"Mori! Do you even understand what you're saying? Are you questioning Konoha itself—questioning Lord Hashirama's Ninja Way?!"
"This is outright treason!"
"Stand down, immediately! How dare you make such pronouncements in a Clan Meeting! Do you want to invalidate all the sacrifices and efforts the clan has made over these past decades?!"
"This was Clan Head Tobirama's decision! Do you think a few careless words of yours can overturn it?"
A fierce argument erupted within the Senju compound.
Several aged elders shouted angrily, their faces red with emotion. One even struggled to his feet with the aid of his cane, his wrinkled face trembling with outrage and disbelief.
After all, both Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, even after becoming clan heads, had always shown a certain degree of respect to these senior elders.
But the young man now standing before them—the one they were berating—remained unmoved. He faced them squarely, eyes sharp, his words cutting like blades.
"Completely integrate into Konoha?
"Heh… What a nice way to put it. But tell me—how is that any different from dissolving the Senju clan entirely?"
"A thousand years of clan glory, gone in a single generation. And if, decades from now, the Senju are wiped from history because of this, then you old men will be the sinners responsible. When you die, how will you face Elder Butsuma in the afterlife?!"
Seeing the elders invoke the names of the Senju brothers to suppress him, Senju Mori was unafraid—instead, he threw back the name of their old clan head, Senju Butsuma, without hesitation.
"You—you—!"
"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"
Seeing that Senju Mori had no intention of backing down, the elders' faces turned crimson with anger.
Just then, several younger voices rose in support beside Mori.
"Hmph! A bunch of shortsighted old fools—swayed by a few fancy words and you lose all sense of direction."
"Brother Mori, let's go. No need to waste words with them."
"They can't even swing a kunai anymore, yet still think they can meddle in clan affairs!"
Unlike the frail elders, Mori was surrounded by a group of young Senju shinobi who now spoke up one after another, their words laced with open contempt.
The elders' anger quickly shifted toward these impudent youths. The oldest among them swept his gaze across the group and snapped harshly:
"Look at what you've turned these children into! Tell me—where is that boy, Tao?"
"Just promoted to jōnin, and already too arrogant to follow clan rules? He couldn't even bother to attend the clan meeting?"
Mori narrowed his eyes and replied with cold sarcasm:
"What would he come here for? To listen to you discuss how to carve up the clan and destroy the thousand-year honor of the Senju of the Forest?"
"Nonsense!"
"Such arrogance from a mere junior!"
The elders' anger boiled over as they shouted him down.
In the end, the Senju clan meeting broke up in hostility.
"We can't discipline you anymore!"
"We're too old—too old for this!"
"No respect for seniority at all! We've dedicated decades to this clan, and now the young trample us underfoot!"
"Just wait until the clan head returns—let's see how you explain yourself then!"
Grumbling bitterly, the elders turned to leave, their canes striking the wooden floor with sharp thuds.
All of the Senju elders now were relics from the Warring States Era.
For certain reasons, during Senju Hashirama's time as clan head, he never appointed a single new elder—and Tobirama, his younger brother, had continued that tradition.
How should one put it…?
In Senju Mori's eyes, the whole situation gave him a strange sense of "one elder dying at a time—until none are left."
After that clan meeting, not only did the elders storm off in fury, but the younger Senju left with anger written all over their faces as well.
The cause of such intense conflict within the once–harmonious Senju Clan lay in a single proposal from the current clan head— and the Second Hokage — Senju Tobirama.
"Let the Senju Clan fully integrate into Konohagakure."
This idea was not Tobirama's original creation. His elder brother, the "God of Shinobi," Senju Hashirama, had proposed something similar when the village was first founded.
However, the atmosphere back then was quite different. Even with Hashirama's immense prestige, nearly every member of the Senju Clan vehemently opposed the idea.
Hashirama was not like Uchiha Madara. Though he had great hopes for the newborn village, he could never bring himself to force his ideals upon his people.
And so, that proposal was quietly set aside — at least on the surface.
But unlike his idealistic brother, Senju Tobirama was a complete pragmatist.
Even during Hashirama's tenure as Hokage, Tobirama had handled a large portion of the village's administrative affairs.
Institutions like the Konoha Ninja Academy and the Anbu were both established during the First Hokage's time, while only the Konoha Police Force was founded later — under the Second.
Like his brother, Tobirama placed great hopes in Konoha's future.
Influenced by both Hashirama and Madara, he believed that the existence of large ninja clans was precisely what created barriers and divisions among the shinobi of the village.
Thus, during the First Great Ninja War, which broke out after Hashirama's death, Tobirama led the Senju on the front lines — spilling their blood for Konoha's sake — while simultaneously working in secret to reduce his clan's influence.
He deliberately redistributed many of the village's key positions, sharing them with other clans and even commoner shinobi.
So although it might seem impressive that the Senju had produced two consecutive Hokage, in truth, the clan's already limited privileges as the "Hokage's family" had completely vanished after Hashirama's death.
Tobirama might still bear the Senju name, but in essence, he was the Hokage of Konoha, not the Hokage of the Senju.
So far, among all of his many students — even though he deeply disliked the Uchiha — there was not a single disciple who bore the name "Senju."
That alone was the clearest proof of his intent.
Senju Mori understood this perfectly. To him, Tobirama's actions could only mean one thing:
He did not want a third Hokage to come from the Senju Clan.
Now, as the First Great Ninja War gradually drew to a close under Tobirama's leadership, the Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) of the Land of Lightning had even extended an offer of alliance to Konoha.
Having planned for this moment for a long time, Tobirama's intentions were finally revealed — his hidden dagger unsheathed.
He not only revived Hashirama's old idea but combined it with his own reasoning, adding specific, practical measures to make it reality.
For example, in Tobirama's design, members of the Senju Clan would no longer live together within their traditional compound but would disperse and reside freely throughout Konoha.
In addition, he would not forbid — in fact, he would encourage — Senju to marry civilians, members of smaller ninja clans, or even the nobles of the Land of Fire.
He gave this plan a noble-sounding name:
"Integration with Konoha."