Playing with People's Hearts

At this moment, Minato Namikaze—always sunny and optimistic, warming everyone around him like a little sun even on the battlefield—was filled with panic, disbelief, anger, grief, and all kinds of other emotions...

Everyone else in the Chat Group frowned when they saw Minato like this!

After all, what the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had done was simply revolting!

Kushina Uzumaki: Minato... don't be like this...

Even Madara Uchiha spoke up.

Madara Uchiha: This truly disgusts me! Hashirama! Look! This is Konoha's Hokage now! This is Konoha now! It makes me sick!!!

Hashirama Senju: This... Madara! I never expected the Hokage of later generations to become like this! I...

Madara Uchiha: Enough, Hashirama, stop talking! This isn't your fault! If anyone is to blame, it's that damned Hiruzen Sarutobi! How did that bastard Tobirama teach such a disciple? If he were my disciple, I'd be the first to crush him to death!!!

Tobirama Senju: Stop talking! Just stop! I want to crush him to death too!!!

At this moment, Kushina Uzumaki not only felt heartache for her son, but for her husband as well!

Her husband had devoted everything to Konoha, yet this was how their child had been treated!

Minato Namikaze: Maybe... maybe all of this was my fault! I never should have sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto!

I never should have become Hokage! If I hadn't become Hokage, then our family of three should have been very happy right now!

Kushina Uzumaki: No, Minato, this isn't your fault!

Minato Namikaze: First Hokage, Second Hokage! Why is this happening? What did I do wrong? Why couldn't the village even treat my child kindly?

Hashirama Senju: No! Fourth Hokage! This isn't your fault! It's the fault of Konoha's current higher-ups!

Tobirama Senju: Yeah, what does this have to do with you? It's all because that son of a bitch Hiruzen Sarutobi has such a filthy heart!

At first, Tobirama Senju had kept calling him Little Monkey, but now he had become that son of a bitch Hiruzen Sarutobi...

Makoto Ito: This is the human heart...

Madara Uchiha: Exactly! This is the human heart! People's hearts are filthy! They are full of desire and darkness! That's why I say the Ninja World will never have true peace! Even if peace exists for a short while, it is only temporary. It is because a truly powerful person can suppress everyone of their era, suppressing them until they dare not make a move! That is the only reason for that brief peace! Once that powerful person disappears, the Ninja World immediately falls into chaos, just like during the First Ninja World War!

Makoto Ito: To be honest, I actually agree quite a bit with your views, Madara.

Madara Uchiha: See? See? I knew my ideas weren't wrong!!! Hashirama! Did you hear that?! My ideas are right!

Hashirama Senju: Shut up! Madara! Your ideas are the wrong ones!

Makoto Ito: Madara! You sound like you really want peace in the Ninja World! How about you give me those flashy eyes of yours, then pass all your abilities on to me? I'll take your place and suppress the entire Ninja World, bringing peace to it. How about it?

Madara Uchiha: Keep dreaming!

Makoto Ito: Tch, cheapskate!

At this moment, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was still doubting himself!

Makoto Ito: Senior Minato, you were an outstanding ninja and a man of noble character, but you were not an outstanding Hokage!

Minato Namikaze: Was I really not an outstanding Hokage?

Kushina Uzumaki: Minato, don't listen to his bullshit! You were an outstanding Hokage! You were the best Hokage!

Makoto Ito: What is a Hokage? A Hokage plays politics and manipulates people's hearts. What did the Fourth Hokage understand? Did he understand what a Hokage was? Did he understand how to play politics? Did he understand how to manipulate people's hearts? I can barely bring myself to say this, but after you became Hokage, did you have any real power? The power was still in the hands of the retired Third Hokage, wasn't it? You were nothing but a figurehead!

Do you understand what a transitional figure is? You were only transitional! Hiruzen Sarutobi had long since arranged the true position of Hokage! He was saving it for his son! He just never expected you to die so early, so he had no choice but to come out of retirement again and lay a solid foundation for his son!

In Konoha now, the Uchiha Clan was gone, and so was the Senju Clan. Yet the Sarutobi Clan had only grown larger! At the Uchiha Clan's peak, how many ninja could they produce? One thousand? Two thousand?

Let me tell you, the Sarutobi Clan now could casually produce several thousand ninja! Did you really think their Hokage position had been for nothing?

Konoha now does not bear the name Senju! It does not bear the name Uchiha! It does not bear the name Hyuga either—it bears the name Sarutobi!!!

Tobirama Senju: Good kid! You've truly made me see you in a new light today! I never expected someone so young to possess such insight! You're really something!

What you said really isn't wrong. Neither my brother nor the Fourth Hokage was suited for the position of Hokage, given their personalities! My brother was indecisive and overly kind, while the Fourth Hokage understood neither politics nor the human heart!

Sigh, if Madara Uchiha had become the First Hokage back then, the human world would probably have been unified long ago! With my brother's and Madara Uchiha's strength, unifying the entire Ninja World would have been effortless!

Madara Uchiha: Tch! I never thought there would come a day when you, Tobirama Senju, would speak well of me!

Tobirama Senju: I'm merely stating the facts! You Evil Uchiha!

Makoto Ito: Indeed, neither the First nor the Fourth was suited to be Hokage. Second Hokage, you were very perceptive when it came to politics, but when it came to manipulating people's hearts, you were nowhere near as good as the Third Hokage! So I have to admit, the Third was truly formidable!

Tobirama Senju: Although Hiruzen Sarutobi is trash in my eyes now, I have to admit that you're right. His control over people's hearts was truly terrifying!

Minato Namikaze: Is that so...

Hashirama Senju: I never expected to be taught a lesson today as well!

Madara Uchiha: You idiot! At your age, you still can't see as clearly as a child! How laughable!