Sora attacked Danzo directly in front of everyone, demanding that Sarutobi Hiruzen remove Danzo from his position as Hokage's advisor and disband Root.
Sarutobi Hiruzen flatly refused: "That's impossible. Danzo simply had reasonable doubts, and I know very well what Danzo was doing when the Nine-Tails attacked. I approved his actions."
Sora was like a powder keg ready to explode, attacking anyone who upset him and showing respect to no one.
Currently in Konoha, Sora was second to none, including Sarutobi Hiruzen, both in terms of strength and reputation.
And Sarutobi Hiruzen was just the former Hokage. Although he still held power, Namikaze Minato was officially in charge. In the eyes of shinobi and villagers who didn't know the full situation, Sarutobi Hiruzen was now just a retired old man.
The establishment of the Konoha Defense Force had given Yahiko a prominent position in Konoha and made the villagers no longer fear the Uchiha shinobi. This was what Yahiko had accomplished for them.
When Sora resigned as captain of the Konoha Defense Force and was succeeded by Nara Shinsuke, many villagers were dissatisfied and believed that Sora should have continued in the role.
After all, they had been pushed around by the Uchiha clan for so long, and had finally managed to hold their heads high in front of Uchiha shinobi. But suddenly, the most important person, Sora, was replaced.
After Nara Shinsuke took office, the villagers felt there was no comparison between him and Sora. They thought Nara was too lenient with the Uchiha.
When Sora was in charge, if any Uchiha dared to speak out against the villagers, the Konoha Defense Force would arrest them without hesitation.
It reached the point where during that period, at the slightest hint of a dispute, Uchiha clan members would turn around and run away, fearing that a squad of shinobi would suddenly appear from nowhere and capture them.
Now with Nara Shinsuke in charge, if villagers had a dispute with the Uchiha clan, both parties would only receive a verbal warning.
Sora's student, Kakashi, had done better than Nara Shinsuke when he briefly took over.
Now the villagers all missed Sora.
As for strength, Sora had no equal in Konoha, and even in the shinobi world, there were few who could challenge him.
Sora now had the power to overturn everything. Patience was necessary only when you lacked strength. Now that he had power, why should he still restrain himself?
So Sora directly attacked Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Oh? Does the Third Hokage know? Then please tell us, what were Danzo and Root doing during the attack? Because I now suspect that the Third Hokage is protecting Danzo."
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo's faces darkened as if they'd swallowed flies. What were Danzo and Root doing at that time? They were monitoring the movements of everyone in the Uchiha clan, of course.
But such a thing couldn't be admitted in front of so many people on such an occasion.
During the Nine-Tails attack, Konoha's largest shinobi clan was ordered to guard the villagers, and this task wasn't issued by Namikaze Minato, but by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the retired Third Hokage—which didn't follow proper protocol.
Now Sora was clearly intent on confronting Danzo here and now.
Danzo had targeted Sora earlier, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had helped Danzo by forcing Sora to explain. Now Sora was pressing this point, with Orochimaru also speaking in his favor, and Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't openly side with Danzo.
Sora tapped his finger on the table and continued: "And... the Third Hokage has retired. As far as I know, Lord Third doesn't hold any official position now. So I'd like to ask, in what capacity did the Third Hokage approve Root's actions?"
Utatane Koharu snapped: "Then in what capacity are you questioning Hiruzen? Your current status is just that of an ordinary Konoha shinobi! It's not your place to cause trouble here!"
Sora looked at Utatane Koharu: "In what capacity am I questioning? I'm questioning as a hero who made the second-greatest contribution during the Nine-Tails attack.
"I single-handedly blocked two powerful intruders who invaded Konoha. When the Fourth Hokage and his wife were unable to restrain the Nine-Tails and seal it, I controlled the Nine-Tails and assisted the Fourth in completing the seal!
"Danzo and his Root operatives disappeared during the Nine-Tails attack. I suspect Danzo collaborated with the enemy, passed information about Jinchūriki Uzumaki Miyuki's delivery to them, and helped them breach Konoha's barrier. Is there a problem with that?
"The Third Hokage said he approved of Danzo's actions, so I asked what exactly Danzo and Root shinobi were doing at that time. I questioned the rationality of the Third Hokage approving such actions. Is there a problem with that?
"Now you, an advisor, question my right to speak. Are you questioning my achievements and contributions during the Nine-Tails attack?
"Shortly after the Fourth Hokage was incapacitated, Danzo demanded explanations from me, a hero of the village.
"In turn, I questioned Danzo, and the Third Hokage clearly protected him.
"I doubted the Third Hokage's reasoning.
"Now you, an advisor, jump out to question me.
"What is your position to do so?"
Sora stood up suddenly, his Mangekyō Sharingan activating as a powerful chakra swept through the entire conference room.
Sora glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura, then asked: "Are you uniting against me now? You feel that I threaten your control over Konoha, so you want to use Danzo to attack me. Is that right?"
The clan leaders around the table were stunned.
What was happening now?
Sora confronting Konoha's top leadership?
This was explosive!
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura looked extremely uncomfortable.
They hadn't expected Sora to confront them so aggressively.
Especially Danzo, who had originally wanted to discredit Sora, but now found himself backed into a corner.
By acting this way, wasn't Sora afraid he wouldn't be able to remain in Konoha?
Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely trapped now.
Originally, this meeting was just to select a candidate for the Fifth Hokage. If no candidate was chosen, he would temporarily assume the responsibilities of the position.
Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't expected Danzo to directly challenge Yahiko.
In truth, Sarutobi Hiruzen could guess Danzo's intention. He simply wanted to diminish Sora's influence and prevent him from becoming the Fifth Hokage.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen had asked Sora to explain, it was partly because Sora was indeed suspicious, but also to reduce Sora's standing.
With Namikaze Minato currently unconscious, Sora could be considered the most suitable candidate to succeed as Hokage.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't allow the position of Hokage to fall into Sora's hands.
There were many reasons for this: his personality, his relationship with the Uchiha clan—after all, Konoha needed the Uchiha. If Sora took office, the Uchiha clan would likely feel pressured and do something undesirable.
At the same time, there was another issue. With Sora's strong character, he would never allow others to dictate how Konoha should be governed. This was absolutely unacceptable to Sarutobi Hiruzen, so he had cooperated with Danzo and asked Sora to explain himself.
But the situation had developed far beyond Sarutobi Hiruzen's expectations.
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