— — — — — —
"I support Minato too! Not just because he's my best student, but because I truly believe he's the most suitable!"
At that moment, Jiraiya chimed in with a big grin, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere a little.
Well... it worked for most people, but not for Hiruzen and the other elders.
"I support Minato as well!"
Right after, Tsunade stood up too, making her stance crystal clear.
"Tsunade, you…"
Hiruzen and the others looked at her in shock, though part of them kind of understood.
After all, Minato's girlfriend was Uzumaki Kushina — someone very close to Tsunade. It wasn't too surprising she'd throw her support behind him.
Still, from Hiruzen's perspective, this was definitely not good news.
Tsunade wasn't just giving casual support — she was going all in for Minato. That also meant all the ninja clans loyal to her would likely follow suit.
And with Jiraiya backing Minato too, the guy who came from a civilian background suddenly had two major powerhouses behind him.
This had already blown way past what Hiruzen had planned for or could control.
He had assumed that no matter what, neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade would so obviously take sides at a sensitive time like this.
At least, Tsunade's attitude today was way out of character.
But the surprises weren't over yet.
"Tsk tsk, I also support Minato-kun as the next Hokage! And by the way, I'm withdrawing from the race."
At that moment, Orochimaru stood up and announced with a smirk.
Boom—!
The whole room immediately exploded in uproar.
What the hell was going on!?
Wasn't the Fourth Hokage position basically a fight between Minato and Orochimaru?
Now Orochimaru, one of the top competitors, was just straight-up withdrawing — and fully supporting Minato? What was this madness!?
Didn't that basically mean the election was already decided!?
"Orochimaru, you…"
Hiruzen jumped up from his seat with a loud whoosh, locking his sharp eyes onto Orochimaru, demanding an explanation without even speaking.
"If that's the case, then there's no point dragging this out, right? We should just officially settle it."
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind Fugaku.
Everyone—Hiruzen, Danzo, and all the other clan leaders—immediately turned toward the speaker.
"Know your place!"
In the next second, Danzo shot to his feet and barked furiously at Renzo, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you have a right to speak here!? Do you Uchiha even understand what 'rules' mean!? Get out of here!"
Hiruzen, Koharu, and the others all narrowed their eyes, clearly standing with Danzo.
Meanwhile, a lot of the clan leaders were looking over with interest.
'What's this kid trying to pull, standing up at a moment like this?'
Hiruzen's heart sank even further.
He could feel things slipping further and further out of his hands.
...
Most of the people here had heard of Renzo — the new rising star of the Uchiha clan — and they knew he'd been suppressed for a while now.
So him stepping up today definitely wasn't just some reckless move. At least judging by his calm, unfazed expression, he clearly wasn't acting on impulse.
Naturally, a lot of people were happy to sit back and enjoy the show, curious to see what the Uchiha, or Renzo himself, planned to do next.
Right after Danzo finished shouting, Renzo slowly lifted his head, his face ice-cold, and his terrifying aura exploded outward.
Boom—!
The pressure hit like a tidal wave, blanketing the entire hall in an instant. Everyone felt the weight settle on their shoulders, heavy as a mountain.
Of course, Danzo and Hiruzen got the full force of it — the others only caught the edges of the blast.
"What the hell…?"
"That's insane!"
"That chakra... it's unreal!"
"Oi oi, is this kid seriously this strong already!?"
For a moment, the entire hall was frozen in shock at Renzo's terrifying pressure and the sheer amount of chakra he was pouring out.
It was like standing in front of a tailed beast— maybe even worse!
"You little brat! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Danzo, shocked at first, quickly barked back with a dark, nasty face.
Whoosh!
Before he could react any further, Renzo disappeared in a blur — and in the next instant appeared right above Danzo.
BAM!
With a heavy stomp, Renzo slammed Danzo's head straight down into the conference table before anyone could blink.
Crack!
