them. Since no one notified me, I couldn't take action on my own. That's the shinobi code, isn't it?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Sora and Orochimaru solemnly, then announced: "Danzo had no reason to suspect Sora and is confined to his quarters for three days!"
Sora suddenly laughed: "Lord Third, your favoritism is too obvious. Confined for three days? Everyone knows that old man Danzo can stay in his Root headquarters for a month or two without coming out anyway."
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Sora: "Then what do you want?"
Sora said word by word: "Remove Shimura Danzo from his position as the Hokage's advisor, and dissolve Root at the same time!"
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