Eleven… twelve… thirteen…
After Zoro publicly expressed his support for the proposal, the number of clansn backing him as the next Second Elder quickly surpassed half of the attendees present.
At that point, even if Fugaku personally opposed it, there was nothing he could do to stop the motion from passing.
Among those who had voted in favor were even the two Hawk Faction clansn standing behind Setsuna.
The pair looked sowhat apologetically toward the First Elder.
"Forgive us, First Elder."
One of them lowered his head slightly.
"But in this matter alone… we brothers cannot follow your lead."
Setsuna's face instantly darkened.
Although he did not understand what had happened to make the two suddenly side with Zoro, the result was already decided.
Zoro becoming the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan was now a settled matter.
No matter what anyone said afterward, it would be aningless.
"Haah…"
Fugaku rubbed his forehead helplessly before finally speaking.
"In that case, from today onward, Zoro will officially beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan."
His gaze slowly swept across the gathered clansn.
"If anyone has objections in the future, you may raise them again during a clan eting."
Despite saying that, Fugaku knew very well that the matter was already irreversible.
What truly shocked him was sothing else entirely.
He had never expected Zoro to quietly win over so many previously neutral clansn behind the scenes.
Even two mbers of the Hawk Faction had chosen to stand on his side.
That level of influence was already terrifying.
That sa afternoon, Zoro deliberately led several mbers of the Konoha Police Force through the streets on patrol.
The mont he appeared before the villagers, the familiar whispers and malicious gossip imdiately drifted into his ears once again.
However, this ti—
The police officers beside him rely sneered coldly before taking action without hesitation.
Several officers instantly surrounded the villagers who had been spreading rumors.
Then, with expressionless faces, they pulled coils of rope from within their uniforms.
"You are suspected of publicly slandering an elder of one of Konoha's great clans."
One of the officers spoke coldly.
"According to Konoha law, we have the authority to arrest you."
Shinobi were forbidden from casually attacking civilians.
But that did not an they could not use Konoha's own rules against them.
The villagers were completely dumbfounded.
Before they could even react, their hands had already been tied tightly behind their backs.
Then, under the cold gazes of the police force, they were dragged away like criminals.
The surrounding civilians stared blankly at the scene in utter confusion.
An elder of a great clan?
When did that brat beco sothing like that?
Hadn't he only participated in the Chūnin Exams a few years ago?
At most, he shouldn't even be twenty years old yet, right?
If they learned that Zoro was actually only ten years old, many of them would probably lose the ability to think entirely.
Over the next several days, the Konoha Police Force arrested quite a few villagers using the sa thod.
It was a perfect example of killing the chicken to warn the monkeys.
And the effect was imdiate.
Zoro could clearly sense that the frequency of those slanderous rumors had decreased significantly.
At the very least, nobody dared openly gossip about him in front of his face anymore.
So civilians would even panic and flee the mont they saw him approaching from afar.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi silently listened to the ANBU shinobi kneeling before him and reporting the latest intelligence.
The mont the report ended—
His hand trembled slightly.
The pipe in his grasp slipped from his fingers and fell directly onto the floor.
For perhaps the first ti in a long while, visible disbelief appeared on Hiruzen's face.
"You're certain this information is accurate?"
Hiruzen's brows tightened deeply.
"Zoro… has truly beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan?"
If the person delivering this intelligence had not been Shisui himself, Hiruzen would never have believed it no matter what.
A child barely approaching ten years old had actually beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan?
"Reporting to Hokage-sama…"
Uchiha Shisui knelt on one knee.
"Everything I've reported is true."
Clearly, even Shisui himself was still sowhat shaken by the matter.
But facts were facts.
Zoro had indeed beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan.
Not long ago, Shisui had personally fought against him.
And now—
Zoro had directly ascended to the position of clan elder.
"Mm. You've worked hard."
Hiruzen slowly bent down, picked up the fallen pipe, and sighed faintly inwardly.
Now that Zoro had beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan, targeting him was no different from targeting the entire Uchiha Clan directly.
That forced Hiruzen to reconsider many things carefully.
Sure enough, not long after Shisui left—
The office door slamd open.
Danzō walked in without even bothering to knock, his expression filled with obvious anger.
The mont he entered, he imdiately snapped at Hiruzen.
