While Ryo and Pakura kissed under the moonlight in the Waterfall Country, Danzo and the two councilors came to the 3rd’s place.

Hiruzen sighed. He had already guessed that they were coming soon or later and even guessed why they would.

The first thing that Danzo said was: “Hiruzen, I want to talk to you about the Uchiha Clan.”

Danzo looked dead serious as he talked to the 3rd. The latter looked at Koharu and Homura, and found that they looked at him very seriously as well.

“Hiruzen, it seems like you have already thought of what we came to ask you about, so let’s not waste time. What do you think about this matter?” Homura asked.

“Yes, things ended up very badly on that night. I’ve asked Ryo Yamanaka about what happened to the Kyubi, and he told me that it was controlled.”

Danzo pretended to be surprised by the 3rd’s answer, and puffed coldly: “Oh! I knew it was them, those damn Uchiha!”

The 3rd frowned: “Danzo, we have no proof of such a thing, so you can’t say so.”

“What else is there to check? In all recorded history, only the Uchiha could control the Kyubi. Well, that Ryo Yamanaka has Madara’s eye as well, so he should be able of causing what happened on that ni…”

“ENOUGH DANZO! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with Ryo! And you’re taking your suspicion of the Uchiha too far without having a shred of evidence!” The 3rd immediately interrupted Danzo.

“Hiruzen, don’t be mad! He’s only making a reasonable speculation. We all heard Tobirama sensei; nothing is more terrible than a Mangekyo Sharingan!” Homura quickly tried to calm the 3rd down.

“Hiruzen, I hope you are going to take action and investigate the Uchiha. This time, we’ve lost the 4th Hokage himself!” Koharu also interfered.

The 3rd nodded and said: “You can rest assured Koharu; I’ve already done that before you even came to me.”

“And? Did you find out anything?” Homura asked after hearing the 3rd.

“Well, according to the Anbu, the current Uchiha clan has no Mangekyo Sharingan wielders. As for the normal Sharingan, it could never control the Kyubi on its own.” The 3rd Hokage answered.

“Maybe they are hiding them! Sarutobi, I want to restore Root. If you can’t find anything with your Anbu, then just leave it to me!”

Danzo’s real intent was restoring root, and the 3rd knew that. After some hesitation, he told him that he had no problem with him restoring Root to a level where it could function at a basic level, but also said that the choice was not his; it was Sakumo’s.

Danzo was not convinced with the 3rd’s words; what did Sakumo have to do with this? He thought, but Sarutobi’s approval was all he wanted.

He left, followed by Homura. As for Koharu, she remained with the 3rd for a while, discussing the future of Konoha.

The next day, the 3rd went to the Hokage’s office to ask Sakumo for permission to reestablish Root.

“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.

His main purpose was to create conflict between the village and the Uchiha, preparing for their eventual eradication.

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.

All they suggested was for the police to continue arresting any violators of law, to let people understand that the Uchiha clan is not to be messed with.

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.