Chapter 151: The Final Rebuttal

Orochimaru raised his hand and gently took the heavy Hokage Hat.

Only by touching it himself did he realize the fabric of this thing was very rough, and it felt itchy and uncomfortable when worn on the head; it was not comfortable at all.

What was even more annoying was that this hat carried decades of time and responsibility, as well as the same amount of hair oil...

Orochimaru put it on his head to try it out, and after confirming it was very uncomfortable, he silently took it off and handed it to Yamanaka Chujiu.

Yamanaka Chujiu walked over with a bewildered look and took the Hokage Hat with both hands: "What is the meaning of this?"

Orochimaru smiled: "As my student, isn't it only right for you to help me clean it up?" This book is first published on Daily Reading Novels -> ttks. tw, providing you with an error-free and non-shuffled reading experience.

Yamanaka Chujiu: "Oh, alright then."

Orochimaru laughed happily, laughing much more happily than when he had received the hat from his own teacher.

He turned his head to look at his teacher, Sarutobi: "Do you have anything else to entrust to me?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen said earnestly: "I do not ask you to continue my way of governing, I only ask that you remember your original intention."

"No matter how you reform the system or break old rules, no matter how you overturn the past or reshape the landscape, do not forget that you are here to protect Konoha, and do not destroy the roots of Konoha."

Orochimaru shook his head: "Teacher Sarutobi, your last sentence is incorrect."

"Of course I am here to protect Konohagakure, but what I am protecting is precisely not the so-called roots of Konoha, but the ninja and villagers of Konohagakure; it is protecting a system where children can grow up without being pushed onto the battlefield."

"Teacher Sarutobi, if your original intention was also to protect children, then we are on the same path."

"But in my view, what you have done is merely to protect the rules that are already stably operating, maintaining a superficial peace and stability."

Orochimaru's voice was steady and firm: "But I do not care about any rules, nor do I care about peace; I only care about whether the village can allow me to research Ninjutsu with peace of mind."

"To achieve this goal, I will solve all the problems of Konohagakure, destroy the current stability, and exchange it for more lasting prosperity."

"I will not destroy Konoha; I will reshape Konoha."

"The First Hokage ended the Warring States Era, and I will open up a brand new landscape for the ninja villages."

"I will destroy the decay that hinders Konoha's progress, eliminate the stale rules that bind the village, and let Konoha cast off internal friction and rigidity to become the freest, strongest, and most vibrant village in the Ninja World."

"In this way, as the Hokage of Konohagakure, I will obtain the greatest freedom in the Ninja World, and I will be able to do whatever I want!"

Yamanaka Chujiu gave a thumbs up: "Well said, the strongest is someone who can do whatever they want. No matter what you do, Teacher Orochimaru, there will always be someone who stands up to take the initiative to explain everything for you."

"What about human experiments and live testing... didn't the Second Hokage do those too?"

"Didn't Shimura Danzo do them?"

"Didn't Sarutobi Hiruzen sign off and approve them?"

"Heh heh..."

Facing the mockery of his grand-student, Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes in pain: "Sigh, this is all my fault..."

"But because I made a mistake, does that mean Orochimaru can do whatever he wants without restraint?"

Yamanaka Chujiu sighed: "Sarutobi Hiruzen, we have reached this point, so stop putting yourself on the moral high ground and pointing fingers at my teacher, Orochimaru."

"You are not worthy!"

"Not worthy! Do you understand?"

Yamanaka Chujiu took a deep breath and unfolded his Great Confucian debate mode: "Who told you that human experimentation is wrong?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was struck as if by lightning, and only after a long while did he ask in a heavy tone: "Yamanaka Chujiu, do you know what kind of nonsense you are spouting?"

"How many Konoha villagers and ninja have been buried by Orochimaru's human experiments, live testing, and Forbidden Jutsu research, and how many villager families have been destroyed? How can that not be wrong?"

Yamanaka Chujiu sneered: "You say that Teacher Orochimaru's human experiments are inhumane atrocities, but I would like to ask: have you seen them?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen said: "Shimura Danzo reported them..."

Yamanaka Chujiu: "How many lies has Shimura Danzo told? Is everything he says the truth?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned, and Yamanaka Chujiu continued to ask: "Even if Teacher Orochimaru really did it, so what?"

"The Forbidden Jutsu developed by the Second Hokage are written on such large scrolls; did he not do human experiments?"

"Does the 'Wood Release Reproduction' project that you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, approved yourself not count as human experimentation?"

"Since both generations of Hokage were doing it, why does it become an unforgivable crime when it comes to my teacher?"

"More importantly, Sarutobi Hiruzen, you haven't even verified it yet, but you have already convicted Teacher Orochimaru and started listing how many families he has broken..."

"Wait, not letting Teacher Orochimaru be Hokage and forcefully pushing Namikaze Minato to the position of Fourth is just using the teacher's 'crimes' as an excuse to strip him of his power and merit, right?"

"Heh, the human experiments you approved yourself don't count as crimes, but you guess that Teacher Orochimaru committed crimes and can silently punish him... I am truly speechless."

"Taking a step back, even if Teacher Orochimaru did conduct human experiments, are there more of them than the Konoha ninja who died on the battlefield?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was finally able to speak to refute: "War and killing are the fate of a ninja. Since they have stepped onto the battlefield, they must accept their own destiny."

"No matter how many die in battlefield slaughter, it cannot be compared to letting innocent villagers and children be experimented on. That is going against heaven and violating morality; it is absolutely not the righteous path!"

"Destiny?"

"Righteous path?"

Yamanaka Chujiu asked softly: "Sarutobi Hiruzen, by 'righteous path,' do you mean sticking to the status quo and not making explorations that exceed your own cognition?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head: "Of course not."

Yamanaka Chujiu pressed: "Then what is the righteous path?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his mouth but did not say a single word.

Because he discovered that the righteous path he insisted on, once truly organized into words, was just the word "conservative"—it was keeping the environment he was familiar with, the Ninjutsu he was familiar with, and everything he was familiar with; it was not changing anything at all.

However, under his efforts to maintain the status quo with all his might, Konohagakure had still changed.

It had only become weak, become afraid of war, and become only able to passively wait for the enemy's attack.

And he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had also become accustomed to the feeling of passivity, developing an instinctive disgust for the act of actively counterattacking into enemy territory, and subsequently venting his anger on Orochimaru.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a long time, his heart filled with a mixture of feelings; guilt, helplessness, and desolation were intertwined.

After a long while, he slowly closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

"I was wrong, Orochimaru. Konohagakure is handed over to you. Just reshape Konoha according to your own ideas."

"My heart is already too old; it cannot keep up with the changes of the times. Today, it is indeed time for the curtain to fall."

His fist slowly loosened, and his back became noticeably hunched.

"I have only one request: do not, do not exterminate the Sarutobi Clan..."