Hashirama Senju stood atop the Wood Dragon, gazing at the distant sky as it gradually brightened, his heart filled with conflicting emotions. He had watched the six great clans be wiped out with his own eyes, and those bloody scenes kept replaying before him. Life had been going so well. Why did things have to come to this? He didn't think the Senju Clan had done anything wrong. After all, the six great clans had committed heinous crimes, and they had started the trouble by assassinating the Senju Clan's heir. But whenever he thought of the women and children who had known nothing yet been caught up in it and brutally killed, it felt as though a heavy hammer were pounding his heart, causing him intense pain. "Why can't we live together in peace...?" he murmured, his voice full of helplessness and sorrow.
Tennin Hyuga stood on the rooftop with his eyes shut tight, trying to calm himself. But everything he had seen today was like a demon's claws, gripping his heart so tightly that he couldn't calm down. He had always thought highly of himself, but now he was filled with shock and fear. The destruction of the six great clans, two of which were Hyuga vassals, was like a resounding slap in the face. Even more chilling were the Senju Clan's four superpowerful experts. Every one of them could fight him, and he had no confidence at all that he could defeat them. Hashirama Senju's Wood Release had effortlessly suppressed the allied shinobi clans, a sight like a god punishing mortals. Mito Uzumaki's Adamantine Sealing Chains in Nine-Tailed Demon Fox mode combined offense and defense, leaving no opening to exploit. Tobirama Senju's many forbidden techniques were bizarre and powerful, as though they drew on the power of hell. Senju Yasuhei's concealed weapons came in a relentless torrent, impossible to evade. "If the Senju Clan moves against the Hyuga..." Tennin Hyuga didn't dare think any further. His back was already soaked in cold sweat. He quietly resolved that, from now on, the Hyuga Clan must never again make an enemy of the Senju Clan. Doing everything he could to protect his clan was paramount.
Uchiha Tomioki sat in the seat of honor, his brow tightly furrowed. A scout had just reported that the six clans had been wiped out, and the Senju Clan had killed nearly fifty thousand enemies without losing a single person, suffering only some injuries. "A hundred Senju together are unbeatable; an Uchiha comes first in single combat." Today, he had finally seen the truth of that old saying for himself. It was no exaggeration to say that the Senju Clan had become powerful enough to take on all of Konoha alone. The thought of his arrogant clansmen who provoked the Senju Clan all day gave him a headache. Starting today, I have to keep them in line and make sure they know who they can afford to provoke and who they absolutely can't! he vowed fiercely.
In the Sarutobi Clan Compound, the expressions of the assembled clan heads seemed frozen in place, every one of them petrified. Through their mental link, the scenes of Clan Head Yamamoto and Clan Head Shinozuka's clans being wiped out had been transmitted with perfect clarity into Clan Head Yamanaka's mind, and he had unwittingly passed them on to everyone present. Those terrifying scenes of utter devastation, those hellish images of despair and helplessness, were deeply etched into the clan heads' minds. Those who usually shouted every day, "At worst, we go to war," had quietly shut their mouths, too afraid to breathe loudly. Any one of the Senju Clan's four great experts could wipe out any of their clans. It was laughable to think that they had been provoking and antagonizing such a terrifying existence all this time. Hashirama Senju was good-natured and terrifyingly powerful, yet he had never used his strength to bully their clans. He wore a silly smile all day and was always apologizing to one clan or another. But as soon as Tobirama Senju took charge, he struck with thunderous force, wiping out six great clans outright and shaking all of Konoha.
Sasuke Sarutobi broke the silence with a bitter smile. "Let's hear it, everyone! How are we going to answer when the Senju Clan calls us to account? And where do we go from here?"
Dansuke Shimura sighed and said helplessly, "We seriously underestimated the Senju Clan's strength. The way things stand, all we can do is admit our fault, take our punishment, and beg the Senju Clan for forgiveness."
Clan Head Sato's face instantly flushed red when he heard that. "That's spineless!" he exclaimed. "How are we supposed to keep our footing in Konoha after that?"
Natsuki Gekko rolled his eyes at Clan Head Sato and said coldly, "Keep our footing? We should thank our lucky stars if our clans aren't wiped out. A single clone of Hashirama Senju was enough to suppress us completely. What's the use of talking about backbone? Think about your clan's future!"
Kenshin Uzuki quickly chimed in. "Exactly! Our clans are on the verge of destruction, and you're worried about backbone? We should hurry up and figure out how to save them."
Chisato Utatane, head of the Utatane Clan, spoke slowly. "A clan's survival always comes first. Its development can come later. The urgent thing now is to admit our fault, apologize, and gain the Senju Clan's forgiveness."
Hei Morita, head of the Morita Clan, nodded quickly. "Right. Let's admit our fault first and talk about the rest once we're past this."
Sasuke Sarutobi looked at Shikaboshi Nara, who had remained silent, and said, "Clan Head Shikaboshi, let's hear what you think."
Everyone turned to Shikaboshi Nara in unison, hoping the clan head, whose intelligence was widely recognized, could come up with a good idea.
Shikaboshi Nara rose unhurriedly, cleared his throat, and said, "In my view, first, we absolutely must not admit fault. We knew nothing about those clans assassinating members of the Senju Clan. Unless they can produce absolute proof that we knew, we deny everything. Even if there really is evidence implicating us, it must have been forged by someone else. It's a frame-up, a slander. Second, we need to keep a low profile and pretend to be weak. We're all small clans, and we formed an alliance only to protect ourselves. How would we dare do anything that harmed the interests of a great clan? We don't believe those two clans would have had the nerve to murder Senju clansmen, either. Unless there's conclusive evidence, they were probably framed too. Third, we need to pretend we're terrified and want to split up. We'll say we're all very afraid, that perhaps one day our clans will be wiped out the same way, so we want to leave Konoha. Let's see how the Senju Clan responds when the clans no longer stand united."
Sasuke Sarutobi's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help laughing. "As expected, Clan Head Shikaboshi, you're brilliant! We must never admit fault. Once we do, we'll be meat on the chopping block, at their mercy. We pretend to be weak, helpless, and pitiful to win sympathy, then use our fear and our threat to split up to force the Senju Clan to yield. Brilliant, truly brilliant!"
Dansuke Shimura added his praise. "A wise man always has a solution, unlike some people who can only think of admitting fault and begging forgiveness."
Everyone was speechless. Hadn't this guy argued for admitting fault just moments ago? He had changed his tune far too quickly. He really had no shame.
Sasuke Sarutobi continued, "Clan heads, let's all stick to the same story. We gathered our clans' experts this time only because we had mutual aid pacts with the Shinozuka and Yamamoto Clans. We had no intention of making an enemy of the Senju Clan. As for the crimes committed by the Yamamoto and Shinozuka Clans, we knew nothing about them. We're all weak clans, and we joined together solely to protect ourselves. After what happened, we're all a little afraid to stay in Konoha, and we hope to leave the village, settle somewhere remote, and live our own modest lives. Has everyone got that?"
All the clan heads nodded, indicating that they understood. But they all knew that this was only a temporary response. Where would they go from here?