Chapter 92: Using a Tiger's Skin as a Banner

"Did you all hear the Uchiha brat clearly? Human experimentation?"

"Ever since Orochimaru defected, human experimentation has been a taboo within the village. Is Lord Danzou knowingly violating this?"

"I support human experimentation; how else can one research Ninjutsu? Konoha's prosperity and strength are built upon powerful capabilities, but using fellow village ninja as test subjects—that's a lie, right?"

After the voice fell,

the entire Death Forest fell silent, leaving only the rustling of wind through the leaves and the heavy breathing of the ninja who had rushed over.

Immediately, as if a pot had boiled over, the gazes directed at Shimura Danzou were filled with shock.

Most ninja held an attitude of disgust and rejection toward human experimentation, especially the Ninja Clans possessing Bloodline Limits, led by the Hyuga.

These people were often the targets of covetous eyes.

There was no guarantee that one day, after being ambushed by enemy ninja, they wouldn't be captured for experiments, so upon hearing of human experimentation, they looked at Danzou with eyes of disgust and suspicion.

Another group of ninja supported human experimentation;

they were all battle-crazed, indifferent to interpersonal relationships, and the pursuit of power and Ninjutsu occupied the majority of their focus.

But supporting human experimentation did not mean supporting the use of fellow village ninja as subjects.

Even the most battle-crazed individuals did not want to be backstabbed by fellow village ninja during battle, nor did they want to be treated as subjects for human experimentation within the village.

For a moment,

the atmosphere was strangely awkward, yet they were able to maintain a facade of calm only because Hiruzen Sarutobi was present.

"Didn't I say? For now, there is no evidence to prove that Shimura Danzou is conducting human experimentation."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was not looking good,

but under the public gaze, he still managed to squeeze out a smile and looked kindly at Sasuke Uchiha.

Being subtly coerced by someone using his position as Hokage left him feeling very dissatisfied inside.

As expected,

even biological brothers have differences; there are ultimately too few Uchiha who truly understand the Will of Fire. Like most Uchiha, Sasuke had no regard for the stability of the village in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and changed the subject: "Everyone, although there are ninja from other villages lurking in the Death Forest, I did not send the Anbu to notify you all. I suspect this is a conspiracy targeting the Hokage Advisor, intended to plunge our Konoha into chaos. You must not be deceived."

No matter what, the cruel truth of Shimura Danzou conducting human experimentation could not be revealed in public.

The Chunin Exams were about to begin, and the village was full of ninja from other villages; Hiruzen Sarutobi dared not imagine what kind of turmoil would be triggered if the truth were revealed now.

There were too many people and too many mouths.

Especially since the scene was filled with Elite Ninja Clan members; it was impossible to force everyone to keep quiet.

Once the news leaked, it would be a particularly heavy blow to Konoha's reputation.

It might even trigger unrest.

"I said those ninja from other villages had ulterior motives; so they were actually trying to strike at Lord Danzou?"

"It must have been long-planned; did they infiltrate Root to gather Konoha intelligence, or to assassinate the Hokage Advisor?"

"I fear they had evil designs on the Uchiha, but they didn't expect the strength of a newly graduated Genin to be so formidable, which is how they were exposed..."

The slightly older Elite Ninja Clan members remained skeptical.

But the younger ninja and civilian ninja, under the firm and certain rhetoric of the Hokage, revealed expressions of realization.

The dignity of the Hokage was certainly important.

In fact, although Danzou had committed many evil deeds, most had not been exposed to the young and civilian ninja, so he had always maintained an image of a serious, pro-war hawk.

As for the Elite Ninja Clan members... they kept their eyes on their noses and their hearts on their minds.

No one wanted to openly jump out and contradict the Hokage.

"I have evidence!"

Sasuke moved very nimbly, pulling a Metal Box the size of a palm from his inventory without the slightest hesitation.

After the Metal Box hit the ground, it quickly emitted the sound of film rotating.

This was one of the countless miscellaneous items dropped while hunting Pollution Monsters within the game, a piece of technology capable of capturing and recording scenes and restoring them to scale.

It was generally used for reconnaissance and solving cases.

Hum.

A faint beam of light emitted from the Metal Box, instantly enveloping the surroundings and causing the scenery of the forest to change.

The destroyed underground laboratory appeared before the eyes of all the ninja.

"Is it Genjutsu?"

"There is no chakra fluctuation; these walls and ceilings are fake, they can only be observed, not touched."

"Is this an item from the Samsara Game? Truly miraculous."

The ninja revealed expressions of curiosity one after another.

Danzou's expression changed abruptly; he hadn't expected Sasuke to have a backup plan?

Even the smile on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face could barely be maintained, and he said with difficulty: "Sasuke, can this matter end here?"

He had already treated the killed Root ninja as attackers, which was already a favor to the other party.

Five Root ninja were dead, and the Hokage Advisor Danzou was also injured... was this not enough?

Sasuke-kun, you truly disappoint me!

"Lord Hokage, it doesn't matter if I am threatened by Danzou, but I do not want Konoha ninja to be shrouded in shadow. I want to protect the village!"

Sasuke suppressed his nausea and said this with a firm gaze.

Using a tiger's skin as a banner.

This was a tactic he had learned from some civilian players in the game.

These civilians were different from ninja; they would exhaust every means to survive, methods not seen in most ninja. He hadn't expected the effect to be surprisingly good.

Hearing this,

Not to mention Hiruzen Sarutobi, even the Clan Heads of the major Ninja Clans and the common ninja were stunned.

Countless eyes fell upon the fan crest on the back of Sasuke's clothing, which symbolized the Uchiha Clan.

Since when did the Uchiha also talk about the Will of Fire?

Just as they were staring at Sasuke with strange gazes, a cry of alarm drew everyone's attention.

"It's... the First Hokage!"

Neji revealed a look of terror,

and after everyone's gaze shifted over, his fingers trembled slightly as he pointed toward a large pile of shadows discarded in the corner of the wall.

It was a decomposed, tattered corpse,

mixed with rotting wood, emitting a putrid stench, and on some of the more deformed flesh, weird human faces had actually emerged.

It was very familiar.

After all, Konoha ninja could see the Hokage Rock every day when they looked up, so no one was a stranger to the First Hokage's sculpted face.

"Could someone actually be researching the First Hokage's Wood Release?"

"It really is human experimentation, and there are even research notes and symbols from Root..."

Everyone looked with strange gazes at the flustered Shimura Danzo.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi was unable to speak, contemplating how to respond.

The expressions of the various Clan Heads were grim,

for suspicion and speculation without evidence were different from facts laid out before one's eyes.

Even if they had been dissatisfied with the Hokage Advisor in the past and had vaguely heard of some dark deeds, it was completely different from tearing away the fig leaf and having the bloody truth laid out before them.

Suppressed whispers arose everywhere.

At this moment,

hearts were restless.

Even the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan Heads, who were close to the Hokage, silently stepped back two paces, scrutinizing the Hokage and the Hokage Advisor with judgmental gazes.

(End of this chapter)