The Konoha that followed did not explicitly forbid it.
But the villagers no longer discussed the Fifth Hokage casually, at least not in public.
Even if some thick-skinned fool brought it up, their relatives and friends would cover their mouths.
Public opinion, rumors, and all that.
You needed the corresponding strength before you could speak of such things.
Danzo could claim that everything he did was for Konoha.
Because he was an elder, and Root had countless cold-blooded executioners at his disposal.
But if you were a civilian and such words came from your mouth, you would not be far from death.
Everyone knew that the Sarutobi Clan was not a Kekkei Genkai clan, and when Konoha was founded years ago, their numbers had not been particularly large.
The First Hokage, Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara had founded Konoha together. The Sarutobi Clan had only joined afterward.
Yet in just over sixty years, the number of Sarutobi Clan members had increased by far more than tenfold.
Although most of the 129 jonin were fraudulent placeholders drawing empty salaries.
Shamu knew that the number of Sarutobi Clan ninja far exceeded anyone's expectations.
There were more than a thousand chunin alone. These Sarutobi Clan members were scattered throughout the Land of Fire, carrying out missions and never appearing together in groups.
The Sarutobi Clan members exposed by this election were only the tip of the iceberg.
Shamu's public vote count onstage had merely let everyone know that the Third Hokage had been drawing empty salaries.
There was much more that had yet to be dug up.
The Third Hokage had originally been planning to step down. Exposing this now would only ruin his reputation in his later years.
As for anything else...
There was not much he could do.
But that was precisely