Would Hiruzen Sarutobi sacrifice many Konoha Ninja for his own selfish interests?
The answer was no.
But would Shimura Danzō turn many Konoha Ninja into dry bones in their graves for his own selfish interests?
The answer was yes.
So did that truly make Hiruzen Sarutobi a better person than Shimura Danzō?
Not necessarily.
Everything Danzo had was bestowed upon him by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi had not noticed some of Danzo's smaller moves, but one thing was certain: most of Danzo's choices had actually been made with Hiruzen Sarutobi's tacit approval.
Forcing Hatake Sakumo to death, stealing Uchiha Shisui's eyes, annihilating the Uchiha Clan, and so on—even researching Senju Hashirama's cells.
These were all things Hiruzen Sarutobi knew about yet made no response to, or perhaps only put on a show afterward.
Oh, so as long as I don't say it outright, it wasn't my doing? I just stood by and watched, so I'm a pure white lotus?
When an avalanche came, not a single snowflake was innocent.
In his previous life, Qifeng had read plenty of conspiracy theories about Hiruzen Sarutobi. Many agreed with them, while many others opposed them, claiming they were overinterpretations of the manga and that Kishimoto had never confirmed them.
What the hell did Kishimoto know about Hokage?
He was just a manga artist.
Qifeng had originally remained neutral toward such claims, but he could not deny that Hiruzen Sarutobi really could not shirk responsibility for many things.
Especially as he grew older, lost the bearing of the Hero of Shinobi, and yet still wanted to maintain his own image, he increasingly did things according to Danzo's wishes.
There was nothing he could do. In his view, without the strength to overpower the Shinobi World, he needed Danzo's assistance, so he turned a