" Hashirama- sensei, how many books on governance have you read? You've never read a single one, have you? There weren't the conditions for this during the Sengoku period before Leaf was established, and after Leaf was founded, you didn't have the interest or patience in this area. You did things entirely out of passion."
Do you know how ridiculous the ninja village system you created is? In just a few decades, four Great Ninja War have been fought, each more brutal than the last. The Third Great Ninja War lasted a full eighteen years.
Although the Fourth Great Ninja War only lasted a few months, it reduced the world's population by 57 percent.
Before I left Leaf, the Fifth Great Ninja War was already brewing. Even without the unification war I started, the Shinobi World would not be at peace.
Is this what you call peace?
Moreover, Mr. Hashirama, your vision is limited to the Shinobi World, but you are unaware that the people who suffered the most from the Shinobi World Wars were the vast majority of civilians. The First Ninja World War reduced the world's population by more than 430 million, the Second Great Ninja War reduced it by more than 1.3 billion, and the Third Great Ninja War reduced it by 3 billion.
The Fourth Great Ninja War resulted in the loss of 2.3 billion people in our world, while the unification war I led has only resulted in the loss of 30 million people so far, which is far less than the so-called Great Ninja War...
As Danzō Shimura precise data, the entire Hokage's office fell into a deathly silence. Even Hashirama Senju, who had originally wanted to persuade his disciple Danzō Shimura, opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word. In the end, he slumped into his chair in dejection.
That bloody and terrifying number left him with no confidence to refute it, and he fell into self-doubt.
Did I really do something wrong?
"Although Tobirama- sensei didn't have much formal education, he's far superior to Hashirama- sensei. I believe you can understand that."
Danzō Shimura turned his gaze to Tobirama Senju. He had already rendered Hashirama Senju speechless, and now only Tobirama was left to speak.
These words, however, made Tobirama Senju darken. What did he mean by saying Laozi he hadn't read many books either?
Laozi back in the day; I developed countless powerful Ninjutsu, even forbidden techniques.
However, Tobirama Senju, because he also knew that for a leader, great strength was secondary, and a clear mind was the most important thing, especially when dealing with the complex relationships among the many ninja clans in Leaf.
"But you can't completely resolve the war this way. Sooner or later, any power will decay from within, just like Leaf today. War will still break out then, and its scale and duration will far surpass the current Great Ninja War."
Compared to his elder brother's silence, Tobirama Senju was much more astute and quickly found a loophole in Danzō Shimura's words to launch a counterattack.
These words made the eyes of everyone in Leaf light up. They had been quite discouraged by Danzō Shimura's words, and they had to turn the tables.
"I have never been arrogant enough to think that I could solve the war once and for all. That is unrealistic. After all, even that man did not come up with a way to achieve lasting peace, so I certainly cannot."
But as a ninja who came from the Sengoku period, Tobirama should be very clear about the frequency of wars during Sengoku time. There were three small battles a month and a major battle every three months. Ninjas during the Sengoku period were either fighting or on their way to the battlefield. The average age of people was even less than thirty years old.
Since Hashirama and Madara Uchiha ended the Sengoku period and ushered in the era of ninja villages, the frequency of wars has been reduced to a certain extent, at least enough to maintain peace for several years or even more than ten years.
Unfortunately, with the start of the Ninja Village era, although the frequency of wars decreased, the scale of wars increased exponentially, and the damage caused was incalculable.
This brief peace is illusory. While achieving great unification cannot completely resolve the war, it can sustain peace for at least several hundred to several thousand years.
In my opinion, exchanging a large-scale war for hundreds or thousands of years of peace is a very worthwhile trade.
More importantly, once the idea of great unification is established, future generations will strive to inherit this ideology and system to achieve great unification again, which will allow peace to last for hundreds or thousands of years.
Furthermore, as time goes by, systems will always be improved, and perhaps one day in the future a perfect system will emerge, achieving eternal peace.
What we need to do now is buy time for future generations and leave behind valuable experience, so that lasting peace can come as soon as possible...
Danzō Shimura was not intimidated by Tobirama Senju's questioning at all. Over the years, he had been studying the notes and books left behind by that man. If the titles of educator, military strategist, philosopher, etc., that he obtained when he copied books in Leaf were basically undeserved, then his titles were now the real deal.
Let alone fooling someone like Tobirama Senju who's just smart, he could easily fool even a real master of deception!
Tobirama Senju was speechless; he was truly speechless!
Meanwhile, the Leaf members in the Hokage's office also lowered their heads in dejection, some even falling into self-doubt.
On the other side, Itachi Uchiha also began to educate his foolish younger brother, after all, the boy's previous silly and cute appearance had really embarrassed him.
"When Leaf was founded, the First Hokage promised Madara that he would become Hokage. However, due to the Second Hokage's schemes, most of the Leaf ninja clans joined the Senju Clan. In the end, Madara lost the vote to the First Hokage and missed the opportunity to become Hokage."
From this point on, Madara realized that Leaf was not the peace he desired, and that the Uchiha would eventually be swallowed up by Leaf.
