"Quiet!"
After giving everyone a moment to digest the shocking revelation, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his voice again to regain control of the meeting before things spiraled out of control.
His authority still carried weight.
Once he spoke, the conference room quickly fell silent again.
All eyes turned toward him, waiting for an explanation.
Hiruzen spoke in a heavy tone.
"It is true that the village was at fault in this matter. But the village also had its difficulties."
"Since the founding of Konohagakure, the only true period of peace was the dozen or so years when the First Hokage was in power."
"With his overwhelming strength, the First Hokage deterred all hostile forces. During his reign, no one dared covet the Hidden Leaf."
"But after the First Hokage died…"
"The First Great Ninja War erupted."
"The entire shinobi world plunged into chaos. And because the Land of Fire is rich in resources, Konoha became the primary target of other villages' attacks."
"At that time, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, deeply felt how powerless the village was in the face of constant war."
"And so he conceived the idea of recreating the First Hokage's unique secret technique—Wood Release."
Under the Second Hokage's decision, the village began human experimentation aimed at reproducing Wood Release.
Hiruzen paused, letting out a long breath before continuing.
"In the beginning, the Second Hokage used members of his own clan—the Senju clan—as experimental subjects."
"After all, the First Hokage himself came from the Senju bloodline. Because of their shared lineage, Senju clan members were the most likely candidates to recreate Wood Release."
"But the uniqueness of the First Hokage far exceeded everyone's expectations."
"His cells were extremely invasive and domineering."
"Even members of the Senju clan, who shared his bloodline, could not withstand his power."
"The Senju clan suffered enormous losses."
"With no other options left, the Second Hokage expanded the scope of the experiments in hopes of finding someone capable of adapting to the First Hokage's power."
"And that ultimately led to the incident where the Uchiha clan launched a coup."
Hiruzen sighed.
"In this matter, the Second Hokage was indeed at fault."
"But his original intention was unquestionably good."
"He had no selfish motives."
"He began with his own clan, and everything he did was for the future of the village."
—
"That was simply Tobirama Senju's cold-blooded nature."
A sharp voice interrupted him.
It was Uchiha Ren.
"He could choose to sacrifice himself."
"But he had no right to sacrifice others to achieve his goals."
"No matter whether that goal was good or evil."
Ren's tone turned icy.
"To spend other people's wealth generously, to warm yourself by stealing another man's coat—"
"That is the morality of thieves."
"And it is precisely the root cause of the village's eventual decline."
Hiruzen frowned slightly.
"Director Uchiha Ren, that's an exaggeration."
"The Second Hokage acted for the sake of the village."
In truth, Hiruzen was about to discuss his own role in restarting the human experiments later.
Mentioning Tobirama first was meant to prepare the ground, easing everyone's perception of the issue and minimizing the damage to his own reputation afterward.
But if Ren successfully branded Tobirama as a 'thief of virtue', it would become much harder for Hiruzen to justify his own actions later.
"An exaggeration?"
Ren let out a cold laugh.
"Then let me ask you something, Jōnin Sarutobi."
"What is the village?"
"And what is the individual?"
Hiruzen hesitated.
He didn't know how to answer.
The relationship between the village and the individual—between the collective and the family—had always been a philosophical debate with no clear answer.
Until he understood Ren's intention, he didn't dare respond rashly.
Otherwise, he might fall straight into Ren's trap.
Ren glanced at him with undisguised disdain before continuing.
"If you cannot answer that question…"
"Then perhaps you can answer another."
"Do you know why the Uchiha and Senju clans founded Konoha in the first place?"
Hiruzen remained silent.
In truth, as a member of the Sarutobi clan, he had little authority to speak on the original intentions of the Senju and Uchiha, the two founding clans.
Seeing everyone's curiosity, Ren spoke clearly.
"During the Warring States Period, the Uchiha and Senju clans were sworn enemies."
"The only reason they were able to establish a village together was because of two men."
"The leader of the Uchiha clan—Madara Uchiha , known as the Asura of the Shinobi World."
"And the leader of the Senju clan—Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi."
"Those two were childhood friends."
"They shared the same dream."
"But because of the era they lived in, they were forced to become enemies."
"It was only after they both grew up and gained authority within their clans that they finally turned their shared dream into reality."
"And that dream was simple—"
"To end the wars."
"And to protect children from being forced onto the battlefield."
Ren paused.
"Both Madara and Hashirama were the eldest sons in their families."
"They had younger brothers."
"But because the wars never ended…"
"Those younger brothers all died on the battlefield when they were only a few years old."
"And that tragedy gave birth to their dream."
"At that time, most wars were fought between clans."
"So their solution was to create villages, gathering different clans together in one place."
"If clans united instead of fighting each other…"
"Then the wars could finally stop."
Ren looked around the room.
"So the original purpose of creating the village was to protect children."
"In other words—"
"It was to protect individuals."
"I believe that the ancestors of many of the people sitting here today joined Konoha for the same reason."
Many people in the room nodded.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane did not deny it.
Back then, many clans had indeed joined Konoha seeking protection through unity.
After a brief pause, Ren suddenly changed the direction of the conversation.
"I believe everyone here knows that Madara Uchiha became the first missing-nin of Konoha."
"But do you know why he left the village?"
The room fell silent.
Most people instinctively thought of the explanation written in Konoha's history books—
That Madara had rebelled after losing the Hokage election.
But a few sharper minds shook their heads.
A legendary figure like Madara Uchiha surely wouldn't abandon everything over something so shallow.
Ren sneered.
"From beginning to end, Madara sought only peace."
"To him, power was nothing more than dirt beneath his feet."
"It was never enough to make him abandon his ideals."
"The reason he left Konoha was because he saw the hidden dangers within the village."
"But by that time, the First Hokage had already become deeply entangled within the system."
"Their ideals began to diverge greatly."
"And in the end—"
"Madara left Konoha in disappointment."
The entire room leaned forward slightly.
Everyone wanted to know the same thing.
What kind of disagreement could possibly arise between Madara and Hashirama?
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