"Did you hear? The clan leader actually wants to make that terrifying bastard Hokage?!"
"Shh..." The other man gestured for silence and lowered his voice. "Keep it down. Can't you see how grim all the elders look?"
Senju Ao looked in the direction his older clansman indicated. The first, second, and third elders sat kneeling at the head of the room, their expressions dark and their eyes closed in silence.
With a swish, the shoji door suddenly slid open.
"Oh, it's Tobirama... Hashi-the clan leader. When will he arrive?" the second elder asked gravely from across the room.
"Soon..." Tobirama glanced at him, his tone somewhat cold.
A short while passed...
Just then, the paper shoji door slid open again with a swish...
Everyone fixed their eyes on the doorway.
Dressed in plain robes, "Hashirama Senju" walked slowly to the center of the room and faced them.
Everyone immediately stood, bowed ninety degrees, and called out in unison, "Long life to the clan leader!"
"Sit down, everyone..."
Tetsuhiro also knelt at the head of the room, calmly reviewing everyone's information in his mind.
The room fell silent...
The third elder could no longer hold back his challenge. "Clan leader, I have always been utterly loyal to the clan, risking my life without hesitation! Why would you make that bastard Hokage?"
He deliberately shifted his severed arm and roared, "I refuse to accept it!"
"Calm down, Yuanzhi. They took your arm and killed countless members of our clan! I'm sure the clan leader will give us all an explanation!"
The second elder was coaxing the third elder with ill intent.
Only after they finished their performance did Tetsuhiro speak. "Anything else? Everyone else is free to speak their mind too. What about you, first elder?"
Senju Ao immediately wanted to say something, but his older cousin beside him held him down. His anxious eyes seemed to say, Don't get yourself killed!
"I have no complaints. I am merely getting old and wish to remind you, clan leader, that outsiders will always be outsiders. We are your family, the ones you can rely on!"
"Does anyone else have something to say? If you don't speak now, just listen afterward. Don't start standing up one after another then."
At the second elder's prompting, other clansmen stood up one after another to air their grievances and complain.
Tobirama glanced at his older brother with interest. In the past, he might already have been bowing his head to the floor in apology. But after their long conversation that afternoon, Tobirama was very interested in seeing how his brother would break this impasse.
"I understand all your demands. Let me make one thing clear first: anyone who wants to leave the Senju Clan can walk out right now!"
His words sent the entire room into an uproar!
"That includes the elders. If you're tired, resign and take responsibility for your failures."
"What?" All three elders were stunned!
"I'll say it now: if you want to leave, do it while you can! If you stay, you'll follow my orders!"
"Hashirama! Are you trying to make your word the only law?" A vicious light immediately flashed in the third elder's eyes.
Facing the noisy crowd, Tetsuhiro's gaze hardened, and he immediately unleashed his aura to bear down on them!
Those who had questioned him instantly fell silent, cold sweat pouring down their bodies.
Among them, two young men who had only just reached adulthood were whispering to each other. "His aura alone is this powerful. That's our clan leader for you. What do you think, Shu Mao?"
"Father's strength is beyond question! He always makes us feel safe!" Senju Shumao's bright eyes shone with admiration for Hashirama on his handsome face.
The first elder spoke against the pressure. "Clan leader! You may be powerful, but governing a village takes more than brute force! Are you going to kill us all?"
"When did I ever say I would kill anyone? I'm carrying out reforms!
"You care only about the profits in your hands, with no regard for the clan or the village. Don't think I don't know about your dirty dealings behind closed doors!"
Clap, clap, clap! Tetsuhiro clapped his hands.
Tobirama took three scrolls from inside his robes and opened them one by one. They contained every sordid deed committed by the three elders and their subordinates!
With a stern expression, Tobirama read them out one by one.
"On the fifteenth of August, a trusted subordinate of the first elder forcibly married the daughter of the Hatake Clan leader, while secretly plotting to seize their Kenjutsu! The clan leader refused to submit, even at the cost of his life. His daughter was abused day and night, until she could no longer endure the humiliation and took her own life. To conceal the truth, the first elder publicly claimed she had died of illness."
Gasps rose from the crowd, and the first elder's face instantly turned a dark, purplish red.
