Downfall

"I, in the name of the acting head of the Uchiha Clan, together with the heads of the Shimura Clan and the Hyuga Clan, impeach the Hokage's guard, Senju Tobirama!" Uchiha Sendai placed a stack of documents on the Hokage's desk. Without even looking, one could tell they were filled with Tobirama's disgraceful history.

Killing the Leader of Takumigakure, Seimei, and worsening relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Artisans...

Ambushing the First Takikage and worsening relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls...

Obstructing Sunagakure's reforestation efforts and worsening relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind...

Proposing that there be no more than three Senju Bridges, worsening relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water...

Stealing chickens from the Daimyo's residence...

Knocking over an old man on the road and failing to help him up...

Using the Transformation Jutsu to sneak into a women's bathhouse...

Eating tea eggs without paying...

"Utter nonsense! When have I ever been to the Land of Artisans?" Tobirama slammed his palm onto the desk and rose to his feet. He could admit to the other matters, but he had never even set foot in that damned Land of Artisans!

"Then please explain where you were three months ago, Lord Tobirama. As far as I know, you were not in Konoha at the time." Uchiha Sendai handed over another document, narrowing his eyes.

"I..." Tobirama opened his mouth, wanting to explain.

"Enough, Tobirama. Shut up!" Hashirama merely glanced at the document's contents, but fury surged within him and his chakra exploded outward. The terrifying pressure made Tobirama's body tremble.

Three months ago, the Uchiha Clan had discovered an underground chamber in the forest outside the village. There were countless corpses inside, and strangely, every one of them was missing its right arm. After an investigation by Uchiha elites, they discovered that besides spies from other countries, the corpses also included prisoners from Konoha's prisons.

As the Hokage's guard, Tobirama had a dedicated guard unit. Since Hashirama generally had no need for guards, they normally patrolled the village, captured spies, or guarded the prisons—perfectly matching the origins of those corpses.

And hadn't Tobirama's right arm been broken by that Takikage?

Human experimentation! Hashirama thought of that forbidden term. More than a decade ago, a clan had captured enemy shinobi on a massive scale for human experiments. One of their projects had been limb regeneration. In the end, because they had made too many enemies, they were exterminated by the combined forces of several clans. Yet the considerable results produced by those experiments had inflicted serious losses on the clans participating in the purge. Tobirama, as one of those participants, had witnessed it all.

Hashirama knew full well how creative his younger brother was with ninjutsu. But now that his right arm had been destroyed and he could no longer use ninjutsu, that was worse than death for him. It was entirely possible that, in order to regenerate his severed arm, he had turned to human experimentation!

Seeing Hashirama's expression gradually darken, Tobirama found himself unable to defend himself. That base really had been left behind by him, and he had left the village three months ago precisely because of it. He really had conducted human experiments, but before leaving, he had burned all the corpses to ashes. There should have been no trace left behind, much less so many untreated corpses!

The only possibility was that the Uchiha Clan had found the secret base and then sought out corpses elsewhere to fabricate evidence. Yet even if the corpses had been faked afterward, Tobirama could not clear himself, because no one could identify when the corpses had appeared!

"Lord Hokage, in the name of the three clans, I jointly impeach Senju Tobirama!" Uchiha Sendai spoke again. This document was part of an exchange.

Among the previous pile of documents, aside from Tobirama's killing of Seimei, which could be decisive, everything else was merely trivial and had little impact. But they all knew that the Fujiwara Clan's mass relocation was common knowledge among Konoha's upper ranks. They also knew that Tobirama had dispatched part of his guard unit to intercept them. In that case, it was even less likely that he would have personally gone to the Land of Artisans. Just as with his previous dealings with other countries, although Tobirama had all sorts of opinions about suppressing foreign nations, he knew where to draw the line and would never cause irreparable consequences.

