The Uchiha Clan's Sun

"There are so many things in this world that can influence people's hearts. I just hope you can always stay true to your original aspirations!"

Danzo Shimura was filled with emotion. Back when he was working in the Kage Guard under the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, he and his group of passionate young men were just as spirited, with only the village and the Hokage in their hearts, unmoved by anything else!

But ever since Hiruzen Sarutobi was appointed the Third Hokage in a time of crisis, they gradually lost their original aspirations and began to degenerate one by one!

At that time, the village was beset by internal and external troubles.

Outside, the war was not over, and other villages were eyeing the area covetously.

Within the village, major clans such as the Senju and Uchiha clans were very dissatisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden succession, since even the Second Hokage did not have the power to designate the next Hokage!

External threats were easy to deal with; they could just fight them. At that time, Konoha was undoubtedly the largest village in the ninja world. Even without Hashirama Senju, the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan were still there, and they were not afraid of any other village!

However, internal problems cannot be solved by brute force, so they had to use some means to silence the dissenting voices!

Fortunately, Konoha Village still had Mito Uzumaki, the pillar of strength who held up the sky and the golden beam that held up the sea. With Mito's support, they overcame the most difficult early stage, and then eliminated dissidents and regained power.

Through their actions, the Senju clan slowly disappeared into the annals of history, and the Uchiha clan was driven out of Konoha's power center. The entire village of Konoha was now in the hands of them and their close associates!

Having tasted the convenience of these methods, they became accustomed to using them to rule the village, and the entire Hidden Leaf Village became a place where a few people held absolute power!

Konoha Village thus began its decline!

Looking back now, the reason why Akimichi Torifu retired from his position after the war and returned to his family to retire was probably because he sensed something!

Danzo Shimura smiled bitterly. His initial lack of understanding was now too late!

Shimura Danzo shook his head, no longer thinking about it, and said, "It doesn't matter. I accept the public execution in three days! It's what I deserve!"

"Is there anything I can do for you in these last three days?"

Shimura Danzo's only thought now is to atone for his sins.

Uchiha Jin shook his head and said, "There's nothing we need you to do! If you've accepted your fate, then so be it!"

Uchiha Jin felt a pang of regret. Shimura Danzo was clearly heartbroken, and his attempt to break his spirit had been in vain.

"No, I am still useful!" Shimura Danzo said, taking the initiative despite Uchiha Jin's refusal. "Those Root ninjas did nothing wrong. They were just following orders. They are all Konoha ninjas!"

"Some Root ninjas are too stubborn to accept your offer of amnesty, but they will obey my orders!"

"Give me a chance, and give them a chance too. Let me persuade them!"

"They are all innocent!"

Danzo Shimura still commands considerable respect within the Root organization!

Aside from those ninjas restricted by the cursed seal, there were also many die-hard loyalists of Shimura Danzo among the Root ninjas.

Danzo's intervention would indeed allow Jin Uchiha and his group to gain better and faster control over Root, eliminating some potential threats to Konoha.

Uchiha Jin looked at Namikaze Minato and saw a look of approval in Minato's eyes.

After a moment's hesitation, Uchiha Jin finally spoke up: "Fine! But you can't leave this cell even for a second. If you need anything, someone will take care of it for you!"

"Thank you!" Shimura Danzo had clearly anticipated this, and added, "Besides, I also have a secret experimental base overseas!"

"This experimental base was not recorded in the Root's archives, and very few people knew about it. They probably all died in the coup."

"So you probably still don't know about this experimental base. You'd better send someone there as soon as possible!"

Uchiha Jin's gaze narrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he did not doubt Shimura Danzo's words.

Although Root's laboratory is insignificant compared to Orochimaru's, over the years, Root's own laboratory has also produced some results!

For example, the biological weapon "Nue," developed by the Root Laboratory based on "interstitial cells," only began to emerge in the Boruto era.

Therefore, there must be some power within Shimura Danzo's Root that was not controlled by the village!

Shimura Danzo then revealed many other things, mostly secrets related to the Root.

It seems that Danzo Shimura truly intends to cooperate with King Uchiha and Minato Namikaze to wipe out his Root organization in one fell swoop!

Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato were pleased with this outcome.

What Uchiha Jin and Namikaze Minato didn't know was that although Shimura Danzo had resigned himself to his fate, a force within the village was quietly gathering with the goal of rescuing him!

Chapter 331 Izanami's Weakness!

Hokage Building, Hokage Office.

