"Lord Third, you've finally come." Uchiha Douhuan, who had remained silent from the beginning, finally spoke in a slow, measured tone.
"Douhuan, what on earth has happened here?" Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Danzo's remains on the ground before turning his gaze to Uchiha Douhuan.
"This morning, we accepted a mission assigned by the village, but we were ambushed along the way," Uchiha Douhuan replied calmly. "The three of us cut down every last one of the attacking shinobi. Among the bodies of the assailants, we discovered the remains of Elder Danzo."
"Nonsense! How could Danzo possibly ambush you?!" Mitokado Homura immediately demanded with a furious glare.
"Regardless of how it sounds, that is the truth," Uchiha Douhuan's tone remained completely unperturbed. "During our engagement with him, he exposed the Sharingan grafted onto his arm. The three of us struck him down, taking him for a thief who had come to steal our clan's bloodline limit, only to discover afterward that it was Elder Danzo."
"Hiruzen, do not listen to his blatant lies! This is clearly a frame-up by the Uchiha clan after they murdered Danzo!" Utatane Koharu interjected sharply.
"The Uchiha clan would never desecrate the remains of a fellow clansman!" an elder of the Uchiha faction behind Douhuan shouted angrily.
"What we discovered wasn't just the Sharingan, you know." Faced with the accusations, Uchiha Douhuan showed no annoyance. Instead, he stepped forward, pried the Sharingan eyes from Danzo's arm one by one, and then dispelled the sealing jutsu applied over them. Deprived of suppression, the Hashirama cells instantly consumed Danzo's remains, reducing them to a twisted wooden log.
"This is... Wood Release?" Some of the older generation shinobi present recognized what it was. At the same time, Uchiha Douhuan signaled Inabi, who was standing nearby, to throw Yamato, whom he had been carrying on his back, heavily to the ground.
"During the battle, we also uncovered this—a shinobi capable of using Wood Release. I hardly need to spell out what that implies." Uchiha Douhuan fixed a burning gaze on Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"You actually dared to desecrate the remains of Lord First!" The voice came from a dove-faction elder within the Uchiha clan. This elder had always held Lord First in the deepest reverence, and seeing such a scene before him, he simply could not accept it.
At this moment, ripples of unease appeared on the faces of the Konoha loyalist shinobi as well. After all, what Danzo had done was practically equivalent to shitting all over their foundational beliefs.
Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he could no longer remain silent. "Everyone, I will send men to investigate this entire matter thoroughly and give you all a satisfactory explanation. Please, give me some time!"
"You cannot trust them! Douhuan! Lead us in a rebellion! You have awakened Lord Madara's eyes! You can surely lead the Uchiha clan to glory!" Hiruzen's words clearly failed to pacify the fury of the Uchiha clan, and two radical faction members immediately stepped forward to roar in protest.
Shisui and Itachi, standing within the crowd, were gripped with panic, but their fellow clansmen around them had already plunged into a state of blind fanaticism.
The two of them exchanged a glance in the crowd and made a simultaneous resolve—they would stop this madness even if it cost them their lives.
Yet at that exact moment, Uchiha Douhuan suddenly turned around and bellowed, "Shut your traps, all of you!"
Hearing Uchiha Douhuan's command, the Uchiha clansmen, who had been clamoring for a rebellion just a second ago, froze instantly. Several militant elders stared at him in utter disbelief.
The three tomoe in Uchiha Douhuan's eyes had now shifted into the pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan as he launched into a merciless reprimand: "What are you all howling about for nothing?! Konoha is a village co-founded by Lord First and Lord Madara! We were born here, and we grew up here—this place is our home! We drink the water of the Naka River alongside the village, and we eat the crops grown from the very same fields. We are a part of this village!"
Hearing Uchiha Douhuan's words, Shisui and Itachi were taken aback. Could it be that Uchiha Douhuan had no desire to rebel after all?
