Chapter 14

Has Hashirama Senju lost his mind from being clan chief!!!

One of the clan elders' faces darkened further,

He slammed his large hand down on the table with a loud "Slap!"

"Fujin!!! Do you have any idea what you're doing!!!"

"Do you know how busy we elders are every single day!!!"

"I think you've become too comfortable in your position as clan chief—you've forgotten what you're supposed to do!!!"

Before he could finish,

Another elder rose to his feet in response.

"Fujin!!! If you think you're unfit for the position of clan chief, just tell us!!!"

"We can replace you at any moment!!!"

"The Uchiha clan is watching us like hawks outside!!!"

"You're not even trying to eliminate the Uchiha—and yet you still have the nerve to joke with us here…!"

Hashirama Senju looked at the furious elders,

At this moment, he didn't dare lift his head even slightly!!!

He himself felt a twinge of regret,

He didn't know why,

But he'd somehow been swayed by Hashirama's words,

And gathered all the clan elders together!!!!

Had he really grown old?

Seeing his father open his mouth to speak,

The boy Hashirama signaled with his eyes,

Stopping his father's action.

The boy Hashirama stood up,

His gaze swept across all the elders present.

……

At that moment,

The screen shook again.

A line of text appeared on the screen.

【This is the Q&A session—audiences in the livestream must answer.】

【Those who answer correctly will receive a random reward!!!】

【Those who answer incorrectly or give random replies will lose ten years of life!!!】

【How will Hashirama Senju respond to the elders' accusations?】

【A、Bow his head and admit fault, telling the elder council he made a mistake—he was merely momentarily foolish and acted irrationally!!!】

【B、Tell the elder council he's willing to obey their orders, but he wishes to eliminate the Uchiha through a more peaceful method, hoping they can discuss it calmly.】

【C、Tell the elder council: "I'm done hiding—I'm actually a spy for the Uchiha clan!!!"】

【D、Use Wood Release to forcefully suppress all the elders!!!】

Looking at the options on the screen,

Everyone fell silent.

They hadn't expected,

That answering incorrectly carried a penalty.

And the cost was ten years of life!!!

No one dared gamble their ten years of life!!!

Ninjas' lifespans are already shorter than ordinary people's,

If ten years are deducted now…

Most ninjas couldn't be sure,

Whether they'd drop dead right on the spot!!!

No matter how good the reward, you need to be alive to spend it!!!

14、Is this Hashirama Senju, or Madara?

Looking at the options on the screen,

At this moment, everyone hesitated.

Though they were tempted by the reward promised for a correct answer,

They feared more that they wouldn't live long enough to claim it.

Although the Hashirama Senju in the black screen

Showed some differences from the Hashirama Senju in the white screen,

These were only minor distinctions,

No one could be certain,

How great the difference between the two truly was.

【Tsunade: Hiruzen, won't you try choosing an answer? I can assure you—the Uchiha bloodlines the system just showed are real…】

【Hiruzen Sarutobi: Danzo!! Shut up!!! I don't need you telling me how to do my job—I'm the Hokage!!!】

【Orochimaru: Heh… Master Hiruzen, no matter what, anyone who can cast such a ninjutsu must be incredibly powerful—I suspect the rewards he offers are genuine… Don't you want to use this chance to regain your youth?】

【Jiraiya: Orochimaru!!! Stop talking, will you? Although those rewards are tempting, if I get this answer wrong, the punishment would be this severe... Do you really hate Teacher Sarutobi that much?!!】

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi,

watched the contents of the livestream with a dark expression.

He had to admit,

Danzo Shimura's words had stirred some wavering in his heart.

But upon seeing the punishment for a wrong answer listed in the livestream,

he still felt afraid.

He was long past being the ninjutsu scholar Third Hokage he once was.

As for his own body,

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew best himself.

If another ten years of his lifespan were deducted outright,

he could probably start preparing his own funeral arrangements and climb into a coffin.

【Tobirama Senju: Monkey!!... You are already the Hokage of Konoha now, so don't act rashly. There will be more quiz rounds later anyway.】

【Orochimaru: Hehehe... Second my lord, it seems you truly care about your student... Aren't you curious why, after your passing, the Senju clan vanished without a trace?】

【Hiruzen Sarutobi: Orochimaru!! Stop your nonsense!!! The Second my lord has his own judgment in his heart; he doesn't need anything from you.】

【Shimura Danzo: Hmph!! Hiruzen, I told you long ago — your womanish benevolence will only be your undoing!!! You will definitely regret this!! Not killing Orochimaru is, in the end, raising a tiger that will cause calamity!!!】

【Fourth Raikage: Hahahaha!! How truly entertaining!! We all have to thank your Konoha. If your Konoha hadn't engaged in all kinds of internal strife and driven all the excellent ninja out of the village, how could we have caught up so quickly?!】

People from all over the rest of the ninja world watched the livestream,

and in their hearts all felt it was utterly melodramatic.

In the entire ninja world,

the village with the most tragic drama was probably the present-day Konoha.

Yet they were always grateful for this.

Because Konoha was simply too strong!!!!

A starved camel is still bigger than a horse,

and even without the First Hokage and the Second Hokage,

Konoha simply had far too many powerful ninja and geniuses.

If they hadn't split themselves apart through their own internal people,

their own village would never have had the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with Konoha!!

……