Danzo's head rolled onto the stone slabs of the plaza. That perpetually gloomy face was still frozen in an expression of disbelief.
The entire plaza fell into a deathly silence, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Good kill! Good kill!"
"Danzo deserves to die!"
"Danzo deserves to die!"
The cheers rose in waves, and more and more people gathered, drawn by the sound.
In an instant, treetops and rooftops were filled with people, tens of thousands watching.
Danzo was a Hokage advisor, with a status almost equal to the Hokage. Unexpectedly, in just a few seconds, he was beheaded in the street.
Hiruzen pushed through the crowd, his face pale, as he looked at his old friend and political rival, now headless on the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Shun, do you know what you've done?"
Shun said disdainfully, "I wielded the butcher's knife for justice, killing someone who deserved to die."
Hiruzen pointed at Shun and roared, "Even if Danzo was guilty, he should have been trialed and he was a Hokage advisor, so even if he were executed, he should have had a dignified death. How could you resort to lynching?"
Shun placed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan he had dug out into a nutrient solution container, then collected Danzo's arm, which contained Hashirama cells. Finally, he turned to face Hiruzen, his eyes full of contempt.
"Everyone, look, this is the true face of our Hokage. He thinks people like them are high and mighty, that even their deaths need to be dignified. They wouldn't consider the despair and helplessness of the thousand children in the Root base, being brought to operating tables, cut open, watching their own organs being dug out. But when it comes to these high-ranking officials, they demand trials, they demand dignity. Tell me, was I wrong to kill him?!"
"Kill... Kill... Kill! These scumbags deserve to die!"
The shouts grew louder and louder, and the surrounding villagers seemed to transform into rioters at that moment.
Hiruzen's face grew increasingly ugly. He looked around and seeing Hiashi, Akagi, and others standing behind Shun, he knew it was too late to turn the tide.
Seeing Hiruzen's pale Face, Shun arrogantly walked over and spat a thick wad of phlegm at his feet.
"You, calling yourself the strongest Hokage, you're useless. Trash. If you have the guts, let's fight one-on-one. Considering you're 55, I won't hit you hard enough to kill you. Come on. Let's fight."
At this moment, Shun was extremely arrogant. He stood opposite Hiruzen, constantly provoking him, practically trampling Hiruzen's face into the dirt.
Dozens of Hiruzen's loyal followers tried to rush over and teach Shun a lesson, but they were stopped by the surrounding Police Force members.
Hiruzen's face turned from green to white, then he calmed down. He snorted coldly, "Let's go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen Anbu members and Hiruzen disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
Just then, above the Forest of Death, a dazzling signal flare rose and the Uchiha clan's crest bloomed in the sky.
Shun looked up, a slight smile on his lips. He knew the Root base had been completely taken over.
He turned to the surrounding villagers and announced loudly, "Fellow Konoha compatriots, are you willing to come with me to the Root base and see the hidden dark truth?"
The crowd responded with even greater enthusiasm and began to move.
Hiruzen stood in the Hokage Office, feeling a wave of powerlessness wash over him. He knew that Konoha's power structure was about to undergo a drastic change.
"Damn it, what should I do? Someone, quickly summon Koharu and Homura, the advisors, to the Hokage Office."
...
Deep within the Forest of Death, at the entrance to the Root base, people surged like a tide.
Shun's voice, amplified by Chakra, spread throughout the entire area.
"Everyone, please prepare yourselves. You are about to witness Konoha's darkest truth, protected by Hiruzen."
Looking at the open base gate, the villagers hesitated for a moment, then walked in one after another.
The interior of the base was brightly lit, and the walls still bore traces of the recent battle. Every few steps, one could see subdued Root ninjas, bound by special Fuinjutsu.
"Wh-What is this?" A woman's voice trembled slightly.
The crowd pushed forward, then erupted in frightened screams.
In the spacious laboratory, dozens of two-meter-tall transparent culture tanks were neatly arranged, each containing a floating child aged 5-7.
"Oh my god! That's Ryota, who disappeared two years ago!" A middle-aged woman suddenly rushed towards one of the tanks.
Her fingers trembled as she pressed them against the cold glass, tears streaming down her face. "He was only 5 years old then. The Anbu said he was abducted by enemy ninja."
"This is a missing child from our Senju clan!" A Senju clansman recognized the figure in another culture tank.
The laboratory walls were covered with detailed experimental records. They coldly documented how organs were extracted from these living subjects, how the rejection reactions of Hashirama cells were tested, and other details.
An elder of the Senju clan punched the wall, and with a burst of Chakra, the sturdy stone wall immediately cracked.
"Beasts! They actually used our children for such experiments!"
Anger spread like a plague through the crowd. Some began to cry, some stood dumbfounded, and in the eyes of many, the flames of hatred ignited.
Shun raised his voice. "Everyone, please calm down. This is just the first level, there's more below."
Before he could finish, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the crowd.
"The bastards of the Shimura clan! They all deserve to die!"
Like a lit fuse, the crowd instantly erupted. The villagers stopped their tour and rushed out. They shouted slogans of revenge, their eyes filled with tears and fury.
On Konoha's commercial street, the angry crowd surged like a tide towards the various shops operated by the Shimura clan.
"Smash it!"
A father who had lost his son picked up a stone from the roadside and violently smashed it against the display window of "Shimura Pharmacy." The sound of shattering glass was like a signal, and dozens of people swarmed forward. Shelves were toppled, precious medicinal herbs were trampled, and counters were torn to pieces.
The owner of the adjacent Shimura Weapon Shop, seeing this, frantically closed his doors, but it was too late.
"What are you doing? This is private property!"
A Shimura ninja tried to stop them but was immediately surrounded by the angry crowd. Fists rained down, and he was beaten to death on the spot.
Tens of thousands of villagers gathered outside the Shimura clan compound, constantly throwing Molotov cocktails. The exquisite Japanese-style buildings soon burst into raging flames, black smoke billowing into the sky.
Inside the residence, the members of the Shimura clan frantically packed their belongings and fled through secret passages.
A Shimura elder cursed incessantly, "These ungrateful commoners. Danzo-sama sacrificed so much for Konoha..."
He couldn't finish his sentence as a kunai shot from the shadows, accurately piercing his throat.
The old man fell, his eyes wide, never understanding who had struck him down.