The Uchiha Clan's Sun

"So now we can only rely on ourselves!"

After a pause, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "And just you wait and see, this reform is only the beginning. Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato will definitely continue to target us, gradually taking back the power in our hands!"

"They won't let the mission team, the medical department, or the administrative department get away with it!"

"If we don't find a solution soon, we might really have no choice but to retire and go home!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had a clear understanding of the current situation and knew that there was no possibility of reconciliation between them, Uchiha Jin, and Minato Namikaze.

"Wait a minute," Mitokado Homura suddenly realized something and said, "Being isolated by the other villagers and suppressed by the Hokage's faction, why does this situation seem so familiar?"

"We've turned into the Uchiha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also taken aback by Homura Mitokado's words, but after thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "What you said is really true. Our current situation is very similar to that of the Uchiha clan before."

"Sigh, the roles have shifted!"

Mitokado Homura was still in a daze, not quite recovered from the fact that he had been reduced to being an Uchiha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "Therefore, Danzo is extremely important now. He is one of the few forces we can win over, and with Danzo's abilities, as long as we cooperate sincerely, there is nothing we cannot solve!"

"Back when I first became Hokage, the Senju clan held almost all the power in the village. Eight out of ten people in charge of the powerful departments were Senju. Only the Uchiha clan, which formed its own faction, dared to challenge the Senju."

"Back then, we had no manpower, no money, and no reputation. The situation was much worse than it is now!"

"But we made it through in the end!"

"And that's because we're united and work together!"

"So as long as we rescue Danzo, we might still have a chance to turn the tide!"

Mitokado Homura was also somewhat agitated upon hearing this, but he remained very calm and said, "I understand the reasoning, but how can we rescue Danzo?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment and said, "Open tactics are definitely out of the question, so we'll have to resort to covert methods!"

"The name Shimura Danzo is already tainted; he's practically a rat that everyone wants to kill. So even if we rescue him, we can only change his appearance."

"Now that Shimura Danzo has been imprisoned by the Uchiha clan, we can't get involved, and we can't do something like switching him with someone else."

"But aren't there still quite a few Root remnants outside who haven't been captured yet? Let's manipulate things a bit and get the 'Root remnants' to take action and rescue Shimura Danzo!"

Mitomon Homura said, "That's the only way, but we have to be quick. I heard they'll be publicly executing Shimura Danzo soon!"

......

Chapter 327 Thriving!

Time flies like an arrow; in the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

During this week, no matter how turbulent the undercurrents were beneath the surface, Konoha Village appeared outwardly to be a bustling and prosperous place.

The day after the Jonin meeting ended a week earlier, an administrative document was posted on the bulletin board in front of the Hokage Building.

The administrative document begins by concisely explaining that, due to long-standing disagreements among villagers regarding the Konoha Guard's enforcement methods, the village has decided to reform the Konoha Guard.

This news immediately brought joy and excitement to all the villagers of Konoha.

As everyone knows, the villagers of Konoha have long suffered under the Konoha Guard.

Although the strict enforcement methods of the Konoha Police Department only offended a small portion of the village who did not follow the rules, the Konoha F4's decades-long instigation and provocation have deeply ingrained the Konoha Police Department's ruthless image in people's hearts, making everyone fear them like tigers!

Even those who have not been punished by the Konoha Police Department are terrified of them and keep their distance.

The villagers of Konoha have also complained to the Hokage Building, hoping that the Hokage would abolish the existence of the Konoha Police Department or order it to change its law enforcement methods.

However, the Hokage Building dismissed these people by saying that "since ancient times," the village has had no right to interfere with the administration of the Konoha Guard, and that the Konoha Guard has always been managed by the Uchiha clan.

As a result, while the villagers had to swallow their anger, they also developed an impression of the Uchiha clan as an arrogant and privileged family.

As a result, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the villagers increased day by day.

Although the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the villagers has eased somewhat recently thanks to the efforts of Uchiha Jin, and the villagers' impressions of the Uchiha clan have improved, it is not an easy task to change the villagers' perceptions of the Uchiha clan.

At least, the villagers of Konoha still hold the same reverence and disgust for the Konoha Guard!

So when the villagers of Konoha learned that Minato Namikaze was going to reform the Konoha Guard, they were as happy as if it were New Year's Day.

