UTBW: Ch. 61

Whether it was Tsunade or Jiraiya, there would inevitably be a rift forming in their hearts. Especially Tsunade, the most likely candidate to become the Fifth Hokage, she was a direct descendant of the Senju clan!

Danzō... Danzō... you really know how to cause me trouble. Hiruzen sighed internally, beginning to regret having protected Danzō.

Danzō seemed to regain his confidence and straightened his back. "Hiruzen is right. Where's the evidence?"

Everyone turned to look at Fugaku.

"As long as you remove the bandages from your right arm, it will prove what I said." Fugaku stared intently at Danzō's right arm as he spoke.

"You think I'll just do whatever you say?" Danzō let out a cold laugh and flatly refused. "Over some unfounded accusation, you expect me to comply? Then if I suspect you of colluding with Kumo, does that mean I can search your home? If things were handled that way, Konoha would have long since fallen into chaos!"

He pressed his right hand firmly onto his cane. He had no intention of unwrapping the bandages on his arm.

The jonin remained silent. Things were developing far beyond what they had expected, and with the situation unclear, they cautiously chose to stay uninvolved.

"That's right," Hiruzen said slowly. "You can't just expect someone to prove their innocence based on nothing but your word. You need to provide something more substantial."

Koharu and Homura nodded in agreement.

"Fugaku, you're in the wrong here."

"Danzō is an elder whose loyalty has already been tested countless times."

Seeing his old comrades speak on his behalf, Danzō felt relieved and allowed a relaxed smile to appear on his face. He said, "Before you act, you should remember your position. Slandering a Konoha elder is a serious crime!"

The atmosphere grew tense. Everyone's eyes turned to Fugaku.

Only Hiruzen was watching Junichi.

This young man was too calm, his face showed no panic, as if everything so far was unfolding according to his plan.

Clang!

A sharp sound of a sword being drawn snapped him out of his thoughts. His heart tightened, and he quickly turned to Fugaku.

The others also looked tense.

"I may not have evidence," Fugaku said, holding a sword in his left hand, the blade resting against his right arm, "but if I trade this arm, is that weighty enough?" He asked as he glanced around at everyone.

What did he mean?

Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

In the next instant, he swung his sword fiercely, the blade cutting straight into his right shoulder.

Swish!

His right arm was severed completely and fell to the ground.

"Fugaku!!"

Everyone was shocked, staring at him in disbelief.

"I traded this right arm, is it enough to make you remove the bandages?" Fugaku, drenched in cold sweat from the pain, gritted his teeth and shouted.

His voice wasn't loud. But it exploded like thunder in everyone's ears. Everyone looked at him, stunned.

His right arm was severed at the root, blood gushing out, and the muscles and bones at the cut were clearly visible.

He had cut through the very joint, severing the entire arm!

"Did you really have to go this far?" Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock, his body trembling from the scene before him.

So fierce! So decisive! This wasn't the gentle and elegant Fugaku he thought he knew!

"Heh..." Fugaku's face turned pale. After roughly tying off his wound with a cloth to barely stem the bleeding, he stared sharply at Danzō, "I'll ask again: Is it enough?"

Danzō's eye twitched uncontrollably, a flicker of fear flashing across his face.

Crazy! The Uchiha... they were all madmen!

"..."

Everyone else fell silent. Fugaku had gone to such lengths, what more could they say?

It was just unwrapping a bandage, it wasn't like he was asking Danzō to cut off his own arm too. Why couldn't he do it?

"Aren't you going to say something?" Koharu spoke up, looking at Junichi.

"He is an important member of your clan. Losing a right arm would cost a ninja at least half of their fighting ability!" Homura also said anxiously.

Junichi's expression remained calm as he said lightly, "This is what he should do."

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone froze for a moment. Then, they realized not just Junichi, but all the other Uchiha present wore the same calm, even indifferent, expressions. As if, to them, Fugaku severing his own arm was perfectly normal and expected.

The others couldn't understand this mentality.

But among the Uchiha, they had calculated it very clearly. This was the price Fugaku had to pay for the massacre committed by Itachi!

This debt wasn't something that could simply be erased by stepping down as clan leader, he had to pay a steep enough price. Otherwise, the Uchiha clansmen killed by Itachi would never be able to rest in peace.

"If you won't remove it, I'll help you!" Fugaku's face was dripping with cold sweat from the pain, but his eyes remained firm and resolute.

He charged straight toward Danzō.

"Stop him!" Danzō ordered his Root bodyguards, who immediately rushed forward.

But before they could even approach Fugaku, two slashes wrapped in blazing fire struck toward the Root guards from the left and right.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Get lost!"

Two Uchiha clan members blocked the guards. Fugaku advanced unimpeded, walking straight up to Danzō.

"Get out of my way!"

Danzō's expression changed drastically. He drew a kunai from his pouch and viciously stabbed at Fugaku.

Clang!

Fugaku also pulled out a kunai and easily blocked the attack, then landed a fierce kick into Danzō's abdomen.

Bang!

Caught off guard, Danzō was kicked backward, stumbling while clutching his stomach.

"Stop this!!" Koharu and Homura tried to rush forward to intervene.

But they too were blocked by other Uchiha clan members.

In an instant, Fugaku and Danzō, the Uchiha and the Root forces, broke into a chaotic brawl under everyone's watchful eyes.

"Enough!" The Third Hokage could no longer stand it and shouted loudly, "You're allowing your clan members to attack an elder, do you know the consequences?!"

Junichi smiled at him and replied, "In what capacity are you speaking to me?"

Hiruzen's face immediately froze.

"Did you forget? You are no longer the Hokage. What right do you have to order us to stop?"

Hiruzen's face turned ashen, and he felt a chill down his spine. In a flash, all the clues connected in his mind. He suddenly realized. It had all been within Junichi's calculations from the very beginning, this young man had already laid out a perfect trap, just waiting for him to step into it willingly and resign as Hokage!

Understanding this, he felt a deep coldness spreading in his heart. Everything... had been within Junichi's grasp?!

He looked at the boy now with deep wariness in his eyes.

The jonin also looked at him with shocked, almost disbelieving expressions.

Bang!

At that moment, Danzō was knocked to the ground by a punch from Fugaku. Even with only one arm left, Fugaku naturally had no trouble overpowering Danzō, who lacked the power of Izanagi like he had in the original timeline.

"Let... Let me go!" Danzō was pinned to the ground, and as he saw Fugaku reach toward his right arm, his expression turned frantic, and he struggled with all his might.

But he couldn't resist Fugaku's strength at all, instead, he only ended up gasping for breath from the effort.