Chapter 254 - 254 (2/2)

”No! I won't agree! I will not allow a person who would secretly collaborate with the Rain to have such power!” Sakumo immediately refused.

The 3rd had worked with Danzo for a so many years, and had always believed in his loyalty to Konoha.

”Sakumo, trust me; Danzo would never go against Konoha. I was thinking, if Root were still there under his leadership, wouldn't our losses have been less great on the night the Kyubi attacked? Their existence has its value.”

Sakumo remained silent. The 3rd did mention an objective fact. Although he could not stand Danzo, his Root were stronger on average than the Anbu because of his brutal methods.

As the 3rd felt that Sakumo was starting to loosen up, he immediately said: ”Sakumo, you know that the Kyubi was controlled on that night. To our knowledge, there is no way to control it but with a Mangekyo Sharingan. Some could argue that the Uchiha's link to this needs to be investigated, and having Root back would balance out the scale against their force, and could help us find out the truth.”

After a long silence, Sakumo said with all respect: ”Sandaime sama, I have thought this through, and I still will not agree to this!”

As he said all he had, the 3rd could only sigh and leave the office.

Danzo on the other hand had no interest in knowing Sakumo's ”opinion”; he already had many of his Root members lurking among the 3rd's Anbu, and with his approval, he recalled them in large numbers, and reestablished Root in secret.

The first task he gave them was to monitor the Uchiha clan. While they were at it, he also instructed them to spread the rumor that the Kyubi was controlled on the night of the attack, and that the one who did it was an Uchiha.

Soon, the news spread out throughout Konoha, and the Uchiha clan became the target of massive propaganda.

Being as prideful as they were, the Uchiha obviously did not try to clear out the confusion. This led to making Konoha's Ninjas and villagers more and more convinced of the rumor.

Hatred spread out across the village, and some even began to deliberately disrupt the missions of the Uchiha's police department.

Obviously, the Uchiha weren't about to let this pass, and immediately arrested anyone who broke the law.

This was the final straw, and the misguided people of Konoha became full of hatred against the Uchiha. They became more agitated and caused even more trouble.

Being the biggest clan in Konoha, the Uchiha would not yield, and they carried on catching all these violators.

In just a few days, Konoha's prison became over-crowded. While the villagers and Ninjas had to admit the Uchiha's power, their hatred made them believe that these arrests were just a manifestation of the Uchiha's guilty conscience.

In the Uchiha's district, Fugaku announced a high-level clan meeting.

When they met, he went on to explain the status quo, suggesting that they should explain matter to the villagers. However, nobody seemed to care. To them, this was just the idiocy of the other people in Konoha.

Fugaku could only sigh and announce the end of the meeting.

”Do you think that arresting more could make them retreat? This will only drive us into a corner!” He muttered to himself.