Unfortunately, when Madara called on the Uchiha to leave Leaf and seek a new path to Pingzhi, the clan's ancestors were immersed in the false peace of Leaf, and not one of them was willing to follow Madara.
In the end, Madara left in disappointment, and the Uchiha Clan was indeed targeted by the Leaf leadership. In fact, after Lord Kagami's passing, we were completely ostracized from the leadership.
As one of the Great Yuan families of Leaf, the Uchiha aspired to become Hokage, but unfortunately, various reasons have made us completely ineligible for Hokage position.
The Nine-Tails Attack back then ignited the fragile balance between the two sides, and the conflict eventually escalated until it became irreconcilable.
Shisui and I relied on the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan to try and maintain this fragile balance, but we were too naive and didn't realize that we were Uchiha, a group that the Leaf leadership had never trusted, so we ultimately failed!
Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan was taken by the Third Hokage, and I was forced onto the path of annihilating the Uchiha Clan.
Rather than let the Uchiha perish with infamy, it's better to preserve this glory through that means, while allowing you to inherit the Uchiha's honor and create a completely new Uchiha!
Sasuke Uchiha was stunned. He never expected the truth behind the annihilation of his clan to be like this, and it almost drove him to the brink of collapse.
"Itachi-kun, you're still as dishonest as ever, always holding back in your actions and words."
Orochi Hime couldn't help but sneer, clearly knowing that there were still some hidden details about the Uchiha Clan's annihilation that Itachi Uchiha hadn't revealed.
Orochi Hime!
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been silent, could no longer hold back and roared, his chilling killing intent making no attempt to conceal it.
It was clear that Orochi Hime had crossed his line, and if the situation hadn't been so inappropriate, he would have eliminated her on the spot.
" Third old man, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're already threatening my Snake Princess. Do you really think that with several layers of Sealing Jutsu, I can't sense the organs transplanted into your body?"
Senju Nawaki stepped forward, unleashing his chilling killing intent with undisguised force, and crushed it towards Hiruzen Sarutobi opposite him.
The moment he arrived at the Hokage's office, he sensed something was off about Hiruzen Sarutobi's aura. After carefully sensing it for a long time, he was finally able to confirm that the old man had his own internal organs transplanted into his body.
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically again, and they turned their strange and wary gazes toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The incident back then caused quite a stir, so everyone present knew a little about it. They all knew that Senju Nawaki died on the battlefield, and that Dan Kato had taken his internal organs.
But now, Senju Nawaki's internal organs have appeared inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's body, so it's clear that the one who gave the order to Dan Kato back then was this venerable Hokage.
The thought sent chills down everyone's spines.
This Hokage is absolutely terrifying!
Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Princess Tsunade also realized what was happening, her beautiful eyes filled with murderous intent, glaring at her former good teacher with gritted teeth.
She really is a great teacher!
She previously claimed to be unaware of what happened back then, but now she's transplanted her own brother's organs. She's treating her like a fool!
" Tsunade, you need to calm down. I really didn't participate in what happened back then. I obtained Nawaki's internal organs by accident from Nawaki's Root Organization during a raid on Danzō's headquarters."
"During the critical battle, Leaf needed me to maintain my peak fighting strength, so I had no choice but to transplant Nawaki's organs."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly tried to explain, shifting the blame to his good friend Danzō Shimura.
"You are Leaf under the sunlight, I am Root in the darkness! I will bear all the darkness alone!"
With a slight nod, Danzō Shimura indicated that he would take the blame. Although it was a fact, he didn't mind using it to frame his former best friend Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This old guy always tricked him before; now it's time for him to pay up!
"..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared wide-eyed, utterly unable to believe that his best friend would dare to betray him like this.
The gazes of everyone present toward Hiruzen Sarutobi became even more eerie and wary. Compared to Danzō Shimura, whom they had previously misunderstood, this Third Hokage was a ruthless and cunning tyrant!
Even at this point, they still can't resist shifting the blame to Danzō. This is a blatant insult to their intelligence!
"Um, Hokage- sama, could you please give my eyes back?"
At this moment, Shisui Uchiha spoke, his eyes fixed intently on Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
Although he abandoned his former body and even the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan, and lost his Sharingan, he would not let these eyes be left to the world.
Not to mention that his grandfather's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan Sharingan, making it even more necessary for him to return.
Hiruzen!
The First Hokage Hashirama Senju, couldn't help but roar angrily, glaring furiously at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his once most promising disciple.
Unlike his cunning younger brother Tobirama Senju, he genuinely longed for peace, and his promise to the Uchiha Clan was sincere from the bottom of his heart.
But now the Uchiha Clan no longer exists, and his most promising disciple has stolen the Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan, personally severing the Uchiha Clan's future. How could he tolerate this?
"I did all of this for Leaf, and I have a clear conscience!"
In the end Hiruzen Sarutobi could only utter this one sentence; it was all he could say at this point.
Taking over Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan could be seen as inheriting Tobirama's hostility towards the Uchiha Clan. However, the fact that he could possess the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan himself to guard against the Uchiha Clan speaks volumes.
However, no matter what, he would not give up those Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, otherwise he would surely become a fish to be slaughtered.
If Leaf loses its strongest fighter, it truly has no future!