Village Building: 57 Ninja Clans, 34 Ninja Clans Remaining

The daimyo's decree plunged everyone into silence.

According to the agreement between the nation and the ninja village, they were bound to obey this order.

Yet, according to the unspoken rules among the many clans, everything still depended on the Hokage's will.

A strong Hokage could stand against the daimyo.

All eyes turned to the Third Hokage; after the recent series of events, they all knew that the Fourth Hokage was merely a puppet.

On second thought.

Wasn't the reason these clans chose Minato Namikaze to be Hokage precisely because of his personality?

A warm, sunny, and kind disposition—these were virtues for an ordinary person.

But for someone in power, these were fatal weaknesses.

Therefore, in the eyes of the crowd, the Third Hokage was still the one in charge.

"Shinichi Hyuga, village matters should be resolved within the village. Why trouble the daimyo? Don't you know this will reduce our fiscal allocations?

Hurry and explain to the daimyo that this was merely a momentary misunderstanding.

The Hokage will take your demands into consideration."

The Third Hokage spoke with a tone of feigned concern for the village, reprimanding him.

He turned his head, hoping to resolve the issue quickly by leveraging the collective interests of the crowd.

He pushed Minato Namikaze to the forefront once again—at this moment, he was no longer the Hokage!

This statement did, in fact, have a slight effect.

The gazes of the ninja clans toward Shinichi Hyuga grew complex. The long-standing ideology of centering everything around the Hokage had prevented them from ever considering the use of the daimyo's power.

Deep down, however, the Third Hokage was filled with unease.

With this decree in hand, he could no longer use the Hokage's authority to suppress Shinichi Hyuga.

At this moment, he realized he had grown old and no longer possessed the strength to control a genius like Shinichi Hyuga.

"Is that so? What is the meaning of the Two Jewels of the Land of Fire?"

A sneer played on the face of Shinichi Hyuga; this rumor had played no small part in persuading the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a jolt of alarm. Wasn't this the intelligence he had spread himself when building his own reputation?

Although he had stepped down, he understood clearly that he needed greater prestige.

To consolidate his future power.

He had arranged for people to build momentum for him. Certain rumors were spread under careful control.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the strongest of all past Hokage!

The Two Jewels of the Land of Fire!

The mentor of three who could change the world!

These rumors lacked credibility, but if a lie is told a thousand times, it becomes the truth!

Among them, the Two Jewels of the Land of Fire had become a thorn in the daimyo's side!

Two Jewels?

The jewel represented the supreme ruler; it represented the bringer of peace.

It elevated the position of the Third Hokage to the same height as the daimyo.

It even implied a desire to surpass him!

But if one were to scrutinize it, there had to be one true and one false, right?

Who was true? Who was false?

This became the reason for the daimyo to target the Third Hokage—his ambition was too great!

The Third Hokage had never expected that the rumor offensive he had always championed would become a weapon for Shinichi Hyuga to attack him.

"These are just nonsense words spoken by those who do not know the truth. The daimyo will not believe them."

The Third Hokage feigned composure, though his heart was already in a panic.

With this sentence, he distanced himself from the matter.

He was comforting himself, as well as the allies standing on his side.

"The daimyo's decree states that since you have abdicated, you should properly assist Minato Namikaze and stop manipulating everything from the shadows. Do you really think Konoha belongs to you?

Spit out what does not belong to you!"

Shinichi Hyuga scrutinized the Third Hokage before him and tossed the decree in his hand toward him.

His tone was utterly devoid of courtesy.

"At the time of Konoha's founding, there were a total of 57 ninja clans.

Now, only 34 remain. And where are the lands, assets, and secret techniques of those other clans?"

"Everyone, care to guess where they went?"

Shinichi Hyuga ignored the Third Hokage's man-eating glare, his voice calm as he slowly posed the question.

These few words exploded in everyone's minds.

They began to recall.

Konoha is a village without a history.

Even with the Ninja Academy, the curriculum there is riddled with imperfections and personal agendas.

The claim that the Third Hokage is the strongest Hokage is the biggest of those agendas.

Either the First Hokage or the Second Hokage possessed the strength to crush him with ease.

But the legends of these two Hokage have been slowly replaced following the extinction of the Senju Clan.

Their history is often found only in family records and oral traditions.

Fortunately, most of the jonin present are from ninja clans.

When teaching, the elders of their families would always mention the glory of Konoha at the time of its founding.

To occupy the most central position in the ninja world, a significant number of ninja clans had joined.

That number was accurate!

Now, Shinichi Hyuga's question sent a chill through their hearts.

Unknowingly, more than a third of the ninja clans have already perished!

Why?

Is it just because of the Third Shinobi World War?

What about their legacies?

Will our clan be next?

One sharp question after another echoed in their minds.

The respect they originally held for the Third Hokage dissolved in that moment.

Instead, a deep chill made them realize: is the Third Hokage, with his high level of political maneuvering, really as innocent as he appears?

Fugaku Uchiha had the strongest reaction.

Thinking about it was terrifying; of those twenty-three ninja clans that had vanished from history, half of them were allies of the Uchiha Clan!

He recalled the records in his family's archives.

"Hashirama Senju invited the Sarutobi Clan, who readily agreed, and even brought along the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan, with whom they were close..."

From the founding of Konoha, the Sarutobi Clan's strength may have lagged behind the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, but their influence over Konoha was no less than those two.

Even more terrifying is that the Senju Clan actively integrated into the civilian population, effectively ceasing to exist.

If so, the next most likely target is their Uchiha Clan!

The gaze he directed at the Third Hokage gradually turned dangerous.

He had witnessed the ruthlessness of the Third Hokage before.

The Uchiha Clan had once been suppressed, an incident that ended with the suicide of Kagami Uchiha.

Shinichi Hyuga swept his gaze over everyone's faces and nodded with satisfaction; this was the result he wanted.

"The merits from the Third Shinobi World War need to be recalculated.

This task will be led by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, with participation from every clan, and the results will be made public.

Does anyone object?"

Seeing that the timing was right, Shinichi Hyuga dropped the next bomb.

Everyone at the scene lowered their heads, remaining silent and tacitly accepting the action proposed by Shinichi Hyuga.