Furthermore, the Third Hokage's leniency would accumulate dissatisfaction, which would be a severe blow to the Hokage faction. It might not seem useful normally, but it would erupt at critical moments.
Just like the Konoha Crush Plan later, no one helped the Third Hokage, claiming they believed he could win, but anyone with eyes could see it was just letting him die.
No matter how powerful the Third Hokage was in his youth, for a Ninja whose career depended on youth, being sixty-nine years old would definitely reduce an Kage-level Ninja's strength by more than half.
"Hmph! This old man refuses! Hiruzen, do you really want to go this far?!"
Danzo naturally couldn't accept such a result; it was more painful than death for him. Unrepentant, Danzo still thought Hiruzen Sarutobi was using this incident to reclaim power and eliminate dissidents.
Hiruzen Sarutobi merely glanced at Danzo. He didn't want to say anything more to Danzo, but he thought of Root.
"Anbu, immediately secure all Root members, seal all Root bases, and tally all evidence of their crimes."
"Hiruzen, you are ruthless! Without this old man to suppress the Uchiha Clan, how will you weaken them? The Uchiha will surely take your place, you will regret this, Hiruzen!"
The Third Hokage knew that the Uchiha were indeed a problem, so he looked at the Uchiha Clan, focusing on the strongest, Uchiha Chiri.
"As long as Konoha doesn't target my Uchiha Clan, my Uchiha will naturally not cause trouble. Furthermore, my Uchiha Clan is willing to hand over half of the Konoha Military Police Force's slots to the major Ninja clans and civilian Ninja."
Uchiha Chiri took advantage of the presence of these Ninja and clan heads to directly announce the second step of the decision made by Ling.
"Uchiha Setsuna! No!"
Uchiha Setsuna was the first to object, but his strength had weakened too much due to old age, and he was instantly controlled by Uchiha Chiri with genjutsu.
"This is my decision, Elders and Clan Head Fugaku, who agrees? Who opposes?!"
Fugaku was still young at this time, had not activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and his strength was only that of an Elite Jonin. Naturally, he didn't dare to speak out against her, nor did he dare to face those authoritative Mangekyo eyes.
At this moment, Uchiha Chiri was overwhelmingly domineering, directly suppressing all dissenting voices within the Uchiha Clan.
"Since there are no objections in front of everyone, I will discuss how to implement this matter at the clan meeting."
"Uchiha Chiri, is what you said true? Are you really willing to give up half of the Konoha Military Police Force's slots?"
The Third Hokage was also somewhat surprised. Although he could tell this was Uchiha Chiri's impromptu decision, under Chiri's strength, the Uchiha Hawk Faction could only grudgingly accept it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had long wanted to resolve the issue of the Konoha Military Police Force. A standing force, nominally for protecting Konoha, not being under the Hokage's control was extremely dangerous.
Although he also knew that the Konoha Military Police Force was one of the traps his teacher, Senju Tobirama, set for the Uchiha, his teacher had also told him back then that Konoha couldn't do without the Uchiha.
Therefore, the Third Hokage wanted to resolve the Uchiha issue peacefully. He wanted the Uchiha to allow Village Ninja to join and not be too independent. However, when faced with his olive branch, the Uchiha naturally refused without hesitation.
"Of course, the Village must also allow the Uchiha to form Jonin squads and have the opportunity to join Anbu."
Uchiha Chiri was probably the person, besides Uchiha Shisui, who most wanted to resolve the conflict between the Uchiha and the Village. She didn't have many years left to live and had to resolve it before her death. Otherwise, as Hiruzen Sarutobi grew older and the Fourth Hokage, whose attitude was less certain, took office, the Uchiha might lose their last chance.
"Jonin squads are not a problem, and Anbu is also acceptable, but during wartime, the Uchiha must accept unified scheduling."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sensed Uchiha Chiri's sincerity, so he appropriately put forward his own demands.
"Understood. From now on, Anbu can only monitor the Uchiha normally. We are not rebels, nor are we outsiders."
Although Uchiha Chiri had been out of affairs for a long time, she knew that Anbu's surveillance of the Uchiha had reached an appalling level.
"Understood. I hope the Uchiha can settle down from now on. Konoha can no longer withstand turmoil."
The Third Hokage, having served the longest, could feel Konoha slowly declining over the years, not only due to war but also internal conflicts within Konoha.
Unfortunately, he no longer had much ambition to change this situation and could only leave it to the future Fourth Hokage to resolve.
"Hiruzen, the Uchiha giving up the Konoha Military Police Force must be a conspiracy! You will regret this, Hiruzen!"
Danzo was now surrounded by Anbu, to prevent him from taking desperate measures. At this moment, Danzo still held out hope, believing he would only be subjected to ordinary imprisonment, and that he would surely have a chance to get out when war came.
"Alright, everyone disperse. Take Danzo back to Anbu for detention, then destroy his Chakra pathways."
Hiruzen, with his hands behind his back and his back hunched, slowly walked towards his office.
"Sarutobi-sensei, the old man Danzo has Hashirama cells transplanted, and his recovery ability is extremely strong. It's better to let the Hyuga Clan abolish Danzo's pathways, otherwise, if not completely abolished, Danzo will slowly recover."
Ling couldn't let Danzo leave his sight unscathed. That old man would resurface given any chance. With the Third Shinobi World War approaching, Danzo might even be reinstated then.
Hyuga Hiashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who were about to leave, paused. Both were somewhat surprised.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had indeed intended to temporarily imprison Danzo, then let him atone for his crimes during the war.
Hyuga Hiashi, on the other hand, hadn't expected watching the excitement to involve himself. If he were to carry out the execution, then the Third Hokage and the three Elders might retaliate and suppress the Hyuga Clan.
So, whether from his family's perspective or his own, he didn't want to get involved in this mess.
Unfortunately, the other Ninja clans, including Ino–Shika–Chō and the Uchiha, wouldn't miss this opportunity. They had already offended the Hokage faction anyway, so why not drag a teammate in to share the burden?
The law doesn't punish the masses; the Hokage faction couldn't possibly purge all of them. So, dragging the Hyuga Clan into it was necessary.
"Yes, that's right. The Hyuga Clan has the Byakugan and can see all of Danzo's pathways, so there will be no mistakes."
"Exactly, that's right. I believe that with the Hyuga Clan taking action, Danzo will suffer less pain, after all, their Gentle Fist is incredibly precise."
The major Ninja clans all pulled the Hyuga Clan into the mess. They also knew what the Third Hokage was planning by imprisoning Danzo in Anbu. Shouldn't they strike while he was down, or would it be too late when Danzo got out?
When the war started, the major Ninja clans would definitely be purged by the Hokage faction and assigned the most dangerous missions.
However, if Danzo was crippled, it would be different, because the Hokage would then have to rely on these Ninja clans instead of Danzo's Root, and naturally wouldn't openly target them anymore.
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