Ryozan felt a frigid chill that had nothing to do with his chakra. Takeo's aura was suffocating, and fighting against it was just a futile as struggling against a swift undertoe current dragging him out into the depths of the ocean. It felt as though he was not simply explaining himself to another a man, but rather facing God's judgement. Nonetheless, Ryozan resisted the urge to turn away, and met Takeo's overpowering gaze. There was a silence that seemed as long and painful as a temporal genjutsu, but then Takeo laid it all on the table. Ryozan then took a deep breath and chose his words with more care than he had ever used before. After all, they could very well be his last...

"I remember that day very well, and I do not take what I did lightly. I can easily see how I could be construed as your enemy, but I have analyzed the scenario multiple times after the fact, and given where I was and what I knew -- what I could possibly have known -- at the time, I believe I made the correct decision. I happened to be walking along the same path as the three Imperials in question. You and I will agree that the behavior of some soldiers can be disgusting at times, but I do not believe that these soldiers were of that variety. I recognized the face of one of them, and had seen him at work before. From what I saw, he was a simple peacekeeper. Before the attack, he was talking about how his wife was going to make him sukiyaki, his favorite dish, when he got home. Then he was struck in the back by a shuriken. I was walking rather close to them, and was nearly struck by one myself, so I prepared a defensive jutsu. Naturally, we huddled together, and so I ended up protecting the whole group. I could not see who the attackers were, but I could think of several possibilities: rebels, mercenaries, missing nin, or the ever-possible unknown third-party faction. All I knew is that lives were in danger and that a wife would become a widow if that man did not get medical attention. The rest is simply the tactics for which I earned recognition, which I am sure you care little about.

"On that day I was not looking at the world through the lens of Imperials versus Rebels; I was looking at it through the lens of protecting human life. I did not see an Imperial soldier, I saw a wounded man. If I erred in any way, it was that for a moment I was more human than a shinobi ought to be. If I was walking beside rebels and they were ambushed by Imperial soldiers, I would have acted the same way. I have not taken sides in this conflict because from my perspective they are both the same. Both of you firmly believe you are correct, and vehemently detest the other side. Both of you shun the other point of view, and both of you are willing to kill to enforce your ideals. I know friends who joined the rebels, and those that joined the Empire. One side says 'peace,' the other says 'oppression;' one side says 'freedom' the other says 'chaos.'" Ryozan's voice had remained calm and stoic up until this point, but now a new energy began to well up within it. It wasn't his typical cool and tactical voice. It was brimming with confidence... with fire. "You can revoke my title if you like. That matters little to me. However, for you to question my loyalty to Konoha... [i]that[/i] I will deny even if you strip my flesh away until there is naught left but bones. I want what is best for this village, for these people. I'm afraid I simply don't know what that is..."

And that was that. Ryozan bared the entirety of his soul before Takeo and braced himself for what was to come.