Minato Namikaze and King Uchiha entered the office one after the other.

"Minato, how credible do you think there is about Shimura Danzo's change of heart?"

Uchiha Jin sat down in the guest chair next to the desk and asked with a hint of amusement.

Minato Namikaze sat down in his personal office chair, shook his head, and said, "To be honest, based on what I just saw, I think it's over 90% credible."

"But with the name 'Shimura Danzo' added, I'd only believe him to a certain extent!"

After a pause, Minato Namikaze explained with a hint of helplessness, "They say it's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature! I simply cannot believe that someone like Danzo Shimura would change his beliefs because of a technique!"

"After all, such a change means a complete negation of his previous life!"

Uchiha Jin nodded upon hearing this, and said, "I also feel that Shimura Danzo's changes cannot be entirely trusted."

"Izanami is a technique that allows people to see themselves clearly, find themselves, and accept themselves. It sounds very mystical, and it really is!"

"Because I haven't experienced it firsthand, I can't be sure what the threshold for judging Izanami is."

"But if simply changing one's mindset can help one escape the cycle of Izanami, then it's not that difficult!"

"After all, it's not impossible to deceive yourself."

"Deceiving yourself?" Minato Namikaze was taken aback. "How do you do that?"

Uchiha Jin explained, "The most direct way is to seal or erase a part of one's own memories. This is a common tactic used by spies from various ninja villages, allowing them to better infiltrate other villages."

"Therefore, many spies are unaware that they are spies until their tampered memories are unlocked, and they wholeheartedly serve the enemy village!"

"Only after those memories are unlocked can they truly be their true selves again!"

Minato Namikaze understood what King Uchiha was trying to say and frowned slightly.

This situation is indeed very tricky, and it does seem to be a way to resolve the issue of Izanami.

Minato Namikaze himself knew methods like sealing memories, and it's normal for Danzo Shimura, as the leader of Root, to use similar methods.

The credibility of the current accounts of Shimura Danzo's changes is now less than 10%!

Uchiha Jin continued, "Besides direct methods like sealing or altering memories, there are also gentler methods like self-hypnosis and self-suggestion."

"In short, if Shimura Danzo really did experience hundreds of thousands of cycles in Izanami, he couldn't possibly not have tried this kind of method."

"The most important question is, did Shimura Danzo really not realize that he had done something wrong?"

I don't think so!

"As I said before, while I understand, the things that need to be done still need to be done!"

"The bad things Danzo Shimura did may have been wrong to the village and to others, but they were beneficial to him!"

"So it's true that Shimura Danzo has seen himself clearly, but changing himself won't be so easy!"

"Some people are easy to defeat physically, but difficult to break their will!"

"Shimura Danzo was suppressed by Sarutobi Hiruzen his whole life. He went up and down the positions of Root leader and Konoha elder several times. How could he so easily deny everything about himself!"

Minato Namikaze nodded in agreement. Danzo Shimura was a man who had come through blood and fire, and unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane, he had never left the front lines in the past few decades. His will was absolutely unwavering!

After a moment of contemplation, Minato Namikaze spoke up: "So, Jin, you mean that what Danzo Shimura asked us to do might be a trap?"

Uchiha Jin nodded and said, "Even if we act as intermediaries, Shimura Danzo and his Root subordinates are engaged in special missions, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to conduct some clandestine communication without our knowledge."

Minato Namikaze said in a deep voice, "Should we reject Danzo Shimura's proposal?"

“There’s no need for that, otherwise we wouldn’t have agreed to him in the first place!” Uchiha Jin shook his head, then added, “On the contrary, I think this might not be a bad thing!”

"We can turn the tables on them and lure out all those rats hiding in the gutter, then wipe them all out in one fell swoop!"

Minato Namikaze didn't agree immediately. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If that's the case, then we'll have to carefully select the people we need!"

"Jin, you said it yourself, Root is specifically for carrying out special missions. They are the darkest of the dark, and their sense of smell is extremely keen. We, the people in the open, are basically unusable!"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin chuckled and said, "That's easy, let the Anbu handle this task!"

Minato Namikaze asked with some surprise, "You've completed the integration of the Anbu?"

“Yes,” Uchiha Jin nodded and said, “I was just about to tell you about this.”

"After our initial screening, we have identified thirteen Root agents within the entire Anbu organization, and another thirty-eight Anbu ninjas with unclear connections to Root!"