"Clan Head, am I right?" Uchiha Douhuan then looked toward Uchiha Fugaku, who had remained silent the entire time.
Fugaku gave Uchiha Douhuan a long, deep look before stepping out from the crowd and bowing deeply to Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Douhuan is right. My clansmen were simply too agitated just now. Please forgive this unseemly display before the Hokage."
The radical faction members behind the two still wanted to say something, but catching sight of the Mangekyo Sharingan spinning in Douhuan's eyes, they wisely shut their mouths.
Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen readily took the opportunity to back down. "It's understandable. Even I would find it difficult to remain calm if I saw a clansman's remains treated in such a manner. Fugaku, have everyone return home for now. Once everything has been thoroughly investigated, I will definitely give everyone a satisfactory reply."
"However, Lord Hokage, we do need an explanation right now." Uchiha Douhuan suddenly spoke up once more, holding out the mission scroll he had obtained that morning, bearing the Hokage's official seal.
"Was this scroll signed by you?" Uchiha Douhuan looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked with a smile.
"Douhuan, I never issued any such mission to you, and there is no record of it in the mission assignment hall whatsoever." Hiruzen was anxious to cut ties with Danzo as quickly as possible, so he merely glanced at the wooden log that Danzo's corpse had turned into before speaking.
"So, this was entirely Elder Danzo's personal action, is that correct?" Douhuan asked.
*Forgive me, Danzo,* Hiruzen thought to himself, but cutting ties was a necessity.
"That's right," Hiruzen said.
"How despicable!" Uchiha Douhuan instantly adopted an expression of righteous indignation. "Lord Hokage breaks his heart daily worrying over the village, yet some people resort to actions that harm the village purely for their own selfish gains! There are villains lurking right by the Hokage's side."
As he said this, Uchiha Douhuan pointedly swept his gaze across Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
"Douhuan, I understand how you feel. Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of this matter," Hiruzen said, finding himself unable to say much else in the face of Douhuan's display of loyalty, and could only repeat himself.
"Lord Hokage, when it comes to this matter, the Uchiha clan is willing to share your burdens," Uchiha Douhuan said, bowing deeply.
"Douhuan, I appreciate your sentiments..." Hiruzen wanted to continue offering bureaucratic platitudes, but the moment he raised his eyes, he was met with the sight of the Mangekyo Sharingan slowly revolving within Uchiha Douhuan's eyes.
"Lord Hokage, the Uchiha clan is willing to share your burdens."
Cold sweat dripped down the side of Sarutobi Hiruzen's temple. Only now did he realize with a shock—was this Uchiha Douhuan's true objective all along?
Hiruzen stared into those slowly spinning Mangekyo eyes, while also recalling what Shisui had told him yesterday regarding the dangerous dōjutsu currently in Douhuan's possession. True, as he had told Shisui, using this dōjutsu to directly control him would not fundamentally alter the political situation in Konoha. However, that did not mean he personally wished to be controlled by it; in fact, part of the reason he had allowed Danzo to act as he did was to let Danzo test the waters for him.
Not until this very moment did Sarutobi Hiruzen truly understand that Uchiha Douhuan was far more formidable and troublesome than any Uchiha he had ever encountered before.
With that thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a long sigh and finally spoke: "Since you have this kind of heart, I leave this matter in your hands."
As his voice fell, the Mangekyo Sharingan in Uchiha Douhuan's eyes faded away, and he gave Hiruzen a slight bow.
"Understood." With that, Douhuan turned his head to glance at his clansmen behind him.
Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen prepared to lead his people away, Uchiha Douhuan's voice rang out once more:
"Uchiha clan, salute to the Lord Hokage!"
Standing at the absolute front of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Douhuan flicked his right arm outward and pressed his hand to the side of his head: "Loyalty! And absolute devotion!"
The rest of the Uchiha clansmen, including Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku, followed suit without hesitation: "Loyalty! And absolute devotion!"