Redemption

There was no way to whitewash it. It was simply impossible.

Whenever the First and Second Hokage had business to handle, they went themselves. When Madara Uchiha defected during the First Hokage's era, the First Hokage personally pursued him.

When the Second Hokage was returning from negotiations in Kumogakure, he encountered a pursuing force. He chose to stay behind and cover the retreat so the younger generation could survive.

They were leaders who truly practiced the Will of Fire.

Now look at the Third Hokage. The front lines were short on manpower, so he just had the little brats who had only just entered the Ninja Academy graduate early and fill the gaps.

What if the White Fang of Konoha had too much prestige and threatened his designated successor? Simple. Just ruin his reputation.

What, he killed himself? Then he was dead. He wasn't on his side anyway.

Orochimaru conducted human experiments in his own village. What if he killed quite a few of his own people?

What else could he do? Of course, he let him go. Only a few civilians and ordinary shinobi had died. Orochimaru was one of his own—how could those things compare?

The Uchiha Clan seemed to have issues with the village.

I know this one. The Second Hokage said it back then. The Uchiha were an evil clan.

What, you said his teacher also called the Uchiha Clan a clan of love? Impossible. His teacher definitely only said that one sentence. That's right, the Uchiha were an evil clan. That was that, so they might as well kill them all.

As for taking an Uchiha Clan child as a disciple? How could that be possible? That child might become Hokage in the future. That was absolutely unacceptable. The Hokage could only come from his own line.

What, you said Konoha would be severely weakened because of it? Wasn't that easy? The Ninja Academy had so many children. When the time came, they could just graduate early and fill the gaps.

As cannon fodder went, who had more than Konoha?

What could he say? Faced with Hiruzen Sarutobi's various leader-level maneuvers, Aoba Kamikawa could only sigh. That bastard hadn't learned a single good thing, but had absorbed every bad habit down to his bones.

It really was easy to learn bad things and hard to learn good ones.

When the Uzumaki Clan was destroyed back then, Mito Uzumaki was still alive. Unfortunately, she had clearly already lost her voice in Konoha by then.

Otherwise, she could never have watched her own clan be completely wiped out.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi's moves were the most outrageous.

What, you said the Uzumaki Clan was under attack? The Uzumaki Clan was their ally?

I know this one. An ally, right? Just send a few people over and watch them die.

Right, pick a decent one and bring her back to be a Jinchūriki.

Aoba couldn't even describe how idiotic that decision was. As Konoha's closest ally—

Konoha stood by and did nothing. The most important consequence wasn't merely losing the Uzumaki Clan. It was also completely losing its deterrence over the Shinobi World.

Others could slaughter your allies however they pleased, and you wouldn't even make a peep. What kind of signal did that send? Konoha was just a bunch of cowards. Wouldn't everyone rush over to take advantage of them?

Look at how arrogant Kumogakure became later. They charged directly into Konoha to kidnap Kushina, and during peace negotiations, they stormed into the Hyuga Clan to abduct Hinata.

They provoked Konoha in every possible way, yet Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't utter a single word.

If one considered the common people at the bottom, there was at least some justification. Why should they travel all the way to the Uzumaki Clan's territory to fight for them?

Aoba didn't know whether the Uzumaki Clan had ever helped Konoha fight in a war. But given the chaos of the Warring States period, they most likely had.

From a political perspective, even if Konoha didn't truly want to go to war with the other shinobi villages for the Uzumaki Clan, it could have handled the matter with more mature methods.

They only needed to dispatch a small force and carry out a rescue operation when the Uzumaki Clan was in danger. Save as many as they could.

That way, Konoha could easily obtain the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline. It was the most outstanding bloodline in the entire Shinobi World in terms of overall attributes. The improvement to Konoha's overall strength would have been plainly visible.

More importantly, after suffering the pain of their clan's destruction and then receiving Konoha's rescue, these Uzumaki descendants would surely be utterly loyal to Konoha while harboring extreme hatred toward the other shinobi villages, especially the shinobi of Kumogakure and Kirigakure.

That way, once war broke out, these Uzumaki clansmen would definitely be the best soldiers. Even as cannon fodder, they would be better than children who hadn't even grown all their hair yet.

Aoba truly couldn't understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's thought process. Konoha only needed one Jinchūriki, so it only brought back Kushina.

But bluntly speaking, Jinchūriki were strategic-grade weapon resources. Was one Kushina enough? What if something happened while she was growing up?

There were so many backups right there, yet he didn't want a single one. He had no concept of strategic reserves whatsoever. Was that a decision a leader could make?

Look at the choices made by the surviving members after the Uzumaki Clan's destruction. Karin's mother would rather take her to a backwater place like Kusagakure than go to Konoha, which had the better reputation.

Because Konoha's good reputation had always been reserved for its enemies.

Just like now. A Konoha shinobi had appeared and killed the Grass Ninja who had abused her, yet Karin's mother's first reaction wasn't joy, but vigilance.

Aoba felt somewhat helpless. It was all the sin of those old undead bastards in Konoha.

No matter why the Uzumaki Clan had been destroyed in the past, locking up a mother and daughter like livestock as blood bags and abusing them every day truly shattered the limits of Aoba's worldview.

"As you can see, I'm a Konoha shinobi. But today, I don't represent Konoha. I represent myself."

After Aoba said that, Karin's mother's gaze actually relaxed somewhat. Reality was truly absurd. Saying he was from Konoha made her wary, while saying he represented himself made her trust him more.

That alone showed what Konoha looked like in the eyes of its allies.

"This is Kusagakure. It'll be difficult for us to leave. If you truly want to save us, take my daughter away. Her name is Karin Uzumaki. I..."

Before she could finish, Aoba interrupted her.

"Have you considered what Karin might go through after I take her away? Maybe I'm a bad person too. Maybe I'm taking her away only to use her as a blood bag, or even for human experiments.

"Have you considered whether she would hate you if that happened? And without you by her side, how could she grow up healthy?"

Karin's mother froze for a moment. Then she struggled to rise. Aoba could clearly see that her exposed body was densely covered in countless bite marks. This body was already riddled with wounds.

"I... My body can't hold up much longer. I might burden you."

"That is indeed a problem, so..."

Aoba took out a rope. He had Karin's mother lie on his back, then tied her to himself with the rope to ensure she wouldn't fall.

After that, he picked up Karin with his left arm, took out a kunai, and attached an Explosive Tag to it. Then he said to Karin in his arms.

"Are you ready? We're leaving this place."

"Mm." Karin nodded heavily.