Chinya openly confronted Danzo in front of everyone, demanding that Hiruzen Sarutobi strip Danzo of his title as Hokage Advisor and disband the Root Division.
Hiruzen firmly refused, saying, "That's impossible. Danzo was simply raising reasonable concerns. Besides, I know exactly what Danzo was doing during the Nine-Tails' Rampage—I personally authorized it."
Right now, Chinya's a walking time bomb—furious at the slightest provocation and showing zero respect to anyone.
In Konoha, whether measured by strength or reputation, Chinya towers over everyone else—even surpassing Hiruzen himself.
As for Hiruzen, he's merely the former Hokage. While he still holds influence, the official authority now lies with Minato Namikaze. To uninformed villagers and ninja alike, Hiruzen appears nothing more than a retired old man.
The formation of the Konoha Defense Unit gave Chinya immense popularity. He made the villagers feel safe around Uchiha ninja again—something they had longed for.
When Chinya stepped down as captain of the Defense Unit and Nara Shinei took command, many villagers were outraged. They believed Chinya should still be in charge.
After enduring years of intimidation from the Uchiha Clan, people finally felt empowered against them—only to suddenly lose their most important protector.
Under Shinei's leadership, villagers quickly realized he paled in comparison to Chinya, treating the Uchiha far too leniently.
Back when Chinya led the unit, if any Uchiha dared sass back, the Defense Unit would arrest them without hesitation.
So much so that whenever tension rose slightly, Uchiha members immediately fled in fear of being ambushed by an approaching squad.
Now under Shinei's leadership, disputes between villagers and the Uchiha ended only after minimal verbal mediation.
Even Kakashi, Chinya's disciple, performed better than Shinei upon taking command.
People began to really miss Chinya.
As for raw power, there's literally no rival left in Konoha capable of challenging Chinya, and few across the entire Shinobi World could match him.
Chinya now has the power to dismantle the entire established order. Patience was only necessary when he lacked such power. Now that he has it—why hold back?
He faced off against Hiruzen head-on: "What? You mean the Third knows what really happened back then? Then why don't you tell everyone—just what *were* Danzo and Root up to at that time? Because right now, I think the Third is trying to cover for him."
Hiruzen and Danzo turned pale, looking as though they'd swallowed flies. What were Danzo and Root doing back then? Monitoring every movement of the Uchiha Clan, of course.
But how could that be revealed in public, in front of so many witnesses?
The Nine-Tails' Rampage had forced the village's largest clan to guard its citizens, yet the order wasn't issued by current Hokage Minato—but by the retired Third Hokage, Hiruzen. That itself violated protocol.
Now Chinya was set to go all-out against Danzo—and there was no turning back.
Danzo had just targeted Chinya. Sarutobi Hiruzen had supported Danzo earlier, forcing Chinya to explain himself. Now Chinya seized upon this point, and Orochimaru also spoke up in Chinya's favor, leaving Hiruzen unable to protect Danzo any further.
Chinya tapped his fingers lightly against the table and continued speaking, "Furthermore... the Third Hokage has already retired. As far as I know, the Third currently holds no official position. So I must ask—what capacity is the Third acting in to approve Root Division's actions?"
Koharu Utatane rebuked him sharply, "Then by what right do you dare question Hiruzen? You yourself are merely an ordinary ninja of Konoha! This is not your place to cause trouble!"
Chinya fixed his gaze on Koharu. "What right do I have to question? Naturally, it's as a meritorious hero who performed outstanding feats during the Nine-Tails' Rampage! I alone stopped two powerful enemies who invaded Konoha! When the Fourth and his wife were powerless to bind and seal the Nine-Tails, I controlled it and assisted the Fourth in completing the sealing!
During that Nine-Tails' rampage, Danzo and Root Division vanished without a trace. I now suspect Danzo of secretly colluding with the enemy, leaking intelligence about the jinchuriki Uzumaki Miyuki's childbirth, and helping the enemy break through Konoha's barrier. Is there anything wrong with that?
The Third says it was his decision to approve it. Then I demand to know where Danzo and Root Division's ninjas were at that time, and I question the legitimacy of the Third Hokage approving Danzo's action. Is there any problem with that?
Now Advisor Koharu, you're questioning my qualifications for raising these concerns. Are you saying my contributions during the Nine-Tails' Rampage don't count?
It wasn't even long after the Fourth's death when Danzo started singling me out—a decorated war hero—for blame and questioning. If I can't push back with the same force, then clearly the Third is shielding him. I question the legitimacy of the Third Hokage's decision. And now, you—the advisor—dare challenge my authority again? What exactly are you implying?"
Suddenly standing up, Chinya activated his Mangekyo Sharingan eyes, unleashing an overwhelming pressure that surged throughout the entire meeting room.
He swept his gaze across Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, demanding, "Are you all conspiring together against me? Do you think I've become a threat to your control over Konoha, so you're using Danzo to turn against me?"
The clan heads around the room were completely stunned.
What exactly was going on here?
Was Chinya really confronting Konoha's highest leadership directly like this?
This was absolutely mind-blowing!
Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura all wore expressions of deepening gloom.
They never expected Chinya to be this bold—to come at them full force like this.
Especially Danzo, who originally intended only to harass Chinya—now found himself publicly backed into a corner.
Didn't Chinya realize he might be making things impossible for himself to survive in Konoha anymore?
Even Hiruzen was now completely backed into a corner as well.
Originally, this meeting was supposed to be about choosing a candidate for the Fifth Hokage—if there were no candidates, then he himself would temporarily resume the Hokage's duties.
Hiruzen hadn't anticipated Danzo would directly challenge Chinya.
Actually, Hiruzen could guess Danzo's intentions—he just wanted to suppress Chinya's rising influence and block him from becoming the next Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had Chinya explain himself. Chinya did seem suspicious enough, and besides, Hiruzen wanted to rein in his rising influence a bit.
This was mainly because Minato Namikaze was still in a coma, making Chinya the most fitting candidate to succeed as Hokage.
However, Hiruzen would never hand the Hokage position over to Chinya.
There were many reasons for this—his personality, for one, and his relationship with the Uchiha Clan. Konoha needed the Uchiha, after all. If Chinya took office, the Uuchiha might violently backlash, doing things he hoped to avoid.
What's more, given Chinya's domineering personality, he'd never tolerate anyone interfering with how he ran Konoha—something Hiruzen could never accept. Therefore, he joined Danzo in calling Chinya out.
But things didn't go exactly as Hiruzen had planned.
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