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[Fourth Raikage: First Hokage, wake up. The faction rankings judge the whole organization, not individual heroics. A powerful clan leader means nothing if the rest of the clan is weak and has little influence. Of course they'd end up near the bottom. These days, ordinary people make up most of the Senju clan, with barely any ninja left. Tsunade is keeping it afloat all by herself. Getting this ranking is already a miracle.]
[Hashirama Senju: Little Tsuna, what happened to our clan? How did it fall this far?]
[Tsunade: Ancestors, ever since Grandfather and Great-Uncle passed away, the Senju clan has had nothing but hardship.
Several wars, combined with all those suicide missions, left our clansmen dead or gravely wounded.
Now, barely any of us can awaken chakra and become ninja. Most of those remaining have scattered among the common people, living ordinary lives. Some have even married into other clans.]
Her words struck like a stone hurled into a pond, sending waves rippling outward.
Quite a few veterans broke their silence, directing their accusations at the white-haired old man.
They were convinced the Third Hokage had been pulling strings, deliberately praising the Senju into ruin while favoring the Sarutobi Family. He had dumped all the most dangerous jobs on the Senju, while his own people took easy assignments and picked up the spoils.
[Hashirama Senju: Konohamaru, that's painful to hear. Is it true?]
[Third Hokage: Big Brother! That's slander! How would I dare suppress the Senju, let alone play favorites?
The Sarutobi Family lost people too! You can't judge things like that!]
His private calculations rattled away in his mind, but his face remained a picture of innocence.
He certainly had played favorites, and he really had supported his own relatives behind the scenes.
But the Senju Clan's