"So this is the whole truth behind Sakumo Hatake's suicide back then?"
"Who knew The Third could be such a heartless bastard!"
"Now that I think about it, the entire incident surrounding Sakumo back then did seem quite suspicious... Villagers throwing rotten eggs and food scraps at his door? And the village just pretended it didn't know anything about it?"
"No wonder a powerful ninja like Sakumo Hatake would suddenly commit suicide. If it happened to me, I probably couldn't take it either."
"You guys might not know this, but when news of Sakumo's death spread, almost every ninja from our enemy villages celebrated the whole day."
"Damn you, The Third! How could you betray the village like this? And still dare to face us?!"
As the angry shouts filled the air, Rin Nohara, Kurenai Yuhi, Might Guy, and others couldn't help but glance toward Kakashi Hatake standing nearby.
Kakashi tightly clenched his fists, head bowed low.
The dark memories he hadn't faced in years resurfaced again in his mind.
Back then, he was still young and had actually shouted angrily at his father because of external influences.
He even kept telling himself that his father's death had been a just punishment for atonement.
But now...
Could all of this really have just been a conspiracy?
Was it simply because his father's authority threatened the Hokage's rule that they pushed his father into hell?
Damn you, The Third!
"Hmph! That scumbag The Third truly disgusts me. He's embarrassing every single Kage out there!"
"That's right! If you feel threatened, you should work harder to improve yourself instead. Resorting to underhanded schemes is utterly despicable."
"No wonder so many powerful ninjas who grew into their own in Konoha always end up with various problems—either leaving the village or becoming Rogue Ninjas. It turns out The Third was behind all that!"
"Disgusting!"
Onoki and A expressed their complete contempt for what The Third had done.
A Kage must possess the proper capacity expected of a leader.
Without tolerance, there's no way the village could possibly flourish.
Still, they couldn't help feeling somewhat envious.
And yet, Konoha still won the Great Ninja World War under someone like him... That kind of deep-rooted strength was enough to inspire envy!
Watching everything unfold exactly as he'd hoped, Mirai Uchiha's lips curled into a slight smile.
He'd meticulously planned all of this for this very moment.
Though he certainly possessed enough power to directly crush Konoha's F4, doing so straightforwardly would've felt unsatisfying.
Why should the Uchiha Clan—the founders of Konoha—be forced to carry the blame for attempting a coup?
The Uchiha should take rightful command of the village's power in a straightforward and honorable way!
Besides, even if the truth had been exposed to the public after Hiruzen's death, it would have been meaningless.
Killing is easy. Destroying one's will is difficult.
He wanted Hiruzen, who always cherished his own reputation, to personally experience the shame and ruin of losing everything while still alive!
"Sakumo was the same way. Jiraiya and Tsunade, who left the village, suffered the same fate."
"Teacher, if you had shown more tolerance toward powerful individuals like Sakumo, maybe Konoha wouldn't have deteriorated so much that human experiments became its only defense against enemies, right?"
"Oppressing the village's strongest ninja—that is your second crime!"
Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru, who was smirking coldly, feeling as if he had fallen into icy water. He could only shake his head desperately in denial: "Even if Sakumo had lived, a single individual still couldn't truly change anything."
"Of course," Orochimaru immediately continued, "But what if all those ninja clans you oppressed and even annihilated had been united together?"
"Wouldn't that have worked either?!"
Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju watched Orochimaru looking their way, momentarily confused. "Orochimaru, why are you looking at us? Keep talking."
Orochimaru said calmly, "Because the first clan to be eradicated was the Senju Clan."
"What?!"
Hashirama stared in shock, mouth agape.
Wiped out?!
That's impossible!
As the most powerful clan in the ninja world, who on earth could have had the power to wipe out the entire Senju Clan?
And besides, Sarutobi was Tobirama's disciple—how could he possibly betray the Senju like that?
Tobirama frowned even more deeply and solemnly said, "Orochimaru, during my reign, I implemented a policy encouraging Senju Clan members to abandon the Senju surname and integrate into Konoha society."
"You're not trying to refer to that policy, are you?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "If they had merely lost the Senju surname, I naturally wouldn't bring it up separately."
"The Senju Clan is already truly gone!"
After hearing Orochimaru's words, Tobirama could sit still no longer. He stood up and demanded, "Orochimaru, explain yourself clearly!"
"It started after your death..." Orochimaru organized his thoughts carefully before continuing.
"After Hiruzen Sarutobi seized power, he began oppressing Konoha's ninja clans to consolidate authority."
"The first to suffer was the Senju Clan."
"Due to the Second's policy, many Senju clan members had abandoned their surname and become ordinary villagers. However, the foundation of the Senju Clan still remained—many crucial positions in the village were still held by former Senju members."
"To eliminate this potential threat and accelerate his consolidation of Konoha's power, Hiruzen began exploiting the Second's policies to send already-divided Senju ninja to various battlefields."
"Members of the Senju Clan who always charged at the front lines suffered heavy casualties, and their numbers began to decline sharply."
"Although they were willing to fight for Konoha with their lives, some members of the Senju Clan gradually became discontented and sought respite and recovery."
"Unfortunately, abandoning their name meant they could no longer unite as before. Despite their reluctance, they had no choice but to obey the Hokage's orders."
"After enduring continuous battles, the Senju Clan was still unable to escape annihilation's fate."
"Even the elderly survivors among the Senju who barely lived on chose never to speak of their origins in order to continue living. After two or three generations, their descendants no longer knew their true heritage."
"They lost their name, abandoned their traditions, and continuously intermarried with other clans, diluting their bloodline..."
"To this day, the Senju Clan has been reduced to history."
Orochimaru paused briefly before continuing, "Apart from the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan also became targets of suppression."
"Not only was their clan compound relocated to the village outskirts, but they were also completely excluded from the core power structure."
"During the Third Great Ninja War, a decision was made to send the Uchiha Clan to fight on the battlefield against Kirigakure."
"The Fire Release techniques that the Uchiha excelled in were easily countered by Kirigakure's Water Release techniques, and their Sharingan would be hindered by the Hiding in Mist Technique. Anyone with basic knowledge understood this."
"Sensei, what exactly was your true intention behind making such a decision?"
Orochimaru didn't give Hiruzen a chance to respond before continuing, "Besides these two great clans that helped found Konoha together, the Hyūga Clan, Aburame Clan, Kurama Clan... all experienced varying degrees of oppression, and many ninja clans consequently declined sharply."
"If these clans had remained at their peak, how could Konoha possibly fear attacks from other ninja villages?"
Orochimaru's words plunged everyone into deep thought.
Many Konoha ninja carefully recalled past events and suddenly realized...
Unknowingly, Konoha had already lost so much powerful strength!
Ninja from other villages also had sudden realizations.
No wonder some previously flourishing ninja clans gradually disappeared—it was because they had been stabbed in the back by their own people.
Especially the Senju...
Once the strongest in the ninja world, the Senju weren't destroyed by enemies, but instead perished due to underhanded schemes from within—an utterly tragic fate.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju inside the protective barrier.
As former leaders of the Senju Clan and co-founders of Konoha, how would they confront these truths?
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