At that moment, Hiruzen felt an unprecedented disgust toward Koharu. He had never expected that she could be such a heartless and venomous shrew.
All these years, she had been the one he doted on the most, and he had always watched over her. The two of them had once been so close that even Biwako suspected there was some unspeakable secret between them. But to think that after all his efforts to protect her, she would turn on him so ruthlessly... every word stabbing straight into his heart.
He finally understood how others had felt when they were disgusted by her shrew-like combativeness. No wonder so many people despised her. Turns out, she really was that revolting.
It was just that she had never acted this way toward him before. At most, she'd throw a little tantrum in front of him, which was why he never saw any issue with her behavior, thinking others were just overreacting.
But now, he understood!
He finally realized that many things only seemed fine because they hadn't happened to him yet.
He wasn't nearly as tolerant or magnanimous as he claimed to be.
For instance, right now, he truly felt a murderous intent toward Koharu.
Hiruzen's greatest skill was self-brainwashing, self-justification. If killing Koharu could make the village better, then he would carry out that duty without hesitation.
The things he had done had already betrayed too many of the village's interests. And once everything was made public, the people would never trust the Hokage again.
On top of that, with what he had said today, he had sealed his own fate.
How could he expect to live?
But the most urgent matter now was to confirm whether Koharu had left any backup plans.
Today's arrest happened very suddenly. He didn't believe someone like Koharu, with her personality and mind, could have prepared in advance.
Those things she said earlier might have just been to bluff him. But he couldn't afford to gamble. This matter was too serious; it had to be investigated thoroughly.
If it turned out that Koharu had no backup plans, or if the situation became one where even with backup plans, she still had to be eliminated, then as Hokage, he would uphold justice, even at the cost of personal ties.
By that time, all the blame would rest solely on Koharu.
Killing one to save three, he believed that Danzō and Homura would have no objections.
After all, better one death than four.
Forcing himself to suppress the killing intent in his heart, he calmly soothed Koharu for a while, then left the prison cell.
But as soon as he stepped out, he felt something wasn't right. Why was he feeling so irritable today?
Could it be because of Koharu's influence?
Back inside the prison cell, Koharu also felt something was off.
Her emotions just now were clearly abnormal. Many of the things she said were what she truly felt, but under normal circumstances, she would never have spoken them aloud.
After all, things had already come to this point, her only hope lay in Hiruzen. Why would she deliberately provoke him with her words? Wasn't that just asking to die?
Yet it had all happened, just like that.
Thinking back on their conversation, Koharu felt a chill down her spine.
It's over!
Hiruzen had genuinely wanted to protect me, but now...
What have I done?
"Strange, isn't it?" A familiar voice suddenly whispered in Koharu's ear.
"I really thought he wouldn't be able to resist killing you."
As the voice faded, a figure appeared in the exact spot where Hiruzen had just been standing.
Surveying the prison cell, and then glancing at Koharu, who now looked utterly defeated, with none of her former dignity, Shin felt indescribable satisfaction.
Just moments ago, he had hidden his presence and used genjutsu to manipulate both Hiruzen and Koharu's emotions, hoping to provoke Hiruzen into killing Koharu in front of him in a fit of rage.
Unfortunately, to manipulate someone as powerful as Hiruzen without being detected, and push him to kill someone exactly as he intended, he still lacked a bit of finesse.
But it didn't matter. He had plenty of time today to play with them.
His script did not allow for failure.
"Shin?!" Koharu immediately scrambled to her feet upon seeing him, glaring at him fiercely as she snapped, "Why are you here?"
"And what did you mean by what you just said?!"
"Looks like you still don't understand the situation." As soon as he finished speaking, Shin suddenly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
In the next instant, it was as if some invisible force had grabbed Koharu, she was hurled violently into the prison wall.
The brutal impact left her head bleeding profusely.
If the floor hadn't been made of special materials, she would have been smashed right into the wall itself.
"Ahh… Do you... know what you're doing!!" Koharu struggled to rise and screamed hysterically.
"Yes. And what are you going to do about it?"
Seeing that her words had no effect, Koharu quickly changed tactics. "Hiruzen told me this is only a temporary detainment. He said he'll find a way to get me out. If you lay another finger on me, he will—"
"You're really still counting on him to save you?" Shin laughed. "I heard every word you two said earlier. Right now, he's thinking about how to kill you."
"No… impossible!" Koharu shook her head frantically. "He would never kill me! I know him, and he knows me. He would never do it. As long as I apologize, he'll forgive me. This cheap attempt at sowing discord, save it!"
"Hahahaha," Shin laughed even harder. "Maybe he won't kill you. But what about me?"
"You... you try and touch me again—"
Before she could finish, her body slammed into the wall once more. The violent shock made her cough uncontrollably, nearly passing out from the force.
"What are you trying to do?" At last, Koharu felt real fear.
This man appeared here openly and attack her so brazenly, it meant he wasn't afraid of being exposed. She remembered the terrifying power of his Susanoo from before, and her heart sank.
Even if he killed her now, and later denied it, who could do anything about it?
Why had Hiruzen been so cautious and weak lately? Wasn't it precisely because he feared Shin's strength?
If she died now, her death would be for nothing.
What terrified her even more was the fact that, for reasons she didn't understand, every emotion she had intensified the moment she saw Shin.
Like now, the fear had grown so overwhelming she could barely think straight.
