Three Disciples: Departure, Flight, and Wounds

Yun Yan continued his furious attack on Hiruzen Sarutobi:

"I think you were mentally ill back then, or you were aware that you were ill, but because you needed to make things easier in politics, you just continued to be mentally ill."

Ultimately, allowing Danzo to take control of Root and then granting Danzo so much power, allowing him to act increasingly recklessly, was simply a result of your indulgence.

You've only realized that you're becoming increasingly corrupt and weak, and you've even realized that you're making mistakes and will make more in the future. You're unwilling to face it and just want to find someone to take the blame.

Danzo is the perfect scapegoat for you.

Of course, it's also your black glove; when your dark thoughts and shady goals can't be achieved, Danzo's hand will help you achieve them.

"Ha, so this is what they call the Hokage."

After being spoken to like that by Yun Yan, and pointed out so directly and bluntly without any politeness, Hiruzen Sarutobi back in his chair in pain, unable to refute anything.

On the other side, Yun Yan's output continued:

"You bear a great deal of responsibility for the great harm caused by Danzo, and you cannot escape this responsibility no matter what."

Then there's Hatake Sakumo...

Ha, I reckon this is a major stain on your life. I don't know if it's the biggest stain, but it's definitely one that needs to be mentioned.

Why did Hatake Sakumo up like that? It was because his achievements were too great, his reputation too high, and you were afraid of him.

You don't want this person to become Hokage and take away your power, nor do you want him to pose any threat to you, so you resort to underhanded methods.

Ah, I was wrong. It wasn't you who used underhanded methods; it was you who instructed Danzo to use underhanded methods.

You probably didn't expect that Danzo's underhanded methods were so despicable, and that Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, was surprisingly sensitive. When the two clashed... he died.

Who bears the primary responsibility for this? You or Danzo?

Heh, is this interesting? Determining responsibility after the fact is utterly pointless. Besides, Danzo was your henchman; isn't Danzo's responsibility your responsibility? What's the point of assigning responsibility? It's all your responsibility!

At this point, Yun Yan's words became somewhat harsh, directly targeting Hiruzen Sarutobi and questioning him:

"Old man Sarutobi, I'm particularly curious to know, what was your first reaction when Hatake Sakumo died?"

Don't tell me your first reaction was surprise; that's just asking for trouble.

Or to put it more clearly, besides initial surprise, is your first reaction one of delight, relief, regret, or bewilderment?

Honestly, don't make me slap you.

"Don't force me to slap you!" This really shocked Hiruzen Sarutobi. Was this kid really planning to make a move?

Looking up at Yun Yan, he saw that he had actually raised his hand. Thinking of the kid's reckless nature, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a pain in his face for some reason, and he felt scared.

Faced with this kid threatening to slap him, he actually chickened out. He really is an incurable weakling.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of dejection, then closed his eyes and, in a fit of despair, said:

"My first reaction was definitely one of relief and delight."

Yun Yan's slap turned into a table-pounding slam, his face filled with excitement and joy:

"Good! That's how it should be! It's better to be blunt than to be malicious!"

"You've already openly admitted to Hatake Sakumo's situation, now it's time to talk about your three apprentices; they certainly have a story to tell."

After a slight pause, Yun Yan seemed to be organizing his thoughts, and once he had almost finished, he continued:

"Let's start with the most troublesome Orochimaru."

Orochimaru... in a sense, is a very pure person. He has only one goal: to achieve immortality, or rather, eternal life.

The reasons for his obsessive desire to achieve this goal are multifaceted, and are related to his upbringing and everything he experienced from childhood.

We won't delve into Orochimaru's past or the reasons behind his current situation; such a discussion would be endless and pointless.

Moreover, Orochimaru's true nature is such that his path is fundamentally different from Konoha's. He should have parted ways with Konoha long ago, and I see that clearly.

Sarutobi, old man, I have just one question for you.

