Chapter 55.4- One Thousand Hands

“You would deny the will of the Sandaime while he stands unable to clarify himself?” He asked, feigning fury.

“No. I would deny an attempt to misinterpret the will of the Sandaime while he is incapacitated.” I said, looking down my nose at him.

“I will not leave on your word”

“No, but you will step down at the pleasure of this council, and I for one vote in favour” Uzume aid by my side, and if he looked at me in hatred for my words, then the look he gave Uzume would make you think the roles were switched and he was the one who hailed from the clan famous for killing with their eyes.

“I find myself swayed by Uzumaki-dono’s reasoning and I also vote in favour of Shimura-san’s stepping down” Uraume said, but the look she gave me was full of questions. I had her loyalty, and maybe I would always have it, but it was not unquestioning.

“I vote in favour as well and call on all those who do so to signify by a show of hands” Inoken said after Shika had spoken.

“Hold on, is this the wisest course of action now. To remove the present interim leader would be to leave the village captainless in the midst of a storm” The Izuno clan head, a chunin of little repute, spoke in Danzo’s favour. At least it seemed to be the case, he could just as well have not given any fucks about Danzo but been speaking in defence of the status quo.

“Then the Council will elect a new leader to take charge of the village. Danzo was not chosen by the Sandaime for this purpose, and the truth is he would be a terrible choice if he was chosen at this point” Uzume said.

“You dare, girl. You dare deny my qualifications? My commitment to this village? My strength?” Danzo was practically spitting fire.

“You’ve done fuck all in this war, Danny. We’re losing, and we’re losing badly. Konoha has a fully fit frontier force of one thousand five hundred, and reserves about a third that size. Our entire frontier force is gone. Naming a total unknown like you to that position is just practically guaranteeing that we have Kumo, Iwa, Suna, and maybe even Mizu at our gates in weeks” I said. “With that in mind, I vote in favour and call for a show of hands like Yamanaka-dono did”

This time there was no interruption, and hands went up aplenty. Shito Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Mateo Fuma, Uraume Hyuga, Kimiko Inuzuka, Ayame Kurama, Shikahime Nara, Uzume Uchiha, and Inoken Yamanaka all voted in favour. The Senju and Sarutobi votes were absent, the Izuno clan voted against, and the Onikuma clan abstained.