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[RNZO] Ch 198: Only a Dead Danzo is a Good Danzo
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 17:17:10 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
In Renzo's private training field — The one he shared with Kurenai, Kakashi, and the others.
Renzo and Asuma sat together by the riverside, on the soft grass.
"I'm sorry about your father," Renzo said, tossing a stone into the river. "But I had to do it."
Asuma shook his head with a small smile. "This isn't your fault, Renzo."
"The one who screwed up from the start was my old man."
"A Hokage is supposed to protect the villagers, right? If he can't even do that, he doesn't deserve the title."
"And just because someone's talented, he gets suppressed? Just because someone's a Uchiha, they get crushed without a second thought? What the hell is that?"
Asuma looked straight at Renzo, serious as hell: "So no — you didn't do anything wrong. And I've heard a lot about what really happened."
"Plus, last night, my old man sat me down and confessed to a bunch of his mistakes."
"He knows he messed up — he's known for a while. But he got blinded by power. Greedy."
"Maybe what happened yesterday finally woke him up."
"But it's too late. Wrong is wrong. Everyone's gotta own up to their actions."
"Whatever judgment he faces, it's what he deserves. I've got no complaints. And definitely no grudge against you or anyone else."
"Also..." Asuma grinned, a little proud, "I've officially taken over as the new head of the Sarutobi clan."
"From now on, I'm gonna prove through my own actions that the Sarutobi clan is still worthy of the village's trust and respect!"
"What do you think, Renzo?"
Seeing Asuma's bright, easygoing face, Renzo couldn't help but be infected by his energy.
He laughed, punched Asuma lightly on the shoulder, and teased, "You little punk! You've really grown up, huh? The old you could've never said something like that!"
And honestly, those words had weight.
It wasn't some speech someone fed him — Renzo could tell. It came straight from Asuma's heart.
Asuma scratched the back of his head, chuckling a little awkwardly.
But inside, he felt good — proud that Renzo recognized how far he'd come. And he was genuinely grateful to Renzo too.
He knew Renzo wasn't being personal by pushing for his father's resignation and upcoming trial. If anything, it was about doing what was right.
His old man was a grown adult, the Hokage no less — if he messed up, he needed to take responsibility. Simple as that.
---
Not far away, Kakashi, Obito, Kurenai, and the others were watching them.
Seeing Renzo and Asuma laughing and talking like nothing had happened, they finally relaxed.
"Looks like everything's gonna be fine after all."
"Yeah, thank god."
"Honestly, Asuma's really matured."
"Big time."
— — —
Ten days later —
Minato officially took over the position of Hokage from the Third.
In front of the entire village, he was announced as the new Fourth Hokage.
After that, all attention turned toward something everyone had been dying to see —The public trial of Danzo and the others.
During these past few days, Tsunade and Minato had been busy. They kept leaking all the dirt they had on Danzo and his buddies.
At the same time, since Danzo, Homura, and Koharu were locked up by the Uchiha Police Force, Minato and Fugaku led teams to raid Root's hidden bases and the personal headquarters of Homura and Koharu.
What they found was really bad.
Not only did they dig up even more dirt on Danzo —They also uncovered plenty of shady crimes tied to Homura and Koharu: abuse of power, embezzlement, corruption...
The whole village erupted into chaos.
By the fifth day after Minato became the Fourth Hokage, the mountain of evidence against Danzo and the others had been fully exposed to the public.
Danzo's reputation? Completely destroyed.
He was basically the most hated man in Konoha —Every villager and shinobi wanted to spit on him.
The Third Hokage, Homura, and Koharu didn't get off easy either.
Only, the Third Hokage's reputation held up a little better —Some people still remembered the good things he'd done for civilians and civilian shinobi.
Whether out of genuine feeling or just wanting to save face, they gave him some credit.
But still, his influence took a massive hit — especially among the shinobi community.
There was no coming back from this. His political career was over.
All his remaining authority had already been handed over to Minato and the new administration.
— — —
On the day of the public trial —
After being locked away for half a month, Danzo was dragged out at last.
They tied him to a giant pillar set up right in the middle of the main square, ready for judgment.