Danzo's skull smashed into the thick wood, leaving a huge crater and spiderweb-like cracks spreading out in all directions.
And then, as everyone stared in stunned silence, Renzo just looked down at Danzo's struggling figure, his voice cold as ice:
"And who the hell do you think you are? Talking to me like that?"
Maybe before, Renzo had reasons to hold back. But today? He wasn't planning to put up with it any longer.
"Renzo, you—!"
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura were still rattled from the earlier display of power and chakra, but they quickly shook it off and tried to speak up, wanting to stop Renzo before things got worse.
"Shut the hell up!"
Before they could say a word, Renzo snapped, his voice slicing through the room like a blade. He shot them a cold look and barked:
"Step aside. This is between me and Danzo! Your turn will come later."
"You—!"
Hiruzen and the others' faces turned even uglier, furious and frustrated, teetering on the verge of taking action.
Meanwhile, outside the hall, the Anbu stationed nearby had sensed the commotion. They shoved open the doors and rushed in.
"Hmph."
Renzo's gaze sharpened, and another wave of terrifying pressure burst out — mixed with Conqueror's Haki.
This time, the crushing force slammed directly onto Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, and the dozens of Anbu charging in through the door.
The Anbu didn't even get a chance to react — they dropped to the ground, unconscious, like puppets with their strings cut.
Hiruzen and the others were rooted to the spot, faces full of horror, unable to move under the sheer weight of Renzo's aura.
What the hell is this!?
How was it even possible for someone to have thismuch power just from sheer presence alone?
Hiruzen realized he had seriously underestimated Renzo — again.
What the hell was I thinking, letting this kid grow unchecked to this point...?
Regret and frustration flooded his heart. But for now, he knew better than to act rashly. He could only grit his teeth and wait to see what Renzo planned to do next.
The other clan heads were thinking the same.
Honestly, a lot of them were feeling incredibly satisfied seeing Danzo getting stomped into the ground like this.
After all, almost every clan present had been bullied or threatened by Danzo at some point.
Some of their best and brightest had been forced into Danzo's rotten little "Root" organization — brainwashed into his mindless soldiers, forced to betray even their own clans.
And don't even get started on the secret jutsu and bloodline techniques Danzo had stolen over the years.
The resentment ran deep.
But before, they could only swallow their anger because they didn't have the strength to fight back.
Now, though? Seeing someone finally putting Danzo in his place?
Oh, they were lovingit.
Of course, none of them dared to show it openly — not yet. If Renzo failed to truly crush Danzo today, anyone who laughed too soon would probably be the next target.
Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Fugaku were exceptions, though.
They were openly enjoying the show.
— — —
Renzo finally turned his cold eyes back down to Danzo and sneered: "You filthy mutt."
"You sewer rat — why didn't you just stay hidden in your stinking hole? Why'd you have to crawl up onto the stage where real people stand?"
"You think this is a place for trash like you?"
"You know," Renzo said, his voice growing colder, "I've wanted to kill you for a long, long time."
"Ever since I first showed signs of talent, your rats from Root have tried to assassinate me — not once, not twice, but over ten times!"
"If I hadn't hidden my true strength… if I hadn't been careful… I would've died a dozen times already!"
"And even after surviving that, I still had to bow my head, getting suppressed by you and the Third Hokage."
"Why?"
"Because you control most of the power in Konoha. Because you think you can target whoever you want."
"You want to crush a clan? Easy — you crush them."
"You want to wipe out a clan's genius? Sure — you arrange for 'accidents' to happen."
"Anyone who threatens your authority — you gang up to destroy them."
"And you — you old piece of shit — hiding behind the excuse of 'protecting Konoha,' how many young talents have you forced into your damn Root organization?"
"How many families have you shattered?"
"You claim it's for the village? Then why don't you control your own Shimura clan's talents, huh?"
"Why not brainwash Sarutobi clan geniuses?"
"Oh, and what about the families of those two lapdog advisors of yours?"
"..."
.
.
.