Chapter 74: Hiruzen and Danzō's Reputations Crumble – Offering a Dignified Death
From the moment Renji spoke the truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew things were about to fall apart.
There was no way he could explain any of it. Even if he tried to claim he had nothing to do with it, who would believe that?
The rumors that led to the death of Kakashi's father had been stirred up by Danzō. At the time, Hiruzen had sensed a threat from Sakumo and thought damaging his reputation would keep him from contending for the position of Hokage.
But things got out of hand. Sakumo didn't just lose prestige—he committed suicide.
That death cost Konoha one of its strongest forces. If Sakumo had lived, even the Third Great Ninja War might have gone differently.
As for Naruto, Hiruzen had made promises. He had failed to keep them.
Watching the Third Hokage remain silent, both Kakashi and Naruto grew heavier in heart.
Maybe… maybe Renji was right?
"If Lord Hokage refuses to speak, then allow me," Renji said. "Kakashi, your father was ruined by rumors. Naruto, you were labeled the demon fox. And we—our Uchiha clan—are victims of the same methods. All of it came from the same man: Lord Danzō. But Hokage-sama, if you claim you knew nothing about it, I'll have to admire your shamelessness even more."
The tactics were always the same.
"Why? Why would you do this, Grandpa Third? Say something!" Naruto shouted, close to breaking down.
Even Sasuke, standing beside him, had begun to understand. He looked between Naruto and Hiruzen in disbelief.
So the village's "demon fox," the outcast of the academy… was actually the son of the Fourth Hokage?
"I'm sorry, Naruto," Hiruzen finally said. "It's true we hid your identity. It was to protect you. Your father had too many enemies. If other villages found out you were his son, your life would've been in danger."
With so many people watching, he couldn't over-explain. He gave the facts as plainly as he could.
But Renji laughed coldly.
"What a joke. Everyone knows the Nine-Tails can only be sealed by a member of the Uzumaki clan. And there were only two in Konoha—Kushina and her child. She was Minato's wife. You really think no one would figure that out?"
"Cloud tried to kidnap her. You're telling me the other villages didn't know who she was? Please."
Renji now even suspected Konoha had a hand in Kushina's death. From the start, the village had been pushing her out. With the kind of people Sarutobi and Danzō were, they would've created 'bonds' to keep control over her.
Maybe even Tsunade's tragedy had been orchestrated the same way.
If you didn't look at all this with a conspirator's eye, nothing made sense anymore.
As Renji spoke, Hiruzen's expression changed. Because what he said next… had been the very excuse Hiruzen had planned to use.
But how did Renji know?
The bond between Minato and Kushina was something very few in the village were aware of.
"You just didn't want to lose control of Naruto, right? Once you took power, you treated the village like it belonged to you. Anything you couldn't control—Naruto, the Uchiha—you tried to destroy."
"You used the Hyūga incident to make a statement. You demanded Hiashi's life, and the clan handed over Hizashi instead. You talk about peace, but in your time, you've always yielded to outside pressure while crushing those within."
"And your so-called Will of Fire? Don't make me laugh."
"The First Hokage fought Madara at the Valley of the End to build this village. The Second gave his life to protect your generation. He could've escaped with Flying Thunder God, but he stayed to save you."
"But you?"
"Second Shinobi War—you stayed in the rear while Sakumo, the Sannin, the Uchiha, and the Hyūga held the front lines. Third Shinobi War—same thing. You stayed behind again. Minato carried the war on his back. And you? You sent children to the battlefield. You let them graduate early and die young."
"You talk of the Will of Fire as protecting others at the cost of yourself. But you sacrificed others to protect yourself."
Renji's words were sharp, and each one made Hiruzen sweat more.
Now that all his decisions had been laid bare, even the Hokage's staunchest allies—the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, the ANBU under his command—began to question themselves.
They had always believed Hiruzen had run the village well. But now they realized… that beneath the peace lay something far filthier.
"The village was restless during the Second War. I had to stabilize morale," Hiruzen tried to explain. "And in the Third War, we didn't initiate the conflict. I stayed in the village to prevent sneak attacks. It was to protect the citizens."
"As for Hizashi, I do regret that decision. But another war would've cost more lives. I had no choice. And controlling Naruto? That's not true. I never intended to destroy the Uchiha—I always wanted a peaceful solution."
He desperately tried to wash his hands of every accusation. His explanations were weak, but to him, they were better than silence.
Renji smirked.
"If you hadn't defended yourself, I'd be disappointed."
"Do you even know what Naruto's life has been like? We all saw it. You say you didn't mistreat him, but what? You gave him money every few months? You think he could buy anything? Expired milk and instant noodles. Look at his height. He's the shortest kid in the village—and he's from the Uzumaki clan!"
"And how did you drive Sakumo to suicide? Why was Senju Nawaki's corpse hollowed out after death? Don't tell me Tsunade gave permission for that."
"And the Uzumaki clan—Konoha's allies. When they were destroyed, why did Konoha do nothing?"