Next to him, tied to slightly smaller pillars, were Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
The Third Hokage was the only one spared from being tied up. Instead, he just sat at the defendants' bench.
"Everyone, please quiet down!"
The public trial started quickly. Minato stepped forward first — once the crowd settled, he spoke: "I'm sure everyone already knows why we're gathered here today..."
After a long speech laying things out, Minato finally announced: "The public trial of Shimura Danzo officially begins!"
Down below, the crowd immediately exploded into furious shouting:
"This rotten bastard! If you ask me, we should just burn him alive!"
"That's too easy on him! I'd rather see him hacked to pieces!"
"No, no — he needs to suffer through all ten of Konoha's cruelest punishments, one after another!"
"Still too easy,...."
Everyone was talking at once, anger bubbling over.
After everything that had come to light, there wasn't a single one who didn't hate Danzo.
A lot of people had lost loved ones — assassinated in secret under Danzo's orders.
Even Kakashi, after learning how much Danzo had been involved in the death of his father, was ready to tear him apart with his own hands.
Turned out his father hadn't been wrong — he had been protecting him all along.
In the end: Danzo had become the focus of all the hatred in Konoha.
Sure, Homura and Koharu had attracted some anger too for their corruption and abuse of power, but compared to Danzo? They weren't even one-thousandth as hated.
And the Third Hokage? Well, his situation was even better compared to those two.
"..."
"Man, good thing Danzo's here to soak up all the hate," both the Third and the others couldn't help but think to themselves.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop not far from the square, Renzo stood next to Tsunade, smirking.
"Feeling better?" he asked casually.
"Eh, kinda," Tsunade answered, arms crossed, eyes on the chaos below where people were chucking banana peels, stones, and garbage at Danzo tied up like a criminal.
Her lips curled into a little smirk, but her tone stayed haughty and dismissive.
Honestly? This was way more satisfying than just killing him outright.
"So what's the plan after this? You're not planning to just lock Danzo up again, right?" Tsunade asked, turning to Renzo.
"Of course not," Renzo shook his head. "I wouldn't agree to that — and the villagers definitely wouldn't either."
"Someone like Danzo? If we don't execute him, no one's ever gonna sleep easy again."
"Only, a dead Danzo is a good Danzo."
He finally felt like he'd let go of a big chunk of anger too.
"Thanks for everything," Tsunade said seriously, looking Renzo right in the eye. "If it weren't for you, I'd still be completely in the dark."
"If you really wanna thank me," Renzo grinned mischievously, "then how about you cook me a nice meal? Something you make yourself."
"A 'thank you' with just words? C'mon, that's way too cheap."
He stared straight at her, eyes full of teasing energy.
Tsunade felt her heart skip a beat under his intense gaze. She looked away, flustered. "Would you stop looking at me like that? Seriously, how old even are you? Stop having such crazy thoughts all the time!"
Since the very first time they met, she'd noticed the way Renzo looked at her —different from everyone else.
Back then, she just thought it was annoying.
But after everything they'd been through —especially after seeing Renzo's commanding presence when he took charge —plus today, finally getting revenge and letting go of old demons...
Tsunade realized her heart was starting to get a little tangled up too.
"Nope," Renzo shook his head firmly, leaned in, and whispered right by her ear:
"Let me make this clear — I'm into you. And someday, you're gonna be mine."
"You...!" Tsunade's cheeks turned bright red.
She huffed, "I'm not dealing with you anymore!" and snapped her head away, refusing to even look at him.
Instead, she glued her eyes back onto the square —right as the villagers announced Danzo's sentence and began the execution.
By popular demand, Danzo was sentenced to the brutal "Kunai Rain of Death" punishment.
Countless kunai were hurled into his body until he was stabbed beyond recognition. Even Renzo and Tsunade each threw a kunai, joining in the execution.
Afterward, Danzo's corpse was left hanging for a full month — put on display as a warning to everyone.
As for Homura and Koharu?
They were each sentenced to twenty years in Konoha's prison — but given their age, they'll die long before they ever get out.
The Third Hokage got off the lightest.
All his titles were stripped. All his honors revoked.
He was permanently banned from politics and forbidden from leaving the village for the rest of his life.
.
.
.