"During last year's spring planting, the second elder led men into the Kurama Clan's grounds in the name of 'Konoha's construction.' Those who resisted had their right legs broken. When a young girl tearfully begged for mercy, she was actually... right there..."
The second elder's pupils contracted sharply. His throat bobbed as he tried to argue, but "Hashirama" raised a hand to stop him.
"Our investigation revealed that his true objective was the Kurama Clan's kekkei genkai!"
"The third elder led clansmen in an open search of the Uchiha settlement, claiming they were harboring criminals!
"Count yourself lucky that Madara said nothing at the time..."
The list went on...
A grinding sound came from the third elder's mouth as he clenched his back teeth in resentment.
But seeing that the other two elders did not resist, he had no choice but to lower his proud head as well.
Tetsuhiro stared at the third elder's face, twisted with anger, and recalled posts from his previous life analyzing the reasons behind the Senju Clan's demise.
Then he spoke slowly. "Madara and I founded this village to unite everyone and bring an end to war.
"And you? You use peace as an excuse to commit these vile acts! How can you face the loved ones who died in battle? You dare talk to me about hatred? About being wronged?"
Thud, thud, thud! The second elder immediately knocked his forehead hard against the floor several times and repented. "Clan leader, I admit we let greed blind us and forgot our original purpose. We'll change right away!"
His eyes shifted, and after raising his head, he offered another suggestion. "But making Madara Uchiha Hokage should depend on what the people want. Someone elected by popular vote would better embody the village's will! It would also give us an explanation to offer the daimyo."
"Do you really think I don't know what you're plotting? The daimyo? Hmph..."
"Madara has the strength for the position, and both his capabilities and accomplishments are sufficient."
Tetsuhiro snorted. "With him around, you'll restrain yourselves a little more. I now decree that the Senju Clan will keep only two businesses and one residential compound in central Konoha! Everything else will be traded to the other clans for resources!"
"A few of you will stay to work. Most of the clan will return to our ancestral lands and devote yourselves to training and improving your strength!
"The other nations have long coveted what we have. War has never ended! You are not merely Konoha's founders, but its protectors as well!"
"I object! Clan leader, did I hear you wrong? Not only do you want to make Madara Uchiha Hokage, you also want us to surrender our interests and withdraw from Konoha?"
"Hmph!" Tetsuhiro channeled his chakra and pressed it down on that clansman.
The man immediately spat out blood. "Hashirama Senju! I've rendered great service to the clan! I refuse to accept this..."
Tetsuhiro's Wood Clone extended his index finger, and several wooden spikes shot out!
Unable to dodge, the man was pierced through the abdomen. Blood sprayed, and he immediately collapsed headfirst to the floor.
"For openly defying the clan leader, drag him out and expel him from the clan. His past accomplishments have spared him a worse punishment... Who else objects? Stand up and leave immediately!"
Everyone else shuddered. An elite pillar of the clan had been severely wounded and expelled just like that? How could they dare object?
What's happened to Father? Where did his kind, approachable nature go? Shu Mao watched his "father" in terror.
The first elder looked at Tobirama in confusion, as though asking him, What's wrong with Hashirama? Why does he suddenly seem like a different person?
Tobirama merely curled his lips, signaling for him to obey quietly unless he wanted the same fate!
By then, Tetsuhiro's Wood Clone had made a series of arrangements and ordered the establishment of various organizations and facilities.
Intimidated by his domineering methods, the clansmen offered no resistance for the time being.
After the meeting, he and Tobirama exchanged smiles...
This is only the beginning. The elders can be abolished later. The clan needs a complete overhaul too!
As for the daimyo? Who the hell do they think they are?
Just then, he heard Tobirama ask, "The guards reported that Madara is chasing your real body around and beating him up. He seems furious too. What's going on?"
Tetsuhiro's Wood Clone was equally baffled. "Dunno. Anyway, the fact that I haven't vanished means my real body's fine. Don't worry."
"That bastard got off easy this time." The thought of Madara looking smug with the title of Hokage still irritated Tobirama.
"Hmph! Evil Uchiha. Don't let me catch you slipping, or else..."
Before you continue