"Oh, by the way, how did it feel over the past year, watching your most trusted subordinates and clan members disappear one by one?"
"It was you?!" Koharu's entire body went stiff. She stared at Shin in utter disbelief.
She had suspected Shin in the past, and she even brought it up back then. But Orochimaru had always been monitoring Shin, and there was also a period when Shin had gone blind.
Three months ago, after the White Calamity of the Mist in Kiri was completely exposed, everyone believed that the disappearances of ninjas from all the major villages were connected to the white monster.
No one expected that Shin was behind it all.
What exactly was he trying to do?
Was he truly so utterly unrestrained?
Though she had a horrible personality, after years in power, she was far from a complete fool.
Why had she insisted on eliminating Shin in the first place?
In the end, wasn't it because he knew too much?
But now, he was openly revealing these secrets to her. Did that mean… he planned to silence her?
At the thought of death, Koharu couldn't help but tremble all over. She looked at Shin with pleading eyes.
"Oh, right!" Shin said, "Do you know why the strategic reserve warehouse was full of substandard goods?"
Koharu panicked even more and exclaimed, "Don't tell me that was you too?"
"You did all that yourself. It's just that…" Shin pointed to his own eyes. "I used some techniques on you to make you do it. The reason you don't remember any of it is also thanks to me. What do you think?"
Thinking back on how she had treated him before, how could she not realize what fate awaited her now? There wasn't a trace of her former arrogance left. She was completely overwhelmed by fear, sobbing as she begged, "I know I treated you poorly in the past, but that was all a misunderstanding, wasn't it? Please spare me, I'm begging you! I'll make up for everything you lost. As long as you let me live, I'll fully support Tsunade from now on and follow her orders without question. And Homura too, I'll persuade him. With the two of us helping, Tsunade's rise to power will be smooth. Isn't that what you wanted? I can also help you bring down Hiruzen, really!"
What Koharu didn't know was that the last few sentences she uttered were echoing bit by bit in Hiruzen's mind. Seeing the prophetic vision reappear in his mind, his breathing became rapid.
At this point, he could no longer doubt the prophecy's authenticity. To him, this was clearly a glimpse of the future, something inevitable. Before he could react, another vision and voice flashed through his mind.
"Bring down Hiruzen? Now that interests me. But do you really think I'd trust you?"
"I'm telling the truth!" Facing the overwhelming threat of death, Koharu had no room left for pride.
"All the money we embezzled, he got a share of it. A lot of the things we did were actually his suggestion. Back then, the reason I treated you the way I did was also under his instruction. He just wanted to see if, under those circumstances, you would still remain loyal to the village. It was an ongoing test."
An ongoing test... or rather, an intentional push to make him rebel, to give him a reason to make a move.
"And what we did wasn't just selling off strategic resources or plotting against the Land of Whirlpools to seize their assets," Koharu continued speaking.
"We were also scheming against the Uchiha clan and the original Senju clan, planning to consume them down to the last bone. We even discussed assassinating Tsunade at the border, but we held back because you were always by her side. We had Orochimaru monitoring your every move. The plan was, once the time was right, he would poison you and use you to blackmail Tsunade."
"But later, you were expelled from Orochimaru's lab, and we never had the chance to carry it out. And also..."
Like a bamboo tube spilling beans, she poured out everything she knew without even realizing anything was wrong.
"I'm sorry! Everything before was my fault, please, I'm begging you, spare me! Save me!"
"But saving you is of no use to me," Shin said regretfully. "Even if everything you said is true, you have no evidence. How can anyone believe you? Even if Hiruzen is reviled now, a Hokage is still the Hokage. Any accusation without evidence will just be called slander, and might even restore his reputation."
"I have evidence! I do!" Koharu cried out, as if possessed.
"Tell me where it is. If I find it, of course I'll let you go."
"The evidence is... it's..."
Suddenly realizing something, Koharu's entire body began to shake violently, to the point that even the entire cell started to tremble.
The shaking was strange, like the entire space was trying to break free from some kind of binding.
"Hm, pretty strong willpower. Even under my genjutsu, you're still trying to escape?"
Shin stomped the ground hard. The space instantly stabilized.
Koharu also returned to her previous, still state.
At this point, her chakra was sealed. There was no way she could escape his illusionary control.
"The evidence is in a secret chamber 30 meters beneath the well in my backyard. I sealed it off with a barrier to hide its presence. It's an account ledger. I never intended it as evidence, just used it to keep track of finances in case anything went wrong. But over the years, I recorded every single transaction that passed through my hands. Many of them are verifiable. A lot of the money went to the Sarutobi clan."
"Sigh," Shin remarked with mock gratitude. "I really must thank you. Even on the brink of death, you've made one last contribution to Konoha."
As for the so-called ledger, he didn't really care. Whether it existed or not wouldn't change the outcome. But for Hiruzen, hearing this in his mind carried a completely different weight.
"Don't worry. I'll make good use of that ledger. I promise you won't be disappointed. Farewell."
With that, his figure suddenly disappeared, as if none of it had ever happened. And at that moment, all the injuries on Koharu's body vanished without a trace, leaving her confused.
The next moment, she seemed to have lost all memory of what had just occurred, only vaguely remembering that she might have said something wrong and angered Hiruzen.
Just as she was thinking about how to apologize to him, Hiruzen suddenly turned back and appeared in front of her once more.