"Absurd! Absolutely absurd!"
"How can a re brat beco the elder of one of Konoha's great clans?!"
"Danzō."
Hiruzen's gaze imdiately darkened.
"What are you doing here?"
Even though he already knew exactly why Danzō had co, he still questioned him coldly.
After all, it was because of this troubleso old bastard that Zoro had been removed from ANBU in the first place.
And now?
Zoro had directly beco the Second Elder of the Uchiha Clan.
Trying to recruit an elder of a great clan back into ANBU again was now nothing more than a fantasy.
"I ca to discuss Zoro, obviously."
Danzō's expression remained gloomy.
"Don't tell you don't understand that."
At this point, he could already sense Hiruzen's dissatisfaction toward him.
This old fox wasn't planning to dump all responsibility onto him again, was he?
Of course—
Danzō was already sowhat used to this sort of thing.
After all, the title "Shadow Hokage" was not just an empty phrase.
"Fine. Speak."
Hiruzen frowned slightly, his voice carrying helpless irritation.
"My proposal is simple."
A cold glint flashed through Danzō's exposed eye.
"We move directly against the Uchiha Clan."
"We relocate them to the outskirts of Konoha. That way, even if they attempt anything dangerous, we'll be able to react imdiately."
Danzō had already completely torn away all pretense with Zoro.
And now that Zoro had beco the Uchiha Clan's Second Elder, he had even less reason to tolerate the clan's continued existence.
"Impossible."
Hiruzen rejected the proposal without hesitation.
Putting aside the fact that the Uchiha Clan had committed no major cri—
Such obvious targeting would inevitably trigger massive backlash.
And more importantly…
Zoro himself was already not soone they could casually suppress anymore.
After all, even the Seven Ninja Swordsn of the Mist had failed against him.
Seven elite shinobi attacking together—
Yet Zoro still killed three of them and forced the rest to flee in panic.
The more Hiruzen thought about it, the darker his gaze toward Danzō beca.
For a mont, he could not help wondering—
If he had ignored Danzō's suggestions from the beginning, would all of this troubleso chaos have been avoided entirely?
The Third Shinobi World War had already begun.
The front lines were under trendous pressure.
At a ti like this, provoking the Uchiha Clan was no different from courting disaster.
Seemingly sensing Hiruzen's thoughts, Danzō unexpectedly chose to back down for once.
The pressure Zoro placed on him now was simply too great.
At present, they truly could not act recklessly against him anymore.
"Then leave it for now."
Danzō narrowed his eye coldly.
"Let's focus on dealing with the shinobi from the other villages first."
"Sunagakure has been making major movents recently. Send Zoro out."
Since they could not eliminate Zoro for the ti being, they might as well continue squeezing value out of him slowly.
Like a parasite feeding on blood, they would drain him dry bit by bit.
"Hmph."
Hiruzen coldly snorted.
"Danzō, restrain yourself."
"Don't push Zoro too far. He's already grown into a genuine threat."
Although Hiruzen did not reject Danzō's proposal outright, the warning in his tone was unmistakable.
"Hiruzen…"
Danzō's expression darkened.
"One day, you'll regret this."
Bang!!
Several days later, after receiving a summons from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Zoro arrived at the Hokage's office once again.
The mont he stepped inside, Hiruzen's apologetic voice reached his ears.
"I'm sorry, Zoro."
"Recently, many unpleasant rumors have spread throughout the village."
Hiruzen slowly rose from behind his desk and walked forward.
"It was my mistake."
"I listened to the slander and whispers of certain people, which caused you to fall into this difficult situation."
Standing before Zoro, Hiruzen removed the Hokage hat from his head and lowered himself into a formal bow.
"I sincerely apologize."
"I hope you can forgive ."
Seeing Hiruzen behave this way, a strange look flickered through Zoro's eyes.
This old fox…
Was he trying to throw all the bla onto Danzō again?
As expected of you, Third Hokage.
Able to bend when necessary and stretch when convenient.
"You're taking this too seriously."
Zoro calmly reached out and helped Hiruzen straighten back up.
At the very least, this old man was clever enough not to pretend ignorance and brush the entire matter aside.
Fine then.
Keep clinging to life for a little while longer.
You damned old thief, Hiruzen Sarutobi—
The ti left for you is already running out.
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