Shimura Danzo's corpse vanished!
This left many present feeling extremely surprised.
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought to himself, "Damn, does this old bastard still have a trick up his sleeve? If so, do I need to desecrate his corpse again?"
Orochimaru thought, "Damn, is this old bastard going to escape? What about my experiment materials?"
Uchiha Yato thought, "Damn, could he have caught the attention of that person? But that shouldn't be possible—he's not even an Uchiha."
Seeing Shimura Danzo's corpse disappear, Uchiha Yato's first thought was that Danzo had used Izanagi.
After scanning the surroundings, he didn't see Danzo reappear anywhere.
Uchiha Yato suspected that Uchiha Madara might have rescued him to use as a pawn to mess with him.
The truth wasn't far from Yato's guess.
However, this incident wasn't orchestrated by Madara but by Black Zetsu.
Uchiha Madara despised people who oppressed the Uchiha Clan and did such disgusting things.
Even if he needed pawns, he wouldn't choose someone so brainless, overly ambitious, and weak.
But this kind of person was exactly the type Black Zetsu favored.
So, Black Zetsu created a smokescreen, making the whole situation seem both plausible and implausible.
Uchiha Yato couldn't be sure, and with everything happening, it was hard to judge.
He turned his gaze directly to the Third Hokage.
At this moment, the Third Hokage himself was still baffled...
But years of experience as Hokage told him he couldn't let the people lose faith in the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Shimura Danzo has been executed."
"Leave the rest to the Anbu. Anyone approaching the execution platform will be treated as a spy."
This was the only solution he could think of—he couldn't let outsiders see the Hidden Leaf's vulnerabilities.
Uchiha Yato didn't know what to say either.
He couldn't understand why Uchiha Madara would save Shimura Danzo.
...
Black Zetsu fled with Shimura Danzo in tow.
Black Zetsu was still wondering how to explain this to Uchiha Madara.
Soon, the two were brought before Madara.
At this moment, Madara was somewhat puzzled.
He had been enjoying the spectacle through White Zetsu—why had they suddenly caused trouble?
Black Zetsu said, "Lord Madara, I believe this man still has some use. He could help cultivate some hidden forces for you."
Madara scoffed. "Really? Someone who couldn't even outplay Uchiha Yato—what's the point?"
"After all the atrocities he committed against the Uchiha, he deserves this."
Black Zetsu persisted. "More hands make lighter work."
"Besides, he's not weak. We can just use him as a pawn—no need for him to think for himself."
The implication was simple: control him with the Sharingan and make him work for them.
This reasoning made Madara slightly more receptive.
Seeing progress, Black Zetsu continued flattering, "And we need people on the outside to handle things for us. Having influence is always beneficial."
"With your power, Lord Madara, he won't be able to escape your control."
Two well-placed compliments later, Madara was undeniably pleased.
Uchiha Madara said, "Fine. Since he's still under genjutsu, release it. I'll place a new one on him."Having obtained Madara's consent, Black Zetsu immediately scurried over eagerly to dispel the genjutsu.
However, Uchiha Yato's genjutsu came with its own built-in firewall.
In an instant, Black Zetsu fell victim to it.
A black, viscous substance transformed into a humanoid figure, endlessly mimicking dance moves.
The sight was as ridiculous as it could get, yet it left Uchiha Madara beside them somewhat astonished.
This piqued his interest in Uchiha Yato's genjutsu.
He decided to analyze it himself, but to his surprise, he too was momentarily ensnared.
Of course, with Madara's decades of experience, even if his physical abilities had declined, he could still handle it.
After breaking free from the illusion, Madara couldn't help but feel a trace of wariness toward the scene he had just witnessed.
Previously, when he saw the Hidden Leaf ninja who had been tormented by Uchiha Yato, he thought they were overreacting.
What kind of genjutsu could make them call Yato a demon the moment they saw him?
Now, Uchiha Yato's genjutsu had officially earned Madara's recognition.
Naturally, the situation afterward proceeded smoothly.
With this, Madara gained another ally—Shimura Danzo.
As for the twitching black blob nearby, White Zetsu dragged it away to let it dance to its heart's content.
There was no helping it—this thing had just caused Madara to lose face in front of White Zetsu.
After disposing of the White Zetsu who had witnessed the incident, Black Zetsu had to endure this torment himself.
Never in his wildest dreams did Black Zetsu, a seasoned schemer in the shinobi world, imagine he would be mentally and physically exhausted by this genjutsu without even realizing it.
He had nearly abandoned his wish to revive his mother just to kill Uchiha Yato because of this illusion.
...
The scene shifted back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had summoned a large group of people for discussion.
After all, some things couldn't be kept hidden—it was better to resolve them openly.
Hiruzen spoke, "Yato, can you confirm that your strike truly eliminated Danzo?"
Truly the mark of a veteran politician—his first instinct was to shift blame.
Uchiha Yato replied, "He's probably not dead. Otherwise, Lord Hokage, you wouldn't be asking this question."
With this, Yato muddied the waters again.
The implication was clear: If the Hokage already knew, was it possible he had orchestrated it himself?
Hiruzen, of course, knew what to do—distance himself from Shimura Danzo as much as possible.
"Then issue a bounty for Danzo in the underground market."
"Alive or dead—I want proof."
This was the Hokage's way of taking a stance, giving an explanation to the clan leaders.
Seeing his goal achieved, Yato finally relented.
After the meeting, Orochimaru quietly approached Uchiha Yato.
"Well, now my experimental subject is gone. What a shame."
Yato replied, "You haven't even finished analyzing my body samples yet. Losing one subject isn't a big deal."
Noticing Orochimaru's lingering disappointment, Yato added,
"In a couple of days, I'll be heading to the Land of Wind."
"If I come across any interesting test subjects, I'll bring them back for you. How does that sound?"After all, ninjas and human subjects from other villages wouldn't be subjected to Hidden Leaf's set of procedures.
This statement struck a chord with Orochimaru, lifting his spirits somewhat.
Tsunade walked over and said, "Tch, he really got off easy."
"If I ever catch him alive, just watch me give him a Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
There was no helping it—these past two days, Tsunade had been busy cleaning up Shimura Danzo's mess.
Root had now been taken over by Anbu, which was originally part of the Anbu training center, making Sarutobi Hiruzen's transition work even busier.
Uchiha Yato formally suggested, "Since you're in a bad mood, how about I introduce you to a different kind of gambling?"
Hearing the word "gambling" improved Tsunade's mood considerably.
Uchiha Yato was particularly mischievous because what he wanted to introduce to Tsunade was the national pastime—mahjong.
After explaining the rules of the game to Tsunade, her eyes lit up.
Orochimaru, who had been somewhat troubled, accepted Uchiha Yato's invitation to relax together.
As for Jiraiya, there was no need to invite him—he was like an unshakable sticky plaster that would attach itself on its own.
And so, the four of them happily headed toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds under the setting sun to unwind...
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