He had spent his entire life weighing gains and losses, tolerating darkness, and wavering over decisions. Perhaps he really had done some things wrong.
But the evil of the Nine-Tails' Attack, of killing Minato and his wife and destroying Konoha's very foundations-he could search his conscience and swear he had never committed it!
He could accept every smear, every accusation, and every fault laid at his feet. The one thing he could not bear was the monstrous charge of murdering the Fourth Hokage!
Beside him, Jiraiya watched his mentor teeter on the edge of collapse. He sighed softly, stepped forward, and spoke in a steady, firm voice.
"Old man, I believe you."
"I know what you're like. You've clung to power your whole life, wavered over every decision, and done countless foolish things."
"But you've always held Konoha and the will of fire in your heart."
"However selfish you might be, you'd never gamble the lives of the entire village and Konoha's future on a power struggle."
"You couldn't do something like killing Minato."
With Jiraiya's words backing him up, the tension gripping Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart eased slightly, and a little color reluctantly returned to his face.
Then he turned toward the silent Tsunade beside him, his eyes carrying a pitiful plea for help.
More than anything, he needed trust right now. He needed someone to stand on his side.
Seeing this, Tsunade couldn't help pursing her lips. Faced with his bedraggled, aggrieved appearance, she ultimately softened and slowly nodded.
"I believe you too. You couldn't have planned this."
She knew her teacher all too well.
Cowardly, conflicted, lecherous, unwilling to relinquish power-he had flaws aplenty.
But he truly lacked the viciousness to deliberately trigger the Nine-Tails' Attack, slaughter the village, and kill the younger generation.
Yet a moment later,