"Hiruzen, you only wanted to deal with me. Kakashi's matter is nothing more than the excuse you found. I understand now."
"You're simply clinging to the Hokage position, aren't you?"
"Now that you've made so many mistakes, your reputation has suffered greatly. Many people are questioning you. You can no longer sit securely in the Hokage's seat, so you want to suppress me, don't you?"
Hiruzen laughed from anger.
"Danzo, I knew you had been coveting the Hokage position all along. You made Kakashi disappear precisely to strike at me and create a chance for yourself to inherit the Hokage position, didn't you?"
"I'm telling you—dream on!"
"You are not worthy of becoming Hokage at all."
"Back then, Tobirama-sensei didn't choose you. I won't choose you either."
"As long as I live, you can forget about touching the Hokage position!"
The two argued fiercely and parted on bad terms.
The shinobi outside heard it and trembled in fear. None of them dared approach, afraid that even the slightest mistake would draw anger from either side.
With the authority of the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi dealt Danzo a heavy blow.
He stripped Danzo of his elder position, abolished Root, and confined Danzo within the Shimura clan compound.
It was equivalent to placing Danzo under a certain degree of house arrest, just like Uchiha Fugaku and the others.
This made Danzo furious.
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage.
Danzo could not defy the Hokage's orders.
No matter how unwilling he was, there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was hide part of Root's strength in the shadows and hand over those on the surface for Hiruzen Sarutobi to abolish.
"Fortunately, I had already been wary before and made preparations. Otherwise, this time, Hiruzen definitely would have seriously weakened me."
"Root may be abolished now, but I still have quite a few people."
Homura Mitokado became excited.
Ever since the last conflict with Danzo, the relationship between the two of them had worsened further and further.
There was not the slightest intention of reconciliation.
Thus, seeing Danzo suffer made Homura Mitokado extremely happy.
With great impatience, Homura Mitokado published the news that Danzo was no longer a Konoha elder in Konoha Weekly.
This enraged Danzo.
Bang!
A teacup was smashed hard onto the ground, shattering into countless fragments.
"Homura Mitokado, how dare you humiliate me like this?"
"I will make you pay the price!"
Danzo had always looked down on Homura Mitokado.
At a time when his mood was already terrible, Homura Mitokado still came to provoke him.
A trace of killing intent could not help but rise in Danzo's heart.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's office and let out a deep sigh.
"Danzo… I never imagined that at such a critical time, not only would that fellow refuse to help me, he would even harm me."
"And I treated him with mercy for decades in vain."
"He made so many mistakes, yet I never punished him severely. If this were not Konoha, but another shinobi village, that fellow Danzo would have been locked in prison long ago."
"No other Kage would tolerate him."
"Now, what should I do?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi understood the current situation very clearly.
The rumor about Uchiha Kagami had not actually caused any substantial damage to him.
The rumor about Kirigakure's Byakugan was also manageable, mainly because the Hyuga clan knew how to conduct themselves.
But regarding the rumor about Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to admit that his reputation had indeed been affected quite a bit.
As the elder, facing a crisis like the Nine-Tails' attack, he had not taken the initiative to sacrifice himself.
Even if most people believed that he had not plotted against Minato Namikaze, many would still feel that he had failed to uphold the Will of Fire.
The very Will of Fire that he had emphasized so many times.
A person's reputation was like a protective shell.
Before the shell was cracked, it seemed indestructible.
But once the shell was opened, destroying what lay inside became much easier—and much faster.
That was precisely why the rumor about Konoha's White Fang could now bring him so much negative impact.
"We cannot allow this to continue."
"Danzo made his move. Kakashi is most likely already dead."
"But only I know Danzo killed him."
"If others learn that Kakashi is dead, they will only suspect me. Even if they know Danzo acted, they will still think I gave Danzo the order."
"Danzo's move was truly ruthless."
A thought flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
"Kakashi can die, but he cannot die like this. And he cannot die now."
"I need to find someone trustworthy within the Sarutobi clan."
The next day—
Kakashi appeared.
Openly, inside Konoha Village.
"That's Kakashi?"
"That's right. It's Kakashi!"
"Kakashi didn't disappear. He returned to the village."
Some people began guessing.
"He was probably injured and had been recovering before this."
"That Sunagakure is truly hateful. Making wild guesses and fabricating rumors at random—absolutely despicable."
"Look. Kakashi is perfectly fine. Hokage-sama isn't that kind of person at all. He could never persecute Kakashi."
"It was all Sunagakure's slander."
One person's eyes lit up.
His mind began spinning frantically, trying to figure out how to obtain Sunagakure's three-hundred-thousand-ryo bounty.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood behind the window of the Hokage Building, watching the scene below, and nodded.
"Not bad. With this, I will no longer bear the suspicion of having killed Kakashi. At the same time, the rumor about Konoha's White Fang can also be eased somewhat."
"In a few days, I can have 'Kakashi' clarify things personally."
"Sunagakure can do character interviews, but my Konoha Weekly can also conduct an interview with 'Kakashi.'"
Just then—
A green figure charged toward Kakashi at an astonishing speed.
"Kakashi! I knew you'd be fine!"
"This is wonderful!"
Might Guy rushed excitedly in front of Kakashi.
Then he slapped Kakashi on the shoulder.
Kakashi's expression changed. He clearly could not handle Guy's enthusiasm.
"I still have something to do, so I'll be going first."
Kakashi hurried away.
Might Guy stared suspiciously at Kakashi's back, confusion appearing on his face.
"What's going on with Kakashi? Why is he acting so strange?"
"Could the rumors about White Fang-senpai have hit Kakashi too hard?"
The news that Kakashi was still alive rapidly spread through the ninja world.
For a time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's image seemed to return to how it had been before.
Inside the Shimura compound, Danzo's brows were tightly furrowed.
"I knew it. That fellow Hiruzen was deliberately looking for an excuse. He punished me under the accusation that I killed Kakashi. Now Kakashi has returned. What about me?"
"It seems that using conventional means to force Hiruzen down from the Hokage position is basically impossible."
"I must use unconventional means."
"I need to discuss this properly with Orochimaru."
"Otherwise, the Hokage position may permanently remain in the Sarutobi clan."
Danzo's eyes flickered uncertainly.
"Go find Orochimaru."
Danzo gave the order to a young shinobi from his clan.
"Yes, Danzo-sama."