Then, the villagers of Konoha discovered that the follow-up to that document detailed the original purpose of the establishment of the Konoha Guard, the origin of the conflict between the Konoha Guard and the villagers, the efforts made by the Konoha Guard for the village, and so on.

It was only then that the villagers of Konoha realized that the problem wasn't the Konoha Guard members strictly enforcing the law, but rather the outdated laws.

At the same time, the Konoha Police Department did make efforts, but they were all rejected by the previous Hokage for various reasons.

This time, the one who proposed reforming the Konoha Police Department was Uchiha Jin, the head of the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha clan was willing to give up their dictatorship over the Konoha Police Department and even invited ordinary villagers to become legislators and participate in the formulation of new laws.

This series of information completely reversed the villagers' impression of the Uchiha clan, and the call for Uchiha Jin reached an unprecedented level!

After all, Uchiha Jin was the first person to propose giving ordinary villagers power so they could speak up for themselves!

If we don't know how to support people like this, then what kind of people should we support?

The document also outlined the village's specific reform plan for the Konoha Guard, which garnered unprecedented support from the villagers for the reform plan!

Besides the happy villagers of Konoha, the ninjas of Konoha were also overjoyed during this period.

No other reason than that the village distributed money!

Under the mutual supervision of the Uchiha clan and the Konoha Finance Department, every penny of compensation, subsidy, and mission reward was actually distributed to everyone who deserved it!

Furthermore, on the second day after taking office, Minato Namikaze restored the mission team to normal operation and released information to begin accepting missions from the outside world.

While waiting for the news to spread, Minato Namikaze, on the advice of King Uchiha, issued a series of infrastructure construction tasks in the name of the village.

Such as repairing houses, roads, walls, developing new land, building new houses, etc.

These tasks were originally intended to be done by an engineering team composed of ordinary people recruited by the village.

However, doing this not only takes a long time and costs a lot, but also causes a lot of trouble!

It would be much simpler to have ninjas do these things, especially those who are skilled in earth and water techniques. They can basically just use a few ninjutsu to create the basic framework and then refine the details.

This couldn't be easier for a ninja!

Of course, ninjas weren't professionals at these things, so no matter how hard they tried, what they created was just a rough draft.

Things like plumbing, electrical work, decoration, waterproofing, and ceiling work still require a professional engineering team to finish them off.

This is also the main reason why the construction team's living space was not squeezed out even after the ninjas appeared.

The village issued this series of infrastructure projects as an emergency measure when there were no other tasks available, in order to shorten the construction period and reduce various expenses.

The village's idle ninjas were naturally very happy to receive substantial mission rewards without having to risk their lives.

Therefore, the village ninjas have been working with great enthusiasm these days.

With the merger of Konoha's orphanage and relief unit, the resettlement of orphans, and a series of other initiatives, Konoha is now thriving and full of vitality!

But beneath the surface, Konoha Village is not as peaceful as it appears.

Two days ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado left Konoha Hospital one after another.

Although their injuries have not fully healed and they still need to rest for a long time, they can no longer affect their daily activities.

These three were clearly not the type to get stuck in Konoha Hospital, so they were all discharged after their conditions stabilized.

Koharu Utatane and Ero Mitokado didn't even go home immediately after being discharged from the hospital; they went straight to the medical department and the administration department, respectively, to take charge.

Hiruzen Sarutobi went straight home and then disappeared without a trace, with no one knowing what he was doing.

Just as some people were wondering what was going on, a piece of news was like a pebble thrown into the water, creating ripples.

The date for Danzo Shimura's public execution has been set: it will take place three days from now in the plaza in front of the Hokage Building!

Although everyone already knew about this, many people still felt a sense of regret when the time was finally confirmed.

However, no one said much; everyone was quietly waiting for that day to arrive.

Chapter 328 A Ghostly Encounter! (Two Chapters Combined)

The underground prison of the former Konoha Police Department building.

"Clan leader, Hokage, you'd better be prepared!"

Uchiha Yatsuho led the way, guiding Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato deeper into the prison. His face was full of complex emotions. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke up and reminded Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato.

Uchiha Jin raised an eyebrow and looked at Uchiha Yashiro, saying, "Uncle Yashiro, what's with that expression? We're just going to see Shimura Danzo when he's sober, not to see a ghost."

That's right, Shimura Danzo has already woken up from Izanami. Uchiha Kinami Minato is now planning to go see him and do something to him so that he can be publicly executed three days later.

