"What do you mean by that!" Danzo widened the only eye exposed to the outside, glaring at Minato.
The Third Hokage and the two Advisors were also startled, not expecting Minato to choose this moment to move against Danzo.
Setting aside their good relationship with Danzo, the Nine-Tails Attack had only recently ended, and the village was still recovering internally. Was this really the time to deal with such matters?
"Danzo, as the leader of Root, surely you are aware of your organization's performance during the Nine-Tails Attack, are you not?" Minato asked, then looked toward the Anbu Commander beside him.
The Commander naturally understood what needed to be done and unrolled the very large scroll he held onto the enormous conference table.
"Recorded here are the experiences of all villagers during the Nine-Tails Attack. Many of them were rescued by the Anbu, many were saved by ordinary logistical ninja, and even young ninja participated in the evacuation missions. Yet, Root ninja were conspicuously absent." Minato said, looking at Danzo.
"Please, Danzo, can you explain this?"
Danzo's expression was ugly. At that time, he naturally couldn't let his subordinates waste their lives there for nothing. What did the lives of a few villagers matter?
However, while that was what he thought internally, he couldn't possibly say it aloud now.
"That's right. During this turmoil, our Uchiha Clan also lost a large number of clan members. I believe the Hyuga Clan is in the same situation. May I ask, Lord Danzō, where were you at that time?" Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but chime in.
Hyuga Hiashi remained silent for a moment before nodding as well. They had not only lost many ninja from branch families, but even a member of the main family had been abducted by an outsider during this incident!
At this moment, all the Jonin and the heads of the various clans below were looking at the detailed records on the scroll. It was clear from this that Minato had absolutely intended to move against Danzo immediately after the Nine-Tails Attack, if not earlier.
"What does any of this prove? Root's duty is to protect Konoha from the shadows," Danzo said coldly.
"Protecting Konoha is the responsibility of every single ninja in the village!" Minato retorted, then looked at everyone present and spoke.
"Everyone here has friends and clan members who died in the Nine-Tails Attack. Did they have a reason not to participate in the battle? No, but they all participated, and they protected Konoha with their lives."
Minato stared at Danzo and continued, "They could have argued that by preserving their lives, they could contribute greater strength to Konoha's revival later, but they didn't!"
After Minato finished speaking, everyone present undoubtedly thought of the friends and clan members they had lost during the Nine-Tails Attack.
Almost no one was spared, including the Third Hokage and the two Advisors, who had narrowly avoided death by the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
Therefore, they couldn't help but focus their attention on Danzo.
If Minato hadn't brought this up, they probably wouldn't have known about Root's actions, but now that they did, intense dissatisfaction erupted in their hearts toward Danzo.
Under so many resentful gazes, Danzo could only remain silent.
Then he said, "Even so, wanting to abolish Root is going too far, isn't it?"
"What necessity is there for the existence of an organization that can stand idly by while Konoha is in crisis?" Minato countered.
"Hokage-sama is right." Uchiha Fugaku openly supported Minato at this point.
His initial allowance for Kakashi to retain Obito's Sharingan was already a gesture of goodwill toward Minato, and Danzo was, moreover, the person he disliked the most.
While the two Advisors were merely dissatisfied and bothersome toward the Uchiha Clan, Danzo harbored blatant hatred for them. Before Minato took office, he targeted them in every single meeting.
Therefore, they absolutely would not miss this opportunity to kick a man while he was down!
"Uchiha—" Danzo shot Uchiha Fugaku a cold, sinister glance, then said hatefully, "Hokage-sama, instead of pursuing my responsibility, shouldn't you turn your attention to the Uchiha Clan?"
"You must know that the Nine-Tails was summoned inside Konoha, and the only ones capable of summoning the Nine-Tails are members of the Uchiha Clan. Compared to me, who merely failed to provide support, shouldn't the people who caused this disaster be more hateful?"
"This matter has already been discussed," Minato frowned.
"Your assertion that the man in black was Madara is merely your speculation, isn't it?" Danzo countered.
"Our Uchiha Clan also lost nearly half of its elite ninja during the Nine-Tails Attack! Furthermore, Madara, who is capable of summoning the Nine-Tails, severed all ties with those of us in the village back when the First Hokage-sama was still alive!" Uchiha Fugaku snorted coldly.
"Heh heh, who knows whether or not you maintained secret contact with Madara afterward?" Danzo scoffed mockingly.
"You!" Uchiha Fugaku glared at Danzo. This was something completely impossible to prove.
