Chapter 97
Kaito's objective in going to the Guard Department was actually the Konoha Prison situated adjacent to it.
The Konoha Prison housed many prisoners, be they ones thrown in due to crimes committed, or those permanently detained for betraying the village, or even those on death row.
These death row inmates were mostly spies from other villages, confirmed perpetrators who had caused harm to Konoha.
Typically, such people had been brutally tortured by the interrogation team, like those of Morino Ibiki's ilk.
Those of value naturally got sent to ANBU, while those without much value were dispatched to the Guard Department's prison to be executed at a later date.
However, the Guard Department might not necessarily carry out the execution themselves. After all, those delivered from the interrogation team usually had but half a life left.
Leaving them in prison to wait for death was a decent option, given the Uchiha's lofty disposition and their dissatisfaction with Konoha's 'garbage disposal' practice.
Now, this benefited Kaito. If he had the Void Walking ability earlier, would he have needed to venture out to hunt these people himself?
The crimson Sharingan spun slightly, and under the assault of Genjutsu, these half-dead individuals, already tortured, could not resist at all.
Therefore, Kaito only stayed in the prison for less than ten minutes before leaving, having completed the collection of life energy in that brief span.
Yet, he was still calm and restrained, choosing not to immediately activate the energy bar.
"After all, I still have a meeting to attend later, and I'm not sure what would happen if I activate it now. It's better to go home and research at leisure."
Having dealt with these matters, Kaito then rushed towards the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't set a specific meeting time, but Kaito had learned from Uchiha Fugaku that the regular meeting time was three in the afternoon.
Hence, his timing was quite generous; he didn't need to worry about being late after leaving the prison.
However, as he arrived at the base of the Hokage Building, looking at the still devastated ruins of the Hokage Rock not far away, a smile inevitably appeared on his face.
All of this was his doing, and it all signaled a fresh start for the Uchiha!
Peace was fought for, something Kaito would always remember.
Without last night's events, while the Uchiha might not face disaster due to his existence, it was hard to say what kind of opposition they would encounter.
Decisively disabling Hiruzen's arm, and sending Shimura Danzō to the afterlife created the deterrent force that forced Hiruzen to compromise.
"But Danzō indeed possessed unimaginable secrets. Otherwise, would Hiruzen have made such a big concession? After all, this involved him personally."
Upon entering the Hokage Building, Kaito soon arrived at the conference room.
However, once he entered, he could distinctly feel the change in attitudes towards him within the room.
Several ninjas from various clans regarded him with neutral gazes, some even showing a modicum of goodwill.
On the other hand, a number of people harbored hostility towards Kaito, particularly two elderly men seated next to Hiruzen and a few others beside them.
"Homura Mitokado, and , Koharu Utatane I presume?"
Kaito calmly glanced at them both, then disregarded these two, swiftly taking his seat in the spot reserved for him.
These two managed to live quite a long time in the original story, even stirring up trouble well into Boruto's era.
Anyway, like Sarutobi and Danzō, they're all durians and stinky tofu - not good stuff at all.
"Ah, that's not quite right. Both of these are like bio-weapons, repugnant on first impression but palatable upon consumption. Saying it like this might actually flatter them."
Kaito mused silently. However, just because they could stir up trouble in that era, doesn't mean they could now.
Keep in mind that Danzō, originally having a chance to seize the position of Acting Hokage, was now dead and gone.
Sitting in his seat, Kaito found himself surrounded mainly by unfamiliar faces.
Actually, this was normal. Of the attendees, only the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were seated together; the others were scattered around.
For example, Hyuga Hiashi was seated four empty seats away from Kaito, while Inuzuka and Yamanaka were even further.
The meeting wasn't particularly crowded, but those seated here were essentially the upper echelons of Konoha, in name or in fact.
Kaito wasn't the last to arrive. After his entry, many more trickled in.
At the stroke of three, Sarutobi Hiruzen entered, his demeanor slightly weary.
Upon entering, his gaze swept across everyone present. When his gaze fell upon Kaito, he involuntarily paused.
Quickly, he withdrew his gaze, ordered all ANBU personnel to leave and had the door closed. Only then did he begin to speak in a deep voice.
"Today's meeting is in response to last night's events. After investigation by the ANBU, it's confirmed that Danzō betrayed the village.
He secretly ordered Uchiha Itachi to annihilate the Uchiha clan and had the Root Division assist in the operation, attempting to destroy a village family for his own benefit."
Sarutobi's words were calm and low. Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"Furthermore, according to subsequent investigations, Shimura Danzō was involved in a myriad of issues.
He had carried out human experimentation with Orochimaru and ordered the assassination of many Konoha ninjas. Due to various reasons, I remained oblivious to his actions.
Upon investigation, I found that he conducted many actions under my name. For this, I deeply regret and blame myself."
Kaito listened quietly to Sarutobi's words. He had to admit that the old man was indeed impressive.
On one hand, he exposed all of Danzō's deeds and actively acknowledged his own issues while simultaneously distancing himself from them.
But on the other hand, he cleverly avoided the main points and didn't reveal much of substance.
For instance, he didn't elaborate on what kind of human experiments were conducted, nor did he specify who among the Konoha ninjas were ordered to be killed.
The attendees were no greenhorns, and the only one who appeared to be - Kaito - was not ignorant of the situation, hence the meeting room was unusually quiet.
"So, I have decided to involve all of you here. I hope you can assist me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen surveyed everyone in the room, and finally put his cards on the table.
"Danzō was once the leader of the Root Division. His actions are intolerable and against the natural order, hence I have decided to disband the Root Division. Henceforth, there will be no such division.
In addition, Danzō has exploited my name to infiltrate his forces into various departments - including but not limited to the Medical Department, the Mission Department, and even the Education Department.
Therefore, I hope everyone present could assist me in a thorough investigation. We need to purge Danzō's influence, and cleanse every department in the Konoha!"
As his voice fell, all the previously dissatisfied attendees nodded in agreement, as if on cue.
Clearly, the proposals put forth by Sarutobi Hiruzen this time, were exactly what they had been hoping for...
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