"In addition, one-third of the ninjas in the entire Anbu are from the Sarutobi clan, and many others are from the Mitokado and Utatane clans."

"If Hiruzen Sarutobi were still in power, this Anbu would indeed be his sharpest blade! But for you, this Anbu is practically a sieve!"

Minato Namikaze's expression didn't change much upon hearing this.

The Anbu is a special department directly under the Hokage. It's normal that Hiruzen Sarutobi managed the Anbu like this after serving as Hokage for decades!

Fortunately, Uchiha Jin used Shimura Danzo as an excuse to take action against the Anbu in advance, otherwise the Anbu would have been a real problem for him!

Minato Namikaze then asked, "What's the current situation with the Anbu?"

Uchiha Jin replied, "Because of the special relationship between the Ino-Shika-Cho clan and the Sarutobi clan, I haven't recruited a large number of people from these three clans yet. I just asked Akimichi Tou to find a few trustworthy people from the three clans."

"In addition to the personnel drawn from my Uchiha clan, Hyuga clan, Aburame clan, Inuzuka clan, and Kurama clan, as well as elite ninjas recruited from civilian ninjas, the Anbu has now been restored to a total of four battalions."

"Four battalions? Two hundred men?" Minato Namikaze chuckled upon hearing this, "That's a decent number; it's enough to get the Anbu back to normal operation!"

Uchiha Jin added, "Including some management personnel and people transferred from special departments such as the interrogation department and the analysis team, there are a total of 253 people, which is enough to complete this mission!"

"This mission will also allow them to get to know each other better!"

Chapter 332 The Sand Village, as tough as nails!

"OK......"

"Boom boom boom!"

Just as Minato Namikaze was about to nod in agreement to Jin Uchiha's plan, three muffled knocks came from the office door.

Before Minato Namikaze could even reply, the door to the Hokage's office was pushed open.

Both Minato Namikaze and King Uchiha frowned slightly upon seeing this.

No matter who it is, such uninvited entry is extremely impolite and lacks manners!

They completely disregarded Minato Namikaze, the Hokage!

But after seeing the person's appearance clearly, Minato Namikaze and King Uchiha were relieved.

Mitokado Homura, an elder of Konoha and one of the Hokage's assistants.

These days, only a few old guys can do this kind of thing!

"Minato, something's happened!" Mitokado Homura, seemingly oblivious to Minato Namikaze and King Uchiha's displeasure, walked straight to his desk, placed a document in front of Minato, and upon seeing King Uchiha, added, "I'm sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry and forgot the rules for a moment."

Although it wasn't very sincere, Mitokado Homura's actions made it difficult for Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Jin to continue pursuing the matter.

Minato Namikaze's eyes flickered for a moment, then he smiled and said, "Elder Mitomon, what is it that requires you to come all this way in person?"

"Your injuries haven't fully healed yet, so you should rest and recuperate for a while. You can leave those minor tasks to the people below."

Mitomon Yan said in a deep voice, "I don't want to go to all this trouble, but since it concerns the relationship between the two villages, I have no choice but to make this trip myself."

"Oh, it concerns the relationship between the two villages?" Minato Namikaze's smile faded upon hearing this. He picked up the documents on the table and asked while reading them, "Is there a result regarding the negotiations with the other villages?"

The matter of visiting other villages is also handled by the administrative department. Previously, when Mitokado Homura was not around, Namikaze Minato handed this matter over to Nara Shikaku. Now that Mitokado Homura has been discharged from the hospital, it is reasonable for him, as the head of the administrative department, to personally take charge of this matter.

Mitokado Homura nodded and said, "There's still no news from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure, but Sunagakure has already given a reply."

"Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, said that peace talks are possible, and Sunagakure is willing to acknowledge that they are the defeated party, but they will not pay any war reparations!"

Minato Namikaze frowned upon hearing this. How could the Sand Village say such a thing? It was utterly shameless!

Uchiha Jin spoke up directly, "This Sand Village is really a tough nut to crack! They broke the alliance and attacked us first, and now that they've lost, they want to leave without leaving anything behind. There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"What about the damage they caused to Konoha Village?!"

"You should know that the compensation, subsidies, mission rewards, and various material losses that our Konoha Village has provided this time are no small sum!"

Upon hearing this, Minato Namikaze also spoke up, saying, "Elder Mitomon, what Elder Uchiha said is exactly what I wanted to say! Since Sunagakure is willing to admit defeat, then it must pay back every penny it owes!"