Danzo stood at the center of the compound, facing Third Hokage, eyes narrow with suppressed rage. With the entire street watching, he looked like a man who'd just had a bucket of yellow mud dumped in his lap—no matter how he explained it, it looked like he'd soiled himself.
"Danzo," Hiruzen said flatly, "return Kakashi's Sharingan."
Danzo's expression twitched.
They stood in stifling silence. Third Hokage's gaze was tired, but resolute. He'd realized now that this entire confrontation had spiraled far beyond what he expected. What was meant to be a small show of force had snowballed into a public scandal—and it was his own face being dragged through the mud.
Danzo finally replied, voice cold. "Hiruzen… I have no idea what you're talking about. What's the meaning of bringing this mob to my door in the middle of the night?"
Before Hiruzen could respond, Andrew stepped forward with his usual smirk.
"Lord Danzo, perhaps you'd like to reconsider. The Third Hokage has a corpse in his possession marked with the Tongue of Evil Seal. Want to explain how a Root agent died during an ambush on Kakashi?"
Danzo's scowl deepened. Of all the people he didn't want to see right now, Andrew was at the top of the list. This brat had the uncanny ability to show up at the worst times and say the most infuriating things.
Damn it! he thought. Why did Sarutobi bring this Uchiha pest here? Is this punishment or entertainment?
"I admit I sent someone to test Kakashi," Danzo said through gritted teeth. "It was meant to evaluate his strength—nothing more. I never gave orders to take his Sharingan. I don't even have it!"
Andrew's grin widened like a predator scenting blood.
"Really? Because from where I'm standing, there's a Sharingan sitting in your right eye socket."
He took a single step forward. Chakra rippled around him like heat from pavement. "Now, let me be clear. The Sharingan on Kakashi? We Uchiha permitted it, via official agreement with the village. But if you're holding any, Danzo—then you're stealing. And if you're stealing Uchiha bloodline, I'll tear this whole Root compound down with my own hands to reclaim it."
Behind him, Shisui activated his Mangekyō, wordlessly backing up his comrade. The sudden surge of chakra created a pressure wave that made nearby ANBU flinch.
Even Hiruzen's eyes twitched. It was clear—the Uchiha weren't bluffing.
"You maniacs," Danzo snarled internally. "Do you always have to overreact like this?"
Danzo felt trapped. He had no Sharingan from Kakashi. He hadn't even gotten close! But with Third Hokage standing beside the Uchiha—and the entire village now watching—the truth didn't matter. Only perception did.
And right now, everyone believed he was the thief.
"Danzo," Hiruzen said coldly, "this is my last warning. Hand over the Sharingan. Otherwise, as Hokage, I will not stop Uchiha from reclaiming their bloodline by force."
Danzo's heart dropped. That look in Hiruzen's eyes… It wasn't political. It was the gaze of someone preparing to cut ties—permanently.
Damn it! Danzo cursed again in his mind. Is Sarutobi serious? He's going to sacrifice me for this?
The tension mounted. Andrew's Sharingan burned crimson. Shisui's chakra crackled beside him. ANBU tightened formation. And Danzo… he saw no escape.
"Fine!" he spat. "I'll take responsibility!"
In a show of reluctant submission, Danzo reached up and carefully removed the eye embedded in his right socket, sealing it within a chakra vial before handing it over to Hiruzen.
The old Hokage received it silently, then looked at Danzo with conflicted eyes.
Danzo didn't miss that look. It was pity—and something worse. Doubt.
He narrowed his gaze at his longtime friend, his comrade-in-arms from the days of the First and Second Hokage.
"So this is it, Sarutobi?" he muttered under his breath. "You finally chose your side…"
Danzo had always danced dangerously close to the line—experimenting on children, collecting Sharingan, running Root in secret—but he had never expected Hiruzen to drag him out like this.
He didn't take Kakashi's eye. He wanted to—but never got the chance. One of his men had it for a second, and then it was gone. And he knew for a fact that Uchiha never took it either.
So who had it now?
Danzo's gaze drifted to Andrew for just a moment.
That little bastard…
Hiruzen noticed the glance and frowned.
Something wasn't adding up.
Danzo's plan had been to stir up suspicion against Uchiha, framing them by attacking Kakashi and staging a plausible recovery of the eye. His Root agents would use Fire Style to mimic Uchiha jutsu and then vanish toward Uchiha territory.
Only… none of it had worked.
The eye was gone. One operative was dead. The Uchiha, as much as he hated to admit it, hadn't been involved.
"You took the eye," Danzo realized, staring at Hiruzen with quiet fury. "You took it for yourself... or gave it to someone else."
"Lord Hokage," Andrew said, interrupting Danzo's internal storm. "We've now confirmed Danzo's possession of Sharingan. That concludes our business here."
"However," he added with a sharper tone, "we expect an explanation for tonight's events. This cannot happen again. Uchiha won't remain silent while we're used as scapegoats."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, his face grim and weary. "Understood. You'll have it. Tomorrow."
Andrew turned on his heel, motioning for Shisui to follow. The two vanished into the shadows as silently as they'd come.
The crowd began to disperse, but not without muttering and stolen glances.
Everyone saw what happened tonight—and their faith in Konoha's leadership had cracked.
Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen rubbed his forehead with both hands. His heart felt like it had aged a decade in a single night.
Things were falling apart.
After the Third Great Ninja War, the village had already been fragile. His return to power after Minato's death was not a joyous homecoming—it was necessity.
But since then… the Hyuga incident, the Uchiha tension, and now this. The villagers were starting to whisper again.
He glanced toward the shadowed corner of the room where Jiraiya leaned silently against the wall.
The Sannin hadn't spoken the entire time, but now he finally let out a long sigh.
"You've lost too much, old man," Jiraiya said quietly. "And not just Kakashi's eye."
Hiruzen didn't respond.
Meanwhile, back in Root headquarters, Danzo slammed the door shut behind him, chest heaving.
"Idiots! I gave you a simple mission—test Kakashi, push the Uchiha's buttons, and get the eye! You ruined everything!"
The Root agents knelt silently, knowing better than to speak.
"We had it for one second," one finally dared to say. "But it vanished. We don't know how."
Danzo's lips curled with loathing.
"Andrew… that little monster did it. He's the only one who could've pulled it off under our noses."
He couldn't prove it, not yet. But he knew it in his gut.
"You win this time, Uchiha. But this isn't over."
Back in the Uchiha compound, Andrew leaned back in a chair, his right eye still aching faintly.
But he was smiling.
He had Kamui. And more importantly, he had forced Danzo to use up one of his most precious trump cards.
The public embarrassment, the loss of a stolen Sharingan, and the crack in Danzo's relationship with Third Hokage—it was a triple win.
"So… this is how you play politics in Konoha," Andrew muttered. "Good to know."
And if someday Obito returned, seeking his Sharingan from Kakashi—well, that was a future problem.
From Andrew's perspective, he didn't steal the eye. Danzo did. The Third Hokage retrieved it. He simply 'rescued' it again.
Simple as that.
"Remove Danzo from his position as elder," Hiruzen said to his ANBU the next morning, his tone devoid of emotion. "House arrest for three months. Schedule a full Konoha council meeting. Every clan must attend—including the Uchiha."
As the shadows dispersed to carry out his commands, Hiruzen exhaled and looked out over the village.
The storm hadn't passed.
It had only just begun.
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