The mont those words fell, the entire plaza instantly exploded into chaos.
"What did you say?!"
"You little brat, do you want to die?!"
"Spreading nonsense like that in public—you've got guts!!"
Standing beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, A's violent temper erupted completely.
His entire body radiated terrifying pressure as he glared viciously at Zoro below, veins bulging across his forehead and eyes wide with rage.
The surrounding Kumogakure ninja imdiately beca tense as well.
"Zoro," Hiruzen said slowly, his expression darkening slightly, "do you have evidence for these claims?"
His gaze carried a deeper aning.
"You should understand that deliberately provoking conflict between villages is a serious taboo."
Of course, Hiruzen knew Zoro would not casually invent such accusations.
But at the sa ti—
He truly did not want relations with Kumogakure to completely collapse this early.
So matters could simply be endured.
So losses could simply be swallowed.
That was Hiruzen's way of maintaining balance.
"Evidence?"
A faint smile appeared on Zoro's face.
But deep within his eyes flickered cold traces of mockery.
Naturally, he understood exactly what Hiruzen ant.
The old man simply wanted him to back down.
If possible, Hiruzen hoped to smooth things over quietly and prevent the situation from escalating further.
But the result of that would be simple—
Zoro himself would beco the sacrificial piece.
After all, spreading false accusations and provoking inter-village conflict was no small matter.
Unfortunately for Hiruzen…
This ti, things were not going to proceed according to his wishes.
"Of course I have evidence," Zoro replied calmly. "All we need to do is enter the Forest of Death and recover the corpses of the dead ninja."
The mont those words fell, A's expression visibly changed.
anwhile, Zoro remained completely calm.
From the beginning, he had intentionally prepared himself a backup plan.
The two Root ninja disguised as Kumogakure shinobi had not been destroyed after death.
Instead, Zoro had secretly buried their corpses in a hidden location.
Originally, he intended to save those bodies for dealing with Danzō later.
He simply had not expected he would need to use them this soon.
Seeing Zoro speak with such confidence, the representatives from the other villages imdiately turned toward A with suspicious gazes.
"Kumogakure's representative," one of them said coldly, "don't you think you should explain yourself?"
"So that's why so few of our village's ninja survived the Forest of Death?"
"Turns out Kumogakure was secretly targeting participants from other villages?"
The surrounding discussions instantly shifted direction.
Watching the representatives who had originally stood on his side suddenly begin pressuring him instead, the muscles on A's face twitched uncontrollably.
Not because he was afraid.
But because he was furious.
Because he genuinely had no idea that Kumogakure jōnin had entered the Forest of Death to assassinate participants.
Then again, the mission itself had rely been Danzō's private arrangent.
It was perfectly normal that A knew nothing about it.
"Explain my ass!"
A finally exploded.
He pointed directly at Zoro, murderous intent erupting from his body.
"You little bastard, you're asking for death! Spouting nonsense in front of everyone—"
Blue lightning suddenly burst violently across his body.
"Eat my Liger Bomb!!"
A had always possessed an explosive temper to begin with.
Now, under the surrounding accusations and suspicious gazes, he could no longer tolerate the situation.
In his eyes, all of this chaos existed because of Zoro's slander.
The instant A moved, Hiruzen reacted imdiately as well.
However—
His expression remained strangely calm.
Because deep down, Hiruzen understood sothing very clearly.
If Zoro's death could completely settle this matter and stabilize relations between the villages…
Then sacrificing him was not unacceptable.
Just like Sakumo Hatake in the past.
To Hiruzen, Konoha never lacked geniuses.
What mattered was maintaining overall stability.
Crackling lightning chakra erupted wildly around A's body as he instantly entered Lightning Chakra Mode.
Having grown up under the strict training of the Third Raikage, A had already mastered the technique to an extrely high level despite his young age.
His speed resembled a bolt of blue lightning.
In less than a blink, he appeared directly before Zoro.
But Zoro had already been watching him carefully from the start.
The instant A disappeared, Zoro's sword was already drawn.
Clang!!
The blade rose horizontally before his chest in a defensive stance.
Seeing Zoro react so quickly, A was forced to abruptly alter his attack trajectory mid-charge.
"BOOM!!!"
A fist wrapped in violent Lightning Chakra smashed heavily against Zoro's blade.
The terrifying impact exploded outward instantly.
