Chapter 8: Sarutobi Hiruzen Cannot Represent Everything

No one does anything unnecessary, and no one reserves redundancy for sudden disasters.

The Shanty Town could accommodate tens of thousands of villagers, which means so many people once lived here, and they are no longer here now.

Before yesterday, Yamanaka Chujiu did not even know of the Shanty Town's existence, which means not many people could have moved out of it.

There is only one truth: the people are all dead.

Shisui Uchiha asked in terror: "Senior Chujiu, those villagers from yesterday..."

Yamanaka Chujiu answered firmly: "Yesterday, someone used their power and extremely brutal methods to skip the struggle phase of insufficient income, kicking those villagers below the Execution Line, and even impatiently used you Uchiha to send them to their final execution ground."

"They obtained the property they had long coveted, made the Uchiha bear the infamy of bullying veteran villagers, and became the enemy in the eyes of the villagers."

Shisui Uchiha turned pale upon hearing this, gritting his teeth as he asked: "Senior Chujiu, do you know who is encroaching on the villagers' property and using it to frame us Uchiha?"

Yamanaka Chujiu said: "What will you do after you know?"

Shisui Uchiha was so angry his face turned red, and he snorted fiercely: "Of course, report it to Lord Third Hokage and let him severely punish these villains!"

Yamanaka Chujiu: "..."

An image of the Third Hokage wearing a Ming Dynasty seventh-rank official uniform appeared in his mind, and a classic line even echoed:

"Who is it below the hall accusing this official?"

Yamanaka Chujiu almost laughed out loud and hurriedly took a sip of tea to suppress it.

After coughing twice, he prompted: "Shisui, you also saw the land deeds yesterday; do you still remember the surname of the homeowner on them?"

Shisui Uchiha's flushed face turned white again in an instant, and a surname leaked through his teeth: "Sarutobi..."

Upon hearing this surname, Itachi Uchiha also suffered a violent shock; he trembled all over and asked: "How could it be like this?"

"Lord Third Hokage is the best Hokage, he is the embodiment of the 'Will of Fire', how could he rob villagers of their land and houses?"

"Hahaha."

Yamanaka Chujiu laughed loudly: "Itachi Uchiha, you are truly adorable."

"But I have to say, your Uchiha education really has a big problem. Did your elders never tell you that Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Sarutobi Clan are not one and the same?"

"Just like... the Third Hokage was never Shimura Danzo, and the Root can never represent the Hokage."

Yamanaka Chujiu had another layer of meaning he didn't say: conversely, Sarutobi Hiruzen also cannot represent everything in Konohagakure.

But seeing two pairs of blank eyes, Yamanaka Chujiu knew they could not understand the deeper meaning.

So he performed the greatest degree of surprise: "Really, no one has ever said that?"

Shisui Uchiha replied: "No, no one in the clan has ever said that..."

Yamanaka Chujiu scratched his head: "Tsk, then it's not your education that's the problem, but the Uchiha Clan itself that has a problem."

"A great clan with a thousand-year heritage, are they really this naive?"

Shisui and Itachi's faces were completely red; they stammered, not knowing what to say, and could only look at Chujiu awkwardly, hoping he would not continue.

Chujiu understood what the two meant and curled his lips: "Fine, I will continue talking about the Execution Line."

The Execution Line for civilian ninja is the monopoly on Ninjutsu by the Hokage and the ninja clans, and it has not appeared for long.

Before Tobirama Senju was the Second Hokage, he founded the prototype of the Ninja Academy, concentrating the essence of the Senju Clan's Ninjutsu and making it public for everyone to learn.

Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique, Might Duy's Eight Inner Gates, and Kosuke Maruboshi's Three-Seal Water Release were all obtained directly through this public channel.

During the Second Hokage's reign, the Ninja Academy not only taught all Ninjutsu below A-rank, but excellent students could even come into contact with Forbidden Jutsu.

Thus, led by Orochimaru and Jiraiya, civilian ninja began to rise strongly.

Small ninja clans also saw the emergence of a group of geniuses, the leader of whom was the White Fang of the Leaf, Hatake Sakumo.

The situation of Konohagakure producing geniuses one after another was thus formed, but after the Third Hokage took office, the Ninja Academy only taught Taijutsu, shuriken throwing, and six E-rank Ninjutsu.

Ninjutsu above C-rank completely disappeared; to obtain them, one had to take a master or spend a large amount of money to purchase them from the Mission Department.

This led to the new generation of Ninja Academy graduates being weak in strength; not only did the gap with their predecessors widen, but without a clan or a master, they were completely unable to compare to the Genin of Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure.

If their strength was insufficient, they could only execute C-rank missions, and the meager bonus was only enough to maintain a living.

Without money, they could not buy high-level Ninjutsu; without Ninjutsu, they could not improve their strength; without sufficient strength, they could not be promoted to Chunin, and they could only remain impoverished.

As long as they encountered one serious injury or one major illness, a Konoha Genin would immediately go bankrupt and enter the spiral of execution.

Without money to receive Ninjutsu treatment, they could not execute missions while sick or injured, and thus they were even more short of money.

Serious injuries dragged on into disabilities, and major illnesses became critical; even if they did not die directly, they would likely be disabled and retire.

Afterwards, like the villagers, they could not afford rent and became homeless, forced into the Shanty Town by the curfew decree.

The bodies of retired ninja, adapted to the circulation of chakra, were the favorite living experimental materials for the Root laboratories, and their deaths were often faster than those of the villagers.

By the time he finished speaking, the two Uchiha youths had their sanity drained, appearing dull-eyed and soul-lost.

As if they had been ravaged by a hundred big men.

Yamanaka Chujiu, on the other hand, felt much lighter in his heart after pouring it all out.

He said to Shisui Uchiha: "How about we stop here for today? Continuing any further would be too much of a mental toll."

Shisui Uchiha gritted his teeth and said tremblingly: "Senior Chujiu, I can still hold on, please continue."

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head: "Shisui Uchiha, I'm not worried about you; look at Itachi Uchiha's state—don't you know he suffers from mental illness?"

Shisui Uchiha turned his head abruptly: "How is that possible? How could Itachi have a mental illness?"

"He has always been normal..."

His words stopped abruptly, because Itachi Uchiha looked terrible.

Itachi's eyes were bloodshot and red, his face as pale as white ash, his breathing becoming faint, truly like a dead person with only one breath left.

Yamanaka Chujiu said: "Shisui, I am a ninja of the Yamanaka Clan; my judgment will not be wrong."

"Itachi Uchiha has had this mental illness for at least a year. The reason he appears normal is because he is a genius who can suppress his mental abnormalities with willpower."

"Or rather, he is usually performing—performing as a normal, genius youth."

"He is very strong, but he is also very tired."

"The Execution Line discussed today is too dark; the mental stimulation it provides is no less than that of a battlefield. If he continues to listen, it may lead to the collapse of his will and trigger a full-blown explosion of his suppressed mental illness."

"Then he would be completely ruined."

"I do not wish to ruin the village's genius, nor do I wish to make an enemy of the Uchiha Clan."

"Take Itachi Uchiha home."