At the Konoha village gate, the atmosphere was thick with tension; no one dared to speak rashly.
After surveying the scene for a moment, most people shifted their gazes to the Third Hokage, waiting for him to speak first.
On Seiryu's head, Tatsuya's gaze was also focused on the Third Hokage. He wanted to see how the Third would handle this matter!
The Third Hokage's gaze swept across the faces of everyone present, finally stopping on Danzo. With a grim expression, he asked, "Danzo, what exactly happened here? Why did Root clash with Jonin Tatsuya Akimichi?"
In truth, the Third Hokage didn't need to ask to guess what had happened today; it was likely that Danzo's Root had initiated the conflict.
After all, from the very beginning, Danzo had shown strong hostility and a desire to control both Shisui of ANBU Team 11 and Tatsuya Akimichi.
The Third Hokage was also aware that Root had been sending people to tail Tatsuya for some time. He had even specifically instructed Danzo a few days ago not to act rashly, yet, in the blink of an eye, Danzo had caused such a huge disturbance.
At this moment, the Third Hokage felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction towards Danzo.
Sensing the almost palpable anger emanating from the Third Hokage, Danzo remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Tatsuya Akimichi assassinated Toro, the leader of the Cloud Village delegation. My men were the first to arrive at the scene. They tried to apprehend him and bring him back to the village, but Tatsuya violently resisted arrest, which led to the conflict.
The Hyuga clan also had people present; they can testify to this!"
Hearing this, the Third Hokage's expression changed slightly, and he turned to look at Toro's corpse lying in a pool of blood not far away.
Fugaku Uchiha, Hizashi Hyuga, Ryota Akimichi, and the others who had arrived later also turned their attention to the body.
Previously, everyone's attention had been drawn to Root and Tatsuya, and no one had noticed that the leader of the Cloud Village delegation had died here.
Seeing Toro's corpse, everyone's expressions changed.
Konoha and Cloud Village had just signed a peace treaty, and now the leader of the Cloud Village delegation had died in Konoha.
This was an extremely serious diplomatic incident!
If handled poorly, war could break out again!
At this, the thoughts of those present varied.
With a face ashen, the Third Hokage turned to Tatsuya: "Tatsuya, is what Danzo said true?"
Tatsuya nodded and said, "Lord Hokage, it's true that I killed Toro, the leader of the Cloud Village delegation, but resisting arrest is out of the question!"
Hearing Tatsuya admit to killing Toro, Ryota Akimichi and the others from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio all had grim expressions.
Staring at Tatsuya, the Third Hokage asked, word by word, "What exactly happened?"
Tatsuya turned to look at Hizashi Hyuga and said, "This matter has to start with Hizashi-sama and the others..."
Then, Tatsuya explained how he had stumbled upon Toro kidnapping the Hyuga clan's heiress and how Toro had intentionally died at his hands.
However, to keep Sakawa and Teru Yuuhi out of the matter, Tatsuya claimed he was alone. The two were already close friends with Tatsuya, implicating them would not strengthen his claim, and may bring unnecessary problems. Rather than that, better to hold it alone. Tatsuya also wanted to test the village's attitude towards this matter.
"I suspect that Toro, the leader of the Cloud Village delegation, was a war hawk. His purpose in coming to Konoha this time was to sabotage the peace..." Tatsuya added his own assessment at the end.
"Jonin Tatsuya is correct. I also questioned several members of my clan just now. When they arrived, they also saw that there were no signs of a struggle at the scene. The other party was intent on disrupting the village!" After Tatsuya finished speaking, Hiashi Hyuga stepped forward and corroborated.
After listening, everyone present fell silent.
Tatsuya's judgment was reasonable, and the vast majority of them believed his explanation. Moreover, Hiashi Hyuga, the head of the Hyuga clan, had also testified to it, which showed the Hyuga clan's stance.
On the side, Ryota Akimichi and the others, while breathing a sigh of relief, looked at Danzo and the Root members with some hostility.
It was clear that Danzo and his men had intended to use this incident to target Tatsuya.
Regardless of their purpose!
This had already crossed the family's bottom line!
The atmosphere at the scene began to turn peculiar.
In the distance, Fugaku Uchiha, with a group of elite members of his clan, quietly watched all of this, his eyes occasionally flashing with thoughtful expressions.
Amidst the silence, the Third Hokage slowly spoke after a long while, "Today's events are to be kept secret for the time being. No one is to spread the word without my permission!
Danzo, your subordinates acted recklessly, which led to today's misunderstanding. Root must give the village and the Akimichi clan an explanation. Also, from now on, no Root members are allowed to leave the village without my permission."
As the leader of Konoha, the Third Hokage was naturally keenly aware of the tense atmosphere at the scene. He had to suppress this matter as quickly as possible!
Both the internal conflict between Tatsuya Akimichi and Root, and the death of Toro, the leader of the Cloud Village delegation, were extremely tricky issues.
"Everyone, disperse!"
After saying this, the Third Hokage glanced at Tatsuya and Danzo, gave a faint instruction, and then turned and left.
Behind him, Danzo did not follow. His gaze was fixed on Yamato in Tatsuya's hand.
Just now, faced with the Third Hokage's punishment of Root, Danzo did not argue.
Because Danzo knew in his heart that today's incident had already angered the Akimichi clan. If he didn't give an explanation, the three families representing the "Ino-Shika-Cho" combination would certainly not let it go!
So he endured!
In this conflict, at least seven or eight Root ninjas had died, and many others were injured.
But Danzo could not give up on Yamato.
Nearby, Orochimaru was also watching all of this with great interest.
"Tatsuya!"
Sensing the still-tense atmosphere, Ryota Akimichi brought the members of the three clans over.
Giving everyone a reassuring look, Tatsuya finally turned to face Danzo.
Tch!
With a soft scoff, Tatsuya tossed the unconscious Yamato out.
Ryoma Aburame, at Danzo's side, immediately stepped forward to catch Yamato. Danzo took a deep look at Tatsuya and then turned to leave.
Immediately afterward, Orochimaru also disappeared from the spot.
Fugaku Uchiha also left with the elite members of his clan.
Once these people left, the atmosphere at the scene immediately relaxed.
Hiashi Hyuga and Hizashi Hyuga came over with their clan members to express their gratitude to Tatsuya!
On the one hand, they thanked Tatsuya for saving Hinata, and on the other hand, they thanked him for taking the blame for them.
After a brief conversation, everyone dispersed.
Half an hour later, in the Hyuga clan compound.
"Clan Head, I have thoroughly examined the young miss's body. She only suffered minor injuries to her forearm, and judging from the wound, it seems to have been caused by a shuriken graze. It's nothing serious, and she will fully recover with just two days of rest," a Hyuga clan member reported to Hiashi Hyuga.
"As long as she's fine! You may go now," Hiashi Hyuga said expressionlessly.
Meanwhile, in the Akimichi clan compound, Tatsuya's figure appeared in the laboratory, holding two culture dishes containing tissue samples.
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