Chapter 188

【Hashirama Senju: Looks like, in the end, it's still a matter of strength. I'm far stronger than my past self at the same period, so his way of thinking has also come much earlier. At this time, we were still in constant battle with the Uchiha clan……】

【Jiraiya: If it weren't to prevent more people from dying, I feel this First Hokage, my lord, would have waited even longer. Perhaps the enemies we've encountered recently changed the First Hokage's mind.】

……

"How is it? Any news from the Senju clan?"

"Do they have any thoughts of meeting with us?"

Shimura Isshin watched the messenger return,

and hurriedly stepped forward to ask.

The man shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.

"Clan Head, my lord… don't even mention it."

"I didn't even get through the Senju clan's front gate. The moment they heard I was from the Shimura clan, they immediately sent me away……"

Hearing this, the expression on Shimura Isshin's face grew even uglier!!

Regarding this point,

he had not expected it at all.

Ever since the last incident,

their Shimura clan had been hoping to obtain Hashirama Senju's forgiveness!!

As for what happened at the Fire Temple,

Shimura Isshin had also heard a little about it,

which made him feel even more terrified inside!

And at this moment,

he also hoped to obtain Hashirama Senju's forgiveness!!

Otherwise, their Shimura clan would probably find it very hard to keep staying in the Land of Fire.

Even if they could go develop in other countries,

where could compare to the Land of Fire?

The Land of Fire was the country with the richest resources,

the best terrain, and the brightest future for development among all countries!!

Their Shimura clan had also sacrificed far too much here!!

Although Hashirama Senju had not made any statement toward the Shimura clan,

who knew,

whether Hashirama Senju might one day remember this matter,

and when that time came,

could their Shimura clan still remain safe and sound??

Shimura Isshin's mind was also spinning furiously,

thinking of a way,

and he also wanted to know,

exactly how to smoothly break the deadlock,

and make Hashirama Senju accept their Shimura clan's allegiance!

Perhaps, this matter could be pushed onto the Sarutobi clan's head.

At the very least, for the matter of offending Hashirama Senju at the Daimyo's residence,

someone needed to take the blame!

……

"How is it? Still no response from the Senju clan?"

"Hashirama Senju is unwilling to see you? Or is someone obstructing you?"

The Sarutobi clan's Grand Elder,

he too asked the same question.

Seeing that they didn't even have the qualification to meet Hashirama Senju,

the expressions on every Sarutobi clan member's face also darkened.

They had already paid an enormous price to capture Shukaku,

and as a result, in order to curry favor with the Daimyo,

their clan head had taken Shukaku to subdue Hashirama Senju.

Now Shukaku was gone,

the clan head was dead,

and they had also offended Hashirama Senju!!

If they couldn't remove this huge stone pressing on their hearts,

their Sarutobi clan would probably disappear from the Land of Fire before long……

"If it won't work, let's blame this matter on the Shimura clan's head……"

"Anyway, their clan's reputation isn't all that great either."

"If something like this happens, no one will speak up for them."

The Sarutobi clan's Grand Elder's eyes shifted,

his thoughts were exactly the same as Shimura Isshin's!!

【Orochimaru: Magnificent! Magnificent! Sarutobi-sensei, this truly lives up to being your clan — your style of doing things is exactly the same as yours!】

【Minato Namikaze: No wonder Shimura Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi are like this — turns out the two of their clans have been this way at the root!!】

【Fourth Raikage: How truly despicable! The moment things look bad, the very first thought is to betray and sell out your own allies!】

【Terumi Mei: Heh… looking at it this way, when our Kirigakure was carrying out the Bloody Mist policy, we were still far better than them. At the very least, we didn't have so many hypocritical plots and schemes.】

【Shimura Danzo: What do you people know! Even so, our Shimura clan did it all for Konoha! As long as we're alive, we can certainly bring value to the Land of Fire! But once we're dead, we won't be able to do anything at all!】

【Kakashi Hatake: If it were our First Hokage, he probably wouldn't blame these two clans. What a pity… Under a different 'First,' these two clans probably have no future…】

【Tobirama Senju: Mm, the Shimura clan and the Sarutobi clan have always been helping the daimyo go after our Senju clan, but for the founding of Konoha, big brother did indeed choose to forgive them… but this 'big brother' is harder to say…】

……

"How is it? The Senju clan still hasn't responded to you?"

"Our people have gone several times already — not to mention seeing Senju Hashirama."

"They couldn't even get through the gates of the Senju clan."

Shimura Isshin pulled back the table cushion, stepped down, and asked the Sarutobi clan's First Elder.

The First Elder shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Sigh… exactly the same situation as yours."

"If I'd known today would turn out like this, I wouldn't have agreed no matter what to let the clan head go with your Shimura clan…"

"This way, the clan head wouldn't have been sacrificed, Shukaku wouldn't have been lost, and we wouldn't have fallen out with the Senju clan the way we have now…"

Hearing this, Shimura Isshin sneered coldly in his heart.

This old fox really knows how to talk.

Back then, it was the one who actively proposed using Shukaku to help the daimyo deal with Senju Hashirama.

That suggestion was put forward by the Sarutobi clan.

But now,

it's all become our Shimura clan's problem!

Hearing this much,

Shimura Isshin became even more set on his own idea.

But not a trace of any other expression showed on his face either.

He let out a sigh along with it.

"First Elder, don't worry…"

"We haven't reached the point of no way out yet."

"If it really won't work, we can leave the Land of Fire."

"The world is vast — where is there no place for our Shimura clan and your Sarutobi clan to settle?!"

"Senju Hashirama may indeed be powerful, and in the Land of Fire no one is his match, but if we all leave the Land of Fire, what can he do to us?"