Chapter 137: The Second Hokage's Interrogation

The Shimura Clan is truly finished.

Though they were very angry and their clamor grew louder after being mocked to their faces by Orochimaru, not a single person rushed out to respond with force.

The ninja of the Utatane Clan and the Mitokado Clan watched; while they did not voice their mockery, their expressions became quite arrogant, and they looked down upon the Shimura Clan more and more.

The Shimura family has few ninja and they are cowards; in the future, they will no longer be worthy of standing on equal footing with our three clans.

What, you say our two clans wouldn't dare to charge either?

Bah!

Can those be the same thing?

The Konoha Ninja were extremely vigilant, their hands gripping their weapons and Explosive Tags tightly, their chakra condensing, and a fighting spirit gradually accumulating in their eyes.

The Sarutobi Clan has enjoyed too many resources and lived too comfortably; the moment they think about having to live a hard life in the future, just like ordinary Konoha Ninja, they cannot help but go mad.

Although the Shimura Clan is cowardly, that is all because they were frightened by the devastating losses caused by Danzo; their hatred is real.

The Utatane and Mitokado clans, meanwhile, are clear that with their own clan interests at stake, they have no choice at all.

The return of Senju Tobirama is not a bad thing, but his return with Orochimaru means that the situation where the four great clans monopolize power in Konoha will be broken.

The excess profits they have built upon power will inevitably be severely threatened.

Therefore, regardless of whether they recognize Senju Tobirama, they can only choose to stand by the side of the Sarutobi Clan and jointly oppose Senju Tobirama.

Orochimaru sighed deeply; he used the technique of the Second Hokage to transmit his voice into everyone's ears, and also transmitted his disappointment into the hearts of the ninja:

His voice was hoarse yet clear: "It is truly ridiculous to the extreme. You people keep saying it is for the sake of Konoha, keep speaking of the Will of Fire, yet when the Second Hokage appears and makes an inquiry, you turn a blind eye."

"In order to protect the excess profits you have encroached upon, you desperately shield your accomplices in the shared spoils, treating the ninja who loyally guard Konoha as enemies."

"Danzo colluded with foreign enemies, killed Konoha Ninja, and suppressed Konoha's allies, yet you turned a blind eye."

"The Sarutobi Clan monopolized power, attempting to turn Konoha into the private property of the Sarutobi family, yet you kept your mouths shut."

"Cloud Ninja shit and pissed on your heads, yet you were able to lower your heads and endure it, and even demanded that Konoha Ninja use their lives to appease the unreasonable Cloud Ninja."

"Now that I have invited the Second Hokage to return, you have the audacity to attack in a group..."

Yamanaka Chujiu took a deep breath, imitating Orochimaru's technique, and mocked: "You were submissive when facing Cloud Ninja, yet Master Orochimaru and I defeated them."

"You were terrified of the Mist Ninja, yet Master Orochimaru and I wiped out Kirigakure."

"Now, with Master Orochimaru and me, plus the Impure World Reincarnation of the Second Hokage, you not only dare to draw your weapons, but you also dare to clamor about eliminating us."

"You truly cannot distinguish between strong and weak, cannot tell friend from foe, and only care about whether your interests are harmed."

"How should I evaluate you? Are you hopelessly stupid?"

Sarutobi Masao scolded sternly: "Shut up!"

He stared fixedly at Orochimaru, his eyes full of the resentment of having his true face exposed, as well as the murderous intent of embarrassment turning into anger.

"Yamanaka Chujiu, you little brat, what do you understand?"

"Orochimaru, you traitor, to actually let a child argue for you, do you have no shame left?"

"If not for the benevolence of the Third Hokage, you, who were an orphan back then, would have died without a burial place long ago. Now you actually manipulate a puppet to confuse the public..."

"Today, I will surely tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

He turned his head to look at the back of the encirclement and roared loudly: "Third Hokage!"

"You must not hesitate any longer!"

"This must be a fake Second Hokage, it must be Orochimaru's trick!"

"Orochimaru has already exposed his true face; he is a threat to the peace of Konoha, a thorough and complete mortal enemy!"

"This old man implores the Third Hokage to give the order to completely eradicate the enemy and protect the peace of Konoha!"

He did not say protect the interests of our four clans, but everyone knew this point.

Including Sarutobi Hiruzen!

The ninja slowly parted, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, wearing the Hokage robe, walked out from behind the crowd.

Orochimaru was surprised to find that his teacher seemed to have suddenly aged ten, or even twenty years.

His hair was already completely white, the wrinkles on his face had become the traces of time, and even his walk was tottering.

And his eyes were full of pain; his gaze fell upon Senju Tobirama, containing both the awe of a disciple and the guilt of a Hokage, as well as a trace of panic that was hard to conceal.

Senju Tobirama also looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said in a cold tone: "Hiruzen, I did not hesitate to die in battle back then to protect you and pass the position of Hokage to you, because I believed you could hold onto the Konoha that my brother and I built with our own hands, believed you could treat people fairly and protect every ninja in the village, and believed you could discard clan prejudices and make Konoha more prosperous."

"Yet you have disappointed me to the extreme."

"You indulged Danzo, suppressed dissenters, and let Root become a tool for you to eliminate political rivals."

"You tacitly approved of the four clans monopolizing power, letting Konoha turn into a Shura field for clans to fight for power and profit."

"You drove children who had not yet grown up onto the battlefield to die in vain, and you exchanged the fruits of battle won by the blood and sacrifice of Konoha Ninja for the insincere peace of Sunagakure, Cloud, and Mist."

"Is this how you repay my expectations of you?"

"Is this how you fulfill your promise to me?"

"Or does your understanding of the duties of a Hokage not require protecting Konoha Ninja, but only protecting your classmates and clansmen?"

"Oh, no, you don't even protect your classmates..."

Senju Tobirama reached out, and Orochimaru offered the test tube containing the Sharingan with both hands.

The Second Hokage saw the Sharingan, and his tone became even colder, as if mixed with shards of ice: "This is the Sharingan I personally gouged out of Danzo's eye socket; its owner was named Uchiha Kagami."

"Now, tell me, how did Uchiha Kagami die?"

"How did his eyes end up in Shimura Danzo's eye sockets?"

"You, Sarutobi Hiruzen, do you know, or do you not know?"

"Or perhaps... did you play a more disgraceful role in Kagami's death?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's soul was shaken by the questioning; his legs trembled, slowly bending, and he knelt to the ground with a "thump."

He braced his hands on the ground, and tears had already flowed out at some point, dripping onto the ground.

"Teacher, student... student was wrong!"

If it were anyone else, Sarutobi Hiruzen could have made excuses, claiming all his actions were for the sake of Konohagakure!

At most, he could claim he was momentarily unobservant and let Danzo exploit a loophole.

But in front of Senju Tobirama, he could not bring himself to say it.

Because the reason the Second Hokage died in battle back then was entirely to protect him, leading him to fight to the death against Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure when he could have clearly escaped safely.

One must know that Senju Tobirama, who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, was the first high-speed type ninja in the Ninja World; as long as he did not want to fight to the death, no one could possibly stop him.

As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen had even a shred of conscience left, he could not face Senju Tobirama.