Chapter 354: Extorting Sarutobi Hiruzen!

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The moment Namikaze Minato revealed that Shimura Danzō had identified Sarutobi Hiruzen as the person behind the rescue attempt, the entire office fell into an eerie silence.

It wasn’t just Sarutobi Hiruzen, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado who were shocked. Even Shikaku Nara and Hyūga Hiashi were stunned.

Shimura Danzō had identified Sarutobi Hiruzen?

What was Danzō trying to accomplish?

Was he trying to drag Hiruzen down with him?

Putting aside whether such a move would actually work, based on their understanding of Danzō, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would do something like this!

“Yondaime.”

Homura Mitokado was the first to recover and immediately spoke.

“What kind of person is Shimura Danzō? Can you really trust his words? If his words were trustworthy, he wouldn’t be facing a public execution tomorrow!”

“So you’re saying that you’re accusing the Third Hokage based solely on a few words from a dying criminal who has committed countless atrocities?”

“Utterly ridiculous!”

Minato’s expression didn’t change.

“Of course I wouldn’t suspect the Third Hokage based solely on a few words from Shimura Danzō. But there are indeed quite a few suspicious points surrounding this incident.”

“First of all, the current Root genuinely doesn’t have enough manpower to assemble a force like this and carry out an operation of this scale. Furthermore, those people weren’t subordinate to Shimura Danzō.”

“Therefore, the people who came to rescue Danzō couldn’t have been Root shinobi. There must be someone else behind them!”

“And Shimura Danzō just happened to identify the Third Hokage as the person responsible for this operation. Even if it’s only to prove the Third Hokage’s innocence, shouldn’t we thoroughly investigate the matter?”

After a brief pause, Minato looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen and spoke meaningfully.

“Those people have already been transferred to the Military Police Force’s Analysis Division. Captain Inoichi Yamanaka will personally examine their memories, while Captain Uchiha Fugaku and his men will supervise the entire process.”

“I don’t think it will take more than a few days before the truth comes to light.”

“Wait, how can this—”

“Enough, Homura. Don’t say anything more.”

Homura Mitokado had just begun to argue when Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted him.

Hiruzen took a deep breath.

“That’s right. I was indeed the one responsible for tonight’s operation.”

The entire office fell silent once again.

“Hiruzen…”

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane stared at him in disbelief. Neither of them could understand why Hiruzen had suddenly admitted to it.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had already thought everything through.

Minato’s words had actually been a warning.

He was telling Hiruzen to take responsibility for the incident.

By having Inoichi Yamanaka personally examine the captured shinobi, Minato was telling Hiruzen that there was a very real possibility he could obtain solid evidence.

Hiruzen couldn’t guarantee that the cursed seals implanted in the attackers’ brains would be able to withstand Inoichi’s probing.

But Hiruzen could be certain of one thing.

With Inoichi Yamanaka’s abilities, even if he couldn’t overcome the cursed seals in their minds in a short period of time, given enough time, Inoichi would definitely find a way to deal with them.

And Minato had also made it clear that Uchiha Fugaku would personally lead the guards watching over the prisoners.

That effectively eliminated most of the opportunities Hiruzen and the others had to tamper with the situation.

Uchiha Fugaku possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. With several Hyūga shinobi assisting him, killing those prisoners under their watch would be extraordinarily difficult.

But that wasn’t even the most important point.

If that were all there was to it, there would still be room to take a gamble.

However, there was another hidden meaning in Minato’s words.

Everyone directly involved in handling this matter, from beginning to end, belonged to Minato’s faction.

Memory extraction was something only the people involved would truly know the results of.

As long as they maintained a unified story, wouldn’t whatever information was ultimately extracted be whatever Minato said it was?

If they really forced Minato to go that far, the scope of his retaliation would expand.

He would no longer be targeting Hiruzen alone.

He could turn his attention toward everyone involved.

Although such a move would look rather ugly politically, no one would be willing to openly oppose the Hokage over something like that.

After all, Minato held the moral high ground.

With this in mind, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke again.

“Tonight’s operation was indeed my doing.”

“Although Shimura Danzō is guilty of countless crimes, and has even done many things that harmed me, he was still my childhood companion. We grew up together, and we were once comrades who entrusted our backs to one another and fought side by side through life and death.”

“Our decades of friendship have created a bond between Danzō and me that cannot be explained in just a few words.”

“Although Shimura Danzō has committed countless crimes, he has also shed blood and risked his life for the village.”