The So-Called Will of Fire!

Konoha.

Senju Clan compound.

"Lord Chiba."

"Our three clans have always been the foundation of the village."

"What happened during the day had too great an impact on the entire village."

"We only wanted... an explanation."

Shikaku Nara stepped forward.

He spoke with extreme caution, afraid that a single wrong word might anger this fiend.

"An explanation?"

"You want to ask what I intend to do with Konoha, right?"

Hearing Shikaku Nara's words,

Chiba let out a derisive laugh and leaned forward slightly.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through Shikaku Nara's clothes.

He did not dare answer and could only force himself to nod.

The atmosphere in the hall instantly dropped to freezing point.

Shisui Uchiha and Aburame Shibi also pricked up their ears, even slowing their breathing.

Chiba did not answer immediately.

His fingers began tapping against the table again.

"Tap—tap—tap—"

Every sound seemed to strike against the hearts of the three men.

A full half minute passed.

Only then did Chiba stop and utter an utterly cold sentence.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen must step down."

"Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura must get the hell home and retire."

Boom!

Those words were like thunder erupting from flat ground, exploding directly in the minds of the three men.

Shikaku Nara clenched his fists hard, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He had guessed that Chiba would seize power.

But he had not expected Chiba to be so direct, so domineering!

He was flipping the table outright!

Aburame Shibi's eyes widened sharply beneath his sunglasses.

His body trembled slightly before he forcibly regained his calm.

Shisui Uchiha reacted the most intensely.

He shot to his feet, and his chair scraped against the floor with a piercing sound.

"That's impossible!"

"The Third Hokage is the core of the village!"

"If he steps down, all of Konoha will fall into turmoil!"

"The other ninja villages will absolutely take advantage of the opening!"

Shisui Uchiha's voice became shrill with agitation.

He stared fixedly at Chiba.

Although what had happened during the day had disappointed him in Konoha,

deep down, he still held onto the last shred of hope for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"The core?"

"Turmoil?"

"Shisui Uchiha."

"The strongest genius of the Uchiha Clan."

"Is your head full of mush?"

Chiba cast Shisui Uchiha a cold glance.

That look, as though he were looking at an idiot, made Shisui Uchiha feel as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

At those words,

Shisui Uchiha's cheek twitched.

He wanted to refute him, but he did not know what to say.

"Let me ask you."

"What is the Will of Fire?"

The next moment,

Chiba spoke again.

His voice was not loud, yet it carried a penetrating force that struck straight at the heart.

Shisui Uchiha froze.

He had not expected Chiba to suddenly ask such a question.

This was the creed he had recited since childhood.

"Where the leaves dance, the fire lives on."

"The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."

As he spoke those words,

a faint light reignited in Shisui Uchiha's eyes.

This was his faith, the truth for which he was willing to give his life.

Smack!

Chiba clapped his hands hard.

The crisp sound echoed especially harshly through the hall.

"What a nice speech."

"It almost moves me to tears."

"Since you revere the Will of Fire so much,"

"let me ask you another question."

"Did Sarutobi Hiruzen ever put that incoherent bullshit into practice?"

Chiba cursed.

He was truly sick of this brainwashing-style hypocritical propaganda.

"The Hokage has devoted himself heart and soul to the village!"

"He gave his entire life to Konoha. How can you insult him like this?"

Shisui Uchiha completely panicked.

He roared loudly, three tomoe faintly surfacing in his eyes.

"Devoted his entire life?"

"What a gigantic joke."

Seeing Shisui Uchiha's reaction,

Chiba gave a cold laugh, his voice frigid enough to freeze the air.

"The Third Shinobi World War."

"The front lines were under pressure, and troops were in short supply."

"What did our Hokage do?"

"He had Ninja Academy students graduate early and sent them to the battlefield batch after batch as cannon fodder!"

"And this is what you call firelight illuminating the village?"

"This is what you call allowing new leaves to sprout?"

"..."

Shisui Uchiha's chest rose and fell violently.

He desperately tried to refute him, only to find that he could not come up with suitable words at all.

"That was because the front lines needed reinforcements!"

"The Hokage had to remain in the village and oversee the big picture!"

"He could not recklessly put himself in danger!"

After a long while,

Shisui Uchiha finally found an excuse.

This was also the reason Sarutobi Hiruzen had always given publicly.

"Oversee the big picture?"

Chiba seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.

He threw back his head, his laughter filled with sorrow and ridicule.

"Shisui Uchiha."

"Go out and take a look at the Ninja World."

"Stop crouching in Konoha's little well like a frog."

At that point,

Chiba raised a hand and pointed at Shikaku Nara beside him.

"Ask the head of our Jonin Council."

"During the Third Shinobi World War, where was Kumogakure's Third Raikage?"

Suddenly called out by Chiba,

Shikaku Nara's throat went dry.

He swallowed and struggled to force out a few words.

"At... the Land of Earth front lines."

"To cover his comrades' retreat, he faced ten thousand Iwagakure ninja alone."

"He fought for three days and three nights... until he died of exhaustion."

Shikaku Nara's voice was quiet.

Yet in the silent hall, every word was clearly audible.

Shisui Uchiha's expression stiffened slightly.

Chiba did not stop and continued pressing Shikaku.

"Where was Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage?"

Sweat on Shikaku Nara's forehead slid down his cheeks.

"At... the Land of Fire border."

"He personally led the Explosion Corps in an assault on Konoha's defenses."

Chiba sneered repeatedly.

"Where was Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage?"

Shikaku Nara felt as though he were about to collapse.

"At... the Battle of Mt. Kikyo front lines."

"He used Magnet Release to suppress our Konoha forces."

Chiba suddenly swung his hand and smashed a wooden chair beside him to pieces.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

"Did you hear that?!"

"Shisui Uchiha!"

Chiba's gaze shifted back to Shisui Uchiha.

Shisui Uchiha's eyes trembled violently from extreme shock.

"The leaders of every other ninja village were all bleeding and fighting on the front lines!"

"They used their own lives to carve out a path of survival for the village's younger generation!"

"Only Konoha's great Hokage!"

"Only Sarutobi Hiruzen, who never stopped talking about the Will of Fire!"

"He hid in the Hokage Office, looking at the casualty lists sent back from the front lines!"

"And then... he kept sending those newly graduated children off to die!"

Every word Chiba spoke was like a heavy hammer smashing mercilessly into Shisui's heart.

Shisui Uchiha's face turned pale as paper.

He staggered two steps backward and crashed directly into a pillar behind him.

The faith he had always taken pride in was torn to pieces before Chiba's bloody facts.

He could not refute him.

Because every word Chiba had said was an indisputable fact.

"No... that's not how it was..."

Shisui clutched his head in agony, unconscious murmurs spilling from his lips.

But Chiba had no intention of letting him off.

Today, he was going to reshape the worldview of this pitiful, brainwashed fool.

Afterward.

Chiba looked at Shikaku Nara again.

"Jonin Nara."

"You are Konoha's chief strategist, privy to the village's most closely guarded secrets."

"Can you answer a few questions for me?"

"..."