Once more, silence swallowed the space between heaven and earth.
All of Konoha seemed to be shrouded beneath a heavy gloom.
As the night deepened, that darkness only grew thicker.
None of Konoha's elites dared to speak another word.
They could only listen in stunned silence as the "confessions" continued ahead.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there, face filled with shock.
He knew his old friend had done things that weren't exactly clean.
At times, he had even turned a blind eye.
But—no one had ever told him it was this much.
Worse still, Danzō was now brazenly standing here, openly confessing all of it in public.
Compared to everyone else's speechlessness, the two advisors' reactions were far more dramatic.
"Damn that Danzō! How could you be this insane?!"
"Execute him! Execute him! Someone kill this bastard right now—he deserves to die!"
The two of them were practically jumping with rage, shouting one after the other.
At a glance, they looked like righteous saints cutting down their own.
Unfortunately, the ANBU merely glanced at the Third Hokage and did not move.
Meanwhile, Danzō kept speaking in a dull, obedient voice:
"It wasn't just the eyes. The inheritances of those who died in the wars…"
"Danzō, you old bastard—you really deserve to die!"
Hearing this, Koharu Utatane could no longer hold back.
With a swift motion of both hands, she flung out a black blur—
A shuriken!
Whoosh!
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
At the same time, Homura Mitokado didn't hesitate either, spewing out a surge of chakra.
Both of their attacks shot straight toward Danzō.
And the ANBU elites stationed around them, for some reason, reacted a fraction too slowly.
They simply watched as the two advisors' attacks flew toward the defenseless Danzō.
With no guard up, even a Kage-level shinobi would struggle to withstand such a strike.
Even a super–Kage-level powerhouse could be knocked unconscious by a careless blow under the wrong circumstances.
Victory seemed certain.
The two advisors' eyes lit up at once.
Pop—
But when the shuriken and ninjutsu approached Ren's three-foot domain, the same scene repeated itself.
Like a drop of water dissolving into the ocean.
A faint ripple appeared—and then everything scattered into nothingness.
Ren stepped forward in a flash, standing directly in front of Danzō.
And at that moment, the controlled Danzō continued his confession obediently.
"The inheritances were successfully laundered with the help of my old friends, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado."
"The village subsidies were also skimmed whenever they involved war orphans."
"Orphans don't understand these things anyway. At most, they'd just complain."
"If the resentment grew too strong, I would recruit them into Root and plant the Tongue Curse Seal on them."
Thud.
Thud, thud.
It was over.
The two advisors exchanged a glance, their faces instantly going slack and drained.
They knew their political careers in Konoha were finished.
Completely finished.
As those words landed, every gaze in the area changed.
Dark.
Burning with fury.
Brimming with killing intent.
Not a trace of respect remained in anyone's eyes.
No one had expected that the Hokage's trusted advisors—the people they had relied on—would turn out to be such parasitic vermin.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned.
A rare flush crept onto the old man's face—
Not from embarrassment, but from sheer anger.
Burdened with countless village affairs, he had trusted these three as his right and left arms.
And yet they had dug their own graves like this.
Right here, in the Konoha he had always prided himself on illuminating with the Will of Fire.
At this moment, when he looked at his three old companions again, the scales in his heart finally collapsed.
Across from him—
Ren casually toyed with the small silver sun in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the shocked and furious faces of Konoha's elites.
A faint smile slowly curved his lips.
Good.
As expected of the "Shadow Hokage."
If anyone was going to take the blame, who else but him?
In truth, from the moment Danzō began speaking, the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha had already begun to shift.
"Shut up! Shut up! He's lying!"
"Yes! Don't believe him—this is slander! It's him!"
Koharu screamed hysterically, her tightly bound hair coming loose, strands falling messily around her face.
Like a madwoman, she suddenly spun around and pointed at Ren.
Her expression twisted with venom.
"That's right! It's him! He must be controlling Danzō!"
"Kill him! Kill him! All ANBU, move and kill him now!"
"I order you in the name of a Hokage advisor!"
"And Root—what are you waiting for?! Move!"
Cornered and panicking, were they?
Ren's smile widened slightly, cold and sharp.
"You two bloodsucking parasites… your usefulness ends here."
"Purge the court. Execute the traitors."
"Let's start with you."
As the words fell, a surge of crimson chakra erupted around his body.
That sinister, demonic chakra condensed into massive hands that slammed straight down toward the two advisors.
Whooo—
The night sky was lit up in an instant.
"No! Hiruzen, save—"
Squelch!
Koharu's scream was cut off abruptly.
The enormous crimson hands crushed them like rotting deadwood.
Before Hiruzen's clouded eyes—before the silent gazes of every clan head and high-ranking shinobi in Konoha—
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were crushed into pulp in midair.
Squelch!
A rain of blood poured down.
Beneath that crimson rain, the small figure of Ren stood like a demon god, utterly immovable.
Just looking at him made one's eyes ache.
Many people instinctively lowered their heads.
Huff.
"What a shame. Weren't these two part of the Hokage's old squad when they were young? Why were their traits so trash?"
Ren could clearly see the traits they carried.
Nothing but things like Chakra Refinement, Shuriken Familiarity, or garbage like Abuse of Power and Insatiable Greed.
Even worse, he happened to pull two rare green traits.
[Defeated Koharu Utatane. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the Fine trait: Corrupt Official (Green): You possess exceptional talent in embezzlement and profiteering.]
[Defeated Homura Mitokado… Copy successful. Congratulations, host has obtained the Fine trait: Cronyism (Green): Birds of a feather flock together, perfectly embodied.]
"Fuse them, fuse them."
He didn't hesitate at all and immediately merged the two traits.
Completely useless.
After that, he took a deep breath and slammed Danzō—like a dead dog—onto the ground in front of him.
Bang!
"Tonight—"
He planted one foot on Danzō's head and pointed at that arm steeped in sin.
Under the deep night, beneath blood rain and moonlight, his small figure stood tall.
His voice rang out like a great bell announcing a new era, echoing across all of Konoha:
"With the blood of traitors, we appease the dead!"
"With the crime of stolen eyes, we proclaim to the world!"
"Konoha's cancer—I, Uchiha Ren—will personally carve it out tonight!"
"Set things right—starting now!"
Whooo—
A fierce wind swept through, carrying away much of the stench of blood before the Hokage Building.
Only the flames burning in hundreds of crimson Sharingan remained—
Proclaiming that Konoha was about to change its heaven and earth.
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