"Danzō committed countless crimes. Why did you keep him as your advisor? You even let Orochimaru escape when you had him. Why is it that you're always soft on them, and harsh only toward us?"
"Why did all three Sannin leave the village? Do you really not know the answer to that, Hiruzen?"
"Let's not forget the Uchiha Massacre either," Renji said coldly. "Wasn't it you who used Uchiha Itachi as your insider? You deliberately leaked the rebellion plan to him, didn't you? You knew he would report it. Then you used him to wipe out the Uchiha clan and made sure he defected right after. That way, you wouldn't bear any blame, and the clan would be gone."
"And your four families—Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Homura—let's be honest. Sarutobi and Shimura were mid-tier clans at best, and the other two weren't even clans worth mentioning. But look at you now. Your families have gotten fat off the village, haven't they? How much have you taken through corruption? Didn't you swallow up Uchiha land as well?"
"And let's talk about your useless son. When he walked out of the village without notice, wasn't that defection? What kind of Hokage lets his son get away with that?"
Renji listed Hiruzen's sins one by one.
He knew very well how these men had used their authority to do despicable things behind the scenes.
As the accusations piled up, more and more people in the crowd began to shiver.
"...My father really did die because of a rumor," Kakashi muttered. "One of his teammates abandoned the mission. I remember that guy never blamed my father at first, but not long after, he was saying everywhere that the failure was all Sakumo's fault."
Kakashi had tried to find him. But before he could get answers, the man died on a mission.
He had always wondered—why had someone so grateful to his father suddenly change his tune?
Now, thinking back, maybe Renji was right. Maybe Danzō orchestrated it all, and Hiruzen just stood by. And Kakashi… had spent all these years working for the man responsible for his father's death.
A heavy bitterness settled over him.
"There was a rumor about Nawaki too... about what happened to his body," Shikaku said quietly. He remembered the whispers. When Nawaki died, his internal organs had been removed. Why?
"The Hyūga never forgot about what happened to Hizashi," someone else spoke. "We wanted to go to war. So did the Uchiha. But the Third kept dodging it, saying Konoha was too weak. Hizashi had to sacrifice himself. I never understood it. Cloud had already stepped on our heads—why the hell did we keep yielding?"
Uchiha and Hyūga didn't get along, but they weren't cowards. Back then, most wanted to fight. Only Hiruzen wanted peace.
Hizashi took his brother's place and died, all for the sake of politics.
"And Orochimaru? Yeah, we all watched him escape. No one stopped him."
"Asuma left the village too. I remember he had a falling-out with the Hokage and ran off. Normally, disappearing like that would brand you a rogue ninja. Even Tsunade and Jiraiya had to announce they were leaving. But Asuma? He vanished in the night—and came back as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja? That's laughable."
"The Uzumaki clan sent for help long before they fell," another shinobi said. "They held out. If we'd gone, maybe we couldn't have saved everyone—but we could've saved some."
"Those four families now? Living better than all of ours. We bled on the battlefield while they stayed behind doing logistics. The Uchiha—yeah, we had problems—but they sent their elites to war. You can't deny that."
"And those child soldiers... So many of our clans lost ten-year-olds in that war. How is that okay?"
"And you made them destroy their own clan from the inside. That's monstrous."
As more testimonies came out, it became painfully clear: Renji hadn't made anything up.
Each fact he'd listed was real. And worse—no one had even considered how dark it all truly was.
Even those who hated the Uchiha… had never thought the clan deserved extermination.
"Heh… Isn't it your damned Uchiha bloodline that caused all this?" Danzō snapped. "If not for you, none of this would've happened! Madara came back and killed the First Hokage! If it weren't for Uchiha, Konoha wouldn't be like this!"
At that, Hiruzen's heart leapt with hope.
Until now, he hadn't been able to refute a word. But Danzō's anger gave him an opening—maybe now they could shift the blame.
Even if he was guilty… were the Uchiha truly blameless?
"And speaking of that," Renji smirked, "let's talk about your precious teacher, the Second Hokage."
"Wasn't Hashirama going to name Madara the next Hokage? Most of the village thought Hashirama was a better choice—so Hashirama became the First. But he still told Madara he wanted him to be the Second."
"Then when the time came, Tobirama said the Hokage had to be elected. Madara lost the vote."
"And you, Hiruzen?"
Renji laughed out loud, then slowly looked back at the Third Hokage.
"Tell me—were you elected? Or did Tobirama just handpick you? What happened to democracy then?"
The hypocrisy was staggering.
Tobirama blocked Madara with democracy, then appointed Hiruzen himself.
"You're just like him."
"You only became Hokage because we backed you!" another elder shouted.
"That's right. Without us, you never would've been accepted by the village."
Everyone was starting to realize—maybe Madara hadn't been so wrong.
So many promises. So many betrayals.
"Everyone!" Renji shouted. "This is between the Uchiha and these four! Hiruzen Sarutobi—come. Stop trying to survive in disgrace. Let me give you a dignified death."
(End of Chapter)
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