"Hmph!"
Tsunade's tone was icy, a cold sneer curling at the corner of her mouth.
She said to Asuma:
"Let me put it this way. Do you think if the old man hadn't died today, but simply said he wanted to find a Fifth Hokage and asked me to come back, would I have returned?"
"This..." Hearing Tsunade's words, Asuma was somewhat dumbfounded.
He wanted to say, would something like that even be a question?
If he were asked to become Hokage today, of course he would accept. What was there to hesitate about?
However, looking at Tsunade's cold, beautiful face, Asuma understood… Tsunade clearly didn't mean it that way!
"Wait, no way!" Looking at Tsunade, Asuma seemed to realize something: "Could it be, Tsunade-sama, you..."
"That's right!" Tsunade gave a disdainful smile: "If the old man hadn't died, wiping the slate clean of the past, and he just told me to come back to the village to be the Fifth Hokage, I absolutely would not have returned!"
"As for the Fifth Hokage's position... either he could keep drawing lots to train another one, or he could go find that idiot Jiraiya and make him do it!"
"As for being Hokage..."
Tsunade shook her head and gave a cold laugh: "Heh!"
Everything was said without saying it.
Seeing this, Asuma was utterly stunned.
He never could have imagined that Tsunade harbored such strong resentment towards his father.
'But why?'
'Although I also had many criticisms of Father, but overall, he was still quite good, wasn't he?'
Asuma was thoroughly baffled.
Seeing the completely oblivious Asuma, Tsunade sighed, knowing now wasn't the time to vent her temper. She could only speak like this:
"Asuma, you left before you were even an adult. There's a lot you don't know. I don't blame you."
"But just because you don't know about many things doesn't mean they didn't happen!"
"And because of your bloodline, everything you have was given by the old man. There are some things you'll have to face even if you don't know about them!"
"You didn't have to face them before because no one came knocking. But now you should face them, because someone has come knocking!"
Tsunade paused, looked at the people around her, and continued: "Alright then, Asuma. Kushina and the others are walking to the Memorial Stone. We still have time. Let me explain this clearly to you!"
"Yes, to the outside world, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is the Hokage who revitalized Konoha. But to keep this Hokage burning brightly, and because he was the Second Hokage's student, our Senju Clan saw him as one of our own. But in the end, we were wiped out!"
"And the few remaining seeds were also lost due to some forbidden experiments!"
"And Nawaki... how exactly did Nawaki die? Why did he step on a trap and die even when he was with Orochimaru? I don't want to talk about it. I don't have much evidence for this matter either. I don't think he'd go that far, but he still bears responsibility for this!"
"Because sending Nawaki to the battlefield was approved by the old man himself, while I never agreed to it!"
"Also, regarding the Senju Clan... while there were issues, it was also somewhat voluntary on our part. Yes, you could say I resent him a bit for it, but he can't shoulder all the blame."
"But other things are huge problems!"
"First major problem, White Fang!" Tsunade looked at Kakashi: "A mission at White Fang's level, even if it failed, how could it possibly become common knowledge?"
"But it became so widely known to that extent. How much damage did White Fang cause to Konoha? Why do I know nothing about it?"
"Was it really White Fang causing major losses to Konoha, or was he too accomplished, his fame too great, while the old man was in his prime and chose to suppress him?"
"The only issue was, the old man didn't expect White Fang to be so unyielding, choosing to commit suicide right away!"
Recalling the past, the more Tsunade spoke, the more absurd it seemed.
Reaching this point, Tsunade's desire to talk was fully ignited. She looked at the now pale-faced Kakashi and Asuma before her and said again: "Second problem, this one is truly a problem!"
"Let me ask you something. You were there too, you should know. So, during the Third Great Ninja War, is there any record of Sarutobi Hiruzen, hailed as the 'Strongest Hokage', actually going out to fight?"
Hearing Tsunade's words, Kakashi and the others thought for a moment, then their expressions changed!
"None, right?!" Tsunade looked at the people before her with a sarcastic smile: "The so-called 'Strongest Hokage' never once left the village to participate in any battle, even during the most difficult times on the frontlines!"
"The Land of Earth? It was Jiraiya shedding blood for him there!"
"Kumogakure? It was thanks to Namikaze Minato going all out there!"
"Sunagakure? Because Orochimaru was the most outstanding among us, he received the least support!"
"In the end, it was Orochimaru, with his cruel, almost inhuman tactics, completely reducing Konoha ninja to mere numbers, that managed to hold the line!"
"It's hard to say the old man bears no blame for Orochimaru turning out that way!"
"Orochimaru has a title, [Calamitous Wind]… I wonder if you know about it?"
"I think you do. But that [Calamitous Wind] actually has another implication!"