Before Orochimaru's human experiments were exposed, before you were forced to arrest him, did you actually know that Orochimaru was conducting human experiments? Or rather, did you actually know what Orochimaru had done?

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of pain again; his heart ached terribly, but he was helpless at this moment and could only nod in anguish.

"I knew about this, and I tacitly accepted it from the beginning... or rather, I turned a blind eye to it."

Yun Yan nodded to indicate that he understood.

"You're probably turning a blind eye because you're considering that Orochimaru or Root's human experiments might actually benefit Konoha or you as a whole, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi painfully as before.

To everyone's surprise, this time Yun Yan didn't scold him, but instead nodded in a relatively objective manner:

"Okay, I won't reprimand you for this, because I don't think you did anything wrong. If it were me, I probably would have turned a blind eye too."

Don't look at me with that surprised look. Do you think I'm some kind of righteous and noble person? I'm not. I also think that interests should come first. Since human experimentation is beneficial to Konoha, let's do it.

The only thing I can't accept is using civilians for human experimentation. What are all those prisoners in Konoha for? To make use of them for human experimentation, isn't that a good thing?

If all else fails, send the ninjas to capture bandits outside the village. The bandits and thieves in the Shinobi World are endless; they're practically a sustainable resource.

So overall, you didn't do much wrong in this matter, but in terms of turning a blind eye to the injustice of civilians being subjected to human experimentation, you really didn't act like a human being."

At this point, Yun Yan began the next one:

"That's all for Orochimaru's situation. Now let's talk about your next disciple, Tsunade."

Tsunade has a lot of problems. First and foremost, there's the unavoidable fact that she's surnamed Senju. Tell me honestly, have you always been wary of her?"

At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already given up all hope; the old man didn't care about anything else. He simply nodded and even added:

"That's right, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, am concerned about my disciple. What I'm concerned about is that Tsunade's surname is Senju, and what I'm concerned about is the Senju Clan!"

The old man offered a brief supplement, but clearly missed the mark. Yun Yan, then helped him refine the points:

"As expected, in the end, what you cherish most is your Hokage Position and your power."

Tsunade is medical-nin, and the number one medical-nin in the ninja Shinobi World. She played an extremely important role in the Fourth Shinobi World War and was admired by many ninjas, enjoying extremely high prestige.

In this situation, coupled with the fact that she shares the surname Senju, you're wary of her. You're wary that she, with her surname and the influence of her two grandfathers, could threaten your Hokage Position, or even directly oust you to become the new Hokage, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi helplessly, while Yun Yan continued his attacks.

"So, this is why you and Danzo plotted to have Tsunade's brother die first, then her lover?"

Perhaps you see Tsunade's hemophobia as an unexpected bonus, because this means Tsunade and reducing her threat to you in the future.

What else could Hiruzen Sarutobi say? He stared at his rotting, stinking heart and nodded in agony.

Yun Yan shook his head and chuckled coldly:

"What a scoundrel! To harm your own disciple for these reasons, to injure him to this extent? Sarutobi, are you even human? How dare you call yourself a teacher, Hokage?"

Bullshit! It's not even worth a damn!

After letting out a cold snort, Yun Yan continued his relentless pursuit:

"So Tsunade was rendered useless just like that, and she left Konoha. This should be the best outcome for you, because you couldn't accept her staying in Konoha, right?"

Let's Tsunade for now, next up is Jiraiya.

Well... there's really not much to say about Jiraiya someone as wicked and ugly as you wouldn't find Jiraiya to be a significant threat.

I even think that when those things happened, to avoid suspicion and to prevent the Hokage from seeming to have done something to his disciple, you intended to keep Jiraiya in Konoha to silence any gossip.

However, Jiraiya probably sensed something, that you had a sinister heart, which is why he left Konoha so decisively, leaving none of the Sannin Konoha behind.

Haha, so in this way, the deaths and injuries of your three disciples are basically all your fault. This is so damn interesting!