Ryōsuke was very satisfied with their response. The reason he wanted Nara Shikaku to serve as a consultant was, of course, because he was a highly talented individual, especially in terms of intelligence; he would certainly be able to manage the village well.
Now that the necessary business was concluded, he was extremely pleased with the results achieved today. Not only had he successfully caused the Third Hokage to go to his grave, but he had also ensured there was no significant negative impact on the Uchiha clan. After all, the man had committed suicide out of guilt. Who could point a finger at the Uchiha?
It was time to make an exit. He ordered the Uchiha clan members to return to the clan grounds and the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.
Uchiha Yatsushiro and Uchiha Fugaku naturally had no objections. They were equally satisfied with today's outcome, though a trace of resentment lingered in Yatsushiro's heart regarding the treatment of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans. Both families had brought profound disaster upon the Uchiha. However, he wouldn't undermine Ryōsuke now; he would wait until they were back at the clan grounds to speak.
The others remaining on the scene looked at one another and prepared to leave as well. Today had truly shocked them to the core. The sky over Konoha was about to change; a new era was beginning.
In truth, the four Hokages of Konoha could all be considered part of the Senju clan's lineage. The First Hokage was Senju Hashirama, and the Second Hokage was Senju Tobirama. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was the Second's disciple, and the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was the Third's grand-disciple.
But the future belonged to the Uchiha. This was not a difficult pill for the other clans to swallow. The Uchiha clan was rising once more and truly possessed the strength to lead the Leaf Village.
Before long, the news of the Third Hokage's suicide out of guilt spread throughout the village. As the relevant details were exposed, the citizens of Konoha were left in utter disbelief. Although rumors had circulated, they now knew for certain: the Third Hokage had truly killed Shisui and had even condoned the numerous human experiments conducted by Shimura Danzō.
Human experimentation was strictly forbidden; the villagers had no desire to become raw materials for lab work. The experiments Danzō performed were even more horrific than those once conducted by Orochimaru, involving a massive number of infants and even indirectly leading to the decline of the Senju clan.
The streets were alive with heated discussion.
"Did you hear the news from today's clan head meeting? How could the Third Hokage fail to notice Danzō using over fifty children for human experiments?"
"Human experiments? That's too cruel, simply inhumane."
Human experiments subjected the victims to agonizing pain before they died. It was said they were attempting to fuse the cells of the First Hokage, Lord Senju Hashirama, and the subjects died from the resulting backlash.
"Sigh, who knows? The Third Hokage really was quite incompetent."
"Very incompetent indeed. The Ninja Academy textbooks even claimed he was the strongest Hokage. What an irony."
Midway through, someone else joined the conversation.
"Strongest Hokage my ass! There's even more explosive news coming out. The Third was probably the trashiest Hokage of them all."
As soon as he spoke, the others were stunned. Their curiosity was piqued, and they pressed him for details.
"Brother, tell us more. What other explosive news is there?"
The listeners couldn't even imagine what could be worse. The previous revelations were already shocking enough, even for the standards of the ninja world. Assassinating subordinates and human experimentation were considered truly evil acts.
The man spoke with a face full of indignation.
"You really don't know? The Third Hokage was nothing but a traitor. When Konoha was at war with the Cloud Village, the Third actually leaked military intelligence to them! He let the Cloud Village send out a large number of elites specifically to target the Uchiha and Hyūga clans."
"Fortunately, the Uchiha clan was strong enough to crush those Cloud elites. Otherwise, the entire village would have been finished!"
Naturally, he had also heard this news from others.