The ground beneath them cracked violently.
Zoro himself was blasted backward dozens of ters across the plaza, his feet carving deep trenches through the earth before finally stopping.
Massive clouds of dust erupted into the air.
"Oh?"
A's expression revealed genuine surprise.
He had not expected Zoro to defend against the attack so quickly.
After all, his sudden strike carried virtually no warning whatsoever.
The mont A's sneak attack failed, Hiruzen imdiately flashed between the two sides.
But rather than stopping A—
It looked more like he was trying to suppress the rapidly enraged Uchiha Clan instead.
"You bastard, you still dare attack first?!"
"If you don't explain yourself properly today, don't even think about leaving Konoha alive!!"
"We haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you already dared to strike one of ours first?!"
The atmosphere instantly exploded.
Several Uchiha directly activated their Sharingan again, their scarlet eyes radiating killing intent.
At the front of the group, Fugaku's expression remained cold and restrained.
But before he could even speak—
The Great Elder Setsuna stepped forward first.
"Please provide an explanation," Setsuna said coldly while staring directly at A. "As to why you attacked a mber of the Uchiha Clan."
"Otherwise…"
His gaze swept toward the surrounding furious Uchiha.
"…I cannot guarantee our clan mbers will remain calm."
Seeing Fugaku still hesitating to escalate matters further, Setsuna finally stopped holding himself back.
Unlike Fugaku, Setsuna was a true hawk through and through.
And he firmly believed in one principle:
The Uchiha Clan might cause trouble—
But they would never fear it.
Faced with the elderly Setsuna standing before him, A ignored him entirely and kept his eyes fixed on the distant Zoro instead.
Seeing nurous Uchiha already gathering protectively around the boy, A understood clearly that landing a second sneak attack would now be nearly impossible.
"That brat spread rumors and deliberately provoked conflict between villages," A growled angrily. "Am I not allowed to act against him?"
"Heh."
Setsuna sneered coldly at A's arrogant tone.
Then, without hesitation—
He directly gave an order.
"Attack."
The mont those words left his mouth, even Hiruzen's expression changed drastically.
Because from the very beginning, A had been the one targeting Zoro first.
If not for Kumogakure's deliberate provocation, none of this would have happened.
And unlike Hiruzen—
Setsuna firmly believed Zoro was telling the truth.
Kumogakure very likely had sent jōnin into the Forest of Death.
"You all stop imdiately!!"
The instant Hiruzen heard the hawkish Uchiha openly preparing for battle, he finally realized that if he did not take a firm stance now, the situation would spiral completely out of control.
Unfortunately for him—
The hawks of the Uchiha Clan listened only to Setsuna.
Forget Hiruzen.
Even between Fugaku and Setsuna, they would choose Setsuna's orders without hesitation.
"Puchi!!"
"Puchi!!"
The sickening sound of flesh being pierced suddenly echoed throughout the plaza.
A froze.
His pupils contracted violently.
Several Kumogakure genin had already been instantly cut down by nearby Uchiha ninja wielding kunai and blades.
Scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan rotated coldly within their eyes.
"YOU—?!"
A's entire body trembled with rage.
If Killer B had not desperately grabbed hold of him from behind, he likely would have charged at Setsuna imdiately.
"Stop them imdiately!!"
Seeing that even the elite Uchiha jōnin openly ignored his authority, Hiruzen decisively gave the order to the Anbu hidden within the shadows.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several masked Anbu instantly appeared throughout the plaza.
The Uchiha clan mbers who had already drawn blood and were preparing to continue attacking Kumogakure ninja were quickly restrained.
The suppression succeeded so quickly only because the Uchiha themselves had no intention of seriously fighting Konoha's Anbu.
Otherwise, things would already have descended into complete civil war.
"Setsuna…"
Hiruzen's face looked extrely ugly as he stared toward the restrained Uchiha clan mbers.
"What exactly is the aning of this?"
"It ans nothing."
Setsuna replied calmly, his expression completely indifferent.
"I simply didn't know Lord Hokage intended to stop us."
His tone remained neither servile nor overbearing.
After all, Setsuna himself was even older than Hiruzen.
Naturally, he would never fear him.
Because—He was a man who had lived since Tobirama's era.
A true Uchiha elder who had inherited the will of Uchiha Madara himself.
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