"Enough. I will handle the Uchiha Clan's affairs later. At the very least, the Uchiha Clan's performance during the Nine-Tails Attack was without fault. Right now, we are talking about you. Do not change the subject," Minato also said coldly.
"Hmph! Hokage-sama, you will regret letting the Uchiha Clan run rampant like this sooner or later!" Danzo said angrily.
The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke at this time. He sighed internally, feeling a hint of sadness.
He had actually been aware that Root did not participate in the Nine-Tails Attack, but now that the evidence was laid before him, he truly did not want to see his old friend driven to such a point.
"Minato, this matter is indeed Danzo's fault, but dissolving Root shouldn't be necessary. How about punishing him by reducing Root's scale instead?" the Third Hokage finally spoke.
Minato looked at the Third Hokage. He was not surprised that the Third Hokage would speak up for Danzo. If that weren't the case, he could have removed Danzo long ago based on previous documented incidents.
Minato took a deep breath and said, "Besides this, there are, of course, a few other matters."
After speaking, he had the Anbu Commander distribute the prepared documents, intentionally skipping Danzo.
Danzo felt a strong sense of foreboding upon seeing this scene and immediately spoke.
"I can accept the punishment and reduce the scale of Root."
At this moment, he felt like he was trying to sacrifice a limb to save his life.
However, no one replied. They were all immersed in the contents of the documents. How could he possibly dare to do such a thing?
Spreading rhetoric that severely endangered the Fourth Hokage, what exactly was he trying to do?
This was the thought of the Jonin below, but the documents held by the Third Hokage and the two Advisors contained additional information.
That was the information concerning Kushina and young Naruto.
The Third Hokage's eyes widened when he read this. The Nine-Tails was an absolute village secret. How dare Danzo do this?!
The two Advisors also silently looked at the documents in their hands, exchanged glances, saw the helplessness in each other's eyes, and sighed.
Danzo watched the shocked faces one by one, and his heart grew heavier with dread.
He suddenly considered a possibility: had that matter been exposed?
Then, remembering the signal flares that had been set off inside the village earlier, his heart sank.
He naturally knew the severity of such a matter being discovered.
Originally, he had only planned to let his subordinates spread the rumors to a certain extent before stopping, allowing them to diffuse naturally afterward.
The plan hadn't even been in effect for a few days, so how exactly had they been discovered?
Danzo looked at the enormous scroll on the table and suddenly realized something: they had been investigating Root's activities among the villagers all along.
And he had just happened to walk right into the line of fire?
He felt his vision dimming.
At the same time, he tried to reassure himself that he was overthinking things and that they might not have discovered that particular matter.
Minato looked toward the Third Hokage and said, "Are Danzo's crimes sufficient now?"
The Third Hokage opened his mouth, but no words would come out.
Standing idly by and ignoring the village's crisis, openly slandering the village's Hokage-sama, and leaking the village's core secrets—all these things combined left him unable to offer any rebuttal.
"Advisor, what do you think the punishment should be for someone who has committed such crimes?" Minato looked at Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu.
The two of them exchanged helpless glances, then closed their eyes. Finally, Homura Mitokado said, "It is a capital offense."
Instantly, Danzo's eyes widened. He looked at Homura Mitokado in disbelief and shouted, "What kind of joke are you playing?!"
As he spoke, he snatched the document from Homura Mitokado's hand and began reading it himself.
The people below were also slightly confused. Although Danzo's mistakes were indeed serious, did they truly warrant the death penalty?
At this point, they realized that perhaps the documents in their hands were different from those held by the others; some secrets they were not privy to had been recorded in the documents held by the Third Hokage and the Advisor.
Danzo finally saw the records he least wanted to see.
"This is fake! This is a document intentionally fabricated by Minato to bring me down!" Danzo shouted loudly, then stared fiercely at Minato and said, "You yellow-haired brat, how vicious you are!"
Minato watched Danzo's performance, then ordered the Anbu Commander to bring up the two individuals.
"Danzo, you should recognize these two people, shouldn't you? This information was spread through their mouths."
Danzo's pupils contracted when he saw them, but he still snorted coldly and said.
"Hmph, who are they? This old man doesn't know them!"
"Hokage-sama, they are members of our clans. They joined Root previously at the request of Danzo." At this moment, the heads of two medium-sized clans below widened their eyes when they saw the people being brought up, and they spoke.
"Danzo, do you still have anything you wish to explain now?"
Minato continued to look at Danzo, as if asking, "What other act do you intend to put on?"