Ling Tian: Do You Want to Be Buried in the Ancestral Grave?

"Third, do you think resigning to take responsibility will erase what you've done?"

Ling Tian continued, "I already said it earlier. Because of all this, my older brother nearly killed himself. If I hadn't slapped some sense into him, he would be dead now."

"Konoha's White Fang did so much for the village, only for you to slander him like this. Let me ask everyone here: who thinks they've contributed more than he has?"

Ling Tian swept his gaze around and said loudly, "No one? Since you all agree that none of you can compare to him, how can the Hokage's resignation be enough to settle things after the village treated one of its heroes this way? If it were you instead, would it not matter even if you died?"

Ling Tian looked at the Hokage and the others. "Third, my brother always believed in you. Do you know how disappointed he was when he returned the Hokage Sleeve to you outside the Hokage Building? He took the blame for the mission's failure to save your son, and this is how you treated him."

"When you allowed others to smear my brother, he didn't think about confronting you, defecting, or taking revenge. He thought about suicide. To avoid dragging Kakashi and me down with him, he chose to kill himself."

"Before we came out today, we never intended to say any of this in public. We only wanted to see Orochimaru off and hoped he would return safely, because apart from him, the village no longer has a single powerful person with both the ability and the sense of responsibility it needs."

"But we never expected..."

As Ling Tian spoke, he gave a self-mocking laugh. "We really never expected that the first thing we would hear outside would be condemnation-everyone condemning my brother. And you, the higher-ups sitting high above everyone else, simply ignored it."

"His first thought wasn't to confront you, but to hide back at home. The Shinobi World's Greatest Swordsman had the courage to kill himself, yet he didn't have the courage to question you, because he didn't want the village to get any worse because of him."

Ling Tian shouted, "It was me! I told him that if he left Kakashi and me unable to hold our heads up for the rest of our lives, then even if he died, I wouldn't let him into the family register-and that went for his son Kakashi, too!"

"My brother finally worked up the resolve to say all this in front of everyone, and you, the Hokage, thought a simple offer to resign would settle everything? You never even considered whether what your son did was wrong, nor did you hand over the people who used the villagers to smear my brother."

"Did you really never think of apologizing to him or clearing his name? Did none of that ever occur to you, the Hokage?"

His words ended.

Silence.

The Third remained silent.

The villagers looked guiltily at Ling Tian and the other two, but dared not look at the Hokage and the others above them.

The shinobi had not spoken a word from the very beginning.

With a complicated expression, Orochimaru looked at Ling Tian, who had spoken with such righteous conviction, and said slowly, "Lord Xianyu, Senior White Fang is disillusioned with the position of Hokage and has already lost interest in it. But becoming Hokage has never been my dream. I think you overestimate me. I don't have the sense of responsibility needed to take over this rotten village."

"Orochimaru, what are you saying?"

Seeing their teacher staring fixedly at his old classmate, Jiraiya couldn't help rebuking him in concern.

What was going on here...?

When had the village become like this?

Even Tsunade began to doubt herself. Had the decisions she had stood by all this time been right?

Had the Second Hokage's decision back then been wrong, too?

Was this teacher of theirs nothing more than a cancer on the village?

Because he lacked even the courage to admit he was wrong.

No one was a fool. Everyone could see that his supposed resignation to take responsibility was merely an attempt to gloss over the serious issues. Anyone who didn't know the full story might even think the Hatake Clan's brothers were the ones at fault.

After all, failing to discipline his son and letting him share someone else's credit were hardly serious matters.

As the Third had said, he was the Hokage, yes, but he was also a father.

It was only natural for a father to secure a few benefits for his son.

That was no great wrongdoing!

Orochimaru paid no attention to Jiraiya's rebuke. He ignored him entirely and instead looked toward the Uchiha.

He remembered Uchiha Island. In the past, although the man had been proud to his core, he had always been humble before Orochimaru.

So why did he dare speak like this in front of so many people today?

What exactly gave him such confidence?

Was it the Uchiha and the Hatake Brothers?

He didn't know.

Noticing that Orochimaru kept looking at him, Uchiha Red Four couldn't help praising him. "Orochimaru, do you think I'm better suited than you to be Hokage?"

Orochimaru: "..."

"You have a good eye, but I'm not interested in this village that's already gone rotten. Why not join us and build Red Four Village with me?"

"..."

You're so damned arrogant! I really want to kill you!

Unaware of Orochimaru's thoughts, Uchiha Red Four continued talking, perfectly pleased with himself. "I know you enjoy researching ninjutsu. Give it some thought. Build a village with me, and then you can conduct whatever research you like."

Although he had an independent consciousness, he also possessed the original's memories. He knew exactly what Orochimaru wanted and what he would do in the future.

Hearing this, Orochimaru also looked thoughtful.

What this fellow said did seem to make some sense.

Not that he intended to join a village whose name alone made it sound unreliable. What he was thinking was that establishing his own village, where he could do whatever he wanted, sounded rather appealing!

At that moment, Danzo finally lost patience. Opening his eye, he said, "Hiruzen, what are you still hesitating for?"

He had only tolerated the Hatake Brothers because he wanted them to keep putting pressure on the Third. But what was this talk of handing over the higher-ups who had smeared White Fang?

I gave you a chance, and you refused to take it. Then I'll simply eliminate you.

"Ah..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. Looking at his expressionless former subordinate, he still couldn't make up his mind. With guilt on his face, he tried to persuade him. "Sakumo, go home! Once this is over, I'll give you an answer."

"An answer? What kind of answer has to wait until later?"

White Fang sneered. He was utterly disillusioned with the man he had once idolized. That promised answer would probably be just as his younger brother had said before they came: sweep the major issues under the rug, then make the minor ones disappear.

A flicker of conflict passed through the Third's eyes. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "I will resign to take responsibility and have Konohamaru apologize to you. As for your situation, I will personally explain it to the villagers. This was only a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" White Fang murmured.

Then he began laughing just as his younger brother had. "If you don't give me an answer today, I won't let this go."

"You..."

The Third was about to say something when Danzo interrupted him. "Hiruzen, if you can't make up your mind, then let me handle it!"

Hearing this, Ling Tian turned to his older brother. "This village is beyond saving. If you abandon the Hatake Clan's honor for its sake, don't even think about being buried in the ancestral grave when you die. If you don't want Kakashi to spend the rest of his life unable to hold his head high, then go do what you should be doing right now."