"Wait a second!"
Inside the Grand Conference Room on the third floor of the Hokage Tower, Aozora directly rejected the Third Hokage's apology and resignation.
Seeing this, Torifu quickly stood up to calm him down. "Aozora, that's enough!"
Kosuke also shook his head at Aozora.
In their current opinion, now that the truth had come out, the Uchiha clan had practically locked down the Hokage seat.
If that was the case, why not let the Third go and preserve some dignity for Konoha?
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane felt a shared sense of sorrow, like those who mourn a common fate, and both spoke up.
"Uchiha Aozora, have you forgotten the Third's contributions to Konoha?"
"Uchiha Aozora, are you really going to wipe him out completely?"
The two remarks from Homura and Koharu reminded everyone of Hiruzen's decades-long reign as Hokage. Looking at the elderly man with white hair ahead, people couldn't help but feel sympathy.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
Fugaku sensed the change in mood and couldn't help giving Aozora a meaningful glance.
Aozora gave a slight nod.
He swept his eyes across the room and cried out in disbelief, "How am I wiping him out completely? What did I do? Did I slander the Third Hokage, or did I try to harm him physically?"
"You—you—" Koharu Utatane couldn't say anything for a long time.
Homura Mitokado was also speechless.
Aozora pressed on, "I'm just a regular villager. How could I possibly target such a powerful figure as the Third Hokage? Don't I even have the right to speak the truth?"
Aozora's relentless questioning left all the higher-ups speechless, causing them to feel that what he said made some sense.
Torifu ignored these points and snapped, "Aozora, you promised me earlier!"
Aozora nodded and said, "Of course I understand the need to keep family shame private, but those present today are all high-ranking officials and pillars of Konoha. I believe they need to understand certain truths.
Just because Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Hokage doesn't mean we should protect him from accountability!"
As soon as Aozora finished speaking, several voices below chimed in support.
"That's right! Why shouldn't we be allowed to speak out when even the Hokage makes mistakes?"
"Why should the Third always escape punishment?"
...
Ever since Danzo's defection, more and more of the Uchiha's allies had joined them, so there was no longer a feeling of fighting alone in this conference room.
Aozora's explanation left Torifu unable to find fault, and the neutral ninjas present were beginning to show interest.
"Crimes?" Hiruzen snapped coldly. "Everything I've done has been for Konoha. Let me hear exactly what crimes I've committed?"
He believed himself devoted entirely to Konoha throughout his life, though perhaps showing bias against the Uchiha, but all out of selfless duty.
Seeing this, Torifu decided not to interfere further and sat back down.
Seeing Hiruzen's righteous indignation, Aozora couldn't help laughing out loud.
"No way... No way... You actually believe everything you did was for Konoha?"
Everyone clearly heard the mockery in Aozora's words, immediately infuriating Hiruzen until his face turned black.
Fugaku whispered to Shisui beside him, "Man, Aozora's words... they cut sharper than a blade!"
Shisui didn't share Fugaku's calmness. After all, he had once regarded the Third as his beacon. Seeing Aozora mock Hiruzen made him feel deeply conflicted.
Torifu interrupted Aozora, saying, "Talk properly!"
Aozora shrugged, then turned serious.
"There's no denying Hokage Sarutobi contributed greatly to Konoha in his youth—the establishment of the Medical Corps, the improvement of the Education Department, and his brilliant strategies during multiple great wars—all these were his achievements, which I have no intention of defaming."
Aozora's fair account calmed everyone down, making them feel he was magnanimous, thus enhancing the credibility of what he would say next.
"However, he has changed now—becoming senile, incompetent, abusing authority, acting selfishly..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted, "That's defamation!"
Aozora didn't flinch as he calmly asked, "Wasn't Hizashi's sacrifice due to your incompetence?"
Hiruzen instantly fell silent. Was it really not incompetence, but intentional?
Aozora continued, "Did you not abuse authority when you dispatched jonin and Anbu to capture me? No… Actually, neither Anbu nor jonin even have the authority for arrests… As Hokage, how could you personally violate Konoha's rules?"
Sarutobi remained speechless for a moment before finally replying, "I did this for Konoha…"
"For Konoha?" Aozora shook his head. "Then please explain why you mistreated the Fourth's orphan—Naruto Uzumaki!"
Aozora's third question immediately drew surprised exclamations from the gathered higher-ups.
"What?"
"The Fourth has an orphan?"
"The Third mistreated the Fourth's orphan?"
"Naruto Uzumaki? But wasn't the Fourth named Namikaze?"
...
Previously, Aozora's two accusations were merely rehashing old issues, so they hadn't stirred much reaction. However, none of them knew anything about the alleged mistreatment of the Fourth's orphan.
First came shock that the Fourth even had an orphan at all, followed by even greater shock that the Third would mistreat the Fourth's orphan.
Especially those who had known the Fourth—Kosuke, Shibi, Choza, Shikaku, Kakashi, and Jiraiya—stood up angrily.
The Fourth had only died less than two years ago, his glorious image remains vivid in their minds. His closest allies still cherish the bonds they shared with him.
"Third Hokage, is what Aozora said true?"
"Hokage-sama, what have you done to Minato's child?"
"Third Hokage, how is the Fourth's child doing now?"
...
Jiraiya also stood up in disbelief, asking, "Old man, is this really true?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored everyone and shot back, "You Uchiha are still not giving up on the Jinchuriki!"
Upon hearing this, Aozora couldn't help shaking his head. Truly, the Third was getting too old to think clearly anymore.
He said, "Listen—listen—to the Third Hokage! To him, the Fourth's orphan is just a Jinchuriki!"
Facing the growing anger in everyone's eyes, Hiruzen hurriedly shouted, "You're lying!"
Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Torifu stood up and barked, "Quiet! Sit down everyone!"
Shikaku, Choza, and He Yi sat down upon hearing this, and the other ninjas also obeyed Torifu's order. However, all gazes remained fixed intensely on Aozora and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Torifu turned to Aozora first and asked, "Aozora, you said Hiruzen mistreated the Fourth's orphan. What evidence do you have?"
Aozora replied, "Right now, the Fourth's orphan Naruto Uzumaki lives alone in a single room at the Stone Apartment Complex on the southern side of the village..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi explained, "The reason I didn't let Naruto live in the Fourth's house was to keep him safe!"
Aozora questioned fiercely, "To protect him, so you must make him live in the Commoner District? Make him go hungry?"
"What?"
"Third, is this true?"
"He lives in the Commoner District? He's starving?"
"..."
Jiraiya, Shikaku, and others who had just sat down not long ago stood up again.
Hiruzen hurriedly said, "I never did that! I brought meals to him personally!"
Aozora burst into loud laughter, then looked around and said, "Does the Hokage really have that much free time? Enough to actually bring meals to a kid under two?"
"If you have this time, why don't you improve his living conditions or assign a nanny for him?"
"If you have this energy, why allow the rumors about 'the Demon Fox's Child' to spread? No... Maybe it was you who spread them yourself!"
"While mistreating the Fourth's orphan, you still pretend to be his protector. Brilliant strategy!"
Suddenly Aozora stopped smiling, his expression becoming extremely serious. He barked out each word, glaring: "Hiruzen Sarutobi, are you raising the Fourth's orphan like a trained puppy?"
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