The reason why Shimura Danzo's public execution has been delayed until now is precisely because he had not woken up before. Uchiha Jin did not intend to let Shimura Danzo die 'happily' in ignorance!

Uchiha Jin will also make Shimura Danzo taste the bitterness of being condemned by thousands and despised by all!

This was certainly unacceptable to Shimura Danzo, who had always disguised his own selfish desires as being for the good of the village!

Uchiha Jin not only wanted to kill people, but also to destroy their spirits!

Of course, such an approach might not have worked for the former Danzo Shimura. After all, given Danzo Shimura's beliefs, even if everyone opposed him, he would not think he was wrong; the only ones who were wrong were the ignorant masses!

To paraphrase Uchiha Jin, "You haven't seen the scenery through my eyes, so naturally you won't understand what I do."

But Uchiha Jin knew that after experiencing Izanami, Shimura Danzo's beliefs would definitely change, and he would no longer be as stubborn as before.

This is also why Uchiha Jin didn't actively help Shimura Danzo undo Izanami, but instead let Shimura Danzo naturally regain consciousness.

However, Shimura Danzo's stubbornness far exceeded Uchiha Jin's imagination, and he persisted in Izanami for so long before any change occurred!

"I feel like I've seen a ghost!"

After hearing what Uchiha Jin said, Uchiha Hachimoku muttered something under his breath.

"What do you mean there's no difference?" Uchiha Jin keenly caught Uchiha Yatsuho's sarcastic remark and asked, "Uncle Yatsuho, what exactly happened?"

Minato Namikaze also became interested and asked, "Do ghosts really exist in this world?"

"Uh...that's not it," Uchiha Yatsuho quickly shook his head, hesitatingly saying, "It's like this, Shimura Danzo underwent some changes after regaining consciousness..."

Uchiha Jin didn't seem to care much when he heard this, and said, "This is normal, this is the effect of Izanami!"

"No, this is not normal at all!" Uchiha Yatsuho shook his head violently and said urgently, "Shimura Danzo has changed a lot! More than we can imagine!"

"To be honest, if I hadn't checked the prison's surveillance footage over the past few days and found nothing wrong, I would have thought that Shimura Danzo had been replaced!"

"A switch?" Uchiha Jin's eyes flashed upon hearing this, and a thought inexplicably surfaced in his mind. He said, "Wouldn't Shimura Danzo always spout nonsensical words after regaining consciousness? Like 'system' or 'golden finger'?"

“No, not at all…” Uchiha Yatsuho shook his head, wanting to say something but not knowing how to describe it, and finally could only say, “I don’t know how to say it either, you’ll understand when you see for yourselves.”

"Yeah?"

Uchiha Jin also became interested and quickened his pace.

Uchiha Hachiro and Namikaze Minato were also somewhat anxious at this moment, and they both quickened their pace.

A little over a minute later, Uchiha Jin and his two companions arrived at the deepest part of the former Konoha Police Department's underground prison!

There was only one cell here. Shimura Danzo's upper body was wrapped up like a dumpling with bandages inscribed with special sealing runes, leaving only his head sticking out. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the cell.

Upon hearing footsteps, Shimura Danzo raised his head, opened his one eye, and looked at Uchiha Jin and the other two outside the prison.

When their eyes met, both Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato were taken aback, finally understanding why the Eighth Hokage had kept emphasizing that Shimura Danzo had 'changed'.

At this moment, both Uchiha King and Namikaze Minato realized that Shimura Danzo had indeed changed!

Although they only glanced at Shimura Danzo, that one glance was enough for Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato to confirm the matter!

A person's eyes don't lie, unless they are deliberately trying to hide it.

That's the situation right now!

Shimura Danzo's eyes have undergone a complete transformation compared to before!

Danzo Shimura's eyes used to be filled with malice, calmness, greed, indifference, and madness, but now those negative emotions are gone. Instead, there is only weariness, peace, guilt, and... serenity?!

Moreover, for some reason, both Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato could tell that Shimura Danzo was not pretending to deceive them at this moment; this was Shimura Danzo's truest state at this moment!

What... exactly happened?

"You are here!"

Danzo Shimura broke the silence first, his tone calm and without a trace of resentment, as if he were welcoming a few friends who had come to keep an appointment.

"Yes, we're here!"

Although he didn't know what had happened, Uchiha Jin still responded.