Step Down

"In the name of the acting head of the Uchiha Clan, and in alliance with the heads of the Shimura and Hyuga clans, I hereby impeach the Hokage's bodyguard, Tobirama!" Uchiha Sendai slammed a stack of documents onto the Hokage's desk. One didn't need to look to know they were filled with Tobirama's dark history.

Assassinating Seimei, leader of Takumigakure, causing a deterioration in relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Artisans...

Launching a sneak attack on the First Takikage, causing a deterioration in relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls...

Obstructing the reforestation of Sunagakure, causing a deterioration in relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind...

Proposing a limit of only three bridges for the Senju Bridge project, causing a deterioration in relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water...

Stealing a chicken from the Daimyo's estate...

Failing to help an elderly person after knocking them over on the street...

Using the Transformation Technique to sneak into the women's bathhouse...

Eating tea eggs without paying...

"Nonsense! When have I ever been to the Land of Artisans?" Tobirama stood up abruptly, slamming his hand on the desk. He could accept the other accusations, but he had never even set foot in that damn Land of Artisans!

"Then would Lord Tobirama please explain his whereabouts three months ago? To my knowledge, you were not in Konoha at that time." Uchiha Sendai handed over another document, squinting his eyes.

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

"Enough, Tobirama, shut up!" Glancing briefly at the contents of the document, Hashirama felt his anger surge. His chakra erupted, and the terrifying pressure caused Tobirama to shudder involuntarily.

Three months ago, the Uchiha Clan had discovered an underground secret chamber in the forest outside the village. The chamber contained a large number of corpses, and strangely, every single one was missing its right arm. Through the investigation of Uchiha elites, it was discovered that these bodies included not only foreign spies but also prisoners from the Konoha prison.

As the Hokage's bodyguard, Tobirama commanded a dedicated guard unit. Since Hashirama generally did not require protection, these guards usually patrolled the village to capture spies or guard the prison, which perfectly matched the source of those corpses.

Moreover, hadn't Tobirama's own right arm been severed by that Takikage?

Human experimentation! The word was a taboo that crossed Hashirama's mind. Over a decade ago, a certain clan had captured enemy ninjas on a massive scale for human experimentation, with one of their projects being limb regeneration. Because they made too many enemies, they were wiped out by the combined efforts of various clans. However, the significant results yielded by their experiments caused heavy losses to the clans involved in the siege. As one of the participants, Tobirama had witnessed it all.

Hashirama knew very well how creative his younger brother was with ninjutsu. But now, with his right arm destroyed and unable to perform techniques, life was worse than death for him. It was highly probable that he had turned to human experimentation in a desperate bid for limb regeneration!

Seeing Hashirama's increasingly gloomy expression, Tobirama was unable to defend himself. The base was indeed one he had left behind, and his departure from the village three months ago had been for that very purpose. He had indeed conducted human experiments, but he had burned all the corpses to ash before leaving. It should have been impossible to leave any traces, let alone so many unprocessed bodies!

The only possibility was that the Uchiha Clan had found the secret base and then planted fake corpses. But even if they were later-manufactured fakes, Tobirama could not clarify the situation, as no one could accurately identify the time of death for the bodies!

"Lord Hokage, in the name of the three clans, I formally impeach Senju Tobirama!" Uchiha Sendai spoke again. This document was a bargaining chip.

Among the previous pile of files, aside from the assassination of Seimei which could serve as a decisive blow, the rest were mere trifles with little real impact. In truth, they all knew that the Fujiwara Clan's mass relocation was common knowledge among Konoha's high-ranking officials, and everyone knew Tobirama had dispatched guards to intercept them. This made it even more unlikely that he would have personally gone to the Land of Artisans. Just like his interactions with other nations, while Tobirama often held opinions that sought to suppress others, he knew how to gauge the situation and would never cause irreparable damage.

However, the incident in the Land of Artisans had too much impact. Rumors were flying, but there was no conclusive evidence—it was all hearsay. Therefore, to force Senju Tobirama to admit to something that could influence diplomacy and force him to step down, they had to threaten him with something even more severe: human experimentation.

Thus, after discovering the empty secret base, the Uchiha Clan had set out to frame him. They were only testing the waters; if they could use this to force Tobirama to step down and weaken the influence of the Senju Clan, that would be ideal. Even if they failed, they could still ruin his reputation.

It was a case of hitting the mark by accident—Tobirama really had conducted human experiments, and right there in that very base!

With a guilty conscience and the fact that he had indeed conducted the experiments, Tobirama bluntly admitted to infiltrating the Land of Artisans and killing the leader of Takumigakure. As a trade-off, the document recording the human experiments was burned on the spot by Uchiha Sendai.

"Remove Senju Tobirama from his position as Hokage's bodyguard and confine him to his home for investigation." Hashirama did not show favoritism just because Tobirama was his only brother. He didn't care about Uchiha Sendai's arson in the Hokage's office; he cared more about whether Tobirama had truly conducted human experiments and how far he had gone. Such inhumane behavior was something Hashirama found difficult to tolerate.

"Lord Hokage, if there is nothing else, we shall take our leave." Uchiha Sendai suppressed his inner joy. He hadn't expected Tobirama to admit to killing Seimei so easily and be stripped of his bodyguard status. If Tobirama had stubbornly denied it, things would have become very difficult. The Uchiha Clan hadn't reached the point of a total falling out with the Senju Clan; if they had brought up the human experimentation, the two clans would likely have resorted to blades, which was not in the clan's interest.

Hyuga Tenin and Shimura Seigen breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, things had gone smoothly, otherwise, it would have become very troublesome. Uchiha Sendai had briefed them beforehand on how those corpses were obtained; they knew perfectly well that if someone looked too closely, they would surely find flaws.

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

"Boom!" Hearing the sound of the wall collapsing, Uchiha Sendai couldn't help but laugh at Shimura Seigen: "It seems Lord Hokage has lost his temper. This chakra is truly terrifying. I wonder what level that Takikage was at to be able to injure Tobirama under his protection..."

Shimura Seigen also responded with a smile: "I don't know about his level, but his house-building skills are said to be quite good. Lord Hokage has gained a lot of inspiration from him; the village doesn't worry about housing problems at all now. Wood Style is truly powerful..."

In the chaotic Hokage's office.

"Big Brother, let me explain..."

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

"Big Brother, those corpses were used by the Uchiha Clan to frame me, I..." Tobirama looked as if he wanted to say more but hesitated, not knowing how to explain.

"Enough. Father was right; you are not good at lying. Regardless of the source of those corpses, you did conduct human experiments, didn't you?" Hashirama sighed, seemingly recalling the past.

"Two years of house arrest, and relieved of your duties as Hokage's bodyguard—you can take it easy for a while." Hashirama dismissed Tobirama with a lack of interest. This was his only brother who had lived to see the era of peace. Even though the human experimentation touched his taboos and made him furious, what could he do? Ninjas were cold-blooded toward their enemies, but they knew the value of family even more!

"Although Tobirama conducted human experiments, the subjects were only foreign spies and criminals who deserved it..." Shielding Tobirama would become the only stain on his life, but Hashirama knew he could only hold on for another ten or twenty years at most. Madara had been keeping a low profile these years, but he had been making many small moves in the shadows. Konoha needed stability, and the ninja world needed peace. Once Tobirama was dealt with, there would be no one left to check the Uchiha Clan, and the ninja world would likely fall into chaos once again.