The matter involving the Land of Artisans had too great an impact. Rumors were everywhere, but there was no decisive evidence; it was all hearsay. Therefore, to make Senju Tobirama personally admit to something serious enough to affect diplomatic relations between the two countries and force him from office, they had to threaten him with an even graver matter—such as human experimentation.

So after discovering that empty secret base, the Uchiha Clan had begun preparing to frame him. They were only trying their luck. If they could use this to force Tobirama from office and weaken the Senju Clan's influence, that would be ideal. Even if they failed, they could still ruin Tobirama's reputation.

By sheer coincidence, Tobirama really had conducted human experiments, and they had taken place in the very secret base that had been discovered!

With a guilty conscience, and because he really had conducted human experiments, Tobirama straightforwardly admitted that he had infiltrated the Land of Artisans and killed the Leader of Takumigakure. In exchange, Uchiha Sendai directly burned the document recording the human experiments.

"Strip Senju Tobirama of his position as the Hokage's guard. He is to remain confined at home for investigation." Hashirama showed no mercy just because Tobirama was his only younger brother. He cared less about Uchiha Sendai setting fire in the Hokage Office than about whether Tobirama had truly conducted human experiments, and how far those experiments had gone. Hashirama found such inhumane acts difficult to tolerate.

"Lord Hokage, if there is nothing else, we shall take our leave." Uchiha Sendai suppressed the joy in his heart. He had not expected Tobirama to so easily admit to killing Seimei and to be stripped of his position as the Hokage's guard. If Tobirama had refused to admit it to the death, things would have been difficult. The Uchiha Clan had not yet reached the point of completely falling out with the Senju Clan. If they brought up the human experimentation, the two clans might end up meeting in battle, which would not serve the clan's interests.

Hyuga Tenin and Shimura Seigen also breathed sighs of relief. Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly; otherwise, things would have become troublesome. Uchiha Sendai had informed them beforehand how those corpses had been obtained. They knew perfectly well that if anyone investigated seriously, flaws would definitely be found.

"Tobirama..." After the three left, the Hokage Office suffered disaster. No matter what material the building was made from, it could not withstand the God of Shinobi's outburst. His chakra eruption alone had already collapsed an entire wall!

"Bang!" Hearing the wall collapse, Uchiha Sendai could not help smiling at Shimura Seigen. "It seems Lord Hokage has lost his temper. That chakra really is terrifying. I wonder what level that Takikage was at, to still injure Tobirama while under his protection..."

Shimura Seigen smiled in response. "No idea what level he was at, but I heard he was quite skilled at building houses. Lord Hokage got quite a bit of inspiration from him. Now the village does not have to worry about housing at all. Wood Style truly is powerful..."

Inside the wrecked Hokage Office.

"Big brother, listen to my explanation..."

"Tobirama, did you conduct human experiments or not?!"

"Big brother, those corpses were used by the Uchiha Clan to frame me. I..." Tobirama looked as though he wanted to say something but stopped, unsure how to explain himself.

"Enough. Father was right—you're terrible at lying. Regardless of where those corpses came from, you really did conduct human experiments, didn't you?" Tobirama sighed, seemingly recalling the past.

"Remain confined at home for two years and step down from your duties as the Hokage's guard. You can relax a little too." Hashirama listlessly dismissed Tobirama. This was his only younger brother who had lived into the era of peace. Even though human experimentation had crossed his bottom line and enraged him, what could he do? Shinobi were cold-blooded toward their enemies, but they also knew the value of family!

"Although Tobirama conducted human experiments, his subjects were only spies from other countries and criminals who deserved their punishment..." Covering for Tobirama would become the only stain on Hashirama's life, but he knew he could at most hold on for another decade or two. Madara had kept a low profile in recent years, yet he had been making quite a few moves in secret. Konoha needed stability, and the Shinobi World needed peace. Once Tobirama was dealt with, no one would be able to keep the Uchiha Clan in check. The Shinobi World would likely fall into chaos again.