"This wasn't a coup. It was a purge, a correction of past mistakes. Little Jiraiya, you're wrong!"
Shima shook her head, correcting Jiraiya.
"It wasn't a coup? How could that be?"
Jiraiya took a step back, tears streaming down his face. He looked grief-stricken and confused.
"Little Jiraiya, the whole of Konoha knows now that Hiruzen Sarutobi seized the Hokage's position by killing his own teacher. And Uchiha Kazuto, despite being a member of the Uchiha Clan, was Konoha's most loyal subject, a talent Hiruzen Sarutobi trusted immensely. When he learned the truth about Hiruzen Sarutobi, he even coughed up three mouthfuls of blood. In the end, consumed by grief and with love for Konoha in his heart, he cut off the head of Hiruzen Sarutobi, that traitor to Konoha..."
Shima slowly relayed the news she had heard from Konoha.
Beside her, Sage Fukasaku shook his head.
"Little Jiraiya, I never thought your teacher could be such a person. He's an absolute monster!"
The two sages didn't know Hiruzen Sarutobi very well. Since all of Konoha was saying that he was a traitor and a monstrous Hokage, it seemed that must be the truth.
Sigh!
After she finished speaking, Shima sighed regretfully and shook her head. She'd had a pretty good impression of Hiruzen Sarutobi, but who could have guessed he was such a wretch? He was the worst of the worst.
Thank goodness Little Jiraiya often came to Mount Myōboku to study. Otherwise, under Hiruzen Sarutobi's tutelage, he might have turned into a monster too.
Wait, that bad habit of Jiraiya's—sneaking peeks at people bathing—could he have learned it from his teacher?
Sigh. Hiruzen Sarutobi really was a terrible influence.
Actually, if you thought about it carefully, you could find evidence of Hiruzen Sarutobi's true nature in the three