Hiruzen Sarutobi Couldn't Represent Everything

Nobody did anything unnecessary, and nobody set aside extra resources for an unexpected disaster.

The Shanty Town could accommodate tens of thousands of villagers, which meant that this many people had once lived here. Now, they were gone.

Until yesterday, Yamanaka Chujiu hadn't even known the Shanty Town existed. That meant few people had moved out of it.

There was only one truth: they were all dead.

Uchiha Shisui asked in alarm, "Senior Chujiu, those villagers from yesterday..."

Yamanaka Chujiu replied with certainty, "Yesterday, someone abused their power and used extremely brutal methods to skip past the struggle of insufficient income. They shoved those villagers below the Execution Line, then eagerly used you Uchiha to send them to their final killing ground."

"Someone got the property they'd coveted for a long time, while the Uchiha were saddled with the reputation of bullying the village's longtime residents and became the villagers' enemy."

Uchiha Shisui's face paled as he listened. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Senior Chujiu, do you know who's seizing the villagers' property and framing us Uchiha?"

Yamanaka Chujiu asked, "What would you do if you knew?"

Uchiha Shisui's face flushed with anger. He gave a sharp snort. "Of course I'd report it to the Third Hokage and have him punish those villains!"

Yamanaka Chujiu: "..."

An image came to mind of the Third Hokage wearing the robes of a seventh-rank official from the Ming dynasty. He could almost hear the famous line:

"Who among you would accuse me?"

Yamanaka Chujiu nearly burst out laughing. He hurriedly took a sip of tea to steady himself.

After coughing twice, he prompted, "Shisui, you saw the land deeds yesterday. Do you remember the surname of the homeowner listed on them?"

Uchiha Shisui's flushed face went white again. A surname slipped through his clenched teeth. "Sarutobi..."

At the sound of that name, Uchiha Itachi was hit hard, too. His whole body trembled as he asked, "How could this happen?"

"The Third Hokage is the best Hokage. He's the embodiment of the Will of Fire. How could he steal the villagers' land and homes?"

"Hahaha."

Yamanaka Chujiu laughed. "Uchiha Itachi, you're adorable."

"But I have to say, your Uchiha education has some serious flaws. Didn't your elders ever tell you that Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Sarutobi Clan aren't one and the same?"

"Just like... the Third Hokage has never been Shimura Danzō, and Root has never represented the Hokage."

There was one more thing Yamanaka Chujiu hadn't said: by the same token, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't represent everything in Konoha.

But when he saw the two blank stares, Yamanaka Chujiu knew they couldn't grasp the deeper meaning.

So he put on the greatest show of surprise he could manage. "Has no one really ever told you?"

Uchiha Shisui answered, "No. No one in the clan has ever said anything..."

Yamanaka Chujiu scratched his head. "Tsk. Then it's not that your education is flawed. It's the entire Uchiha Clan that has a problem."

"How can a clan with a thousand years of history be this naive?"

Shisui and Itachi's faces turned bright red. They stumbled over their words, unsure what to say, and could only stare awkwardly at Chujiu, hoping he'd stop.

Chujiu understood what they meant and pursed his lips. "Fine. I'll go back to the Execution Line."

The Execution Line for civilian ninja was the monopoly the Hokage and the ninja clans held over ninjutsu. It hadn't been around for very long.

Before Tobirama Senju became the Second Hokage, he had established the beginnings of the Ninja Academy, gathering the Senju Clan's finest ninjutsu and making it available for everyone to learn.

Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique, Might Duy's Eight Inner Gates, and Maruboshi Kosuke's Three-Seal Water Release had all come directly from this public channel.

During the Second Hokage's tenure, the Ninja Academy taught every ninjutsu below A-rank. Exceptional students could even study forbidden techniques.

As a result, civilian ninja began to rise in force, led by Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

A number of geniuses also emerged from the smaller ninja clans, with Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of the Leaf, at their forefront.

Konoha's age of rising talent had taken shape. But after the Third Hokage took office, the Ninja Academy taught only Taijutsu, throwing techniques, and the six E-rank jutsu.

Every jutsu above C-rank disappeared entirely. The only way to get one was to take a master or pay a hefty price to buy it from the Mission Department.

As a result, the next generation of Ninja Academy graduates was weak. The gap between them and their predecessors widened, and without a clan or a teacher, they couldn't compare to Genin from Sunagakure, Kumogakure, or Kirigakure.

With their strength, they could only take C-rank missions, whose meager rewards barely covered their living expenses.

Without money, they couldn't buy advanced ninjutsu. Without ninjutsu, they couldn't improve their strength. Without sufficient strength, they couldn't become Chunin. They could only remain poor for the rest of their lives.

One serious injury or major illness was enough to bankrupt a Konoha Genin and send them tumbling into the Execution Line's spiral.

Without money for treatment, they couldn't take missions while injured or sick, leaving them even poorer.

A serious injury became a disability; a major illness grew critical. Even if they didn't die outright, they would most likely be discharged with a disability.

After that, just like the villagers, they couldn't afford rent and became homeless, driven into the Shanty Town by the curfew laws.

Retired ninja's bodies were adapted to the flow of chakra, making them the Root laboratory's favorite material for live experiments. They often died even faster than the villagers.

By this point, the two Uchiha boys had completely lost their nerve. They stared blankly, dazed and unresponsive.

It was as if a hundred burly men had had their way with them.

After pouring everything out, Yamanaka Chujiu actually felt some of the pain in his heart ease.

He said to Uchiha Shisui, "How about we stop here for today? If we keep going, it'll be too much of a strain on your minds."

Uchiha Shisui gritted his teeth and replied with a tremble, "Senior Chujiu, I can keep going. Please continue."

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head. "Uchiha Shisui, I'm not worried about you. Look at Uchiha Itachi. Don't you know he has a mental illness?"

Shisui whipped around. "How is that possible? How could Itachi be mentally ill?"

"He's always been perfectly normal..."

His words cut off. Uchiha Itachi looked awful.

Itachi's eyes were bloodshot, his face as pale as ash. His breathing had grown so faint he seemed like a corpse with only one breath left in him.

Yamanaka Chujiu said, "Shisui, I'm a ninja of the Yamanaka Clan. My judgment is sound."

"Uchiha Itachi has been mentally ill for at least a year. The reason he seems normal is that he's a genius and can use his willpower to suppress his mental abnormalities."

"Or you could say he's been putting on an act, pretending to be a normal genius boy."

"He's strong, but he's exhausted, too."

"The Execution Line I've told you about today is too dark. It's no less of a shock to the mind than the battlefield. If he keeps listening, it could make his will collapse and unleash the mental illness he's been suppressing."

"Then he'll be ruined."

"I don't want to destroy one of the village's geniuses, and I don't want to make an enemy of the Uchiha Clan."

"Take Uchiha Itachi home."