"First crime committed by Shimura Danzō: he abandoned all humanity, conducting human experimentation for his own selfish desires...
"Second crime committed by Shimura Danzō: he completely disregarded human life, murdering his fellow villagers and plotting to seize their inherited ninja techniques...
"Third crime committed by Shimura Danzō: he committed atrocities beyond human comprehension, secretly inciting wars that left countless people displaced and caused countless innocent villagers to lose their lives..."
As Minato Namikaze exposed one evil deed after another committed by Shimura Danzō, everyone who had been immersed in Danzō's seniority and achievements just moments ago was left utterly dumbfounded.
They had never imagined that someone in this world could be so utterly ruthless!
What shocked them even more was that this was only the beginning!
Over the next hour, after listing Danzō's major crimes, Minato Namikaze began presenting the evidence in detail, substantiating every charge against him!
"Damn... So the death of the White Fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake, was actually orchestrated by Shimura Danzō? I always wondered how the White Fang, a man who had fought his way through countless battlefields, could have such a fragile mental state that he would take his own life. So it was because of Shimura Danzō!"
"And the Uchiha clan as well! I always thought it was strange. The Uchiha fought desperately on the battlefield and were willing to risk their lives for Konoha. How could they possibly have wanted to turn against the village? So Shimura Danzō was secretly plotting to seize the Uchiha clan's Sharingan!"
"Damn it! The war was already about to end, yet Shimura Danzō actually wanted to start another war between Konoha, Iwagakure, and Amegakure in the Land of Rain! Wasn't he afraid of being struck by lightning for such a heinous act?!"
"That's nothing! Didn't the Hokage-sama say that Shimura Danzō gathered orphans and forced them to kill one another just to train them into tools? He was capable of doing something like that! Does Shimura Danzō have even the slightest trace of conscience left?!"
"A man like Shimura Danzō deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces! No wonder Konoha decided to execute him publicly!"
"Konoha did the right thing this time!"
"Exactly! Konoha truly deserves its reputation as the foremost shinobi village in the world. They didn't go easy on Shimura Danzō just because of his seniority and achievements. Instead, they made all of his crimes public!"
"No, you're all wrong! Konoha may indeed be the foremost shinobi village in the world, but its conduct isn't exactly exemplary. Otherwise, how could Shimura Danzō have caused trouble for decades without anything happening to him?"
"That's right! I heard Shimura Danzō and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, were not only teammates of the same generation but also extremely, extremely, extremely close friends! It's not that Danzō's crimes were never exposed. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, simply covered them up for him!"
"Exactly! And the most important person is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He was the one who withstood the pressure and dealt with Shimura Danzō!"
"And Konoha's newly appointed elder, Uchiha Ren! I heard Shimura Danzō was captured by him! Someone even tried to rescue Danzō last night, and the Uchiha clan suffered considerable losses!"
"What? Konoha is the foremost shinobi village in the world. They actually let someone fight their way into the village?"
"Heh, of course Konoha wasn't breached from outside. The problem came from within the village!"
"Is that so? Looks like there are other bad people in Konoha besides Shimura Danzō!"
"Sigh... Bad people exist everywhere. But fortunately, Shimura Danzō wasn't rescued. With Minato-sama in the village, those villains won't be able to cause much trouble!"
"That's right, that's right. The most important thing now is to execute Shimura Danzō!"
"Right! Shimura Danzō must die!"
"Kill Shimura Danzō! Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
The crowd was filled with heated discussion, but after the first person shouted, "Kill Shimura Danzō!" the other voices of discussion gradually died down.
Everyone began shouting in unison, united against their common enemy!
In the end, all the cries merged into three simple words:
"Kill him!"
Minato Namikaze glanced at Shimura Danzō, who had his head lowered. After shaking his head slightly, he spoke.
"Everyone, Shimura Danzō's crimes are beyond measure. Not only has he endangered our village, Konoha, but he has also been a great menace to the entire shinobi world!"
"Now, in the name of the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, I hereby sentence Shimura Danzō to death!"
"It is now noon. Verify the prisoner's identity. Carry out the execution!"
In this context, "noon" referred to the two-hour period from eleven in the morning until one in the afternoon.
Although it had only just passed eleven, it was already within the designated time for the execution!
This execution time had been chosen by Uchiha Ren.
Although Minato did not understand why Ren had chosen it, he still followed his instructions.
As Minato's words fell, everyone stopped shouting. The entire crowd held its breath and stared intently at the scene atop the execution platform.
An ANBU shinobi stepped forward and, with a reverse hand seal, summoned an Executioner's Blade from a storage scroll.
At the same time, another ANBU took advantage of the opening to grab Shimura Danzō by the hair and yank his head upward, exposing his face to the camera so that everyone present could see him clearly.
Whether it was to make the public execution more dramatic or for some other reason, Shimura Danzō's eyes were narrowed at this moment, while the corners of his mouth curled upward into an evil smile.
No matter how one looked at it, he appeared to be the quintessential villain!
"Execute!"
With a loud shout from the ANBU wielding the Executioner's Blade, the sword came crashing down.
Shimura Danzō was instantly decapitated, a line of blood shooting into the air!
And that sinister smile on Shimura Danzō's face was forever frozen in that moment!
"Good!"
"Good! Good!"
"Good! Good! Good!"
For a moment, the entire scene fell silent as Danzō's head and body separated.
But once the crowd recovered from its shock, cheers erupted everywhere!
What a satisfying sight!
With Shimura Danzō's death, the public execution came to a successful conclusion.
However, the impact caused by this public execution was far from over.
Its repercussions were already spreading to distant lands!
At the same time, inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado had gathered together.
Hearing the cheers coming from outside, all three wore sorrowful expressions.
"Danzō... He really died just like that..."
Homura Mitokado suddenly felt the sorrow of seeing a companion fall before him and sighed heavily.
"I really never thought Danzō would be the second among us to die. I thought this old woman would be the first to go and meet our teacher and Kagami."
Koharu Utatane sighed as well.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, remained silent.
Even now, he still could not understand why Shimura Danzō had sought death!
That was right—he had sought death!
In Hiruzen's eyes, if Danzō had wanted to live, there had still been a very good chance of keeping him alive.
All Danzō had needed to do was cooperate with the people Hiruzen had sent.
But not only had Danzō refused to cooperate, he had even betrayed Hiruzen and exposed his involvement!
Could that Izanagi really be that terrifying?
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